The Innocent's Shock Pregnancy by Carol Marinelli

Author:Carol Marinelli
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2018-08-13T14:56:56+00:00

CHAPTER NINE

ETHAN DIDN’T GO HOME.

Instead he landed on Abe, who had a stunning brownstone in Greenwich Village.

He took for ever to answer the door.

‘Sorry to disturb you.’

‘No problem.’

‘Tell Candice—’

‘She’s not here,’ Abe said. ‘I took her home. Come in.’

‘How was Jobe?’ Ethan asked as Abe poured them both a Scotch. They often referred to their father by his name; it worked far better in meetings.

‘He stuck it out right to the end, but he was pretty wrecked by the time it was over. I’ve just been looking at the press write-ups. His weight loss hasn’t gone unnoticed.’

‘Well, it wouldn’t, would it?’ Ethan said. ‘He must have lost thirty pounds. Why can’t he just step back?’

‘According to him, now’s not the time. Anyway, you’re not here about that, are you?’

‘Nope.’ Ethan looked over to his brother, and for a moment wondered about the wisdom of coming to Abe for advice.

Abe, even by Ethan’s standards, was a rake. God alone knew how Candice put up with him. Then again, Abe was brilliant, and tonight Ethan needed his brain.

‘I met a woman some time back. The night Jobe first went in to hospital...’

‘How long have you been seeing her?’

‘Just that night,’ Ethan said, and took a drink. ‘She’s from England.’

‘And...?’ Abe pushed.

‘I’ve just found out that she’s pregnant.’

‘I hope you’ve told her that there’s no way it can be yours.’

Ethan said nothing.

‘And there is no way it can be yours because you wouldn’t be so idiotic as to have unprotected sex...’

When Ethan still said nothing Abe let out a frustrated cuss. Then he shook his head and gave a dismissive wave of his hand.

‘Get a DNA test, talk to Maurice—’

‘It’s mine,’ Ethan said.

‘And you know that because...?’

‘I just know it is.’

‘Does she work?’

‘She’s an actress.’

‘So she’s had training at being convincing?’

Ethan knew why he’d come then. Abe was like a black mirror, voicing his doubts. Yet he found himself arguing back at him.

‘She was working at a gallery when I met her. I dropped in to check things out for Khalid. Merida gave me a private tour.’

‘So it would seem.’

‘It wasn’t like that.’

‘It was exactly like that,’ Abe said. ‘And don’t forget it for a moment. She saw you coming. Or rather she saw dollar signs and made sure you were coming. Some two-bit actress saw her chance—’

‘Hey!’ Ethan roared. ‘Merida’s good at what she does. I found out last night that she’d been cast in Night Forest...’

But it didn’t sway Abe. ‘I’ll bet this house that she hadn’t been cast when you bedded her.’

Ethan might be cynical where relationships were concerned but Abe was contemptuous.

He was also right.

‘So what do you want to do?’ Abe asked.

‘I don’t know, but I have to sort something out. She was on her way back to England when I found out.’

‘Well, that sounds like a solution to me.’ Abe shrugged. ‘Pay her off, set her up, drop in now and then, be seen to do the right thing...’

His final words were like a punch to the gut.

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