I watched as the brothers exchanged a look. It was hard to tell if they were going to tell me to shut the fuck up or if they were finally considering what I was saying.
As for Emzee…her face was schooled into the kind of neutral blankness that I now knew was just a cover for heartbreak. Of course she wanted to keep the company in the family. She was faced with an impossible decision. Lose me, or lose DRM.
Suddenly the baby monitor squawked, and we could hear the baby start to cry.
Stefan rose, but Emzee was on her feet faster, waving her brother away.
“I’ll go rock her,” she said. “I could use the practice.”
I followed her, standing in the doorway of the baby’s room as she turned on the light and reached into the crib to take Nina out. Cradling the baby, she crossed the room to settle in the rocking chair by the window. Nina quieted almost immediately, staring up at Emzee with her big, round eyes. As I watched the two of them rocking slowly together, I could almost see our future. The way Em would be holding our child soon.
But first, we had a lot to sort out.
“I can’t change the past,” I told her. “I’m not even sure I can change the future. My parents are always going to be assholes. But here’s what I want foryourfuture, Em.”
She didn’t look up, her eyes fixated on the baby, but I knew she was listening.
“It’s taken me a while, but I’ve come to realize how important the non-profit is—how much value your work with those women has, for them and for you. I’ve seen how you interact with them, how you lift them up. How you strive to make their lives better. And I know just from watching you that you’re going to be an amazing mother to our child.
“But I also know that our child getting the chance to grow up playing tag with their cousins in the hallways of Danica Rose, and watching Mommy save the world, is the best thing I can offer.”
Emzee finally looked up at me, tears in her eyes. Realizing the same thing that I already had: we were going to have to break up. Once and for all.
“I know it’ll be hard,” I told her. “We can’t ever say the baby is mine. But I want you both safe, more than anything, and this is the only way we can make that happen.”
My eyes were starting to sting, too, but we had no other choice. Going along with my parents’ deal felt like the best plan. And it would save Danica Rose. Save the Zoric legacy.
Secretly, though, I had a Hail Mary in my back pocket. And even though Emzee and I had promised not to keep secrets anymore, I knew that I had to keep this from her.
Because if it exploded, she couldn’t be anywhere near the devastation.
Emzee
Chapter 26
No matter what I said to Ford or how hard I tried to convince him that we could find a way to be together, I may as well have been trying to reason with a brick wall. Ford had made up his mind. In order to make his parents happy, we had to be apart.
So here I was now at Brooklyn’s baby shower, depressed and alone.
It was being held at her and Luka’s apartment, and since Brooklyn was literally a fashion model, it was decorated like no other baby shower I’d ever been to.
Instead of soft pink and blue pastels, my sister-in-law had chosen the Pantone colors of the year—a deep, bright yellow and a cool gray—for her theme colors. There were also splashes of gold everywhere, because nothing said Brooklyn like glitter and glam. Gold stars and moons made of paper hung from the ceiling, along with three-dimensional old-timey hot air balloons instead of regular balloons. Cream and yellow flowers practically exploded from every surface.
Meanwhile, Luka was making the rounds with trays of bite-sized appetizers and drinks. I got a kiss on the cheek and a plate of mini souffles from my brother, but he was too busy being a good host to hang out and commiserate with me.
I’d just reached up to touch one of the hot air balloons when Tori came up beside me with Nina in her arms.
“Aren’t those so cute?” she said. “I found them on Pinterest. They’re handmade and they came all the way from France.”
“How gratuitous,” I whispered, as if I was scandalized by the thought. “I love them.”
“Me too,” Tori said. “I already called dibs on the pink one for Nina’s room.”
“I’m so glad you’re here. And how is my sweet angel?” I cooed, reaching down to gently trace the baby’s hairline with my finger. “Hi, sweet girl. Just look at all those dark curls.”
Nina smiled at me, and maybe it was just gas, but I didn’t care. She was beautiful.
“Want to take her for a minute?” Tori asked. “I have to run to the ladies’. We got caught in traffic on the way over and I’ve been holding it. Stefan’s still bringing the presents up.”
