“No, young man, paying for my daughter’s wedding is my job. Always has been and always will be.” Ron was a proud man. He could be hard at times, was tough as nails when it came to his company but was all about love and his family underneath.
Maurice was uncomfortable with this entire conversation. In fact, this was turning out to be one of the weirdest family dinners he’d ever attended. As much as he’d tried to assure Des that everything was going to be fine, he hadn’t been totally sure of that himself. He’d been the one to make the obvious clear to his family, but that was because they were asking so many questions. He should’ve anticipated that, but he honestly hadn’t thought he and Des had been giving off any signs. It’d only been a week since they’d started a physical relationship—how could so many people notice that so soon? And why did any of this even matter? His temples throbbed.
“All right,” Maurice began, “I don’t know what we’re doing. There, I said it.” Admitting the problem was the first step to recovery, or so people said. But what was he trying to recover from? He liked being with Des. He liked it a lot. There shouldn’t be any problems with that, nor should there be any other questions or concerns. And yet, he was full of questions and concerns right now.
“That’s usually how it starts,” Ron said with a nod before sticking his cigar between his teeth.
“He’s right,” Major added. “I started out thinking Nina and I were just working for the company, and the next thing I knew I was buying her a ring.”
“Your mother had me going to concerts where men sang nothing but love songs. She smelled like fresh-picked flowers and, man, I couldn’t get that scent out of my mind to save my life.” Hearing his father talk about falling in love with his mother made Maurice respect his parents and their marriage even more. Once upon a time, when he was very young and mostly stupid, he’d thought that was what his adult life would look like.
It was a good thing he’d grown up.
Almost getting India killed in that accident had been a sobering and maturing experience. While hooking up with Des online was something akin to fate, if he were prone to believe in that type of thing. All he knew for certain was that this thing with Des was unexpected and tempting as hell. What if it continued? What if they ended up in love or engaged, or...could he even allow himself to think like that?
No, he couldn’t.
No matter how good it felt to be with Des, he knew he couldn’t risk it. After all he’d been through, he couldn’t get entangled like that again.
His phone vibrated in his pocket. Standing, he pulled it out and read the message. He felt a boiling rage at seeing the message for the tenth time this week. It must’ve showed on his face, because Major noticed.
“What is it? One of your exes trying to come back for seconds?” his twin asked.
“Now, that’s gonna be his biggest issue. Turning down all those women he still had waiting in line for their chance with him.” At that, RJ laughed.
“Maurice, man, you all right?” Chaz asked.
“Is there a problem at the office, son?” Ron chimed in when it seemed like something serious was going on.
Maurice heard all their questions, but it sounded like they were traveling through a tunnel. His ears had begun to ring, and he clenched his teeth as he read each word again. Now was not the time for this. His sister was getting married, his brother had just celebrated his first holiday with his new wife, and his mother was elated about him and Des.
Des.
How would she react if she found out about this?
When his father called his name again, Maurice looked around the room, noting all the people he was closest to in life. If there was nobody else in the world he could trust with this, he could trust these men, and he knew that unequivocally.
“I’m being blackmailed,” he said solemnly. “Twenty million dollars or they go to the press with a paternity scandal that could derail the entire plan we’re putting in place for Riley’s wedding.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
ON TUESDAY, DESTA sat at her desk looking at the digital ads her team had composed using pictures of Riley and Chaz. She had until four this afternoon to decide on one to send to Infinity magazine in time for their special holiday edition. She’d reviewed all five designs at least twenty times in the last hour.
“Knock, knock.” Not moving her hands from the keyboard, she glanced up at the open door to her office to see Nina walking in. “Hey. You ready?”
Dressed in black jeans, knee-high boots and a leather jacket, Nina looked more like a classy biker than the co-owner of a multi-million-dollar tech company.
“Hi. Ready for what?”
With a sigh and half smile, Nina came to the edge of Desta’s desk. “Lunch. We scheduled a lunch date Sunday before you left the house. Today’s the day, and I’m just about on time.” Nina checked her watch. “With five minutes to spare.”
“Oh crap!” She’d totally forgotten about that, even though she’d seen it on her calendar this morning. The slipup was slightly embarrassing, and she shook her head. “I’ll be ready in five minutes. Just let me shut this down and grab my purse.”
Nina laughed. “Girl, no rush. I’m free for the rest of the afternoon so I can get some of my Christmas shopping done.”
Groaning, Desta shook her head and minimized the open tabs on her screen before locking her computer. “Don’t even talk about it. I haven’t done any shopping yet. Well, that’s not totally true. I got a few seasons of
