Stepbrother's Gift (19 page)

“Yeah, absolutely. What's up?”

“I can't tell you over this phone. He's probably monitoring your communication.”

“James monitoring my communication? Tessa, that's...” I stopped myself. I already knew that he had been monitoring my email somehow. It wasn't completely ridiculous that, with all the emails we had sent back and forth, he had installed some kind of spyware all over my cell phone. “I guess he could be. Do you want to chat on myFace?”

“He wouldn't stop at your phone, he'd probably spy on your computer as well. I want you to call me at my work's phone at this number.” I wrote down the digits she said. “Call from a pay phone.”

“Tessa, this is the year 2015. Where am I going to find a pay phone?”

“I don't care, just find some line that you don't think he'd be monitoring. I have something important to tell you and I don't want him to hear it.” She hung up.

I hung up my own phone, then hesitated for a moment.
Was Tessa being overly paranoid?
I looked at my phone in disbelief.
No way James would be spying on me to the point where he was recording my phone conversations.
I knew that he cared about me. Whatever Tessa had to say, it couldn't be that bad.

Then again, I had heard the fear in her voice. I threw on my coat and left my dorm room, determined to find a phone.

Whatever she had to say would be worth at least listening to.

I
stared at my own phone, unsure if I should just call Tessa back immediately on my cell phone. She'd probably never know, unless her work had caller ID and she had my cell phone memorized. However, I had heard the warning, the fear in her voice.

“He's probably monitoring your communication. He wouldn't stop at your phone, he'd probably spy on your computer as well,”
she had said.

The thought was borderline silly. If it had been anyone other than James, I would have thought that she was being paranoid. However, it
was
James. Even if he wasn't an expert at communications technology, he was a billionaire, and had access to all the resources that that entailed. It would probably be trivial for him to hire a private investigator to keep me under tabs.

Why would he do that, though? That question was kind of unimportant, though. I already had some evidence that he was monitoring the communications we sent in some way.

“You weren't answering your phone or reading your emails,”
he had said. He specifically mentioned that I hadn't
read
the emails, when he could have just said that I wasn't answering my phone or emails. At the time I had blown it off as fairly harmless, and had also figured that it was the worst that he was doing. I wasn't so sure now.

I slipped on some flip flops and grabbed my room key. Sometimes I would just leave the door open when I left if Nicole was there, but she was out partying or something tonight. I was glad that she hadn't heard me mention James' name on the phone. Ever since their night dancing, I had been more and more worried that Nicole had been keeping in contact with him. If James ever came back to New York, I'd have to make sure that she didn't get anywhere near him.

The front room of the dorm was a common area with a ping pong table, some tables and chairs, and a TV. It was the only area of the dorm where boys were allowed without an escort, which made James barging into my room two weeks ago that much more baffling.

I looked around for a pay phone. This building was built more than thirty years ago, and should have had some sort of public land line. I didn't see any, though.

I walked up to the receptionist. “Hi there,” I said.

The bored-looking resident assistant barely looked up from her homework. They were all required to put in rotations at the front desk in exchange for free room and board, but none of them seemed to enjoy the job all that much. I didn't really blame them, they either had to be the bad guy to a lot of people or get fired from their job. “Can I help you?”

“Do you know where a pay phone is?” I asked.

You would have thought that I asked where the nearest cobbler was. “A pay phone?” she asked in a tone that told me that she had no idea.

“Yeah, a pay phone. I need one.”

With her eyelids half closed, she shook her head, then turned back to her homework. I sighed, then looked outside. The New York winter was no joke, and on top of not bringing my coat, I just had on yoga shorts. I looked around, and I must have looked desperate, because the R.A. spoke up again. “You can use the office phone if its an emergency.”

My faith in humanity was restored. I nodded quickly and she opened the office door for me. “It's just back there,” she said, pointing to a closet in the back with a desk and chair. I thanked her then quickly went to the phone while she went back to her homework. I dialed the number, and Tessa picked up halfway through the first ring.

“Are you on a pay phone?” she asked, sounding even more worried than before.

“How did you know it was me?” I asked.

“We don't get too many business calls from the 212 area code,” she said. So she did have caller ID. I would have felt really awkward if I had tried to pass off a cell phone call as my own.

“Then, no, not quite anyway. I'm on the office phone for my dorm.”

“Mmm,” I heard her say. “I do kind of doubt that James has that phone bugged. He does have some limitations.”

“Of course he has limitations,” I said. “What's this all about?”

“You said that you and James had a conversation and that you were going to fly out to Boston to see him. What did you guys talk about?”

I bit my lip. I couldn't tell her everything, could I? I had promised James that I wouldn't, but Tessa was my best friend. Then again, he had specifically mentioned Tessa by name as a person that I couldn't tell. I had been surprised that James had even known her name.

“We talked about... the kiss.” I couldn't avoid that topic at least, I had told her that before I had even left Springfield.

“And...” she said.

“And about how we needed to get it out of our system.”

“So, you're going to Boston to get more 'out of your system'?”

I touched my belly. He was already more 'in my system' than any man had ever been. We had already had sex several times at this point, and I had no doubt we were going to fuck like rabbits while I was visiting him. “I don't know,” I said, the lie rubbing on me. “I mean, he's my stepbrother.”

“But you want to,” she said.

If we continued having this conversation, I'd either slip up and tell her something that I didn't want to or I'd just get annoyed with her. “I thought you had something to tell me, something that you couldn't tell me because James had my cell phone bugged,” I said, changing the subject.

“Girl, what I'm trying to tell you is about James. You need to be careful. You remember seeing Audrey Lipman the other day?”

How could I forget? The girl who had made my life miserable all through high school was now pregnant. Her face had gotten rounder, her cheeks were rosy, she had a glow about her, but most of all, her belly was big and round. She was absolutely beautiful. “Yeah, of course.”

“You remember how I told you that Austin wasn't the father?”

“Yeah, but-” I was going to say that she didn't tell me who the father actually was, but then I realized what she was going to say next. My stomach sank. This call was supposed to be about James. “No...”

“Yes. I just found out the other day. Audrey's about ready to pop any day now, but suddenly all her expenses are paid for. I talked to my friend Kendra who works at the hospital, and she said that your brother's company is picking up the bills.”

My mind immediately fixated on how big a HIPAA violation that was, but I knew that it happened all the time. “That's hardly conclusive.”

“Well, you're right. Apparently, Kendra tried to make some small talk with Audrey. She was being easy-going, until apparently Kendra asked the wrong question. Suddenly, Audrey locked up, saying that she couldn't really talk about it for legal reasons.”

I bit my lip. If James was involved, she was probably under an NDA. James loved his non-disclosure agreements.

“Look, the reason that I had to talk to you right away was that last text message. Nine months ago was the end of the school year. I shared homeroom with her and I remember that bitch bragging about how she was going on a trip to see this awesome band in Boston right after school let out. Your brother was in Boston then. Your text message talking about basically the same thing basically brings it all together. When you add it all up, it seems to lead to one obvious conclusion.”

“So, what you're saying is James is the father.” My voice seemed small, even to myself.

“Not only is he the father, but he's paying her to shut her up.” I heard her sigh. “Look, just be careful is all. And definitely bring a condom if you're planning on getting something out of your system.”

My hand strayed to my belly. It was a little late for that, I thought. Still, just because it was possible that James was being a Deadbeat Dad to Audrey's baby didn't mean that he would do that to me, his stepsister.

Did it?

I
almost didn't go.

My plane ticket was already booked, and I had already packed my bag in anticipation, but I felt sick to my stomach.

How could he do that? How could he abandon a pregnant woman and his own unborn child? How could he hold a legal guillotine over her head when she was in this state?

I knew James was an asshole, but not like this. He was the cocky, confident kind of asshole, not the kind that ruins a girl's life and pays to cover it up.

How little did I know about my stepbrother? How much did I really want his child if he did all that?

In the end, I loaded up myFace and looked at a few pictures of him. Not only did I start to get wet just thinking about his hard body on mine, but I wanted to hear it from him before I believed it. I made sure not to tell Nicole where I was going, grabbing a cab while she was still in class.

I went to Boston, determined to get answers.

***

W
hen I landed at Logan International Airport in Boston, I sent James an email.

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W
here should I meet you?

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I
received an email back right away.

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W
e go on in two hours. Come by the coffee house now and I can get you setup at my place.

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N
othing more than that. His short replies were becoming more and more frustrating. I knew that he was busy, but a little bit of reassurance would be nice. Of course, he didn't know that I was aware of Audrey, or that I needed reassuring at all. That didn't make me feel any better.

As soon as I got outside, I felt the chill of the Boston winter run through me. My denim jacket was still zipped up, but I only had on a halter top underneath it and a pair of tight jeans under that. I figured if I was here to be a band's groupie, I might as well look the part. I flagged down a cab and gave the cabbie the address of the coffee shop.

On the way over there, I thought over all the information I had and whether or not I could draw an alternate conclusion. James was paying Audrey's medical bills, and she wasn't allowed to talk about it. Her boyfriend from senior year of high school was not the father. On top of all that, she was in Boston for a concert at just the right time.

I sighed to myself as I touched my belly. Nothing was confirmed yet, but I knew I was already pregnant with his child myself. If James found out, would he make me sign a contract like Audrey? Would I receive a payout, with James' lawyers specifying that the child would never know who its father was? Half of me thought it was impossible, but the other half knew it
was
possible, and that half wanted to cry a little.

At least the baby would have a rich Uncle James
, I thought with a half-hearted smile. No matter what, James would have to see his child occasionally. Maybe he'd have a change of heart down the line.

That was an awful big 'maybe'.

I had come this far, though, and there wasn't anything I could do about it now. I'd have to act like nothing was wrong for tonight. When I had a minute alone with him, I'd dance around the question, gauge his reaction about certain things. I figured that, by the end of the trip, I'd know about Audrey at least.

Part of me wondered how I'd react, even if he didn't plan to treat me the same way. I wanted him all to myself, but if he had another baby in the world, he'd never be fully mine. I knew that was an irrational fear, but I worried all the same. Maybe it was just pregnancy hormones.

After what seemed like forever, we pulled up to the coffee shop. I paid the cabbie and looked at the door. Outside, a simple chalkboard stand had “Lefty and the Sharks: 9:00 PM” written on it.

I was ready for tonight.

A
s soon as I walked in, the hum of excitement was tangible.

The coffee shop was not a concert venue, but it's pretty obvious that they were trying their best to make this an event. All the tables had been moved away from the stage to the other side, making it super cramped. In fact, I saw some of the tables disassembled and shoved in the very back corner.

There were a ton of chairs that were obviously part of the coffee shop's furniture set that were lined up in front of the stage. In addition, after a few rows, they had used a bunch of metal folding chairs. I recognized them as the ones that James kept in his apartment in his own little studio.

Immediately, I heard James' voice. It was the same authoritative tone that he used when I heard him doing business over the phone. “It's still not working, Ryan. Fucking get this thing fixed, and fast. We have two hours until this show starts and if you've got to bring in your little sister's karaoke set to get a working mic, you do it.”

I saw him tapping a mic as he yelled. There were a couple other people up on the stage, frantically running wires or adjusting lights. He hadn't seen me yet, so I thought I'd go up and get his attention. Someone else got my attention first.