Page 63 of Secret Babies For My Brother's Best Friend

“I told you I’ve got it handled,” he replied, patting her shoulder in a way that came off a little too patronizing. “A week from Thursday is nine whole days. Rome was built in seven, so imagine what I can do!”

I had to laugh at his delusional optimism, and Julia soon joined in. Because that’s the kind of guy Christopher was—always making people feel good. My laughter died down almost instantly the moment I thought about why I’d invited them out for dinner in the first place. I was gearing up to break my best friend’s heart, and he was least deserving of that.

“What happened to our waiter?” Julia scanned the restaurant floor. “I don’t mean to be rude, but I’m starving.”

“I told them to wait until the whole party is seated,” I replied and watched them both look over to the empty chair at our table.

They didn’t seem to notice it before, or if they did, they didn’t think to ask about it. Christopher was the first to change that, though.

“We are the whole party,” he said, then after a pause, added, “aren’t we?”

I took a breath, but before I could say anything, Julia jumped in, teasing me in a sing-song voice. “Oooh, Luca has a hot date he wants us to meet.”

She batted her lashes at me, and then she and Christopher both laughed at my expense. I could feel the warmth rising up the back of my neck and spreading onto my face.

If they only knew…

“There is someone,” I said with a curt nod. “But it’s not like that.”

“Not like what?” Christopher jumped in. “We didn’t say anything.”

I tossed my napkin at his face, but he was too quick and caught it midair.

“I know what you’re thinking,” I said then. “Every time this has happened in the past, let’s just say the women all fell into a certain category.”

Julia gave me a knowing smile. “The supermodel category.”

“No,” Christopher added, biting back another laugh, “the airhead category.”

“What did I miss?”

Scarlett’s sudden appearance at our table called an end to the laughter in an instant, with both Julia and Christopher staring up at her in confusion. Then Christopher’s gaze flickered to me, and there was no way I could hide the truth. I was sure it was etched into every line on my face.

His expression clouded over, and I noticed Julia’s hand shoot out to grip his arm. Whether it was that or just plain old restraint, I couldn’t tell, but he didn’t move from his seat. Thankfully.

“What’s this, a family reunion?” he asked, looking from me to his sister and back again. There was a cutting edge to his voice that unsettled me.

I’d seen Christopher lose his temper over the years, and it always started with that tell-tale sign. He sounded like someone who wanted nothing more than to beat the shit out of someone else. Since his sister was obviously out of the question, I knew that I was the target in this scenario.

Scarlett sat down, the picture of all the calm and composure that I didn’t have. “You could say that.” She smiled at him. “Julia, you look amazing. When’s the big day?”

Julia opened her mouth to answer, but Christopher’s fist slammed onto the table, making Julia startle. She swallowed what she was about to say and sat aside, hands grasping her belly. Another thing it did was stop our waiter in her tracks when she was halfway to our table and make her backup to the kitchen area.

“Brother, let me expl—”

“I’m not your brother,” Christopher seethed.

Scarlett, whose chair was between her brother’s and mine, used her body to block Christopher’s view of me. I touched her shoulder to tell her to move. I couldn’t bear for her to get caught in the middle of whatever was about to blow.

Christopher’s eyes locked on my hand as it rested on Scarlett’s shoulder, and I watched them grow black. His mouth twisted into a pained grimace, and he lunged at me, fingernails from both his hands sinking into my flesh as he tore at me to release his sister.

“Oh my God!” Scarlett pushed back in her chair, her face pulled tight in alarm.

“Get your hands off her,” Christopher said, still holding on to my hand.

He bent my wrist all the way back, causing a sharp pain to shoot up my arm and settle itself in my head. I winced, biting back the pained cry that almost slipped out and quickly jumped to my feet to get out of his unrelenting grasp.

“Scarlett is a grown woman who decides for herself who it is she wants,” I spat, jerking his hand from me. “We just wanted to have a civil conversation.”

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