22. Chapter 22
Chapter 22
C HAPTER TWENTY-TWO
RAPHAEL
Next to me, Rory stiffened and I wrapped my arm around her, pulling her closer. She relaxed instantly, resting her head on my shoulder as everyone else in the room turned to face Rylan...and his guest.
I smiled. My brother brought a girl home.
Interesting.
Mom stood. "Rylan," she said softly. "You came."
She walked toward him, pulling him in for a hug. "Of course, I did," he said as he hugged her back.
She turned to the girl by his side, a redhead dressed in a simple black dress. "And who is this?"
"I'm Mariah," the girl said, offering her hand. "Nice to meet you."
Rylan's gaze shifted from Rory to me, then his jaw clenched. I smiled.
He sat on the couch right next to ours and my father adjusted himself on his seat before speaking. "You haven't been coming to work," he said to Rylan. "Where have you been?"
Rylan shrugged. "I've been around. I'll be back at work on Monday if that's cool."
"You can't just leave and then show up whenever you want, Rylan," my dad said, his tone stern. "You have responsibilities."
Rylan's gaze moved from Dad to me.
"What are you looking at me for? I have a job," I said. "That I actually show up for."
"Maybe Dad should give you my job. You are more responsible after all."
"Rylan," Dad said sternly.
Silence descended on the room. Rory shifted slightly, and I kissed her forehead. Then I passed her the rest of the fruits and watched as she ate them. She was so adorable.
"Let's all move to the dining room," Mom said, clapping her hands together. "Food's ready."
Everyone rose and headed toward the dining room. My parents went ahead of us. As we got closer to the room, Rylan swerved and stood in front of Rory and I.
"Rory," he said quietly.
She glanced up. Her lips were tight, her expression neutral. "Yes?" she replied, her tone flat.
"You look beautiful," he said, his eyes shifting from her face to her belly. "Can we talk?"
"About what?" I asked, moving behind Rory and wrapping my arms around her waist. I pulled her against me, my chin resting on her shoulder. "What would you like to talk about, little brother?"
"Shut the fuck up, Raphael," he growled.
"Make me."
Rylan's eyes flashed, his jaw clenching. "This is none of your business."
"Oh, but I think it is. Rory is my girlfriend and she is carrying my child. She is my business," I said.
Well, she was going to be my girlfriend soon.
Rylan's eyes widened and he turned to Rory. "You're dating..."
"Yes, and you're now with the woman I caught you with," Rory said in a steady tone.
My gaze shifted toward the girl, Mariah, who stood behind Rylan with a shy look on her face. So she was the woman Rory caught Rylan with? Interesting.
"I'm hungry," Rory said. "Can we go in now?"
She tilted her head to look up at me and I smiled, taking her hand and walking past Rylan. I led Rory into the dining room where my parents were already seated. Martha and the rest of the maids moved around the table, setting up dinner.
I pulled out a chair for Rory. She sat and then I sat next to her. Dinner was a wide variety of food – pasta, fish, vegetables, and even a whole roast pig. The table was a feast, and I knew it was all for Rory. My parents had clearly put in a lot of effort, wanting to impress her.
She seemed comfortable though. Mom personally dished out a plate of food for her. Mariah and Rylan entered a few minutes later and then dinner began.
"Rory, you own a club, right?" Dad asked, taking a bite of his pork.
Rory beamed. "Yes, Ember's is my baby."
"Oh, really?" Mom said, her eyes lighting up. "That's very interesting. Maybe we should go check it out sometime."
"I mean, if you like alcohol and loud, unattractive music," Rylan muttered under his breath.
Rory slid her tongue over her lips. "You didn't seem to have a problem when you demanded those drinks for free."
"Rylan!" Mom exclaimed.
"What?"
"Apologize," she said.
"For what?" he said, looking between Mom and Rory. "I'm not apologizing."
Rage coursed through me. "Apologize," I said in a low tone. "Or I'll beat it out of you."
"Try it," Rylan said, rising from his chair.
"Enough," Dad snapped.
Everyone froze, and Dad turned his attention back to Rory.
"On behalf of my son, I'm sorry, Rory. He can be a bit difficult sometimes. He doesn't know how to be an adult," he said.
I rolled my eyes, and Rylan's face reddened.
"It's okay," Rory said, reaching out and placing a hand on my arm. "You are both welcome to Embaer's anytime."
"Are you managing the club while pregnant?" Mom asked.
"I'm getting a bit of help from my assistant, Vivian," Rory answered. "Raphael gets panicky when I'm there for too long."
"Because it's dangerous and you're pregnant," I pointed out.
Rory rolled her eyes. Then she opened her purse. "I brought some pictures from the last sonogram we went for."
"Really?" Mom asked excitedly. "Show me, show me."
Rory took out the pictures. Then she passed it to Dad who passed it to Mom.
Mom's eyes lit up as she took the photo, holding it up. Her lips curved into the widest smile I had ever seen and tears welled in her eyes. "Oh my God," she said. "This is so beautiful. My baby is going to have a baby."
"I won't be a baby anymore once I have a baby," I said.
Rory nudged me and I chuckled. Mom placed the picture on the table. "Can you tell what gender it is yet?"
"We talked about that yesterday," Rory said. "But we want to be surprised. I think we’re going to wait until the baby is here."
"We made a bet," I said with a grin. "Rory thinks it'll be a boy but I want it to be a girl, Dad."
"I was so sure you were going to be a girl until you showed up," Mom said to me. "When you were little, you were so stubborn about cutting your hair and you were so pretty that people often mistook you for a girl."
"Really?" Rory asked, turning to face me.
I cleared my throat. "What can I say? I was and still am pretty."
She laughed and my heart skipped a beat. I tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. Then I turned to Rylan. He was staring at Rory, his jaw tight and his fists clenched.
"I'm full," he announced, pushing his chair back and standing up.
"You haven't eaten anything," Mariah said.
He said nothing and walked out of the room. Rory went back to eating her food in silence.
"I'm sorry about my son, Rory," Dad said. "We know very well about the circumstances of your...breakup but we were hoping he would be mature about this."
"Mature?" Rylan's voice echoed from outside as he stepped in. "Are you fucking kidding me Dad?"
I stabbed a piece of steak on my plate and shoved it into my mouth. "Oh wow, Martha may be better than Susan at cooking."
Rory snickered. "I'm going to tell Susan. You'll starve tonight."
"You wouldn't dare."
"Raphael stole my girlfriend!" Rylan was yelling now. "He got her pregnant and she's living with him and I'm the immature one?"
I dropped the fork. "It’s impossible to steal a person. Rory isn’t an object that could belong to you. You brought one of the women you cheated on Rory with to dinner and now, you're throwing a tantrum." I stood. "You slandered Rory to the press and had people cyberbullying her for more than a week. You attacked her. You disrespected her. You're not immature, no. You're a piece of shit."
Rylan growled and moved over to me, grabbing me by the shirt.
"Rylan," Rory said sharply.
He released me and looked at her.
"If you have something to say to me, say it," she said, standing.
The air was tense.
She walked over to us and as she got closer, I stood in front of her, frowning. If she thought I was going to let her get close to him, she had another thing coming.
"You need to get over this. Raphael and I are having this baby whether you like it or not," she said. "He won't be leaving me like you hope he will. I won't be aborting the baby like you asked me to."
My body tensed, my fingers curling into fists. "You fucking-"
I moved toward him fast, my fists raised. It connected with Rylan’s jaw and he staggered backward, a look of surprise flashing across his face. I drew my fist back and punched him again, harder this time. Rylan let out a grunt, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.
I hit him again, and Rylan fell to the floor. Rory gasped and Mariah screamed.
"Say it again," I challenged, grabbing him by the shirt and lifting him. “What did you ask Rory to do?”
“She should have gotten rid of that disease you put in her. You don’t deserve her," Rylan spat.
I drew my fist back and slammed it into his face. Pain shot through my knuckles, but I didn't care. My vision blurred, and all I could see was Rylan.
“Raphael!” Mom yelled, and I paused, looking up at her. “Stop it,” she cried. “This whole situation is not good for the baby.”
I took a deep, shaky breath and stood, releasing Rylan. He stumbled back, and Dad reached out, helping him up. Mom was in tears and Rory was sitting, her gaze on the table.
"I don’t know why you’re crying, Mom," Rylan said, spitting out a glob of blood. “Raphael and I have always hated each other and its all your fault.”
I laughed. “No, I’ve never hated you. I just gave up on trying to get along with you.”
His brows furrowed slightly. He turned to Mom. “You’ve always loved him more than me. He’s always been better in your eyes. Well, guess what. I don't need your love anymore. You can keep it."
"Rylan, that's enough," Dad said, his voice stern. “Your mother and I have no favorite son.”
Rylan scoffed.
“Mariah, it was nice meeting you but can you please give us some privacy?” Mom asked in a soft voice.
“I- don’t have a ride home,” Mariah said shyly.
"Then take a walk," Mom ordered.
I blinked at her. She had never spoken to any of us that way. She had always been the soft, sweet one, but seeing her here, her voice strong, her tone sharp. I wasn’t surprised by how Mariah grimaced and headed out.
Rylan and I were on either side of the room, the tension thick.
"Let's try to be adults about this," Dad said.
Rylan said nothing.
“Raphael has always wanted to do his own thing, and since Isaac and I were never the type of parents to control our children, we have supported his dreams and goals. And we would support yours, Rylan," Mom said.
Rylan said nothing.
“Your father tried to get you into the company so you could take over because you are our son, because he wanted you to follow in his footsteps. You believe it’s only because we couldn’t get Raphael to do it but that’s not true either.”
“As for Rory,” she continued. “She’s a lovely girl. We were supportive of your relationship when she was with you but you cheated on her and now, she’s having a baby with your brother. Like I said before, we will always be supportive of your decisions and that is what we’re doing with Raphael right now.”
The room was filled with a heavy silence. Rory had her head down, her gaze on her food.
Dad turned to me. "And Raphael, we are very happy that you and Rory are having a child. This was unexpected but we're glad you've been so supportive of her. Rory being part of the family means no one will disrespect her around us,” he narrowed his eyes at Rylan. “And that includes you.”
“Its my fault for not addressing this sooner but if there is any way you feel we have failed you, Rylan,” Mom continued. “I am sorry for that and I will do better. But we have always done what we think is best for you and Raphael and we will continue to do so, even though you two have grown into adults. Now, if you can all agree not to fight and not to hurt each other anymore, I would appreciate that very much."
Rylan's lips parted and he tried to walk toward Mom, but she shook her head and turned away. His shoulders slumped and he glanced around, his eyes finally landing on Rory. He stared at her for a long time before turning and walking away.
Dad sighed. I glanced at Rory. She was staring at her plate, her shoulders stiff. I moved toward her, leaning in and placing a kiss on her cheek.
“Hey, you okay?” I whispered.
She nodded and smiled weakly. “Just overwhelmed.”
“I’m sorry," I said, taking her hand. I turned to my parents. "I'm going to take Rory home now."
Mom nodded. "Of course."
I stood and helped Rory to her feet. She glanced at my parents with a smile and bowed slightly. "Thank you for tonight, it was nice meeting you again."
"Of course, Aurora," Dad said. "Please do come by again."
I took Rory's hand and led her out. When we stepped outside, I noticed Rylan's car was gone. He must have left with Mariah. Rory leaned against my shoulder and sighed heavily. "Well, I didn't have a lot of expectations for tonight so I can't say I'm disappointed."
"My parents really like you," I said, helping her into the car.
"They were nice," Rory said as I got in next to her.
I pulled her onto my lap and wrapped my arms around her. She snuggled into me, sighing.
"I'm sorry about what Rylan said to you," I said.
"It's fine."
I wasn't quite sure if it was, but Rory kissed my jaw, then my lips and I felt like all would be fine.