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Dez sputtered a laugh.
“Did you hear it creak more than once?” Joel asked. “Any moans or wails? No, right?”
Giorgio held a blade up to the light. “Maybe ghost die with gag in mouth.”
Julien, Mike, Dez, and Gage gave in to their laughter. Joel watched them, head shaking as he walked backward toward the exit.
“Bye, assholes,” he said.
As he climbed the stairs, he couldn’t help the smile that broke out on his face.
CHAPTER14
“So, we made a bit of an error last time.”
Sydney and Dmitri looked at each other.
“See this here?” The technician pointed to a blob on the screen. “And see this other one right over here? Congratulations! You’re having twins.”
She looked up at Dmitri standing at the head of the exam table. Sweat poured down both sides of his face. He looked uncomfortable, and ever since Ayesha made the comment about his health, she’d been closely watching him.
“D, you okay?” she asked.
He looked away from the monitor. “Two babies. I don’t know if we’ll be able to afford it.”
She and the technician snorted out a laugh. Dmitri owned the very building they were in.
The technician let them know she’d give them a minute and left the room. Sydney reached for Dmitri’s hand, but it shook so much that she tore her gaze away from the monitor. Tears had collected in his eyes, the rims of his eyes swollen.
“You are taking this very well,” he said.
“Oh, I’m terrified.” She glanced at the screen. “But, I don’t know. I think I’m starting to get excited. What if it’s a boy and a girl? And the boy looks like me while the girl looks like you? What if it’s two girls? Would I dress them the same? I’m not sure yet. Two boys?”
Dmitri squeezed her hand.
Then he was in tears.
“Dmitri?” She sat up, not caring if she smeared ultrasound gel everywhere, and reached for his hand. “D, what’s wrong?”
“Sydney, I don’t know how to tell you this.”
Her heart sank. He couldn’t be married; they spent entirely too much time together. She’d met his business partners and associates, and he’d introduced her as his girlfriend. He’d had no objections when her parents’ publicists shared on their social media pages that their daughter was dating a billionaire. Still, he was loaded enough to hide a second family.
Maybe it was her.
Maybe she’d fooled herself into believing that if she stopped running from relationships, it would be a good thing. That she was too preoccupied with leaving before getting left, seeing as how she’d had amazing men in her life, and this was when her worst fears would finally be realized.
“Just tell me,” she said. “It’ll be okay.”
He shook his head. “Not here.”
He helped her clean up and silently waited while she verified their next series of appointments. He asked her if she wanted lunch, but he knew the answer was yes. If she wasn’t hungry, she was crying. If she wasn’t crying, she was irritable.
Seeing Ayesha with Joel had blindsided her, but she didn’t see it as an excuse for grilling Ayesha the way she had.
Change was more challenging than she liked to admit. Being easily forgiven and treasured by her family was a safety net. It was almost like an addiction, and sometimes she wanted to return to what was easiest—doing no wrong in their eyes, regardless of the obvious wrong she’d done.
Then she lost Joel.
