Page 139 of Anti-Hero

I doubt he really recalls me from the hundreds of people who attended that party, but I appreciate him pretending I was memorable.

“Do you and Lili talk often?”

“I …” I’m becoming more confused about the nature of this visit by the second, but can’t come up with any polite way to ask why Crew is here. “We try to.”

He nods. “Lili’s always spoken very highly of you. And everyone who interacted with you at the company spoke very highly of you as well. I’ve heard nothing except impressed accounts of your work as Kit’s assistant.”

“I—that’s nice to hear. Thank you.”

Crew opens his briefcase, slipping a manila envelope out and setting it on my desk.

I stare at it.

He stares at it.

Finally, I ask, “What’s that?”

Crew sighs. “I had a plan coming here, Collins. Is it all right if I call you that?”

I clear my throat. “Of course. Yes.”

“Last night, I found out you’re expecting a child with my son.”

I suck in a startled breath. “Oh.”

“I was planning to come here, ask you to sign an NDA, and say it was an oversight that should have been part of your exit process. Tell you to advise a lawyer before signing, if you wanted.”

I think of the slip of paper my dad handed me. I never called. Never felt like I needed to. Should I have?

Crew exhales. “It’s been a long time since there were any big surprises in my life, Collins. I grew up knowing where I’d go to school. Where I’d work. Who I’d marry even. Finding out I’m going to be agrandfatherin a few months? That was a shock.”

“Multiply it by ten, and you’ll have a clue how I felt when I foundout.”

He smiles again, then sobers. “I’m sure. How-how are you feeling?”

“I’m good. I feel good.” I hesitate. “I don’t know how much he told you, but Kit’s been … he’s been amazing. He’s held my hand at every appointment. I’m not sure I even would have made it to the first ultrasound if he hadn’t been there. Every time I freak out, he talks me down. He bought pregnancy books. As in multiple. He looks up the size of the baby every week and texts me it in terms of fruit. He completely charmed my family. He’s having thismassivemural painted in the nursery, and I’m …” I let my voice trail, embarrassed. “Sorry, he probably told you all of that already.”

“No.” Crew drops his hands from his chin to his lap. “No, he didn’t tell me all of that.Anyof that. I reacted … badly to the news. And I regret that.”

“Oh.”

That explains why Kit said nothing to me about his dad knowing. And my heart constricts painfully in my chest as I worry how that conversation going badly affected him.

Kit is close with his dad. He admires him. Respects him. Their relationship is much closer than my current one with my father. Yet the first thing my dad asked was if I was okay. Based on the contrite look on Crew’s face, that wasn’t the first question he asked Kit.

And Kit didn’t tell me.

He knows about my dad’s infidelity. About Isaac cheating. About … everything. But he didn’t tell me this. Because he didn’t want to worry me? Because he didn’t want me to know?

“You don’t have to sign this, Collins,” Crew says quietly, nodding toward the folder. “I’m here on business because you worked at my family’s company while also having a personal relationship with myson. I don’t need details. I don’twantdetails, frankly. But I have a responsibility to …”

His voice trails as I flip open the folder. I scan the page, confirming the document’s contents, then scribble my signature and the date at the bottom. “There you go.” I push it toward him. “And whatever you said to Kit? You’d better fix it.”

I’m certain Crew isn’t accustomed to taking orders.

But he nods. “I will.”

Kit calls while I’m walking down the steps into the subway. “I just landed,” he tells me. “And fuck did I forget how cold it was in New York. Phoenix felt like an oven. We should go somewhere warm soon, where you can wear nothing except a bikini all day. How was your first day?” He finally takes a breath.

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