10. James
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James
I walked into Caleb’s office without knocking and stopped dead.
Vanessa was half-sitting on the desk. The same desk Haley had caught them on a few weeks ago.
Caleb was leaning into her with one hand on her thigh, the other braced behind her, her blouse open one button too far, and the whole scene reeked of a man who never once worried about getting caught again.
They didn’t even have the decency to look guilty.
I felt everything in me go cold.
“Get out.”
Vanessa didn’t straighten up. She just turned her head slow and looked me over like I was an inconvenience she hadn’t planned for. “Knock much?”
“I said get out.”
“And I’m working.” She glanced at Caleb with a little smile. “Your brother’s having a moment.”
Caleb pulled back from her, unhurried, buttoning nothing, fixing me with a look so bored I wanted to put my fist through it. “What can I do for you, or did you just come here to stare?”
“You skipped the appointment.”
“Which one.”
“The OB.” I stepped further into the room, my hands curling into fists at my sides. “Your kid, Caleb. Haley sat in that room alone and you couldn’t be bothered to ask how it went.”
Vanessa let out a little laugh through her nose. “Is that what this is about? He came all the way down here for the ex-wife.” She looked at Caleb with mock sympathy. “How sweet.”
“Nobody asked you.”
“Funny.” She tilted her head, still not moving from her perch on the desk. “Nobody asked you to barge into his office either, but here you are.”
“This is my office too.”
“Not really though, is it?” She slid off the desk finally, smoothing her skirt with both hands, taking her time about it.
“You run operations. Caleb runs the business. Different offices, different authority.” She straightened her blouse with a little tug.
“You want to play big brother, go do it somewhere I’m not trying to work. ”
“Work.” I looked at her open blouse. “Is that what we’re calling it now. Four years on payroll and that’s the job description.”
Her smile went thin. “Careful.”
“Or what.”
“Or I tell people how the quiet Sinclair really feels about his brother’s wife.” She paused, letting that land. “Ex-wife. Whatever she is to you.”
That hit closer than I wanted it to. I didn’t let it show.
“Get out before I have security walk you out.”
“Enjoy your little crusade.”
“Close the door on your way out.”
“Bite me.”
She walked out. The door didn’t quite slam, which was somehow worse. Like she couldn’t even be bothered to be angry.
Now it was just me and Caleb. Brothers across the room.
“You couldn’t even ask.” I turned to face him fully. “She’s pregnant, sitting alone in that office, and you didn’t ask a single thing about how it went.”
“She doesn’t want me there.” He said it like it was obvious. Like it excused everything.
“What she wants isn’t the question. The question is what kind of man lets it go that easy.”
“The kind of man who got served divorce papers, maybe?” He walked behind his desk and sat down, leaning back in his chair like this was just another meeting he had to get through. “She made her choice. I’m respecting it.”
“Respecting it.” I laughed, but there was no humor in it. “Is that what you call screwing your assistant on the same desk she caught you on? Respect?”
“What I do in my office is none of your business.”
“Are you kidding me? Just weeks ago you were barging in at Megan’s demanding to be a part of your child’s life. And now what? You can’t wait until you’re home to get your dick wet?”
“Watch it, James. I’m still the Sinclair heir.”
I scoffed. If I could punch him without getting kicked out, I would have. Totally.
“And by the way. It’s Dad’s office.” The words came out harder than I meant them to. “It’s Dad’s desk. It’s Dad’s company. And you’re treating all of it like your personal playground.”
“What is this really about, James? Suddenly you’re her champion? You barely know her.”
“I know her well enough.”
“Do you.” He looked at me. “Because from where I’m sitting, it looks like you’re a lot more invested in my ex-wife than a brother-in-law should be.”
I ignored that. “All I’m asking is for you to be a father. Show up for the kid. That’s the whole ask.”
“Don’t lecture me about fatherhood.” His voice went sharp. “You’ve got no children of your own. The first thing about it is lost on you.”
A long pause stretched between us. The office felt smaller than it should, the walls pressing in.
“Dad would have had plenty to say about that.”
The room went dead quiet.
Caleb’s face shifted into a hardness I’d never seen from him before. “Don’t. Leave him out of this.”
“He’s the only one I want in it.” I looked around the office. “This place exists because he wanted it to matter. Look around, Caleb. Look at what you’re doing in his office. With her. On his desk.”
“You don’t get to use Dad against me.”
“I’m not using him. I’m asking you to remember who he was. What he would have thought about this.”
“He’s dead, James. He doesn’t get a vote.”
“He should.”
I turned to leave. I was done with this conversation.
“James.”
I paused at the door.
Caleb’s voice came from behind me, quiet, almost amused. He’d risen from his chair and come around the desk. “Don’t think I haven’t noticed the way you look at her.”
Fuck it.
I turned around and hit him.
My fist connected with his jaw and he went backward into the desk, his hand flying to his mouth. When he pulled it away, there was blood on his fingers. He stared at it like he couldn’t believe it was real.
“You fucking deserve that, you bastard.”
I walked out before he could say anything else.
My hand was throbbing by the time I got to the car. I flexed my fingers, checking for breaks, and told the driver to take me to the bakery on Fifth.
“The bakery, sir?”
“Yes.”
I pulled out my phone and called ahead, ordering what felt like the entire case. Danishes and croissants and those pineapple cream things I remembered Haley mentioning once at a family dinner. Everything that looked good and some things that didn’t, just in case.
Then I texted her.
James: Hope you like the pastries. Not sure what you’re craving.
I stared at my phone for the next twenty minutes, watching the screen like an idiot, waiting for the little dots that meant she was typing.
Haley: Oh my god. Did you send everything they had?? Are you mad? Megan thinks you’re losing it.
I smiled at the screen. My knuckles were still stinging and I didn’t care.
James: Tell Megan she can have whatever she wants too.
Haley: Meg here. The chocolate ones are incredible. Can you send a few more?
James: Done. Will be there in 15.
Haley: JAMES! No. You don’t have to. Ignore her, she’s a glutton. And thank you. Honestly I think the pineapple cream is the best!!!!
James: A few of those are on the way too. How are you feeling otherwise?
And we texted back and forth the whole ride. Nothing about Caleb or the office or the blood on my knuckles. Just her telling me the baby was the size of a lime now and me asking dumb questions about limes.
Haley: Did you know limes are actually smaller than lemons? I always thought they were the same size.
James: I did not know that. My entire worldview has been shaken.
Haley: You’re welcome for the education.
James: So the baby is lime-sized. What was it before?
Haley: A blueberry. Then a raspberry. Then a grape. It’s all fruit for some reason.
James: That seems concerning. Are you growing a fruit salad?
Haley: Apparently yes. Next week it’ll be a plum.
James: I’ll start preparing for the plum phase.
Haley: You’re ridiculous.
James: You’re the one growing produce.
Haley: I hate you.
James: No you don’t.
Haley: No I don’t.
By the time the car pulled up to my place, I was smiling at my phone like an idiot.
And I didn’t even care.