Wyatt nodded, pressing his face against Raph’s neck. “I’ve been thinking about a natural birth with the baby. If the doctor allows it.”
Raph froze. He’d read up on it some. “There’s risks if you go that way. Rupturing and all that.”
It raised the chances of infant mortality. Raph looked down at the swell of Wyatt’s belly, his heart heavy with dread. I don’t want our baby to die.
Unlike months ago, when he’d asked if Wyatt would abort the child. Raph shivered, just thinking about that. If Wyatt had gone ahead and tried an abortion, Raph would’ve been kicking himself right now.
He’d seen the baby on the ultrasound screen, held his palm against Wyatt’s abdomen. When he cradled Wyatt’s belly, he was so very close to touching their baby.
It was so real. And it was theirs.
Wyatt sagged against him. “I want to have a choice this time, Raph. I want whatever’s best for our baby.”
“I’ll be there with you,” Raph whispered, pressing kisses all over his face. “Promise.”
“Thank you.”
With all Wyatt had been through... it was selfish of Raph to make him move. He shouldn’t be uprooting Wyatt and his family, when Wyatt would have the birth to recover from, and an infant to nurse. Wyatt’s restaurant was here—the business he’d spent so long building from the ground up.
“I’ll put in an application for a transfer,” Raph said, kissing Wyatt on the lips. “First thing on Monday.”
Still didn’t solve the debt, but it was a step forward.
“I love you,” Wyatt murmured, his eyes warm. “You’re doing too much for me, Raph.”
“For the baby, too.”
Wyatt blinked hard. “Yeah, I’d do anything for our baby.”
“What about yourself?” Raph brushed his fingers over Wyatt’s cheek, leaning up to nuzzle his ear. “Remember that you’re important, Wy. I respect you as my omega. You don’t have to be mine. I just... wanted you to know that’s what I feel.”
Wyatt sucked in a shaky breath, threading his fingers through Raph’s hair. Then he leaned in, kissing Raph sweetly on the lips.
Wyatt was his family, and so was Hazel and the baby. Raph swore he wouldn’t disappoint any of them.
“I’m rejecting your transfer application,” Grandma said the following Monday, in front of half the office. “I need you as my regional manager here.”
Raph’s stomach squeezed. His coffee tipped over the rim of his mug. And a handful of his staff looked up, surprise and curiosity on their faces. I just told Wyatt I’m moving.
It was eight in the morning, far too early for shit like this. Raph kept his expression calm, breathing in. “Can we discuss this in my office?”
It was an open secret that he was the company president’s grandson. Sometimes, his staff even joked about it.
Raph felt the weight of ten pairs of eyes on his back, watching as he led the way to his glass-walled office, his grandmother stalking him like a predator. His heart hammered.
“I’ve suggested a number of possible replacements,” he said when he’d shut the door behind Grandma. The blinds didn’t need lowering; he didn’t care who witnessed this from the outside. “There are a number of excellent staff who will rise to the position and handle the operations better than I can.”
Grandma looked down her nose at him, her gold necklace glittering. “That’s not an option, Raphael. You will remain the regional manager for as long as I say.”
How long until you turn senile? Raph clenched his jaw, his thoughts racing. At 84, Grandma had a chauffeur who sent her to and from Highton every day. She had power over the entire office, and the mansion, and his parents’ lives. And she wanted control over Raph’s, too.
The only other option was for him to quit his job. He’d been looking at the openings in Meadowfall—the managerial positions back home paid half of what he earned right now. Not enough to cover the monthly payments for his loan. He’d have to take on a second job, work overtime. And it wouldn’t be fair to Wyatt, when Wyatt would be busy with their new baby.
Grandma’s eyes narrowed, the green eyeshadow on her lids wrinkling. Then she lifted her nose and sniffed, and Raph hoped like hell the scent suppressant worked. “This has to do with that useless brother of yours, doesn’t it?”
“He’s not useless,” Raph growled, anger snarling through his chest. But even acknowledging Wyatt was a risk. Elizabeth Fleming had the power to run them both deep into debt. She could plant people in Wyatt’s restaurant, riddle him with lawsuits, force him to shut down. And then they’d be forced to move, maybe go into hiding, just to escape from her.
How did you avoid people with money, when they were out to get you?
Raph swallowed hard, forcing his expression back to neutral. “I merely wish to return to my roots. That’s all.”
Grandma raised an eyebrow. “I hope those roots aren’t something so vile as... inbreeding. I’ve heard a couple of rumors.”
She knows, that bitch. Raph’s heart sank. Had it been from the night Max showed up?
Grandma looked hard at him. Raph forced himself to hold that stare, as much as he hated looking at her. “My choices and reasons are my own,” he said. “I’m sure you understand the desire to spend time with family.”
She watched him, her expression severe. He expected her to rail at him with the same insults she’d flung at him nine years ago, but instead, she kept silent. And Raph needed to move, shake off the unease on his shoulders. What else is she planning?
“You don’t remember the details of your loan agreement, do you?” Grandma asked. “If you leave your position in Alpha Associates, you will pay the rest of your loan over the next three months.”
Raph stopped breathing. Fifty grand a month? He couldn’t afford that. And neither could Wyatt. But it was either this, or stay in Grandma’s business, and Highton, and miss out on all the moments with his family. Were those moments worth a
