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“I think we should wait until the baby’s born,” Nick said.
I turned my head and furrowed my brows at him.
“Or not. Let’s do the blood test.” He grinned.
After leaving Georgia’s office, Nick and I spent the day together. We met with Giuseppe for the flowers and then with Zoey at the bakery to review our wedding cake design. Everything was falling into place, and I felt peaceful until my phone rang, and bad news was delivered.
Richard had passed away from a heart attack. I cried all night while Nick held me and tried to console me. I spoke to him a few days ago to tell him about the wedding and the baby, and he was fine. He was happy for us and told me about a woman he’d been seeing.
A few days later, Nick, my brothers, and I climbed on Shaun’s plane and flew to Connecticut to attend the funeral.
“You guys didn’t have to come.”
“Of course we did. He was special to you. You’re our sister, and we’re here to support you.” A sympathetic smile crossed Sam’s lips.
Sitting in the chair before his casket while the pastor spoke, I remembered all the times Richard looked out for me. He had become a father figure after Joseph died, and I felt the loss hard.
“He talked about you all the time,” Lenore said. “I’m sorry we had to meet under these circumstances.”
“I’m sorry for your loss, too, Lenore. Richard told me the two of you had gotten close.”
“We did. I wish we would have had more time together.” A tear fell from her eye.
After the funeral service, we headed to the luncheon.
“Claire, it’s good to see you again.” Jonathan hugged me. “After the luncheon, can you stop by my office? I need to speak with you about Richard’s will.”
“Yes, of course.”
“Who was that?” Nick asked, walking over to me.
“That’s Jonathan. He was Richard’s attorney. He needs to speak to me about Richard’s will.”
Once the luncheon had ended, we all climbed into the cars waiting for us and headed to Jonathan’s office.
“Thanks for coming, Claire.”
“Jonathan, this is my fiancé, Dr. Nick Russo. And my brothers, Sam, Stefan, Sebastian, Simon, and Shaun.”
“It’s nice to meet you all.” He smiled. “Please have a seat.”
He sat behind his desk, opened his drawer, and pulled out a file folder.
“Richard has left you all of his share in the company, making you the majority shareholder.”
“What?” My brows furrowed.
“He said it’s your birthright since your parents started the company. He knew you didn’t want to deal with it, but he stated that the company goes to you if anything should happen to him.”
“Great,” I sighed. “Not only am I getting married in two weeks, but I have a baby on the way, and now I have a company to worry about.” I placed my hands over my face.
Nick hooked his arm around me. “Babe, calm down.”
“He’s right, sis,” Shaun said. “Don’t worry about the company.”
“How can I not?” I voiced loudly. “I’m in Los Angeles. I can’t run an insurance company in Connecticut.”
“Like I said, don’t worry about it. We’ll figure it out,” Shaun spoke.
