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Matthew’s sharp gaze roved over Lucas in assessment. “You can do it without me. You’ve changed in the past year. Maybe Lana snapped some sense into you, or maybe it started happening long before and I didn’t see it. Regardless, you’ve turned into me.”
“Turned into you? What does that mean?”
“Responsible. Married. Committed. I always thought I’d be the one to settle down, have a family. Raise the next generation of Wheelers to carry on WFP. But lo and behold, it’s not going to be me. It’s going to be you.”
The beer bottle slipped out of Lucas’s hand and broke in two against the concrete patterned patio. The sharp yeasty scent of the last third of a beer split the air. “What are you talking about? I’m not settling down. There’s no family in my future.”
“Right.” His brother snorted. “If Cia’s not pregnant within a month, I’ll fall over in a dead shock.”
Oh, man. They’d done a spectacular job of fooling everyone into believing this was the real thing, and now Matthew felt safe leaving the firm in Lucas’s hands. “Uh, we’re being careful. She’s not interested in having children.”
“Yeah, well, accidents happen. Especially as many times as I’d bet you’re doing it. You’re not quite as subtle as you must think when you dash off during an event and sneak back in later, without giving Cia a chance to comb her hair. You two are so smoking hot for each other, I can’t believe you haven’t set something on fire.”
So now he was supposed to apologize for enjoying sex with his wife? “Sorry if that bothers you,” Lucas retorted. “We have a normal, healthy relationship. What’s the problem?”
Matthew raised his brows. “No problem. Why so defensive? I’m pointing out that you landed on your feet. That’s great. I’m happy for you. I admit, I thought you rushed into this marriage because of Lana or, at the very least, because you’d screwed up and gotten a one-night stand pregnant. Clearly, I was wrong. Cia’s good for you. You obviously love each other very much.”
He and Cia surely deserved Oscars if Matthew, who missed nothing, believed that. “Thanks.”
“Although,” Matthew continued in his big-brother tone, “you probably should have thought twice about marrying someone who doesn’t want kids. Isn’t family important to you?”
If the marriage had been intended to last, he definitely would have thought more about it back on that terrace. Now Matthew’s words crowded his mind, shoving everything else out. “Isn’t it important to you? You’re the one talking about abandoning everyone.”
“Only because you can take my place. You can be me and I can be you. I’ll go find fun and meaningless experiences, without worrying about anything other than myself.”
“Hey now.” Was that how his brother saw him? “Lay off the cheap shots.”
“Sorry.” Matthew gave him an assessing once-over. “Six months ago, you wouldn’t have blinked at such a comment. It’s an interesting transposition we have going on. You have no idea how hard it is for me to think about marrying again. Having a baby with someone who isn’t Amber. Something is busted inside, which can’t be repaired. Ever.”
Quiet desperation filled Matthew’s voice, the kind Lucas would never have associated with his older brother, who had always looked out for him. Whom Lucas had always looked up to, ever since the first time Matthew had stood shoulder to shoulder with his little brother against bullies. As Matthew took full responsibility for a broken flowerpot because he hadn’t taught Lucas the proper way to hold a bat. As Matthew passed off the first client to his newly graduated brother and whispered the steps to Lucas behind the scenes.
A long surge unsettled Lucas’s stomach. His brother had never been so open, so broken.
Matthew needed him. The firm, his family, his heritage all needed him. Lucas had to step up and prove his brother’s faith in him wasn’t misplaced. To show everyone Lucas knew what it meant to be a Wheeler, once and for all.
It would be hard, and parts of it would suck. But he had to.
Of course, he lacked a wife who wanted all the ties of a permanent marriage or who looked forward to filling a nursery with blankets and diapers. Where in the world would he find someone he liked as much as Cia, who excited him like she did even when they were nowhere near a bed? It would take a miracle to tick off all the points on his future-wife mental checklist. A miracle to find a wife as good as Cia.
Matthew clamped his mouth into a thin line and shifted his attention as Cia’s hand slid across Lucas’s shoulder.
