For once, Alara bit back whatever she clearly wanted to say.
“Are you sure you don’t want to come?” I asked.
“Come where?” Liam asked, appearing behind his sister.
“Nowhere. You’re staying here with me,” Charlotte said. “I need help with something.”
“What do you need help with here?” Liam asked.
But his sister was grabbing him by the wrist and leading her bewildered brother away.
“Ready?” Alara asked.
“Sure,” I agreed, finishing my drink, then following her through the house.
“Don’t worry,” Charlotte called. “We’ll watch Tuna for you. Right, Liam?”
“Ah, yeah, sure.”
Liam’s brows were knitted but he was always on his sister’s side. Even when she was making no sense.
With that, we walked out of the brownstone.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Alara
“Does it bother you?” I asked when Chris paused to look at the townhouse.
“Does what bother me?”
“That these guys you used to rank alongside are, well, more established?”
“I won’t lie and say I’m not envious about Lorenzo, Emilio, and Brio. Who wouldn’t want a brownstone? But I know I can’t measure my progress against theirs. They didn’t have the same shit to deal with that I did. And I’m back now and ready to make up for lost time.”
“Which isn’t going to be as easy with kids.”
“They’re not babies. Charlotte is only a few weeks away from being a teenager too.”
“I like her. She’s whip-smart.”
“You’re good with her. Both of them.”
“Oh, here we go.”
“Here we go, what?”
“I hear that all the time. ‘But you’re so good with kids!’ Or ‘But you’d be such a great mom!’ Or a thousand other iterationsof that. All of it meaning the same thing: that I’m basically making the wrong choice by not having kids.”
“I don’t think you’re making the wrong choice. I think being a parent is one of those things that you have to be sure about. If you’re not sure, you shouldn’t have them.”
“Were they in your plans?”
“Honestly, I never gave it any thought. Back before I had to move home, I was too busy building my career to think about that. Then I was in the trenches of taking care of my mom, my sister, the kids. There was no time to think about what I wanted.”
“And now the decision was basically made for you.”
“I love those kids. And I did make the choice. That said, I’m not sure I would want to start over again with a baby at this age.”
