Page 56 of Meddling with a Millionaire

Nathan pinned his best friend with a hot glare. “And you thought I wasn’t going to do the right thing by her?”

Cody shrugged, but before he could defend himself against Nathan’s accusation, his cell phone rang. While Cody took the call, Nathan leapt from the chair and began to pace.

How long had Emma known she was pregnant? Why hadn’t she called or come by to let him know he was about to be a father?

A father. Nathan was lightheaded with relief.

He stared at the art on his walls. He and Emma were permanently linked now. She would marry him. He wasn’t going to give up until she agreed. No child of his was going to grow up illegitimate.

“Looks like I don’t have time for lunch after all,” Cody said. “Jaime’s water just broke. You’ve got to talk to my sister.”

“Tell me something I don’t know,” Nathan muttered.

After Cody left, Nathan grabbed his car keys and headed for the elevator. He got no farther than Sebastian’s office.

“What did he want?” Max demanded, stepping into the hall and blocking Nathan’s path.

“He came to have lunch.”

“That’s it?” Sebastian stepped from his office and exchanged a glance with Max.

Their nonverbal communication grated on Nathan. He wrestled with the resentment that had become such a part of him and the revelation that he wanted to work with Max and Sebastian instead of against them. But how was he going to make that happen when they shut him out? They’d always had each other. They didn’t need him. Disappointment made him surly.

“And to deliver a message that Silas is still interested in going forward.”

“We’ve already decided that we’re out,” Max said.

“I’ve got some friends who would jump at the chance to get in on this with me.”

Sebastian looked disappointed. “Are you considering it?”

“Any reason why I shouldn’t?” He looked from one to the other.

“Is that what you want?” Max demanded, frowning.

“I thought you came back to Houston because you wanted to work with us,” Sebastian added.

“And you sure haven’t made that easy for me, have you?” Nathan shot back and abruptly ran out of steam. “Truth is, I’m no longer interested in working with Montgomery Oil.”

“Why not?” Sebastian asked.

“I came back to Houston because I wanted to be a part of this company, a part of this family.” He gave the last word a bitter jab. “Ever since we were kids you two have been in a club I could never join. After Dad called and asked me to come back and join the company, for the sake of family, I let you two shoot down every idea I had. I figured that eventually you’d get over whatever problem you had with me and realize that I know what I’m doing. The venture with Montgomery was my chance.”

Sebastian gestured with his head toward Max. “And we stopped it from happening.”

Max shrugged before saying, “Maybe we’ve misjudged you a bit.”

“We’ve let pride get in the way of family,” Sebastian added.

For the first time since returning to Houston, Nathan had a glimmer of hope that what he’d come back to find might be within reach. A powerful emotion swept him, locked up his chest and made him want to grin like an idiot. “I’m willing to work together if you are.”

“Smythe is waffling,” Sebastian said. “If this venture with Montgomery Oil is still on the table, I think we should go for it.”

Nathan shook his head. He no longer had anything to prove to his brothers and everything to prove to Emma. “Let’s hang in there with Smythe. The company is solid. It’s exactly what we need to diversify our holdings. Lucas will come around.”

“You sure this is what you want?” Sebastian asked.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Eleven

Armed with one of Nathan’s dress shirts that she’d accidentally packed when she’d left his condo, Emma stepped off the elevator into the lobby of Case Consolidated Holdings. Since moving out on her own, she’d taken to wearing it to bed at night, comforted by the familiar cologne that clung to the cotton. Newly laundered, it no longer contained his scent.

She missed him.

Ached for him.

Had it only been two weeks since Valentine’s Day? It felt like a year.

Emma’s polite smile for the receptionist faded as the woman told her Nathan wasn’t in. Relief and disappointment tumbled through her. She’d been preparing for this meeting for a couple days, running a hundred different speeches through her mind, even practicing a few in front of the mirror.

In the end, it all came down to, “Nathan, I’m pregnant.”

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