Page 91 of The Merger
“Look at them.” Jana gestured back and forth between both of them. “We tease them about being old, but they’re hot. Married or not, the ladies in this city are thirsty for the reformed playboy billionaires.”
“And then there’s bump watch,” Evie grumbled.
Sabrina’s eyes flashed to mine, and her hand twitched over her stomach. A move that did not go unnoticed by Beckett and Colter who both shot me questioning looks. I shrugged, not having any information to share, silently or otherwise.
The idea of Sabrina being pregnant already was the biggest turn on. She’d clue into how much I liked the idea soon enough if she didn’t already know. I wrapped Sabrina’s hair around my fist and tugged until she was looking up at me. “I’ve got plans for you when we get inside.”
The driver circled around the car and opened the curbside door. Beck stepped out and helped Evie climb out of the car, followed by Colt and Jana. Then it was our turn. The second we were out the flash bulbs were going off, and the small gaggle of reporters were shouting questions at us. Evie was spot on, and most of their interest was in whether or not Jana was already pregnant, or if Beck and Evie were planning to have more kids. Thankfully, none of them seemed to give a single fuck who we were.
Until the reporter Beck tipped off noticed us. “Stryker Lawson,” he shoved a microphone in my face, “is it true the private plane you were on crashed in the Rockies? How are you here today?”
I looked past him to where Beckett stood and cocked an eyebrow. He shook his head letting me know he hadn’t provided any details. “It did. Thankfully I’ve had some flight training. Mainly how not to crash in the mountains.”
A few of the reporters laughed. “Is there a reason you got that kind of training?”
There was no scenario where I was going to share my pain of losing my uncle with them. “I’ve taken first aid training too I hope never to need.”
The reporter glanced at Sabrina clutching my arm. I pried her fingers free and tucked her under my arm. A look of confusion crossed his face. “Sabrina Lake? Isn’t your boyfriend inside? Why are you out here?”
I felt her tense up, then relax and wrap her arms around my torso. “You mean my brother-in-law? I don’t have a boyfriend.”
She beamed up at me, every bit of her shining like a ray of sunlight. I knew exactly what she was hinting at. With my free hand, I tipped up her chin and kissed her. “Sabrina is my wife.”
An eerie silence fell over the reporters. The clicking of shudders stopped, the questions they were still trying to get Beck to answer ceased. Almost as one, their attention and cameras swung our way. They all shouted questions at once.
“Stryker, is your brother Malcolm Graham?”
“Why do you have different last names?”
Sabrina winced hearing that. She mouthed, “Sorry.”
I ignored the reporters to set something straight with Sabrina. “You have nothing to be sorry about. My asshole father is the one who insisted I not use the Graham name. I don’t give a shit personally. I don’t use it because the woman who raised me is the only parent I knew, and the only one I will ever recognize.”
There were a few flashes while I made sure Sabrina knew I wasn’t mad at her. I hated sharing such a private moment with strangers, but I would never allow time to pass by letting her feel insecure about our relationship.
The reporters didn’t seem to notice we were having a moment and continued to throw questions at us.
“How long have you been married?”
“Are you having an affair with your husband’s brother?”
The last question almost sent me to jail. I was trying hard, for Sabrina’s sake, to curb my grouchy demeanor. Truthfully, some of it had to do with not having her in my life, but I also generally disliked most people. This was the first time I wanted to plant my fist in someone’s face within seconds though.
Hands landed on my shoulders and squeezed. The unexpected gesture startled me and I started to throw back my elbow. Whoever was behind me, they were too fucking close to my wife, and that wouldn’t stand. “Settle down, slugger,” Beck’s deep voice warned in my ear. “Time to take this party inside, yeah? We’ve done enough to create a buzz. It will not help your case to get arrested for assault. Trust me.”
“You got arrested?” I was genuinely shocked. Not that he seemed incapable of knocking someone on their ass. He was built from what I could tell under his fancy clothes. But he seemed more evolved than me. Men like him fought with words and it was just as devastating. I could have been wrong. Maybe, like me, it was a skill he had to learn.
Just as I was starting to question my ability to read people, Colter raised his hand. “That would have been me.”
That seemed more plausible to me. There was a wildness to Colter he barely held in check.
He noticed me studying him and pulled the neck of his shirt down to reveal the edge of a tattoo. “Nobody is just one thing.”
Wasn’t that the truth. It was also the permission I needed to set a part of myself free. I’d worked so hard to become a respectable businessman and deserve a life with Sabrina, maybe even to prove my father wrong, but that didn’t mean I had to stop being the guy who grew up fighting. It was a good reminder because tonight was the final showdown with my brother.
ChapterThirty-Four
Stryker