Page 2 of Matrimonial Merger (Lakeshore Empire #2)

Daphne

The buzz from downstairs caught me off guard.

I was in our bedroom trying on my dress, cursing the bloat and my mother’s insistence that I looked fine when I heard it.

I crossed the room to answer it, annoyed that Cal was still on his way home.

If this was who I thought it was, I dreaded what happened next.

“Hello?” I answered.

The concierge responded, “Miss Delphine, Mrs. Markham is here. She’d like to be let up.”

“And I used to be!” I heard Elise protest.

Fuck!

“Let her up,” I said, too tired to have much to say.

“Yes, ma’am,” he agreed.

I went back to the bedroom to finish putting in my earrings. I wouldn’t wait around for her. She’d come find me—demanding to know where her son was—soon enough.

“Calvin!” Her annoyance rang out. “Are you decent ?”

“Cal isn’t here,” I responded, screwing in my second earring. “He’s on his way.”

“Are you… decent?”

I rolled my eyes. “Yes.”

“You don’t need to sound so annoyed.”

I made eye contact with Elise in the mirror. “Well, if you had announced your arrival two weeks ago, you wouldn’t have been surprised.”

At thirty-five, I refused to hear my future mother-in-law complain about walking in on us in the kitchen.

And I wasn’t in the mood to talk to her about anything—let alone about this.

It was a fuck around and situation, as Cal’s sister Chloe would affectionately say.

Or, rather, we fucked around and she found out.

“I didn’t think—” She changed her tone. “I won’t go there. However, I do doubt I will eat here anymore.”

That’s fine!

She retreated while I finished looking myself over.

I may have felt bloated. I may have worried about the dress, but I didn’t worry about how Cal would feel.

I touched my earrings, looking for strength just to power through how lousy I felt so I could be happy.

They were a gift from my father on my twenty-first birthday.

My ex called them “guache” so I hadn’t worn them much until he was out of my life.

Cal, though, loved them on me. I knew he’d tell me I was the most beautiful woman on earth.

Moreover, that adoration would be truly genuine.

“Fucking hell! I’m so sorry, baby!” I heard Cal’s voice booming from the living room.

By the time he made it to the bedroom, he’d thrown off his jacket somewhere and was unbuttoning his shirt. “Traffic was?—”

He stopped upon seeing his mother. “Well, traffic was awful. Sorry. I should have walked.”

“That’s a ridiculous idea,” Elise said. “People would hassle you.”

“They’re constituents, not the unwashed masses, Mom.”

She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and a hug, intercepting Cal before he could so much as greet me. It was so typical. Instead of paying her much mind, however, he turned to me.

“Well, you look… gorgeous,” Cal said. “Damn. Give me like ten minutes.”

“It’s going to take more than that, Cal. You need to shave,” Elise said.

I glared at her. “It’s fine. No one cares about the stubble.”

We were now at a standoff. And rather than give her any satisfaction, I kissed Cal—long and slow. Her Boy Mom bullshit wasn’t impressing me. I was all out of fucks two hours ago. Now, my fucks were in the negative and I was in a burn-it-all-down mood.

“Ten minutes. I swear,” Cal said, looking past me.

He expected Elise to leave, but she was being her overbearing most.

“Mom, a moment?”

“Fine fine.”

I watched her disappear and let out the biggest breath of relief I could, which wasn’t much given that I could barely breathe in the internal corset within this damn dress. Did it look good? Judging by Cal’s reaction, it probably did. I was my own worst critic.

“I’m serious,” Cal said, closing the door. “You look… amazing. I’d take you back to the studs right now if I didn’t have a mother who is painfully early and you didn’t look so put together.”

I smiled. “I would probably take you up on that offer and stay in if I knew this wasn’t the big party with all the big people.”

He kissed me slowly. “It is. But you look beautiful.”

Cal disappeared into the closet, unusually disheveled for himself. “So, I wanted to send you to the Toys for Kids event to pack things. I have a meeting, but I just thought it might keep you busy and your Dad always volunteered. What do you think?”

“When is it?” I sighed.

“Well, it’s on Tuesday morning. There will be media but it’s casual.”

I winced, debating my next move.

“I will be honest with you, Daphne,” Cal said. “I’m… I’m not in a place where I can do that one. I’m struggling. David?—”

I cut him off. “If it’s in the morning, I just… I can’t.”

“I know Tuesday mornings are your quietest time. Sorry. I just assumed?—”

“Mornings are hard for me,” I said. “And… will be.”

“That’s okay. I will figure something out. I… I’m struggling more than I thought I would. I don’t mean to avoid things, but I’m human, Daphne.”

“I know I am too,” I said, my eyes meeting his in the mirror as he buttoned his tux shit. “It’s okay. Normally, I’d say sign me up, but… I’m not finding mornings easy.”

“Oh? Is this your new assistant? Are they dropping the ball? It’s okay to?—”

“Cal, I’m pregnant.” I ripped off the bandaid.

Judging by his reaction, I couldn’t tell if this was for the best or the worst. What was done was done. There was not fixing it. I couldn’t just be not pregnant. At least I didn’t want to be not pregnant. And he’d have to get his head around it.

Cal

“I’m pregnant.”

The words dropped like a bomb. I struggled to process if she was being honest or if this was a test. Was it a joke? No, Daphne wasn’t much for jokes—or even surprises. She’d never joke about this. I took in her expression as she reacted and spun around.

“Pregnant? Like… really pregnant?”

“I mean, is there another type of pregnant,” Daphne said. “I had old tests in my bathroom at Mum’s. She forced me to take one and yeah… I’m pregnant.”

“Oh… so you just found out?”

“Yeah. And then I had to sit through silence as she did my hair.”

“She wasn’t happy?” I winced.

“I wouldn’t use that word, now. She was supportive, but… it’s certainly not what she wanted. Or me, for that matter.”

I cocked my head, placing my hands on her hips. “Really? I expected you’d be excited, Daph.”

“I am. Well, I would be under any other circumstance. I love you, Cal. I want to have a baby with you.It’s not that.

We’re not married. It’s a scandal waiting to happen.

Mum is super Catholic. This is her worst nightmare.

She loves me and wants us to be happy, so she’s holding her tongue.

But if you think this is good from optics?—”

I kissed her, cutting off her words. I took her face in my hands, unsure what to say.

“Cal, I’m being serious!” She pulled back. “This is?—”

“Stop,” I said. “I cannot hear you spiral into this negative place where you doubt yourself. For the thousandth time, I don’t give a fuck about the optics. I love you.”

“You can say that… but I’ve been a hot mess, Cal.”

“Baby, I do not care.” I kissed her forehead. “Daph, it will work out.”

“I have a legal nightmare across the Atlantic. We have a wedding in June—a wedding where I will be embarrassingly pregnant. And the press will go bananas?—”

“Well, Chandler’s trial is one thing. I cannot fix that, but I will remind you that you are testifying for yourself and every woman who has ever experienced that level of betrayal.”

“Revenge porn isn’t a good look for you. Quarter three calmed the board down and all these brand deals are keeping them happy, but a surprise pregnancy and being out on leave? That’s after the honeymoon, the wedding, the media hype? It will go over like a brick.”

“The best part of this not being a publicly-traded company is that you can tell them to fuck off?—”

“As long as they don’t fire me.”

“Well that would be a violation of federal, state, and municipal law, Daphne. Put on your lawyer hat for a moment. That will not happen. And Davey? He’d hand them their asses.”

“He’s going to be so angry with me.”

I shook my head. “No. He will handle it. Give him a bit more credit.”

Daphne raised her eyebrows. “Are you defending Davey? Has hell frozen over?”

“He stood by you when it mattered, okay? He’s learning. And either way, he’s terrified of your mother and she’d lose her shit over this. No. You’re safe—there and here. Your priority should be your health, not optics or me or your family.”

“But it is overwhelming and?—”

“Cal!” Mom banged on the door. “We are going to be very late?—”

My eyes never leaving Daphne’s, I said, “It will still be there, Mom. I need a bit more time.”

She left in a huff.

“She’s driving me crazy and I’m over it,” Daphne said. “The next thing she says to me cross-wise, I’m going to lose my shit.”

“One moment,” I said, walking to the door and poking my head out. “Mom, I have to deal with something. Take the car and go ahead. The driver can pick us up after he drops you.”

“It will look bad?—”

“It won’t,” I assured her. “But I need a minute to handle something. Can you just please go and meet Chloe there. We will follow shortly behind.”

She crossed her arms, rolled her eyes, and relented. “Fine. But… you better not ignore it. I got all dressed up for politics and your god damn speech!”

“Yes, I am well-aware. And I will be there. Promise.”

“I will go,” Mom agreed.

I returned to Daphne, pulling the door closed. She looked at me tearfully and said, “Thank you. I just needed a minute.”

“I know. I did, too.”

“I’m sorry to spring this on you, but I cannot promise I won’t be miserable and sick, Cal.”

I gave her a long slow kiss, having to resit running my hands through her curls. Daphne’s mother had piled her hair up atop her head and I didn’t want to mess up all the good work.

“You shouldn’t apologize. I love you, Daphne Delphine. I only wanted to soak you up a bit more. This is good news.”

“It’s a mess.”

“It might be,” I said. “Nothing about us is ever simple , alright? But it’s wonderfully messy. You cannot be us and not have a little chaos, right?”