“What?”
“It’s Kevin.”
“You haven’t told him yet?”
“I left a voicemail,” I say guiltily.
Benjamin leans into the railing. “Ooh, you are in so much trouble.”
***
I rest my elbows against the railing of the yacht. Benjamin’s deep rasp echoes from the bedroom, thirty minutes into a call with someone who’s made him upset. My mind is far away, stuck on the fact that I haven’t told Benjamin about the medical tests or the fact that my iron count was so low I needed an immediate transfusion. Part of me is sure he’ll make a scene about it if I told him. It’s why every time I’ve thought of doing it, I’ve stopped myself.
There is the option of not telling him, waiting to see if I can fix this somehow, biding my time until we’re more secure with idea of having a baby. But this is a secret he will not appreciate being left in the dark on. There are also the dreaded appointments I’ll have to schedule around him. I tell myself that I’m doing this to spare him worry, but really, I’m a coward who would rather see him happy about a baby than expecting the worst every day.
We babysit Dante tomorrow, and it needs to go perfectly. It’s our first trial run.
“What are you brooding about out here?”
Benjamin’s at the door. I hadn’t even heard him end the call.
“Nothing important.”
“I just spoke to my brother.”
Alexander keeps appearing today, doesn’t he? “About what?”
“He’s leaving Scott Industries.”
“What? Why?”
“He’s starting a company with my mother. He’s decided he is sick of living under my spotlight, that I’ve dragged him down, etcetera.”
“How could he say that? You’ve given him so much.”
“We’ve been at odds for a long while now.”
“Brothers fight, Ben, but they don’t—”
“No, Darcy. This isn’t a brotherly fight. We’ve barely spoken to each other in over a year.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
He doesn’t answer me, which instantly tells me that I’m somehow involved.
“It’s because of me? Ben—”
“Don’tBenme, Darcy.”
“I never wanted to drive you away from your family.”
“He wanted you. He wanted what was mine.”
My heart thumps irregularly at his bluntness, enjoying his claiming. “He didn’t know we were together at the time,” I remind him with a smile.
“I’m talking about after I fired you.”
I stare at him, absorbing the fact that he’s kept this from me for almost two years now. “What happened?”
