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CHAPTER FOUR

REED

My feet feel like lead as I make my way toward Owen’s office. I’ve barely slept a wink all weekend, thanks to the bombshell the gold digger dropped on me on Saturday.

Hell, I don’t even know how I got here.

The guys’ voices all fall silent, and their focus descends on me.

“What the fuck happened to you?” Mase asks and tilts his head from side to side.

“Please tell me you didn’t kill someone.” Shaw pinches the bridge of his nose, and I jolt because my brother is incarcerated for doing just that.

I drop down into the chair, and my daze continues.

Something hits my head, but I don’t move. Since the second my apartment door closed on me after returning from the “charity” event on Saturday, it’s like I was given the pieces to an important puzzle that I’m struggling to piece together.

They were right; she is a gold digger, but why was she at a swanky hotel bar dressed the way she was? Was it all an act? A way to lure men into bed. At least I know what I’m getting with the women I pay for.

“Reed.” Mase snaps his fingers in front of my face, but I don’t respond, uncaring to bat them away.

The bump looked real. Very fucking real.

And oh, sweet Jesus, she has kids. A lot of them.

“Tell him Lucinda has genital warts, and he might have them.” Tate chuckles. “That’ll freak him out.”

“You do realize he can hear you himself, right?” Owen snipes back at Tate’s childish antics.

“Shut the fuck up,” Tate clips.

“I found her,” I mumble, and the guys all sit forward. “The woman. I found her.”

“And?” Mase asks, and searches my face with a furrowed brow, then his eyes travel down my body as if looking for something to explain my unusual behavior.

“That’s good, right?” Tate grins from ear to ear, and I internally scoff.

“It’s awful,” I choke. “Fucking awful.” I drag a hand over my head and blow out a deep breath. So fucking awful.

“Is she married?” Tate asks, and I flinch.

Oh shit, she has kids. Is she married? My eyes feel like they might pop out of their sockets. Oh God, I’m a homewrecker.

“Worse,” I admit meekly.

I swallow hard, finding it difficult to construct the words. “She’s pregnant.”

“Oh, fuck” slips from Owen, and I couldn’t agree more.

Surely, it’s not mine though, right?

She’s a gold digger. She didn’t correct me when I called her one.

She was living in a hellhole and has to borrow money from a friend. She isn’t a lawyer.

She lied about it all.

It isn’t mine.

It can’t be.

“It’s not so bad. I can’t wait to have kids.” Mase shrugs, and I flinch. Out of the five of us, there’s only ever been Mase wishing for the perfect family life but never receiving it. But as each of my brothers has fallen for their women, so has their need to impregnant them.

Apart from me, that is. Until that one night.

That one fateful night when I lost myself in her soft curves, so much so, I didn’t use a condom when I came.

Nope, I actually chose not to suit up.

It can’t be mine. I can’t be a father.

Absolutely not. She’s a liar.

I spin to face Mase. “Oh, it gets worse. Trust me on that.”

Tate’s lip curls up. “How the hell can it get worse for you?” And if I didn’t know her situation, I wouldn’t agree with him more. He knows how I feel about kids, monogamy, a family. They all do.

“She already has a kid, maybe more than one. Who fucking knows, a whole damn family.” A lot of them. They swarmed her like she was Mary goddamn Poppins. God only knows how many she has. Does she even know?

Tate chokes on a laugh, but my energy level and social battery are well and truly drained. “Oh shit, you might end up like the Brady bunch, Reed.” He throws his arm out wide, with jest in his tone. “A whole family waiting for you to join them.” He laughs to himself, but only he finds it humorous.

“Leave him the fuck alone, Tate,” Mase spits out. “He’s clearly in need of our support.”

“It gets worse,” I mumble. “It gets worse.” My voice rises from panic as I’m about to admit everything about Saturday, the day from hell, and how it went to utter shit. “So much worse.”

Owen steps forward. “Whatever it is, we got you.” His eyes bore into mine, delivering the truth, and I swallow past the lump of emotion in my throat.

This is the only family I will ever need.

We have each other’s backs; from the moment we met at boarding school, we’ve looked out for one another. Always will.

My eyes meet his. “Good, because what I’m about to tell you is un-fucking-believable.” He nods with concern flashing in his eyes.

“She’s a gold digger.” Tate nods at my words. “Possibly a whore.” Shaw grimaces despite using the services of women before now. “And she works in Ridgeway.”

“The place you plan on buying from Fanzio?” Mase queries.

My eyes snap up to his. “The place I’m about to destroy,” I state.