* * *
The meeting had run longer than they thought and Beck and Jaeger left a few minutes after Tyce, both of them assuring her that they were in her corner, that they would help in any way they could.
“Up to and including beating the crap out of Latimore,” Jaeger told her as a parting shot.
When she and Linc were alone Sage walked to the small window, laying her hand on the cool glass. Droplets of icy rain ran down the pane and the low, gray clouds outside threatened snow. Late winter in New York City, she thought; she felt cold inside and out.
“You okay, shrimp?” Linc asked her. Sage turned, put her back to the wall and looked at her brother, his chair pushed back and his long legs stretched out.
“Mentally or physically?” Sage asked.
“Either. Both,” Linc answered her.
Sage lifted one shoulder and shrugged, biting her bottom lip. Linc’s eyes were on her face and she knew that her brother was hoping for an answer. Unlike Jaeger and Beck, Linc didn’t nag and as a result, she found herself talking to him more often than anyone else.
Still, it was easier to stick to the facts. “I’m about twelve, thirteen weeks pregnant. I’m not seeing Tyce, it just happened.”
Linc’s expression was sober. “Do you want to keep this child?”
Now there was a question she could answer without hesitation. “With every breath I take.”
Linc relaxed and his lightened. “Okay then. If you want to keep the baby, then we’ll all pitch in to help you… You know that, right?” Linc stated.
Sage nodded. “I do. So does, apparently, Tyce.” She tapped her index finger against her thigh. “I’m really surprised that he wants to be involved. I thought he’d take my offer to run.”
Linc scowled. “A hell of a lot surprised me today and that was only one thing of many.” Linc flipped through the folder Tyce had left and pulled out a letter-sized photograph of his sister, Lachlyn. He placed it on the table so that they could both look at the photo. “I can’t deny that she looks like Connor, she has his eyes.”
“And his nose,” Sage added. Apart from their hair color, she and Lachlyn could almost be sisters.
Linc folded his arms. “He made quite a few threats today. Do you think he’d act on them?”
Sage knew he would. Tyce never said anything he didn’t mean and she told her brother so. “The media is fascinated by him and, because he’s so reclusive, when he speaks the world will sit up and listen.”
“Crap.”
“If his sister is Connor’s daughter… God,” Sage said, her voice trembling. She couldn’t say more, hoping that her brother would know what she was trying to say without her having to verbalize her thoughts.
“If she’s his daughter she’s entitled to some part of his wealth? Is that what you are trying to say?” Linc asked her, pain in his eyes.
Sage nodded. “Isn’t she? We’re not his biological children, Linc. Yes, he adopted us but we’re not his blood,” Sage muttered. “If he knew about her, he would’ve scooped her up and pulled her into the family, his family.”
“He wouldn’t have tossed us aside,” Linc stated, his voice full of conviction. “Connor had an enormous capacity for love.”
“But he wouldn’t have ignored her either.”
Linc nodded, his face grave. “You’re right. She would’ve been pulled into this family. And five people would’ve inherited his wealth and not four.”
Sage traced the curve of Lachlyn’s cheek with her finger.
Tyce’s sister would’ve been hers, as well. The mind just boggled at the thought.
Linc rested his arms on the table, his brows lowered. “It’s important that we take this one step at a time, that we don’t get carried away. We need to do the DNA testing.”
She had a sister; Connor had a child; there was a missing Ballantyne out there. Sage felt the world tilting and she leaned her back against the wall and closed her eyes. She couldn’t do this; it was all too much. The pregnancy, Tyce, Lachlyn… Too much change.
And let’s not forget the little detail of Tyce deliberately targeting her to gather information on her family. Their meet-cute at that art gallery had been anything but fortuitous. He’d intentionally set out to meet her with the goal of getting her to spill company information. And strangely, that hurt the most and made her doubt everything that had happened between them. Were they really that sexually compatible or had he been just pretending? Was he as attracted to her as she was to him? Had it all been one horrible, well-thought-out, excellent act on his part?