Sometimes she started to think that they might be able to be a couple and raise the baby together. But there were times when she woke up sweating and scared thinking about the possibility that the baby would grow up and be in the place Tara had been toward the end of her life She had failed her sister and she didn’t want to fail her child.
Helena wasn’t toosure if she should bring up Scarlet’s request to Malcolm, but she wasn’t hiding anythingfrom him. They were doing pretty well but she had been careful not to do anything that would rock the boat. She knew that wasn’t a healthy way to treat him but she’d been afraid of doing something that would drive him back to gambling. So as soon as he got home from work after picking up takeout from Taco Heaven, she decided to talk to him about it.
“Scarlet asked me if I would contribute to a project she’s working on,” Helena said.
“Really? That’s interesting. Is it budgeting tips? You’re really good at that,” Malcolm said.
She smiled as he passed her a Dos Equis from the fridge.
“Thanks, babe, but that’s not it. She wants me to help her curate a wedding planning subscription box to go out to her mailing list and talk about stress and how to deal with it,” Helena said.
“Oh,” he said, looking over at her. She knew that his gambling and how he’d dipped into their wedding fund to cover his losses were still shameful for him and hoped that she wasn’t striking a nerve. “Well, I have to say you’re good at that, too.”
“I won’t mention any specifics... Actually, I was going to suggest that we write the text for the insert together. We have to just talk about why we chose the products. Maybe talk about how pretending nothing is wrong leads to a bad situation or something like that,” Helena said.
Malcolm was her partner in life and even though they weren’t officially married yet, the two of them had a strong bond—even stronger since everything had come out about his gambling and they’d taken steps to deal with it together.
“I’d like that,” he said, pulling her into his arms, lifting her up onto the kitchen island and stepping between her legs. “You’re still much too good for me.”
She laughed. “Don’t worry, I won’t let you forget it.”
He kissed her and one thing led to another. Ultimatelythey had to reheat their tacos in the microwave before they ate them but neither minded.
Monthly poker nightwas a tradition in his group of friends. Until Scarlet had come along, it had been his only activity outside of polo that wasn’t strictly work-related. He’d always looked forward to it. It was a traveling game, and everyone took turns hosting it. Malcolm was supposed to host tonight but since he had been dealing with overcoming his gambling addiction he’d dropped out of the game. It made him feel better and it definitely reassured Helena, according to Bianca, who had given Alec an earful when he’d mentioned his view that harmless betting with friends wasn’t the same thing as gambling huge sums of money.
He hadn’t realized how insensitive the comment was until she’d pointed it out. Betting of any kind was too much of a temptation for Malcolm. Alec felt like an awful friend for not recognizing that so he’d suggested pool tonight at the Five Families Clubhouse instead. That way Malcolm could join them. The rest of their group had agreed to pool instead of poker, so Alec was heading up there to spend the evening with the guys.
“Are you sure you don’t mind me going?” Alec asked Scarlet as they were sitting on the couch in her house. Siobahn had taken over the large armchair catty-corner to the sofa and looked over at him shaking her head.
“She doesn’t mind, dude. We’re planning girls’ night,” Siobahn said.
“She’s right, we are having girls’ night and I’m fine,” Scarlet said.
She had her legs draped over his lap and he rubbed her calf. She’d gone to the local pediatrician earlier and her visit—the first he’d accompanied her on—had revealedslightly elevated blood pressure. The doctor had advised her to stay off her feet so Alec had come to her house tonight.
It was hard to reconcile his feelings for her, which were more complicated than any he’d experienced before. And let’s face it, he thought, he wasn’t the most touchy-feely of men. He preferred to be in his dark office, with three computer monitors running different codes and algorithms to actually trying to decipher what his emotions meant. But he couldn’t stop thinking about Scarlet. He’d cut back on some of his client meetings to stay closer to her as she transitioned from the first trimester into the second.
He hadn’t told his parents about the baby yet because Scarlet wanted to wait. In fact, he’d mentioned it just to Mo because his twin was the only one he trusted to keep it quiet. Not that Bianca or his other brothers would intentionally spill the news. But he wasn’t sure he was ready for anyone else to know about the baby. Right now it was their little secret. Just between him and Scarlet and the few people they trusted. If he told his parents, his dad was going to ask what their plans were. Were they going to get married or live together? His mom... She was always pressuring his brothers and him to settle down, so she’d push hard for him to make this permanent.
And he had no idea if that would work.
Her friends still weren’t sure about him. And while Billie had gone back to New York, Siobahn was still here and had made it clear she still wasn’t certain he was good enough for her friend. Given that Siobahn was still recovering from her breakup, that made a bit of sense. She was hiding out while she recovered from her broken heart. And he was doing everything possible to assure Scarlet and her friends that he was a decent guy.
But he also knew that he was afraid of howhe could fit into her life. That if they were a couple he wasn’t going to be able to avoid her high-profile lifestyle.
White lies had always seemed like something that weren’t really harmful. He thought about the number of times he and Mo had pulled the switch before and they’d never thought about the consequences, but this time it had impacted both of their lives in ways neither of them had anticipated. He never wanted to put anyone through that again. He’d hurt Scarlet and Hadley, something he never would have thought he’d do.
He always prided himself on being a gentleman, so it had been difficult to see himself as the bad guy.
“Fair enough. Who’s coming over?” he asked.
“Bianca, Helena, Hadley, Kinley and maybe Ferrin. She and Hunter are driving home tonight. It’s the start of the term break.” Lulu was curled up on Scarlet’s lap but then jumped down and trotted across the room to her chair, where Scarlet kept a cashmere blanket for her.
“Sounds like fun. Are the kids coming?”
“No. Derek is babysitting,” Scarlet said.
Alec chuckled at the thought. The onetime most eligible bachelor and notorious playboy had certainly changed a lot since he’d married Bianca. Alec liked the change for his sister’s sake. She’d been burned badly once by love so it was nice to see her so happy now.