Page 142 of Claimed By The Other Brother

"Hello?"

"Scarlett. It's me."

Silence.

"Dax? What—how are you here?"

"Buzz me in. Please."

Another pause. Then the door clicks open. I take the stairs to the third floor. Her apartment is at theend of the hall. The door opens before I reach it. She's standing there in an oversized sweater, her hair pulled back, no makeup. She looks tired. Beautiful. Terrified.

"Dax," she breathes. "What are you doing here?"

I step inside and she closes the door behind me. Her apartment is spacious but cozy. Nothing like the sleek modern space in New York. This is more her—art on the walls, books stacked in the corner, soft lighting.

"Why didn't you tell me?" I ask.

She blinks. "Tell you what?"

I pull one of the pamphlets from my jacket pocket and hold it up. Her face goes white.

"How did you—where did you get that?"

"Your mail. At the apartment. The leasing agent called about forwarding it, and I went to pick it up." I take a step closer.

"Are you pregnant, Scarlett?"

Her mouth opens but no sound comes out.

"Tell me," I say, my voice breaking.

"Are you pregnant?"

Tears well up in her eyes. She nods once, barely perceptible.

The confirmation hits me like a physical blow. I knew it intellectually, but hearing it—seeing her admit it—makes it real.

"How long have you known?"

"Two weeks. I found out right before I came back to Chicago."

"And you didn't think to tell me?"

"I was going to. I just—" Her voice cracks.

"Everything was falling apart. The scandal, my job, the board meeting. I couldn't process it. I didn't know what to do."

"So you decided to deal with it alone?"

"I needed time to think!"

"About what? About whether to keep it?" The question comes out harsher than I intended.

Her eyes flash with anger. "About everything! About what this means. About whether I can do this. About what you'd say. About—" She stops, wrapping her arms around herself. "I'm terrified, Dax."

The anger drains out of me. I cross the room and pull her into my arms.

She resists for a second, then collapses against my chest, sobbing.