Page 116 of Secret Baby for My Brother's Best Friends

“I should talk to him.”

“Yes. But let him calm down first. I’ll talk to him as well.”

“He might try to pull out of the contract."

“That’s the least of our concerns right now. I doubt he can, but even if he does, it’s not going to bankrupt us.”

"Yes, but...but..." Her voice breaks, and I hold her while she sobs, and Jake rubs her back.

“I hate fighting with him,” she mumbles. “Hate it.”

"I know, baby," I croon. "I know."

"I should tell him that I love him."

"He knows. It's the first thing I told him, and he told me he knows. Just give him some time to come around, and I'm sure he'll be more receptive to the conversation."

She nods into my chest but keeps crying.

Sam eventually returns, and when he hears the story, he only holds her silently, taking his turn to cuddle with her on the couch. We make her some hot tea, and I finish up the Paella for her and give her some. She has a few bites before she decides to send her brother a message that reads,“I’m sorry for what I said. I wouldn’t choose him over you, but I also wouldn't choose you over them. So please don’t make me have to make the choice.”

She sends it and waits for a response. It doesn't come by the time she falls asleep in Jake's arms.

I catch his eye. He seems to understand what I mean implicitly without my saying anything, getting up and carrying her to bed.

Then he returns to say, “Something happen?"

Sam, whose eyes were on the TV, also turned to regard us.

I sigh. “I got called into the station today. It seems that their investigation brought about some suspicion of foul play.”

“What?” Jake's eyes widen, and I nod.

“Yeah. According to them, it looked like the excavator thing wasn’t just an accident. There was no problem with the engine or anything. Someone must have driven it into the scaffolding.”

“And no one saw it happen?”

“Everyone was busy, not to mention no one was really around that area when it happened. They wanted to know if we knew anyone who would do something like that.”

“Do we?” Sam asks, staring at me with anger stoked in his eyes.

“There’s Ken.” Ken is the owner of a construction company that was also bidding for the project.

“Nah. This is shady even for him. He would be more likely to talk to someone and try to smarm his way into the proposal rather than physically harm us.”

“I’m pretty sure he tried that already, and maybe it didn’t work, which is why he continued to sabotage us by creating negative publicity."

“Maybe. Anyone else?"

“That one guy I fought at the bar," Jake says.

“And what, he waited a few months to get back at you? Not likely."

We keep brainstorming, but each possibility seems more unlikely than the last. Sure, each of us has one or more people who probably want to kick our ass for various reasons. A disgruntled employee. A jealous boyfriend. A business rival. But to go as far as to sabotage our business was a whole other thing entirely.

We don’t get very far with that, as we have a drink. We're silent in thought for some time before Jake blurts out, “I told her I loved her today.”

That makes Sam freeze in the process of pouring himself another drink.