LITMIR.BIZ

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Bobby had made a habit of stopping in every few months, unannounced, to see how things were going.

      China was the ultimate fresh start. Seth should’ve been thrilled by this prospect.

      “You know,” Bobby said in a kind of voice that Seth had long since recognized as manipulative, “we could send someone else. I’ve made a few contacts...”

      “What? No—I’m going. I’m a partner in this company. This is my job.” He was a Bolton. He worked for the family business. He wasn’t about to shirk his duties because he’d accidentally fallen in love with Kate.

      The sour feeling in his stomach got more awful.

      “The museum project is barely off the ground,” Bobby went on, as if Seth hadn’t spoken. “We still need to select the architect, finalize the design, and then there’s the actual building to oversee.”

      “You’re going to handle that.” Of all the brothers, Bobby was the one who traveled the most—and that wasn’t just because his wife was British. But the man practically turned into a homebody from September to May while Clara was in school.

      Bobby stared at him flatly. Seth heard himself continue, “This was the deal, man. I promised to do this and I’m not going to go back on my promises to you guys. We’re family.” Bobby didn’t respond, and an odd sort of dread churned around with the sourness. “Aren’t we?”

      “Have you ever spoken with your dad?” Bobby asked unexpectedly.

      What the hell kind of question was that? “I talked to him this morning when I came into work. Why?”

      “No, I mean your birth father. Have you ever talked to him?”

      It shouldn’t have hit Seth like a sledgehammer to the chest—but it did. “No. I don’t even know who he was. All I know is that he left. Mom was pregnant and he left her alone.”

      He did not like the way Bobby was looking at him. The man was perhaps the most intelligent of the three brothers, but he hid it behind a veneer of playboy charm. There was no getting around the fact that Bobby played a long game. “She’s pregnant, isn’t she?”

      The hits just kept on coming. “I’m not the father.”

      There was no need to ask who had figured it out. Kate had come to Julie’s championship game—the Mustangs had easily won. And if no one had asked her if she was expecting, that was because her body made that question irrelevant. She was soft and round and glowing. Any idiot could see that she was with child—and his family was not full of idiots.

      However, no one had asked. Kate’s impending joy had been the elephant in the room that they had all avoided talking about at the game and ever since. Even Billy had skirted the subject, instead favoring Seth with hard looks that said more than words ever would.

      Now Seth was going to leave Kate behind. Because his first priority was his family. Because that was what Boltons did. Family was first. Family was everything.

      And Kate was...

      He was going to be sick.

      “I made a promise to you guys and to the company,” Seth said slowly. “I haven’t made any promises to anyone else.” Which was true.

      So why did saying it feel like a betrayal?

      Because Kate was spending almost every night in Seth’s bed and every morning in his arms. Because they ate dinner together and talked about their days.

      Because he had asked her if she wanted him to go with her to her doctor’s appointment where she found out she was having a girl. He’d discussed names with her. Because he had a diamond solitaire pendant with matching earrings already wrapped in silver-and-red paper with her name on it—his parting gift to her before he left.

      Because, like an idiot, he had completely fallen in love with her. Deeply, irrevocably in love.

      It didn’t help that Bobby was still staring at him. Usually, you couldn’t shut the man up. But today, he was acting more like Billy than ever. “Who else does she have? I did some digging, you know. Her ex-fiancé stayed with her parents’ firm. An old friend had to give her a job. And then a certain knight in shining armor rode in and threw some big commissions her way. But if you leave, who else will she have?”

      It was not uncommon for the Bolton brothers to come to blows. Bobby and Billy were like oil and water, and although Ben did his best to keep them from pummeling each other, Seth had seen a few noses get busted in his time.

      Aside from that one incident before his parents had gotten married, Seth had never been a part of a family brawl. Mostly because he wasn’t nearly as big as his dad and his uncles, but also it didn’t seem right to take on the men who’d made a place for him.

      But right now? Right now, he wanted to break Bobby’s jaw. And maybe a few other bones, just for good measure. “If you’re going to say something, just say it.”

      Bobby cracked that smooth grin of his. Seth wanted to push it in with his fist. “Wouldn’t be surprised in the least if your aunts didn’t descend upon that poor woman. Your mom, especially, wouldn’t like the idea of Kate being all alone when she has that baby.”

      No, of course Mom wouldn’t. Even though Seth was twenty-five years old now. Even though Mom had been married to Billy for almost eleven years, Jenny Bolton still ran an after-school support group for pregnant teenagers because she didn’t want anyone to feel as alone as she had when she’d been pregnant with Seth.

      “Are you done yet?” Seth ground out. “Because I don’t know what you want me to do here, Bobby. You show up with a plan that will have me in Shanghai for almost a year and then simultaneously make me feel like crap for doing my job? Go to hell. And get out of my office.” It felt damn good to be able to say that.

      Bobby stood, in no hurry to go anywhere. He straightened his cuffs and popped his neck from side to side. “I’m not the one making you feel bad, kid.” He headed for the door, but paused with his hand on the knob. “And we are family, Seth. Family is the most important thing we have.” The words settled in the room like silt at the bottom of standing water.

      Seth understood what Bobby was saying. His uncle had just been playing devil’s advocate—but they still expected him to put the family first and do his best to open up the Asian market. “I understand.”

      He was definitely going to be sick.

      Bobby gave him a measured look. “Do you?” And with that parting shot, he was gone.

       Fifteen

      “Katie, my girl,” Harold Zanger said, striding out of his office and snapping his suspenders. “How are you getting on this fine day?”

      Kate patted her ever-growing stomach. “Fine,” she said with a smile as Harold beamed. She left out the part where she had to pee every seven minutes and her back hurt. According to the doctor, things were going perfectly. She only had another three months to go.

      “Is that Mr. Bolton of yours going to be coming around?” Harold asked the question in a too-casual manner.

      But Kate didn’t miss the yours in that question. “I don’t think it’s physically possible for him to buy any more real estate,” she said, dodging the question.

      Seth was not hers. In fact, with Christmas weeks away, he was less hers every single day.

      They hadn’t talked about it, but she knew he was leaving soon. And she knew it was selfish, but she didn’t want him to go. The last three months with him had been the best three months of her life.

      Harold gave her a kindly look. “He’s done all right by you, hasn’t he?”

      Kate looked away. “He has. But then,” she said, forcing a smile to her lips, “so have you.”

      Harold

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