“Because letting her make bad decisions goes against everything I am.” It scared the shit out of him because that was how he lost people. “Plus, it’s a stupid fucking idea.”
“It is not.”
“Is too.” He glanced at his friend, trying not to laugh.
“You’re a little old for this.” Ethan smirked. “Hell, I’m a little old for this conversation.”
“If it works…” He shrugged.
“It doesn’t.”
“Seems to be working to me.”
“Do you love her?”
“What difference—”
“Maybe that’s the problem. How is she supposed to know how much she means to you when you can’t even admit it to yourself?”
“I admit it to myself,” he mumbled. He had nightmares about her being gone—disappearing and never coming back.
“Have you told her that you’ve been in love with her for a long time? Months before you married her.”
“I didn’t love her. I just wanted her.”
“Don't be an ass. I heard about the fertility test or the lack of one. Why didn’t you have her tested?”
“There was no reason. Irene is proof of that.”
“But you didn't know that months ago. If she hadn’t gotten pregnant you would’ve lost a fortune and had no one to inherit all your money. A kid was the point of this whole marriage, wasn’t it?” Ethan glanced at him before turning down the street toward the Club.
“Of course, it was the point.” Even he knew the smart thing would’ve been to have had them both tested.
“Then why didn’t you have her tested? Think long and hard about that before you answer, Harker.”
“I don’t have to think about it. I didn’t agree to a fertility test because if she’d been infertile then I would’ve had to look for someone else to have my child.”
“You’re getting warmer. Go ahead, man. Jump into that fire and admit it all.”
“Fuck you.”
“Sorry, you’re not my type, and I already told you…No more threesomes with you.”
He laughed. “Sorry about that night. I wasn’t myself.”
“I think you were. You were the new and improved Harker. The man who’s in love and has been for quite some time.”
He stared out the window for a long time before admitting, “If I’d had her tested and she’d been infertile, I would’ve lost her.” He would’ve had no reason to pursue her. She would’ve had no reason to let him touch her, and that was one risk that he hadn’t been able to take. “Any other obstacle I could’ve solved with manipulation, money or persuasion but not science.”
“Then why are you giving up now?”
“What?”
“This”—Ethan slapped the envelope—“is just an obstacle. Get rid of it. Work around it.”
“I don’t think I can. She doesn’t need my money anymore. She won’t talk to me or listen to me, so persuasion is out and…I…I’m done manipulating her.”
“I’m glad to hear that. You should’ve never done it in the first place. Consent—”
