Abel was really happy he wasn’t Damian right now.
“The condom broke,” Damian said. “What if this legacy thing doesn’t work for me? I could have a good life with Betty. I like her. We’re friends.”
Stuart snorted.
Maddox glared. “You’re still a boy in your own right. One day you will find the woman for you, and then what? You’ll leave Betty? I get what you’re doing, Damian. I do. Marrying Betty is something we would all consider. The problem you have. In five years, ten years, hell, even twenty years, you could meet that woman, and Betty could have fallen in love with you. Will you be willing to break her heart for it?”
Damian shook his head.
“Betty will be part of the family. She will be cared for. Her child will be cherished, as will she. If you marry her, then you marry her. But know this, when you find the woman for you, do not expect us to cut Betty off. It will not happen.”
“Anita is still part of our family,” Stuart said. “It’s painful, but she has a right to be a Denton.”
Abel saw the pain that Stuart, Anita, and Michelle went through every time they were together. It was an emotional pain, and it was one Abel had promised himself never to get involved in.
Once he had finished with the meeting, he left his father’s office, and made his way back to the apartment. Harper was curled up on the sofa, eating a large carton of vanilla ice cream. Whenever she felt sick, the ice cream was the key to easing her stomach.
“Hey, how did it go?” she asked.
He closed the door, removed his jacket, and took a seat beside her. Harper curled up against him. As strange as it sounded, the attack actually did them both good. They were more open now than ever before.
Harper trusted him, and anything she asked him, he told her the truth.
“Damian wants to marry Betty.”
“What about the legacy thing? I know they’re not in love now, but in time, she’d fall for him, and he’d break her heart,” Harper said.
“That’s what my father has warned him about. If he has any sense, he’d leave it all alone, and accept it.” He placed his hand on her stomach. “How are you doing?”
“We’re doing okay. We missed you.” She pressed the spoon to his mouth. “Are you in for the night?”
“Yep. I’m not going out.”
“That’s good, because there’s something I’d like to do.”
She wrapped her hand around his dick, and Abel groaned. “Are you sure?”
“The doctor said we’d be able to. Please, Abel, I want you.”
His woman wouldn’t beg him again. Lifting her up in his arms, he carried her through to their bedroom, where for the rest of the night, he showed her how good it was to be with a Denton.
Epilogue
Summer the following year
Abel held his baby boy in his arms at the same time he watched his wife as she carried the tray of barbecued chicken around.
“Let me hold my grandson,” Brian said.
He laughed, handing over his son to his father-in-law. Molly was there with him, and they both gasped. This was a barbeque celebration for all of the family to welcome the new additions to the family. Lou had given birth to her daughter first, followed by Betty, then by Harper. Damian hadn’t married Betty, even though he wanted to. Abel saw his brother struggle with his need to do the right thing, but also not to offer Betty a promise of a future that might not happen.
Being in the hospital, and witnessing the half an hour birth were the most horrible moments of his life. Harper had been crying out in pain. She’d been crying, and he hadn’t been able to do anything but hold her hand as she screamed through the pain. He would never forget that time.
“When I found out you were a Denton, and the warning we got, I was in shock that Harper had fallen for you. My daughter now, she is glowing in ways I’ve never seen.”
“Brian, honey, I’m going to cry,” Molly said.
An arm wrapped around his waist, and Abel held his wife to him.