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“Zahara, this discussion is not over. Call me when you have calmed down. I will postpone heading back to Vegas and will find somewhere to stay overnight.”
He paused, listening to see if she was still near the door. He was about to speak when he heard her voice.
“Just go away. I am tired.” He heard the sadness and fatigue in her voice, and he nodded, reaching out and touching the door, suddenly feeling the need to soothe her. He didn’t like hearing her this way, and he jerked his hand back. She was right. He only responded this way with her; not even with his Delilah did he lose control like this, and it scared him. He could not get emotionally attached to her or anyone. Losing Delilah sent him spiraling, and he’d lost himself for a bit. His family had been concerned about his mental health and had all been there for him, until he’d gotten help.
He had always thought of himself as being strong, ruthless even, but the guilt over her death had eaten away at him. He did not want that happening again.
***
Carter reached his rental car, opening the door and getting in. He reached for the start button but then pulled his hand back and reached behind the seat, where his suit jacket had been resting. Grabbing it, he searched the inside pocket for his phone. He’d been so preoccupied with Zahara that he had forgotten it in the car. He frowned. He had lost all control around her. If his family found out, especially his brother Leaf, they would never let him hear the end of it.
He hit the contacts button and dialed the number he was looking for.
He heard a husky growl. “What?!”
He grinned. It sounded like he had just interrupted something. Good. He wanted someone else in a sour mood along with him.
“She’s pregnant.” He dropped his bomb, and all he heard was dead air on the other side of the line.
He then heard a rustling sound and a female voice asking huskily, “Darling, where are you going?”
“I will be right back; Carter just dropped a bomb on me, and I am just going to step out of the room for a minute so I can gloat and drive his blood pressure up.”
Carter rolled his eyes. Then he heard, “Don’t you dare move, wife; this will not take long, and I like you in that position, wrapped in silk ropes for my pleasure.”
“Leaf, hurry up,” Carter barked. “Leave your wife alone. I don’t need to hear what you two like to do in bed.”
Leaf gave a humourless chuckle. “That’s what you get for interrupting me. Next time, text me first, and if I don’t answer, leave a message,” he warned.
“Noted.”
“So, Papa, I am assuming it is Zahara that is carrying your child?”
“How do you know it’s Zahara?”
“Your moody attitude, and I also saw your business itinerary for this week and knew that you were finally heading to New York to see her. So how bad did you screw everything up?”
Carter sighed. “Bad.”
He scowled when he heard his brother Leaf’s roar of laughter.
When the laughter wound down, Leaf said, “Well, I want to congratulate you on being a father and screwing this up as usual with your dictatorship. Not everyone is going to fall into line with what you want, Carter.”
He gripped the phone because just hearing that sent him on edge. He loved control and everything in its place; it threw him off when things did not go according as planned—which it rarely did. Just wanted to put that out there.
“What happened?”
Carter sighed and told Leaf everything.
He heard a low whistle. “No wonder she is furious. If I tried that shit with Deana, I would not be able to walk for a week. Carter, you need to stop—”
“I don’t want to hear anything more about what I feel from you. You are not me,” he growled.
Leaf sighed. “Well, I am sure you are already strategizing in that brain of yours to convince her to listen to you and get her to do whatever it is you want, and I hope she gives you hell first.”
“Thanks.”
“No problem. Now I’m going back to my wife.”
