Chapter 34
Claire
Placing my hand over my mouth, I flew out of bed and ran to the bathroom. I sat there with my head in the toilet, but nothing would come up.
“Are you okay?” Nick asked, walking over and pulling my hair back.
“No. I feel so sick, but nothing is happening.”
He started the shower. “Come on. Let’s take a shower. Maybe it’ll help you feel better. We have to get ready to go see Georgia.”
“You get in. I’ll join you in a second.”
Nick climbed into the shower, and a few moments later, I joined him. He wrapped his arms around me and held me tight as the hot water beat down on us.
“It’ll be okay, babe.”
I felt better as he held me, and my head lay on his shoulder. He always had a way of doing that.
After showering, and as I was fixing my hair, Nick walked into the bathroom and put on some cologne. One whiff and I ran to the toilet.
“Again?” he asked.
“I’m sorry, but it’s your cologne.”
“You love this cologne. You said it turns you on.”
“That was before I was pregnant. Please, for the love of God, don’t wear it again until I’m in my second trimester.”
“Okay, babe. I’m sorry.” He leaned over and kissed the top of my head.
“Are you ready to see your little peanut?” Georgia smiled as I lay on the table.
Nick held my hand and kissed my forehead as Georgia performed the ultrasound.
“There’s your baby. And here is the heartbeat.” She turned the sound up on the monitor.
I stared at the screen as tears filled my eyes.
“Everything looks great,” Georgia said. “If you want to do the blood test to find out the gender early, we can do that today. That way, you’ll know what you’re having before the wedding.”
“I think we should wait until the baby’s born,” Nick said.
I turned my head and furrowed my brows at him.
“Or not. Let’s do the blood test.” He grinned.
After leaving Georgia’s office, Nick and I spent the day together. We met with Giuseppe for the flowers and then with Zoey at the bakery to review our wedding cake design. Everything was falling into place, and I felt peaceful until my phone rang, and bad news was delivered.
Richard had passed away from a heart attack. I cried all night while Nick held me and tried to console me. I spoke to him a few days ago to tell him about the wedding and the baby, and he was fine. He was happy for us and told me about a woman he’d been seeing.
A few days later, Nick, my brothers, and I climbed on Shaun’s plane and flew to Connecticut to attend the funeral.
“You guys didn’t have to come.”
“Of course we did. He was special to you. You’re our sister, and we’re here to support you.” A sympathetic smile crossed Sam’s lips.
Sitting in the chair before his casket while the pastor spoke, I remembered all the times Richard looked out for me. He had become a father figure after Joseph died, and I felt the loss hard.
“He talked about you all the time,” Lenore said. “I’m sorry we had to meet under these circumstances.”
“I’m sorry for your loss, too, Lenore. Richard told me the two of you had gotten close.”
“We did. I wish we would have had more time together.” A tear fell from her eye.
After the funeral service, we headed to the luncheon.
“Claire, it’s good to see you again.” Jonathan hugged me. “After the luncheon, can you stop by my office? I need to speak with you about Richard’s will.”
“Yes, of course.”
“Who was that?” Nick asked, walking over to me.
“That’s Jonathan. He was Richard’s attorney. He needs to speak to me about Richard’s will.”
Once the luncheon had ended, we all climbed into the cars waiting for us and headed to Jonathan’s office.
“Thanks for coming, Claire.”
“Jonathan, this is my fiancé, Dr. Nick Russo. And my brothers, Sam, Stefan, Sebastian, Simon, and Shaun.”
“It’s nice to meet you all.” He smiled. “Please have a seat.”
He sat behind his desk, opened his drawer, and pulled out a file folder.
“Richard has left you all of his share in the company, making you the majority shareholder.”
“What?” My brows furrowed.
“He said it’s your birthright since your parents started the company. He knew you didn’t want to deal with it, but he stated that the company goes to you if anything should happen to him.”
“Great,” I sighed. “Not only am I getting married in two weeks, but I have a baby on the way, and now I have a company to worry about.” I placed my hands over my face.
Nick hooked his arm around me. “Babe, calm down.”
“He’s right, sis,” Shaun said. “Don’t worry about the company.”
“How can I not?” I voiced loudly. “I’m in Los Angeles. I can’t run an insurance company in Connecticut.”
“Like I said, don’t worry about it. We’ll figure it out,” Shaun spoke.
After we left Jonathan’s office, we climbed on the plane and headed home.
“You are to take tomorrow off and get some rest,” Shaun said.
“I have a lot of work to do, Shaun.”
“Doesn’t matter. You need to rest for the baby. As your boss and big brother, it’s an order.”
“You better listen to him, Claire, or else I’ll have to spend the day at your house, guarding your door so you don’t leave.” Simon’s brow arched. “Or better yet, I’ll call Kate out to do it. Then you’ll be sorry.”
“Shut up.” I laughed. “Fine. I’ll take the day off.”
My phone rang, and when I glanced at it, I saw Georgia was calling.
“Hello.”
“Claire, your blood work results came back, and everything is perfect. If you’re up to it, we can have the gender reveal party tonight at the beach. The girls and I will arrange everything.”
“That’s great, Georgia. Thank you so much.”
“You’re welcome, honey. I’ll send out a group text to everyone. Rest up today.”
“I will.”
Climbing out of bed, I took a shower, got dressed, and sat on the patio with a cup of tea, staring at the beach that would be converted into a wedding venue in less than two weeks. I picked up my phone and texted Nick.
“Call me when you can.”
Within seconds, my phone rang.
“That was fast.” I smiled.
“Is everything okay?” Nick asked.
“Everything is fine. Georgia called with my results and said everything is perfect. We’re having the gender reveal party tonight on the beach.”
“That’s great, babe. I can’t wait.”
“Me either. I just wanted to tell you. I love you. I’ll see you later.”
“I love you too.”
I still couldn’t believe Richard had passed. Sadness gripped me as I stared out into the water.
“Screw this,” I said as I stood up, went into the house, grabbed my purse, and headed to the office.
“What are you doing here? Weren’t you told to stay home and get some rest?” Shaun’s brow arched as I stood in the doorway of his office.
“I’m not very good at being told what to do.” I smiled, stepping inside.
The corners of his mouth curved upward. “Neither am I. Since you’re here, let’s talk.”
I took a seat across from his desk.
“I’ve been going over all the reports for your insurance company. Richard did an excellent job running it after your mother passed away and you left. It’s yours now, and I would hate to see you let go of your family’s business, so I have a proposal for you.”
“Which is?” I asked.
“Give me controlling interest. Sterling Capital will own and run the company. You’ll still own half the shares, and we’ll keep it in the family.” He smiled. “I have a guy in New York, at my other office, who would be happy to move to Connecticut and oversee it. His wife is pregnant, and they were considering moving out of the city anyway.”
“Do you trust him?” I asked.
“He’s worked for me for over ten years. I do trust him. If you want, I can fly him out here so you can meet him.”
“Okay.” I smiled. “Get the paperwork drawn up, and half of the shares are yours.”
“Excellent.” He grinned.
“On second thought, you don’t have to fly him out here. We can have a Zoom meeting.”
“Are you sure?” he asked.
“Yeah. If you trust him, that’s good enough for me. Thank you, Shaun. I feel a little lighter.”
“Good.” A smile crossed his lips. “By the way. I got a text from Georgia this morning. Looks like we’re having a gender reveal party tonight.”
“Yeah. I can’t wait to find out what Nick and I are having.”
“If you want my honest opinion, I think it’s a girl.”
“Really?” I smiled, placing my hand on my belly.”
“Yep. I sure do. Since you’re stubborn and not listening to me about taking the day off, can you review these reports?” He picked up a file folder from his desk and handed it to me.
“I’ll take them back to my office and look them over now.” I stood up. “Don’t tell Simon I was here, okay?” I smirked.
“I won’t.” He winked.