With a quick, promising kiss that was anything but innocent and sweet, Graham walked out. Eve shut the door at her back and rested against the wood. How could she feel so nauseous and yet still be reacting to this man?
One thing was sure: until she knew where he stood with this whole inheritance issue, and until the ultrasound came back okay, she wasn’t telling him anything. They’d continue on as they had been...having sex and pretending the world around them didn’t exist.
“Tell me this is your idea and you’re not being persuaded by a woman you should consider our enemy.”
Graham eyed his brother, hating how much this paternity issue was eating away at them. They both just wanted answers...answers Sutton had, but refused to share. The man was dying. Why was he now choosing to be loyal to Cynthia? He hadn’t chosen her years ago, so this sudden burst of emotion was completely out of character.
And Brooks’s actions were also out of character. “This isn’t you,” Graham stated, eyeing his twin. “Being vindictive. I know you’re reacting out of frustration and hurt, but attacking Sutton in the media isn’t the way to deal with it.”
Brooks grabbed a tumbler from behind the bar in his study and poured two fingers of bourbon. Gripping the glass, he stared down at the contents as if weighing his actions. Eve wasn’t forcing Graham to do anything. What she said made sense, and Graham knew his brother wasn’t a hateful man. Brooks was fair, honest and loyal...quite the opposite of Sutton Winchester.
“Are you sleeping with her?”
The quietly spoken question hovered in the air. Brooks didn’t even look up, but Graham felt the punch to the gut just the same as if his brother had shouted the question.
“Are you going to ease off with the media?” Graham countered. “If you want Eve to cooperate, or any her sisters, we can’t come at them like we’re coming in for the kill.”
Graham winced at his poor choice of words considering the state of the old man. But still, Nora, Grace and Eve weren’t to blame. They didn’t choose to be born to a man as evil and self-righteous as Sutton.
Brooks tipped back the contents and slammed his glass down onto the polished mahogany bar. “You can’t be loyal to your lover and to your family. Your promiscuous ways are going to bite you in the ass.”
Graham paced across the room to the floor-to-ceiling window overlooking the city below. This penthouse suite was perfect for a bachelor with a busy lifestyle. “I’ve gotten along just fine in my professional and personal life without your input.”
“If you think getting into bed with a Winchester isn’t going to do damage to our family, you’re even more blindsided by lust than I first thought. Didn’t we agree you’d stay away from her?”
Graham fisted his hands at his side. This was his brother, his twin. They were so similar, yet different. Brooks was the outgoing type, the go-getter, the grounded brother. Graham was definitely outgoing and a go-getter, but he also enjoyed a good time, a good woman. He’d been told often that his quiet charm won him cases and had women falling at his feet. He was just fine with that assessment.
But Graham wasn’t ready to give up what he and Eve were doing. Why should he? He’d never experienced anything like Eve before and he sure as hell wasn’t going to let Sutton Winchester’s will come between them. He’d find a way to make everything work, play the peacemaker and get the job done. Isn’t that what he excelled at?
“We didn’t agree on anything,” Graham stated. “Eve and I are adults. I know where my loyalties are and I won’t let anything stand in the way of getting Carson what is rightfully his and getting Sutton to tell us the name of our father. But attacking him in the press isn’t the way to go. We need to go in with a milder approach, for a stronger impact.”
Brooks quirked a brow. “And how do you suggest doing that?”
Pulling in a breath, Graham turned from the window. “Stop the press war and put a hold on the legal proceedings.”
Brooks opened his mouth, but Graham lifted his hand. “Leave this to me. We want Sutton to suffer, but not necessarily his daughters. They’ll be hurt, but we can make it less of a blow to them. Sutton is still alive, so as long as he is, we go straight to him. Play hardball with him. Introduce the evidence Roman has discovered and let Sutton make a choice. Tell him we’ll go to the media with all the facts, and the lineup of women claiming to have a child by him, or he can put Carson in his will as a beneficiary and give him his share. I’m demanding he give us the name of our father no matter what he chooses to do about the other issues. I refuse to back down on that.”
Brooks raked his thumb back and forth on his glass of bourbon, considering all the options. Graham knew he could make this work. He knew Eve would see his side so long as they quit attacking her father. Damn, but he admired her loyalty. Graham just wished she didn’t have to be so faithful to such a bastard.
“We’ll try your way.” Brooks came around the bar, leaned an elbow on top and shot Graham a look. “But you better remember what team you’re fighting for.”
Graham nodded. “I never forget who I’m fighting for. Carson and you are my top priorities.”
Brooks nodded. “Good. I have another topic I want to discuss.”
“Does it require more bourbon?”
With a shrug, Brooks crossed the room and took a seat on the leather sofa. “I want to talk to Sutton. In person.”
Inwardly cringing, Graham glanced toward the ceiling and wondered why he was surprised. Brooks was a man on a mission. He was determined.
“You want to leave the girls out of this, fine. For now,” Brooks added, aiming a hard look at his twin. “But the three of us—Carson, you, me—we’re going to talk to Sutton. He’s growing weaker every day and I know it may be cruel to go to him and put the pressure on, but we have to try.”
Their mother had passed just months ago, taking the secret of who fathered them to her grave. Graham had no idea why she didn’t tell them. At first, he’d thought for sure Sutton was their father and she’d been afraid, ashamed. But the DNA test had come back, proving Sutton had only fathered Carson, leaving Brooks and Graham confused and hurt.
While they yearned to know who their father was, Graham was elated that old bastard wasn’t his. Not to mention the fact that it had left the path wide open to seduce Eve the night of the charity ball for the children’s hospital. He’d gotten the results right before the gala. Eve had shown up wearing a body-hugging gold gown. That honey-brown hair she’d piled perfectly on top of her head came tumbling down all around him when he’d finally gotten her to his penthouse. They’d barely survived the cab ride.
“I’ll go with you,” Graham stated, pulling himself back into the moment. He needed to be strong for his brothers, needed them to know they were a team. “Sutton isn’t as strong as he used to be.”
Brooks sent a malevolent grin. “That’s what I’m counting on.”
* * *
After a long day, exhaustion finally won. Eve nearly wept as she submerged herself in the soaker tub in her master suite. All the symptoms of her first pregnancy had come back full force: the need to rest at all times, the nausea that slammed into her with no warning, the emotions that were all over the place. Just trying to keep herself in check at work today had been trying. When someone from a newly acquired company in Barcelona offered condolences for Eve’s father, she nearly lost it. Thankfully they had only been chatting on the phone and not via video conference because the tears welled up in her eyes and flowed, but Eve managed to clear her throat, offer thanks and keep her tone neutral.
Why were people acting like he was already gone? That was the part that completely gutted her. He