Page 65

It was so fucking hard to concentrate. To stay focused.
“Jesus fuck, Rhett. Why don’t you just take the day off?”
I glared at Grayson, barely managing to hold back from telling him to take a long walk off a short pier.
“No need.”
Neonatal hemo, something or other. Too much iron. Kidney failure. What the fuck was going to happen if Laura Parker didn’t step up? I mean, sure, she’d provided the family history quick smart, but that was a baseline expectation, wasn’t it? It certainly didn’t mean she’d be prepared to travel to Raleigh, to get tested, to see if she was a match.
It could be that she didn’t want something that happened so long ago, when she was just a teenager, to come crashing into her life now. She was married, with four kids, so fair enough.
I drummed my fingers on the polished oak table, trying and failing to focus on the drone of Grayson’s voice.
“Are you even listening, Rhett?” Grayson’s sharp tone cut through my distracted haze.
I blinked rapidly, forcing myself to meet his narrowed gaze. “What? Yeah, of course.” The lie came automatically, buying me a few precious seconds to try to catch up.
Wolfe leaned back in his chair, studying me with that infuriatingly perceptive look he always got. “You’re a million miles away, brother. What’s going on?”
Grinding my teeth, I resisted the urge to snap at them both. What was going on? Only that the woman carrying my children was in the hospital facing some rare, potentially devastating condition that I still didn’t fully understand.
But I couldn’t exactly blurt that out to my brothers, could I? They knew about the pregnancy by now, but not the current medical situation. Which was exactly what Scarlett wanted, since she really didn’t want to be fussed over.
Not when Scarlett had made it crystal clear that the news of her pregnancy was on a purely needs to know basis. At this point, that meant her parents and Scarlett’s partner in the law firm, since she had to explain her absence from the office. Oh, and Bob, because he was handling the court injunction to have Scarlett’s adoption file opened.
“It’s nothing,” I muttered instead, raking a hand through my hair. “Just... a lot on my mind right now. But I’m listening, really. What were you saying about the Henderson property?”
Grayson narrowed his eyes further. “Nothing about the Henderson property. We’re discussing the acquisition out Jacksonville way.”
Jacksonville. Shit. Where I’d picked Scarlett up on the side of the road and ten minutes later, my world had imploded. “Got it.”
“Head in the game?”
I gave a mock salute. “Yes, sir.”
Grayson looked at Wolfe; a brow raised in question. Wolfe’s answer was a small shrug. He had no idea what the fuck was wrong with me, either.
With that, Grayson turned back to his paperwork. As he launched back into the discussion, I tried my best to focus, but my thoughts kept drifting to Scarlett and the babies.
Fucking hell, this was useless. Gripping the arms of my chair, I wrestled my attention to the present, refusing to be that guy - the useless, absentminded screw-up that never gave two fucks about anything my father had always accused me of being. Scarlett and her situation would still be there when this never-ending meeting was finally over. Less than five minutes later, my phone beeped.
Bob:Mr. Rivers, something urgent has come up in regards to Ms. Wright. Please call me ASAP.
Shit.
“Excuse me,” I muttered, rising from my chair. Grayson and Wolfe immediately stopped their discussion, eyeing me with matching frowns of disapproval.
“Everything okay?” Wolfe asked as I headed for the door.
“Not sure yet,” I called over my shoulder, already pressing Bob’s contact details. “Bob? What’s going on?”
“Mr. Rivers, I have a... situation here at my office.” Bob’s reedy voice was tight with obvious agitation. “Laura Parker is here, demanding to speak with you. She’s refusing to leave until she gets some answers.”
My stomach clenched as the name hit me like a sucker punch. Laura Parker... Scarlett’s birth mother. The woman I’d paid an ungodly sum to track down. Whose privacy I’d breached, on top of everything else.
“I’m on my way,” I said shortly, already heading for the elevator bank. “Don’t let her leave, Bob. I’ll be right there.”
Whatever bombshell Laura Parker was about to drop, I could only hope I was ready for the fallout when it finally reached Scarlett.