Page 19 of Becoming His

“No, I didn’t.”

“Why?” she asks quietly.

“Money, power. It’s addicting, and consuming. As I connected with more of my siblings, the less I wanted to destroy the company and instead create a legacy for us all. Some are more receptive than others. Majority of them were not written in his will, and they severed any association with his name after his death.”

“You tried to create a family? What about your mom?”

I tense. I haven’t thought about my mother in a long time. The familiar ache of betrayal and grief echoing in my heart. “She did not appreciate my father coming back into my life. She gave me an ultimatum, and I didn’t choose her. She… died before we could reconcile.”

Brina presses a kiss into my chest. “I’m sorry.”

“I guess you could say that’s why I was more determined to unite my siblings. I’ve always desired a family of my own. I just never found a woman who I wanted to be irrevocably tied to. If there’s one thing my father taught me it was that the tie of blood was one of a lifetime, whether or not we want it to be.”

I turn onto my side, pull her closer, and breathe in her scent. “I needed you, Brina. The night I spotted you, I had my assistant track down who you are, and after I got over the uncontrollable jealousy that you shared your body with others. I purposely created a contract to specifically target you.”

She shakes her head, cuddling into my chest. “I’m not saying it’s okay. It’s not, but I can see where you were coming from. I just… need time. Please give me time.”

I kiss her forehead. “Whatever you need, I’m not leaving.”

She huffs, then yawns. “Don’t be here when I wake up.”

My stomach twists, but I can grant her this request. She’ll come around, I know it. I’ll just have to remind her why being shackled to me isn't a prison sentence.

Brina

Emerypullsanotherboxin with an amused snort. “Stella McCartney. Do you think he knows you can go to like the GAP and probably get cuter baby clothes?”

I snatch the box from her and move it to the second bedroom, placing it among the ever-growing pile of other gifts. Turning to look at the door, Emery whistles as she takes in the abundance he’s sent me.

My cheeks flush, my hand dropping to my still-flat stomach. It’s been two weeks since I forced Aiden out of my apartment, and I have yet to visit an OBGYN to see how far along I am. I know I need to go soon, but something is holding me back.

“He knows what I like, Emery.” I tell her softly.

Emery’s eyebrow rises. “Don’t they always? You should see the gifts my husband gives me.”

Shrugging, I move around her and go back to the kitchen to review the contract again. She follows me silently.

“You know you can just shove it, right? He violated the previous one. We should sue his motherfucking ass.”

I blink up at her. “How would you present that to a judge? Your honor, he paid me for sex and got me pregnant without my consent. Please tell him to pay the two million dollars he owes for said sex.”

Emery twirls her glittery pink pen. “Something like that. Your honor, I run a very successful business that deals with the services of a personal matter. This man broke my rules, and that’s a big no-no, now gimme my money, bitch.”

I thin my lips to keep from laughing, and shake my head. “I don’t want to sue him. I just… I don’t know what I want exactly. But this new contract isn’t it.”

“That’s because men are stupid. He thinks he’s giving you freedom by paying for all your time so you don’t have to work, but really, he just needs to reach out and apologize.”

Her phone vibrates next to me, and she grins when she picks it up, turning to it to show me Jackson’s baby. “Isn’t she the cutest?”

“Not really,” I say dryly.

Emery blinks at me, her smile dropping.

I gasp, my hand dropping to my stomach. “What if I have an ugly baby?”

“There’s no such thing as an ugly baby. There’s just faces only a mother could love. So you don’t have to worry because, well, you’re its mother.” She snickers.

Rolling my eyes, I tilt my head back to the phone. “Did Melody send you that?”

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