Page 209 of Stand: Part One

I almost snorted, but hummed my acknowledgment instead, ignoring the urge to laugh at the very idea as I opened the kit to begin cleaning my wound. Daniel’s brain damage really was going to be a problem if this was how he was thinking now.

“Daniel, that man has more extensive security than the fucking Pope, and you know this. Why are you suddenly so paranoid?”

“I’m just being proactive,” he practically growled. “The less people involved in our business the better.”

I stared at him for a moment, wondering if that was the actual truth before returning to threading the needle and making the first stitch.

“Should we off all of our lawyers then too? Or maybe even our investment analysts? What about our chefs? Are they not all liabilities too?”

“Don’t be a condescending prick, Darren. I’m just looking out for our family.”

“You haven’t even stated why you think it’s even necessary,” I reminded him.

By the time I completed the second stitch, Daniel still hadn’t answered me until I raised my irritated gaze to his.

“Just a strong feeling,” he finally murmured.

I made a point not to roll my eyes.

Yeah, like I’m going to respect the intuition of a guy with a literal piece of his brain missing.

“Well, until that feeling turns into an actual fact I can verify myself, I want you to leave Ron alone. He’s looking into a potential hostile takeover of Rainer Industries for me and he’s the only one I trust to do it properly.”

Daniel gritted his teeth. “You shouldn’t be trusting anyone right now, Darren.”

“Does that include you and your judgment?” I barked, glaring at him before taping the final piece of gauze over the four stitches I had made.

Daniel’s exaggerated groan was cut off by Scott’s sudden interruption as I returned the first aid kit to its cabinet.

“Ok, enough ladies, onto the next line of drama. What did you do that made Jaden stab you just now?”

I could feel my eyes blazing with annoyance as they shot up to meet his, the flames increasing as I caught the humor lingering in his stare. Scott knew my wife too damn well—the fucker could clearly recognize her handiwork from across the damn room.

But instead of killing him for my irrational misplaced jealousy, I exhaled from the emotional exhaustion alone and revealed the “happy” news.

“I told her she was pregnant.”

Scott paused for a moment, staring at me with shock, and then immediately burst into a fit of laughter.

“And her reaction was to stab you? Fuck, that’s actually pretty hilarious.”

“Technically, she threw it at me,” I corrected.

“You mean that little purple one you got her for Christmas? I told you that was a bad idea, and you have the balls to question my judgment,” Daniel sneered with a dramatic eye-roll.

Scott continued his excessive chuckling. “Damn, she’s got a good arm if you didn’t catch it in time.”

I groaned in annoyance. “She threw it before I even realized what it was.”

“Sounds like you’re losing your touch,” Daniel commented, his eyes exuding a dark glower. “Tell me you left her in pieces for that.”

I leveled him with a glare of my own. “How I handle my wife is not your concern,” I warned him before throwing the bloodied cleaning cloths into the trash. “Also, I really love how the two of you are more focused on the fact that she stabbed me rather than the fact that she’s pregnant…with my child.”

I could see Daniel shaking his head from the corner of my eye. “Fine, Darren, Congratulations. It’s actually about time your wife fulfilled at least one of her duties, so it’s great to see she isn’t completely useless. But, seriously, if Katherine tried something like that, she wouldn’t be walking for days.”

For some reason, the word ‘useless’ stung in a way I didn’t expect. Jaden hated that word, and I could understand why.

I dropped my chin and leaned on my knuckles against my desk, narrowing my gaze at my brother. “Well, it’s a good thing you’ve already beaten your useless wife into submission so she’d never even dream of it, let alone have the skill to accomplish it,” I shot back.