Page 65 of Secret Babies For My Brother's Best Friend

“That’ll be great, thanks,” he said, the hint of a smile twitching the corner of his mouth. “Do you think you could stop by the store to pick up the last-minute stuff?”

“Don’t sweat it,” Luca interjected, pulling his phone from his pocket. “I’ll have my assistant get on it right away.”

That time it was my turn to freeze up apprehensively, studying Chris’ expression more closely than usual. He considered Luca as if he was deciding whether to respond with words or his fist again. I took a tentative step forward, placing my body partially between them. If the latter were to happen, at least I formed some kind of obstacle.

“You don’t even know what we still need,” Chris said then, digging his hands deep into the pockets of his jeans.

I met Luca’s gaze. We both understood the silent truce my brother had just called by putting his fists away. It was the best outcome we could’ve hoped for.

“I know how new babies work,” Luca said, punching his assistant’s contact and holding the phone to his ear. “And I know you enough to guess what you left for the last minute.”

We watched him walk down the corridor, barking orders into his phone with an urgency that seemed to crop up out of nowhere.

“Are you okay?” I asked Chris. “I mean, I know how you are, but—”

“My kid’s coming, Scarlett.” His lower lip trembled. “We’ve been preparing for months, and now the time is almost here, and… my kid’s coming.”

I pulled him into a tight embrace, holding his face to my shoulder, even though it meant he had to bend quite a way to get there. I didn’t care. It was my turn to comfort my brother, and I was going to do it if he’d let me.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, clutching his shirt. “You know I never wanted to hurt you.”

He patted my back and straightened abruptly. “I have to get to Julia.”

Chris walked off with the delivery nurse, not turning back once. That spark of hope in my chest flickered and came close to dying out. What I’d mistaken for him coming around to my relationship with Luca was nothing more than distraction with the baby. The fallout of my lies was still headed my way…

***

The short trip turned into an extended one when I got to my brother’s place and realized how behind he really was with getting things ready for the baby. New clothes were strewn all over the nursery, and the crib was still in its box. That was besides the fact that Chris had clearly been using the empty room as a makeshift workout space.

A few hours later, I’d set up the nursery, stocked the freezer with ready meals that he’d need for the next few days, and rearranged the master bedroom to make it easier for them to move around with the baby.

The whole time I was away, I assaulted Luca with texts demanding updates. My heart dropped to my feet when he sent me, “baby coming,” and disappeared for the longest forty minutes of my life.

“And?” I asked Luca in a panic as I rushed down the corridor with Julia’s overnight bag.

He pursed his lips tightly and nodded, those light brown eyes brimming with the tears he held back. I wasn’t sure whether to go ahead and let my heart drop in despair or chalk his emotion up to the strong Italian blood coursing through him.

“What, Luca? Say something, please,” I pleaded with him.

He still didn’t speak and simply pointed at Julia’s room. My feet were lead bricks as I inched my way to the door, nudging it softly with the tip of my sneaker. It swung open lazily, and I felt myself preparing for the worst.

But instead, the scene that unfolded in front of me was one of good news. The greatest news, in fact. Chris sat beside Julia, who was cradling the littlest bundle. I stood on my tiptoes to try and see what was inside, but it didn’t help.

“Get over here,” Julia said with a laugh, waving me into the room. “Your niece would like to meet you.”

“Niece?” My voice broke as I hurried over to them, desperate to see her little face.

“Hey…”

Julia and I both looked up at the sound of Chris’ voice and looked to Luca, who was hanging back just outside the doorway. Chris was looking at him too.

“Are you just going to stand there?” Chris asked. “You gotta see what I made, man! She’s perfect.”

Luca’s expression brightened as he gave a sigh of relief, laughing nervously as he slowly entered. “Hopefully she looks nothing like you.”

But he didn’t pay any attention to the baby in Julia’s arms just yet. Instead, he stopped in front of my brother, where they just stood and looked at each other. Saying nothing. Julia and I shared a look and both shrugged, waiting for something to happen. It eventually did, and Chris pulled Luca into a bear hug, slapping his back a few times.

“I’m sorry,” Luca said when they finally let go of each other.

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