Page 94 of Julian

Normally, he would have been excited about them, but right then, he just felt drained. Still, he was sure that once the week got underway, his excitement would return. Sean and Ava were there to present information about FemPulse and the steps they were taking for FDA approval, so it was an exciting time.

“Well, hopefully you’ll be back soon,” Annie said. “Not long until your baby boy is born.”

Yet something else that was weighing on him and making him question himself. Would he be a good father? Right then, he didn’t feel like he would.

He wished that Elijah had been able to come to the fundraiser, because he would have been a good support… an understanding support. But he’d had to go to Texas with his mom and sister to deal with some family matters.

“Hey, Dad.”

Julian looked over his shoulder to see Duncan and Elizabeth approaching them, hand-in-hand. They came to stand next to Julian and Annie.

Duncan rested his hand on Julian’s shoulder. “Where’s Kiara?”

“She was tired and went upstairs.”

“That’s understandable,” Elizabeth said. “I’m just glad she was able to join us for a little while.”

“I doubt she feels the same way,” Julian told her. “Emilia cornered her for a conversation.”

“Jarrod Levine’s wife?” Duncan asked.

“Yes.”

“Did she upset Kiara?”

“I haven’t had a chance to talk to her about it yet. I was talking with Clarence when she and Lucy went upstairs.”

“I hope that she’s okay,” Elizabeth said. “I wanted this to be a special evening for her.”

When Duncan moved his hand from Julian’s shoulder, Julian got to his feet. “I hope you don’t mind, but I think I’m going to have an early night tonight.”

“Are you okay, Son?” Duncan asked.

“I’m fine, but we’re moving into the part of the evening at these events where alcohol is… tempting for me.”

“I see,” Duncan said. “Then by all means, feel free to leave.”

Julian appreciated that his dad seemed to understand his struggle. He hated that it was still a struggle. He wanted the time in rehab to have equipped him to the extent that he wouldn’t be tempted by alcohol anymore. But that wasn’t the case. And he wasn’t sure it ever would be.

“I’ll probably see you tomorrow,” he said as he held out his hand to his dad and then to Cole. He gave Elizabeth and Annie quick hugs, then looked around for Sean and Ava. When he spotted them, he walked to where they were chatting with several other people Julian recognized as Burke board members.

They’d all be meeting that week, so it was good that Sean and Ava were socializing with some of them. It would make the meetings later on a bit easier since the introductions were already taken care of for some of them.

“We can meet for dinner tomorrow,” Julian said after he’d let them know he was leaving the event. “I’ll give you a call.”

He shook hands with Sean, Ava, and the other board members, then made his way out of the ballroom with Anthony by his side. As they neared the door, he spotted Emilia with her husband. He met her gaze for a long moment, then looked away, dismissing her.

When they reached their floor, instead of going to his suite, he headed for Kiara’s. He rapped lightly on the door,anticipating that no one would answer, but instead, the door swung open to reveal Lucy.

“I know you told Anthony that Kiara went to bed, but I just wanted to check on her.”

Lucy stepped back to let them into the suite. “I haven’t seen her since she went into the bedroom.”

“How was she?”

Lucy didn’t answer right away. Since she technically worked for his family, Julian could force her to answer him. However, he didn’t want to put her in that position. If Kiara confided in Lucy, Julian didn’t want to take that away from her.

“She felt a bit out of her comfort zone.”