Page 171 of Lovers' Dance: Vol. 2

Nathan grimaced apologetically. “I can’t. Bella’s on bed rest and going out her mind. The baby’s due anytime now and both our mothers have taken up permanent residence in our home. She’s adamant she wants a natural home birth.”

Adam balked, mouth parting in shock or perhaps disgust. “I thought you were going to convince her otherwise.”

Nathan shot him a hard look. “You try talking to a determined, heavily pregnant woman with both your mother and mother-in-law in tow. WhatIwant doesn’t count for squat. Quite frankly I find it unpleasant. I had assumed we’d do the normal thing,” He looked anxiously at Matt. “You know, she goes in for a C-section, they get my son out then we bring him home after a few days. All nicely planned and executed, none of this natural birth drama in the home environment.” Nathan ran a frustrated hand through his blond hair, setting it on end. “What if something goes wrong? It doesn’t bear thinking about. I should have vetoed some of those damned pregnancy books before she read them. This isn’t the dark ages. Child birth should be done in the safe, sterile environment of a hospital, not in a bloody birthing pool in my bloody living room!”

Matt and Adam exchanged glances before regarding Nathan’s red face. His obvious feelings of helplessness was unnerving to them.

“I’m sure everything will be alright.” Matt assured him.

Adam still wore that shocked expression, when Matt gave him a pointed glare, he hurried to add his verbal support. “Yes, Matt’s right. It’ll be a doddle. Women have been doing this since the dawn of time,” Adam tugged at his collar. “Ah, this birthing pool, how large is it? You are putting some form of protective covering down, aren’t you? I can’t remember if you have carpet down or wood flooring. Bloody hell. Won’t it be messy?”

“Adam.” Matt chastised as Nathan’s pallor took on a sickly green. “I’m sure it will be fine. Bella knows what she’s doing.”

“Does she?” Nathan retorted. “I highly doubt that. Holding any lengthy conversation with her the past few weeks has been near impossible. We’ll start on one topic then she veers off into some random thought,” Nathan sighed. “I have the most unsettling feeling of foreboding which I dare not mention or risk upsetting her. This is bollocks. Utter bollocks. She expects me to get in the damned birthing pool with her!”

Adam cover his mouth with one hand for a few moments, appalled and visibly wanting to end this train of discussion. “Best of luck with that, chap. Have you seen the final bonus packages offered to our execs? Matt and I believe it’s quite generous considering the current markets.”

Nathan scowled.

Matt himself was uneasy and slightly repulsed at Nathan’s dilemma. He scratched his stubble-covered chin and followed his brother’s lead. A change of topic was definitely needed. “Well it doesn’t matter if they are satisfied or not, we’re not going above the set threshold. The last thing we need is a backlash from lower level management.”

Nathan’s scowl deepened.

Matt avoided his best friend’s glare and gestured to Adam. “What about you? Are you up for accompanying me to the club?”

“Not today,” Adam’s smug expression warned Matt of what was coming before his brother even said it. “I’m out with Patricia this evening.”

“You’re still seeing her?” Nathan asked, juggling the stack of files in his arms. “I thought you were knocking that on the head after Ascot.” He regarded Matt for a moment. “And what is going on withyou? I know I’ve been preoccupied with the upcoming addition to my family, but have you forgotten what a bloody razor is?”

Adam chuckled softly. “He’s gone to seed, Nate,” Narrowing his eyes in Matt’s direction, Adam added dryly, “And he refuses to talk about what we all know he should talk about.”

Nathan cocked his head to one side as Matt reached for his own stack of files. “I still don’t understand what happened, Matt.” Nathan groused. “One minute you’re absolutely smitten with your wife; the next she’s persona non grata. What the hell is going on with you two?And who was that woman you brought to the function last week?”

“He refuses to discuss it.” Adam replied.

Matt stared at them both. “Right then. Give Bella my love. Adam, are we still on for tomorrow? Dad wants us to meet him around mid-day.”

“Of course,” Adam waved a dismissive hand through the air then smirked at Nathan. “I assume neither one of you will be going to Port Hercules next week?”

“The Monaco Yacht Show is the last thing on my mind,” Nathan began heading for the door. “I’m going to be a father any day now.”

Matt managed a small smile at Nathan’s sudden excitement. He was pleased for him, yet his friend’s happiness only served to remind him of the dire state of his own personal life.

Adam gave him an unexpected brotherly pat across the shoulders and murmured, “Chin up, Matty.”

Matt shrugged him off, masking his emotions behind an empty façade. “Well, seeing as neither one of you is available, I’ll get some more work done.”

The three men left the boardroom and went their respective ways. When Matt approached his office he walked straight to Rachel’s desk and kindly told her to finish up for the day. At first she seemed reluctant to go upon realizing he would be staying back, but Matt insisted. By the time it got to six he decided to call it a day and headed home.

The first thing George said to him when he walked through his front door was, “Good afternoon, Mr Bradley. Your grandfather has called on four separate occasions today. He advised if you didn’t return his call the moment you arrived home, he would pay you a visit.”

Matt grimaced as he handed over his briefcase to George. “Anything else?”

“The contractors and decorators have completed the remodelling of the studio and all the furniture has been situated as per the way you wanted.”

“Good.” Matt nodded curtly and strode down the hallways to assess the work.

It was a bitter-sweet moment when his eyes travelled the space that had once been her studio. Memories of her dancing exquisitely in front the now gone mirrored wall bombarded him. The studio hadbeen one of the last things in the house that reminded him of her. The final item was currently upstairs, out of sight in the large wooden chest at the foot of his bed and a cause of niggling guilt for him. He had found her box, exactly where she said it would be but instead of having it safely delivered to her, he had kept it. At first it was solely out of malicious revenge, something he was wholly ashamed of. He wanted her to hurt, to know she felt some level of pain like he was suffering. She had been unfaithful and broken his well-guarded heart in the process. That deserved a form of retribution. The spiteful feeling hadn’t lasted long, yet he still held on to her precious box. Parting with it would be like losing her all over again. So he kept the box and tried to ignore the reproach of his conscience.

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