CHAPTER THREE #2
"I need to talk to Kiara," Julian said, his voice barely above a whisper.
Duncan's expression remained impassive. "I thought you might say that. However, I wanted to speak with you first, to make a few things clear."
"Clear?" Julian's voice cracked slightly. He cleared his throat, trying to regain some composure. "I don't even know if it's true yet."
"But you're not denying the possibility."
Julian's stomach twisted. The honest answer was that he couldn't deny it—not when there were entire evenings that existed in his memory as nothing more than hazy impressions and black holes.
“No. I guess I can’t deny it.”
Duncan nodded. “Still, in the event that it is confirmed, I want you to understand the expectations I have for you.”
“Expectations?” Julian asked, feeling shellshocked but trying to brace himself for what was still to come.
“Once we’ve established that the baby is yours, you’re going to marry Kiara.”
“Marry?” Julian tried not to choke on the word. He had never envisioned that for himself. “You want me to marry her?”
“If we determine the child is yours, yes. It’s time for you to settle down.”
“And you think Kiara is the person I should do that with?”
Duncan nodded. “Yes. We know she’s not after your money, since she has plenty of her own now. And I think it’s time you took responsibility for someone besides yourself.”
“I don’t love her,” Julian said. “I barely know her.”
“View it as an arranged marriage and then commit to making it work. You need to take responsibility for your actions, and you need to offer Kiara and the baby the stability of a family.”
Julian stared out the window beside his dad’s desk, trying to keep hold of the pieces of his life that were slipping away from him.
“One more thing.”
Duncan’s tone of voice had gotten even more serious, and Julian dragged his gaze back to him. This time, there was something more in his dad’s expression. Something more emotional.
“I haven’t wanted to do this, but this latest situation with Kiara has forced my hand.” Duncan heaved a heavy sigh. “After you and Kiara get married, I want you to go to rehab.”
The shocks just kept on coming. “Rehab?”
“Clearly your drinking has gotten out of hand, and it now has the potential to impact our company.”
“What do you mean? I never go to work drunk.”
“But you’re drinking to the point where you don’t remember what you’re doing,” Duncan said.
“You are in possession of sensitive information. Confidential information. The competition might decide to send someone to try to get some information out of you. Your lifestyle… your drinking… is no secret. It makes you vulnerable, and someone might take advantage of that.”
Julian wanted to argue that that wasn’t possible, but he knew it was. “I’ll stop drinking as much.”
Duncan shook his head. “You’re going to rehab, and if you resist, you’re going to be removed from your position. Removed from the company.”
Shock froze Julian. “You’d fire me?”
“I would. For your sake, first and foremost. Drinking the way you do isn’t healthy for you. If you can’t see that, then I need to step in. I need to do this for the sake of the business as well. You’ve invested too much time and energy into the neurotechnology projects to risk endangering them.”
Julian was speechless. His whole world had been rocked. Knocked off its axis. It felt like everything was crashing down around him.
“I’ve found a place for you, and once we’ve got things sorted out with Kiara, you’ll check into the treatment center.”
A suffocating pressure settled on Julian's chest as the word rehab echoed in his mind. His vision narrowed until all he could see was his father's stern face, the rest of the room fading to gray. This couldn't be happening. Not to him. Not now.
"I don't have a problem," he said, hating how defensive his voice sounded. "I've never missed a meeting. My work in Singapore was exemplary—you said so yourself."
"And yet here we are," Duncan replied, his tone maddeningly calm. "Discussing a child you may have fathered during a night you can't remember."
Julian's jaw clenched so tight he felt a twinge of pain. He wanted to argue, to storm out, to do anything but sit in this chair feeling like a teenager being reprimanded. But his father's words had planted a seed of doubt that was rapidly taking root.
Had his drinking really spiraled so far out of control? Julian stared at his father, searching for any sign of exaggeration or manipulation, but found only grim determination in his steely gaze.
"I need to talk to Kiara," he said finally, his voice rough. "I need to hear this from her."
Duncan nodded once, the gesture curt and businesslike.
"Of course. She's likely in her room or with Angela.
But Julian…" His father's voice hardened.
"This isn't a negotiation. If the child is yours, you will marry her.
But regardless of the outcome of that situation, you will get help with your drinking.
The alternative is losing your position with the company. "
Julian rose from his chair, legs unsteady beneath him. The walls of his father's office seemed to press in around him, the air suddenly too thick to breathe properly.
And more than anything, right at that moment, he wanted a drink.
"I understand," he managed, though the words tasted bitter in his mouth.
He turned toward the door, desperate to escape the suffocating weight of his father's expectations. Each step felt leaden, as if the Persian rug beneath his expensive oxfords had turned to quicksand.
"Julian."
He paused at the threshold, hand gripping the brass doorknob so tightly his knuckles went white. Looking over his shoulder, he saw that his father had risen to his feet behind his desk.
"I know this is difficult," Duncan said, his voice softer now. "But it's time to step up. To be the man I know you can be."
Julian didn't trust himself to respond. He gave a nod, then yanked open the door and stepped into the hallway, closing it firmly behind him. The click of the latch echoed in his ears like a prison door slamming shut.
The hallway stretched before him, suddenly feeling endless. His breathing came shallow and quick as he loosened his tie with fingers that didn’t want to function.
As he walked away from the office, his gaze went to the open doors of the library. The pull to just pop in there for a quick drink was strong.
So strong that he came to a stop in the doorway. Just one drink wouldn’t get him drunk. His tolerance for alcohol had risen over the years. But one drink might help him deal with the situation.
He took a step into the library, then paused. Would taking that drink prove Duncan right?
That thought was enough to make him turn from the temptation. He had to do this with a completely clear head.
When he neared the stairs, he changed directions and headed for the breakfast room.
As he’d hoped, he found Angela and Jude still there. Angela was carrying a mug to the table and glanced over as he walked in, her eyes widening. “Hey, Julian. Do you want a cup of coffee?”
Being offered a cup of coffee in the midst of his life falling apart felt a bit ridiculous. Unfortunately, he didn’t think he could stomach anything right then. Although he would have made an exception if she’d been offering him alcohol.
“Not right now,” he said. “Is Kiara in her room?”
“Uh… yes, I think so.” Angela glanced at Jude, then back at Julian. “Why?”
“Why?” Julian lifted his brows at her. “I just came from talking to Duncan, and now I need to speak with Kiara.”
“I don’t know if that’s the best idea,” Angela said, gripping the mug she held in both hands.
“Maybe not,” Julian agreed. “But if I am the father of her baby, I need to know.”
“Oh.” Angela’s shoulders slumped. “Can I go talk to her first? Just to make sure she’s feeling okay?”
“Sure.” Julian was happy for a reprieve, however brief it might be.
Angela set her mug on the table, then scooted out of the breakfast room, leaving Julian with Jude.
“How are you doing?” Jude asked. His tone was measured, but surprisingly, it didn’t seem to hold any judgment.
Julian walked over and sat down at the table. He shrugged out of his jacket and laid it on the chair next to him.
“I’m not sure, to be honest,” he confessed. “It’s not every day one finds out they might have fathered a baby.”
“I’m kind of surprised you haven’t had it happen before now,” Jude said.
Julian gave a huff of laughter. “My exploits have been exaggerated.”
“Have they?” Jude asked. “Really?”
“A bit. Ask Anthony. He’d tell you.”
“Do you think Kiara’s baby isn’t yours?” Jude asked.
“I don’t remember being with her,” Julian admitted. “But I can’t deny that we spent a lot of time together. And that time wasn’t just spent talking. We drank more than we should have.”
“Kiara remembers,” Jude said. “So I don’t think she was drinking as much as you were.”
Julian shifted on the chair. It felt weird to know that someone had memories of him that he didn’t share.
“So she told you I’m the father?” Julian asked. “Duncan said she wouldn’t confirm either way with him.”
“She told Angela that you were,” Jude said. “And I don’t think she’d lie to her. She’d have no reason to.”
Julian wasn’t entirely convinced of that, but he agreed that Kiara would tell her sister the truth.
As Julian watched the man, he mused over the change in him since he’d fallen for Angela.
He’d always assumed that, like him, Jude wasn’t interested in a serious relationship, let alone marriage.
But there was no way that his dad would be on board with the pair dating if Jude wasn’t serious about a future with Angela.
What had changed for Jude? What was it about Angela that made the man abandon his bachelor lifestyle?
Though Jude had never embraced being single the way Julian had, still Jude had willingly given up his single life for Angela. Julian, however, was being forced to give up his, and because of that, he could never see himself happily embracing domesticity the way Jude had.
He’d lived his life on his own terms for over thirty years, and now he was being reined in and forced onto a different path. Whether or not he liked it, change was coming to his life, and he had no choice but to accept it.