to move back to Pennsylvania where the cost of living is a lot lower than what we have here.” He shrugged. “There’s no price for her. She doesn’t need our money.”
“Mom’s going to have a fit.”
“No kidding. Especially since Avery’s got to be six months along.” He remembered her swollen with his child, and suddenly imagined a little boy that was his. Not just an heir, but someone to teach everything from throwing a spiral to getting what you want in a negotiation. He never thought he’d have a child. Never thought he wanted a child. But he needed an heir, and he wanted to be a dad. If nothing else, he wanted to do better than his father had done with him and Seth. And come hell or high water he intended to be part of this baby’s life.
Seth laughed. “Six months and she only told you now? This just keeps getting better. You should rent an arena and sell tickets for when you tell Mom.”
“Very funny.”
Seth sat back. “I’m going to be an uncle.”
Jake met his brother’s gaze. “I’m going to be a dad.” Confusion swam through him again, tightening his chest with a combination of elation and fear. For as much as he longed to right things with this child, he also realized he could screw up worse than their dad had.
Seth sighed. “It’s official. We’re adults. I got word today on Clark Hargrave buying my share of the investment firm we started. He’s pulled the money together. Once it comes through, I’m out of the investment business.”
“Really?” Jake sat back. “Does that mean you can permanently take over the CEO position I left to become chairman of the board?”
“Do I have a choice?”
“You’ve been doing the job since Dad died, but if you want to leave I could appoint Sabrina.” Both Seth and their baby sister Sabrina had MBAs, but while Seth had started his own company, refusing to work for their dad, Sabrina currently ran a consulting firm for start-ups.
“And ruin her life too?” Seth rose. “I’ll do it, but I’m hiring two assistants and a vice president, so I’m not chained to my desk the way you are.”
“It’s a deal.” Jake rose too, extending his hand to his brother.
Seth shook it. “I think we’re both crazy.”
Considering workload alone, Jake would have agreed with him, except he liked who he was. He had been grateful for the chance to fix the reputation of McCallan, Inc. Now that he had a baby on the way, getting it right was a thousand times more important. He would make his child a part of everything he had—
Unless Avery Novak disappeared. And she just might. They hadn’t gotten anywhere close to agreement the night before, and she was just offbeat enough to think running was the answer.
He couldn’t bribe her.
He didn’t think he could outwit her. They were an even match.
The only thing left was sweet-talking her.
Almost at the door, Seth turned. “If you don’t mind, I think I’ll run this pregnancy by George Green.”
Jake’s brow furrowed. “The private investigator?”
“You dated Avery Novak for only three weeks, but you don’t think you need a DNA test. You don’t seem to care that she’s moving to Pennsylvania. Either you’re still half in love with her—”
“I’m not.”
“Or you’re so happy to be having a child you’re not thinking clearly.”
He sighed. “I’m thinking perfectly fine.”
“Let me call George anyway, have him do a bit of research into her past to make sure everything’s okay.”
“I don’t know.”
“It’s just a precaution. Plus, you never know what he’ll find. Maybe there’s something in her past that could help you.”
Jake ran his hand across his mouth. Calling a private investigator to make sure Avery was on the up-and-up was one thing. But digging up dirt, ruining someone’s life to extort them into compliance sounded so much like something his father would do after one of his fits of rage that he hesitated.
“Look, Jake, Mom’s already at odds. If this blows up in your face, she’s going to go over the edge. You know it. I know it. This isn’t just about you.”
Jake tossed his pencil to his desk. “All right. Call George. But I want to be the one to talk to him.”
“Great. I’ll set a meeting for this afternoon.”
“Not at the office.”
“Your place?”
He hesitated again. A horrible feeling washed through him. Was he pulling one of his dad’s tricks? Looking for something in Avery’s past? His intention was to make sure Avery could be trusted, but what if he found something that might make her seem unfit? Would he take her baby?
He stopped himself. There was no reason to get ahead of himself. A woman he barely knew, albeit that she’d been vetted by Waters, Waters and Montgomery when they’d hired her, was having his child. There was nothing wrong with checking up on her. Plus, he couldn’t dismiss what Seth was saying. Their mom was fragile. Their father might have been dead five months, but she wasn’t bouncing back from the loss. They didn’t need a scandal, or worse yet, a thief in their lives right now.
“Have him meet me at my house at about six.”
The feeling rolled through him again. The awful fear that he was becoming his dad. This time, he ignored it.
* * *
As Avery arrived at her office, she closed the door and hit the Contacts button on her phone to call her mom.
She hadn’t been able to sleep the night before. After hours of tossing and turning, she’d realized she’d been lulled into a false sense that she was in control of this situation with Jake because she had a Plan A, Plan B and even Plan C.
But Jake McCallan was much too careful, too smart. Sleeping with her ten times had been one thing. Having her as the mother of his child was quite another. If he hadn’t checked into her past before this, he would be checking now.
And once he did, Plan C would be as dead in the water as Plan A, and Plan B wouldn’t stand a chance.
Still, right now, her priority was to warn her mom.
When she answered, Avery said, “Hey, Mom.”
“Avery! What a nice surprise. What’s up? You never call on a weekday.”
She winced. She didn’t like reopening old wounds, but she wouldn’t let her mom be blindsided. “I have a feeling some people are going to be coming around asking questions about me.”
“You mean like the private investigators who checked into your life when you were hired
