Page 25 of Accidental Theirs (Alpha Billionaire Daddies #6)

Chapter Twenty-Two

SEBASTIAN

A week goes by with no word from Olivia. I guess she doesn’t have a reason to contact me unless it’s about the baby.

The baby. Potentially, my baby.

It’s not that I’ve never considered being a father. Sophie wanted kids, but I lost her before we could have them. She even set up a nursery in our old house—which I’d put on the market right after she was gone.

I couldn’t stay there, not with all the memories, the walls whispering to me about what might have been.

I go to work, come home, drink too much, fall asleep. It’s an endless cycle, and I know at some point I have to confront what’s going on. But it’s difficult. It’s overwhelming to even think about, and not to mention the weird flip in my heart whenever Olivia smiles at me.

It’s familiar. It’s something I’ve felt before, and it fucking terrifies me.

Because nothing lasts forever.

My parents have passed on and most of my friends know Olivia, so I don’t really have anyone to talk to .

On the next Sunday after Sophie’s birthday and Olivia’s confession, I call my brother, Brendan.

When he answers the phone, he sounds surprised. “Bash?”

“Bree,” I drawl, and he groans.

“I’ve asked you repeatedly not to call me that.”

“What else are younger brothers for, if not to tease you?” I pause. “Listen, I know you’re busy, but there’s something I need to talk to you about.”

He’s quiet for a moment. “Is it important?”

“Maybe the most important thing that’s ever happened to me,” I answer honestly, skipping the bourbon tonight and making myself a glass of ice water.

“Then I’ll fly down.”

I nearly choke on my water. “From France ? You don’t have to do that. We can just FaceTime or something...”

“I’m coming. Next flight out.”

He hangs up, and I head into the living room, bewildered.

I flip on the television and in all the commotion, I have forgotten that our wedding video is still up on the screen. I haven’t turned it on all week.

It’s stuck on a scene of me with Sophie scooped up in my arms, bridal-style, her train trailing over my arm down to the floor.

My throat feels tight with emotion, and I switch the input quickly.

I can’t spiral right now. No matter how much I want to.

Brendan has worked overseas for the last ten years, and I haven’t seen him in about five. The reason I called him, apart from him being my only family, is because he’s a family man himself.

I have a niece and a nephew, and I shower them with gifts and affection whenever I can, even though I don’t see them often. We keep in touch via FaceTime and phone calls, and that’s always been good enough for me .

I like kids but can’t imagine the responsibility of two of them.

Right now, I need advice, and my brother is my best option given the circumstances.

It’s three days before he can get here, and we meet at an exclusive Italian restaurant, one I made reservations for as soon as I knew when he’d arrive.

Brendan looks exhausted as he gets out of the rental car, bags under his eyes, and guilt rolls over me as I approach him.

He smiles, and his face lights up.

I go for a handshake, and he pulls me into a hug.

“It’s been too long, little brother.”

We’re technically what our mother always called Irish twins, just eleven months apart, but he likes to remind me that he was here first far too often.

“Jet-lagged?”

He groans. “Like you wouldn’t believe. Vicky wanted to come with me, but we couldn’t get our schedules together.”

I nod slowly.

It’s for the best that Vicky didn’t come. We get along fine, but we’re just not as close as I’d like us to be because of the distance.

Plus, I’m fairly certain she thinks I’m a dog, given some remarks she’s made about my sexual proclivities.

“We should have met at home.”

He waves his hand to dismiss my worries. “It’s fine. I’m starving, anyway. Doe this place serve burgers?”

I snort out a laugh. “Real funny. Dinner’s on me.”

“Absolutely not.”

I sigh.

We’ll fight over the check like we always do.

Once we’re seated and each have a drink in front of us and a shrimp appetizer, Brendan looks at me curiously.

“What’s going on with you? ”

“A lot.” I take a gulp of my drink for courage.

He’s going to be shocked by what I have to say.

But truth is I really need this off my chest. “Do you remember Olivia Carter?”

He blinks. “Richard’s little girl?”

I wince. “Yeah, her.”

“Sure. What about her?”

“She’s pregnant.” I pop a shrimp into my mouth as he just stares at me blankly.

“Okay? Should I call and congratulate her?”

I shake my head. “Not just yet. The thing is, it might be mine.”

His eyes, so much like mine, widen, and he leans forward across the table.

“You’re not serious. You’re fucking with me.”

“I’m not.” I look at him seriously, letting him know this isn’t all some prank.

“What do you mean, might be?”

I sigh. “It’s a long story. But I told her that I’d be here for her, for the baby.”

“Of course, you will.” He sits back in his seat, still looking shellshocked. “You have to.”

“Part of me wants to run.” I run a hand through my hair.

“That’s normal, Bash. When Vicky told me she was pregnant with Imogen, I thought I’d move to the Maldives.”

I laugh. “Really? I always thought you guys planned Imogen.”

He snorts. “Absolutely not. We’d only been married three months. I had planned to enjoy my wife and my marriage for a while before having kids.”

“How did you come to accept it?”

He shrugs. “Hell if I know. Just time, I guess. And of course, I’m crazy about Vicky.” He pauses. “How do you feel about Olivia? ”

That’s a really good question.

“I'm not sure,” I mumble.

Brendan huffs out a breath. “I know things have been hard for you since...”

I’m glad he lets his words just trail off. Hearing her name right now when emotions are so high might make me lose it.

“Hard is an understatement.”

He nods. “I know. I know, Bash. If I lost Vicky, I don’t know what I’d do.”

A brief wave of bitterness rushes through me.

Why should he have everything that I can’t? Why is the universe so cruel?

“This isn’t about her. This is about Olivia.”

“Everything’s about her for you, Bash,” he says gently, and I’m embarrassed that tears sting at the backs of my eyes.

Luckily, the server returns with our entrées, and I have something else to focus on.

“How do you feel about being a father?”

“I haven’t thought about having kids in fifteen years, Brendan.”

Not since Sophie.

Now that he’s brought her up, she’s all I can think about.

Can I ever love anyone else the way I loved her?

“You told her you’d be there, though. You did the right thing.”

“Of course, I did. I’m forty-two, not twenty-five. I’m old enough to take responsibility for my actions.”

“Is she?”

I groan, putting my fork down and settling back in my chair. “She’s not eighteen, Brendan, she’s in her late twenties. She’s not a kid anymore.”

He holds out his hands. “Sorry. She was a kid last time I saw her, that’s all. ”

“Well, she grew up, okay? And you can’t judge me for an age gap, isn’t Vicky like twelve years younger than you?”

“Eleven,” he says, sounding offended like that’s so much better.

“This isn’t about the age gap.”

“What does Richard think of all this?”

I take a deep breath. “He doesn’t know.”

Brendan’s mouth drops open. “He doesn’t know ? How are you going to keep a pregnancy from him?”

My shoulders stiffen. “We’re not. But right now, we don’t know who the father is. There’s no reason to get him worked up for nothing.”

“For nothing? Haven’t you been fucking his daughter?”

I squeeze my eyes shut briefly, frustrated.

Brendan has always been pretty blunt. I shouldn’t be surprised.

“I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it, Bree.”

He glares at me as I say the childhood nickname but doesn’t interrupt.

“Right now, I have to wrap my head around the fact that I may be a father in a few months.”

“Okay.” He nods, chewing his ravioli and swallowing. “Let’s just assume it is yours. Are you going to marry her?”

I startle. “ Marry her? God, no. Why would I do that?”

“Because it’s the right thing to do. Because she’s the mother of your child.”

“It’s not the eighteenth century anymore, Bree. She won’t be ruined if I don’t marry her.”

“Maybe not, but that doesn’t change things. It’s still the gentlemanly thing to do.”

I snort. “When have I ever been a gentleman?”

“You used to be,” he says quietly, and I go silent.

I used to be a much different man, before everything life threw at me. I was a hopeless romantic, wore my heart on my sleeve, and when I met Sophie, I knew we were soulmates.

But things change. You lose what you thought would always be yours, get shattered into a thousand painful pieces, and you have to pivot. I pivoted.

“That Sebastian died a long time ago.”

He sighs. “You’re still a good man. I know that, and you do, too. You just need to get your head out of your ass.”

“What are you suggesting? That I drop everything, make her fall for me? Did you not hear the part where it might not be mine? The girl has options.”

“When have you ever backed down from a fight? That part of you hasn’t died, has it?”

I’m struck silent again, looking down at my barely touched food.

He’s right. I have to figure out how I feel about Olivia. If I’m willing to take the leap again.

It’s been so long since I’ve had someone to come home to. I have to admit, I do get lonely.

Would it be so bad? To have a wife and child? To have a life again outside of dirty, unfulfilling one-night stands and three-month flings?

It would be if you lost it.

That voice in the back of my mind always reminds me that as soon as you think you have everything figured out, the world sweeps the rug out from under you.

Can I go through that again? Will I survive it?