Page 56 of Billionaire’s Promise

“Well, please promise you won’t stress out.” I knew I would worry but I nodded anyway. “I have gestational diabetes and with me carrying twins and all, the doctor wants me to be extra careful. And Link didn’t think we should worry you about this.”

I nodded along, pinching the side of my thigh to keep my mind clear and calm. I couldn’t give her my advice without knowing the full picture. And I knew for a fact that they wouldn’t let me handle their case anyway. Chloe said it was too weird and also too much pressure on me.

“You’re with Rebecca, right?” Rebecca Simpson was an outstanding doctor that I’d met at a conference. I wouldn’t say we were best buds or anything. Let’s just say that Dr. Simpson and I happened to go to the same school, different year, and had a very similar outlook on the way we treated patients. We often recommended patients to each other.

“Yes. You recommended her, remember?” Of course, I remembered, but people don’t always go with the first recommendation they received.

“Rebecca is a great doctor. She’ll take good care of you. Do you mind if I talk to her about your health? You know, just to see if she needs a second opinion, or if she needs any help.”

Chloe reached in for a big hug. “Please don’t worry.”

With that, she meant no. My best friend and now sister-in-law still didn’t want me to worry.

“But you can talk to her only if that makes you feel better.” Chloe said and I nodded. Talking to Rebecca would definitely make me feel better.

14

June

Despite what Chloe told me, she seemed fit and healthy. There was nothing I could do about it right now. She wasn’t comfortable with me treating her. I took it rather hard at the beginning, wondering whether it was my brother or her, or both, that didn’t want me to treat her. I’d been tormented wondering if they thought that I wasn’t a good enough doctor.

But now, for the first time, I saw the downside of being my best friend’s doctor. Her case wasn’t really that complicated. Many women had gestational diabetes, and I had helped plenty give birth to beautiful babies healthily. The worry I would have for my best friend, and my future niece and/or nephew, would be a heavy burden if I was to be responsible for Chloe’s care.

I quickly sat her down in front of the dressing table. Her face was glowing even more under the mirror lights. Pregnancy really looked good on her. I fired a series of questions at her, all about her discomfort and concerns.

“I heard that Kai is here.” Chloe said instead of answering me, clearly not willing to talk about the topic with me.

“Yes, so?” I was eager to get back to our previous topic, not wanting to talk about me or Kai.

“Well? Do you think something is going to happen between you this time? Three years ago, you guys nearly…you know?”

I sighed lightly, for two reasons.

One, I was frustrated with Kai.

Two, I knew that Chloe wasn’t going to let it go until I talked about it.

“We nearly what? Nearly slept together? Or nearly got together? I’m not even sure what happened back then. We kissed, but that’s all.”

The last time I was with Kai, I was emotional about seeing Chloe. I thought she’d been dead for a long time. At first, I was happy about having her back. Then I got really angry that she couldn’t trust me enough to contact me in all that time. For ten years, she let me think that she was dead. She let me grieve for her. When I found out that my big brother was the one helping her disappear and lying about her being alive, I couldn’t help feeling betrayed all over again.

I had never told Chloe or Lincoln about my feelings. I’d never mentioned how they had betrayed me on some level. Or that I still felt that pang of betrayal over them keeping that secret from me.

Kai distracted me for a while. If it wasn’t for him, I’d have gone completely crazy. He helped me to contain my feelings, to focus on keeping them both safe, without making demands on me. He’d been there to feed me, talk to me, and keep me in one piece.

There were moments when we could have taken it further. Kai could have taken anything from me he wanted to, and I’d have let him. But I think we’d both known we’d regret it, and we’d both maintained control, even when we didn’t want to. The timing just wasn’t right.

When Lincoln stupidly got himself kidnapped, whether it was his fault or not, Kai had taken it as some kind of failure on his part. I’d blamed Lincoln, even if I shouldn’t. I’d been so upset about it all that my emotions didn’t make sense to me.

And poor Kai. Lincoln’s kidnapping triggered something within Kai that no one could understand. Even though he had never seen a shrink about it, I knew for a fact that he struggled with some kind of PTSD. Really bad. I had hinted that he needed professional help, but he just shrugged it off. A lot of people do that. Clearly, the best way to cure a disease is to simply imagine that it wasn’t there in the first place.

Chloe brought my attention back to her with a sound of delight. “Well, finally, you admit something happened. Tell me more.”

“There’s nothing more to tell. Just a few kisses.” I felt my face going red.

“You know what he’s into right?” Chloe asked, a hint of worries in her eyes.

I nodded. I’m curious and I’m not a complete idiot. I knew what Kai liked.