Fifteen
The DC Insider: The party is on! We admit we were worried Derrick Jameson blew it, but friends and family are gathering. There’s word of a sparkly dress and champagne being brought in by the truckload. Let the marriage plans begin.
Two more weeks of tentative peace passed. Ellie returned to Derrick’s bedroom. He hadn’t proposed in a better way, but he did spend some time each night touching her ring. His finger smoothed over it with a near reverence. He’d spin it around on her finger as he watched in awe.
She still didn’t understand him. His mood stayed relatively steady but he worked too much and continued to say the odd stray comment that made her wonder how often he dealt with actual human beings other than her.
A month had passed since they’d first slept together. After a detour to help a friend, Carter was on the way, which meant she would know both brothers soon. Even Derrick’s father was flying in with his relatively new wife.
The idea of that made Ellie’s stomach flip over. That was a lot of Jamesons in one house. She hoped they didn’t kill each other. Even she thought about punching Derrick’s father. The man had made a big mess of his family then snuck away to let Derrick clean it all up. What kind of man was that?
Friends and relatives officially would start pouring into town in two days. The party, the sheer scope of it, made no sense to Ellie. A hundred people. She didn’t know five people she’d want in her house. This family had business associates and relatives everywhere.
This was the kind of shindig you threw when you really planned to walk down the aisle. Family met family. Friends traded stories. The happy couple showed off photos of their time together so far. None of that fit their situation, yet Derrick insisted.
He still hadn’t filled Spence in about the truth of their relationship. Ellie hadn’t because she no longer saw any part of what they shared as fake.
Jackson and Derrick had been trapped in the library all morning. There was talk of moving the party to the Jameson’s Virginia property and holding it outside under the most expensive tent she had ever seen in her life. The thing had actual doors and windows.
She’d never seen the farm in person, but from the photos she thought it looked like a school. The idea that Derrick grew up there without his mom and with a distant father made her ache for him. The loneliness had to have been unbearable. Her parents had made a lot of mistakes, but they’d been around. Broke and confusing, but present.
She grabbed a mug of tea and headed for the library to see what ridiculous plans the men had dreamed up while she’d dressed this morning. She’d been dragging all week. She’d only ever needed about six hours of sleep each night. She’d swear she could use twice that much right now.
The stress was working on her. There was no other explanation. It also messed with her stomach. Coffee made it grumble these days.
If she were honest, she’d have to admit she didn’t feel great. A terrible cold might be headed her way. When she’d mentioned that to Derrick last night he’d made her promise it would come after the party. As if she could control life like that.
She sipped on the herbal mixture of lemon and peppermint. The warm liquid poured through her on the chilly spring day. She’d thrown on one of Derrick’s sweaters and it swamped her. She didn’t care. The soft material made her think of a blanket.
The closer she got to the room, she expected the voices to grow louder. They didn’t. The door was open an inch or two. She pushed it open a smidgen. Took the opportunity to watch them.
Even at home, Derrick stayed in command. He wore black pants and a simple white shirt. On him, the combination proved stunning. She was about to tell him that, maybe embarrass him a little in front of Jackson, which was always fun, when she heard the ominous sentence.
You have to stop lying to Ellie.
She pushed the door open the whole way. Immediately she was greeted by the stares of the two men and Jackson’s mouth dropped open. Derrick didn’t show any reaction at all but his watchful eyes followed her.
“Lying about what?” That was the only question that ran through her head so she asked it.
Lies. The word stuck in her throat. She turned it over and tried to make it fit with everything she knew about Derrick and the upcoming party. Nothing matched the urgency she’d heard in Jackson’s tone.
She couldn’t ignore the comment. She’d grown up with lies. She’d lived with so many over the years and knew how they could burn away all the other good things in life. They stole security. She’d lost her job over one.
But Derrick had promised not to lie to her. He’d said it more than once. It was one of the underlying principles of their agreement.
Time ticked by and neither man answered her.
She stepped closer. For a second the room began to spin. The walls of books blurred and she would have stumbled but she fought for balance.
“Someone answer me,” she said in a louder voice. She would yell if she had to.
Jackson looked at Derrick. “I should go.”
“Don’t move.” She wasn’t letting either of them off the hook because this was clearly big. “Someone start talking.”
“There was another reason for our agreement.” Derrick’s deep voice broke through the otherwise quiet room.
“The fake engagement.” The words scraped against her throat.
“What started out as that, yes.”
She ignored the comment. Pretended his words didn’t echo what she’d wanted for the past few weeks—a real chance with him.
Her head started to pound. The drumming sensation started at the base of her neck. After a few more steps, it moved up to her nape. Her footsteps faltered. At first she thought her shoe had snagged the carpet, but no. Her balance was off. The room tilted on her.
“Explain.” She somehow got the word out.
“My father said he would sell the business out from under me unless I met certain stipulations.”
Eldrick Jameson. She should have known he was at the bottom of this. That bit of information fit everything Derrick had ever told her about his father. The man was pure trouble. He caused trouble, incited it.
But none of that explained Jackson’s comment.
“What does that have to do with me?” She could no longer stand there. She set the mug down, ignoring her shaking hand.
“Are you okay?” Jackson asked, the concern obvious in his voice.
“Finish it, Derrick.” Because she knew there was more. This all related to her. All that talk at the beginning of their relationship about how they were helping each other. Yes, she’d let herself get sucked in because he’d wanted to. But the reasoning rang hollow now.
“Each brother has an obligation they have to meet or we lose everything. My obligation was multipart. I had to lure my brothers back to the business and I had to clean up my image.”
That didn’t sound so bad. It was close to what she knew with a few holes filled in. “Okay.”
“I told you I needed your brother to stop. I didn’t tell you my continued ownership of the business depended on it. Depended on you.”
“The deal was pretty lopsided,” Jackson said.
“I needed you more than you needed me. Without you, I lost everything.” Derrick hesitated for a few seconds. “For me this wasn’t about helping Noah. It was about keeping control of the business.”
“That’s pretty ruthless.” The room started to blur along the edge. She looked at him through this strange haze.
She had no idea what was happening. It was as if her body was shutting down, abandoning her. But she refused to give in. She wanted all of this information out between them. No more secrets.
“I never pretended to be anything but ruthless,” Derrick said.
That wasn’t true. She’d thought so at first, but that was part of his perfectly crafted image. The real man was much more complex. Decent.
“Why not tell me the truth?” That part didn’t make sense to her.
Derrick never left his place by the fireplace. He held on to the mantel as if it were the one thing holding him up. “I didn’t know you and didn’t want you to have the upper hand against me.”
“Weeks ago. But now?” She shook her head and almost dropped to her knees.
Jackson got up from his chair and Derrick took a step forward. She waved them both back. “Why, Derrick?”
“I didn’t want what we had to stop.”
The sex. He liked the sex and was willing to tell her half-truths and use her to keep getting it. “Maybe you are ruthless.”
She saw Derrick rush forward and heard Jackson yell. Everything moved in slow motion as the air whooshed around her. Before she could call out, the pain closed over her and the room went dark.
* * *
Pregnant. Not just pregnant but a high-risk pregnancy.
Derrick sat beside Ellie’s hospital bed and turned the doctor’s words over in his head. He’d been pummeled with information since they’d arrived in the emergency room. Now she was settled in a private room and the facts still didn’t make sense.
Spence and Jackson had stood next to him, taking it all in. Derrick had barely heard a thing. All he could think about was the ambulance ride. The first responders yelling, talking to the hospital. The noise as they’d driven at high speed. The beep of the machine next to him.
It had been a flurry of activity. Everyone rushed and ran. The stretcher. The blood from where her head had hit the floor before he could catch her. He’d thrown up twice while he’d waited for the doctor to come out and deliver some news.
And the news...pregnancy.
Now he had to tell her because this was not the ideal situation. Forget the state of their engagement. He would fix that as soon as she let him. He knew what he wanted now. Watching her fall, thinking he’d lost her, shifted his whole world into focus.
He’d told her he’d kept part of the truth about the agreement from her because he hadn’t wanted their time together to end. What he hadn’t said was that he loved her. He was couldn’t-think-straight in love with her.
That losing her made him double over.
That he would forfeit the business if it meant she would stay with him.
His thumb slipped over the engagement ring on her finger and he thought back to the silly way he’d given it to her. So dismissive, ignoring her feelings. Jackson had unloaded, letting him know every way he’d messed up.
Derrick knew it was Jackson’s way of handling his fear. Derrick’s was to bury his brain in work and he couldn’t do that now.
“Derrick?”
At the sound of her rough voice, he looked at her. Her eyes were open and filled with fear.
“Hey.” He brushed her hair off her cheek. “You’re okay.”
“What happened?”
The worst. His nightmare. “You fainted.”
But he’d thought it was something else. He’d never dreamed the answer would be pregnancy. He could handle that, or he would learn how to. But watching her drop...he never wanted to see that again.
“I did?” She tried to sit up.
He gently pushed her down. She’d be in the hospital for a few days. They had decisions to make. There were tests to run and precautions to take.
“My head is killing me.” She lifted a hand and the tubes attached to her arm went with her.
“You’re on an IV.” He glanced at the bag hanging on the hook by his head. “You have some meds.”
“What’s wrong?”
He took a deep breath. “Well, here’s some news. You can get pregnant with an IUD.”
Her eyes widened. “What?”
“It’s rare but it happens.” He slipped his fingers through hers. “You’re about five weeks along.”
What little color was in her face drained away. Then her hand went to her stomach in a protective gesture that tugged at his heart.
“The first time we slept together,” she said.
“Yeah.” He didn’t want her to be in danger but it was hard to want to call that night back. It had started them down this road.
She swallowed a few times before talking again. “Tell me all of it.”
She deserved to know, so he didn’t hide behind calls for her to wait or for rest.
“It means this is a risky pregnancy. Taking the IUD out now can be a problem. Leaving it in can, too.” He swallowed before saying the part that made his voice break. “There’s an increased chance of miscarrying and a lot of precautions we’ll need to take if you decide you want to go through with the pregnancy.”
Tears filled her eyes. “I understand.”
So brave. No surprise there.
He leaned over and placed a sweet kiss on her forehead. “I will support whatever you want to do.”
“You don’t have to... I told you about the birth control, but...” This time the tears rolled down her cheeks.
“We created this baby together. Both of us.”
She nodded but didn’t say anything.
The quiet tears tore at him. “I will be with you no matter what.”
She closed her eyes and nodded. The tears still fell harder. “I need to sleep.”
“Okay.” He had no idea if that was normal for her condition or if she was shutting off. He didn’t want to ask. “I’ll be right here.”
* * *
“You do love her.”
Derrick looked up an hour later to find Noah and Spence standing in the hospital room doorway.
“He wanted to see his sister,” Spence said.
“Of course.”
Derrick was more grateful for Jackson and Spence than ever. They stayed calm while he nearly lost it. He’d cradled Ellie, making sure she was breathing. They’d made the calls.
Noah came into the room then. He walked over to Ellie’s bedside and stared at her. “She’s really pregnant?”
Derrick couldn’t believe it, either. “Yes, but it’s risky.”
Noah nodded without looking up. “Spence told me.”
Spence. Interesting. Derrick hoped that meant they’d bonded. Noah needed guidance.
“Thanks.”
The word came out soft. Derrick almost missed it.
“I’m not going to let anything happen to her, Noah.” Derrick thought about what Noah had said about a mentee. “If you let me, I’ll make it up to both of you.”
“I shouldn’t have moved the money.”
“No.”
“We can worry about that later,” Spence said.
Noah nodded again as he stepped away from the bed. “I want to get her some flowers.”
“I know the place for that.” Spence gestured for Noah to follow then winked at Derrick.
He watched them go and thought about all that had happened. All the miscommunication and missed cues. He’d hidden behind his desk for so long, so focused on the business and not the people he cared about. But no more. He would do better. For her, he would try.