Merger to Marriage (Boardrooms and Billi - By Addison Fox Page 0,34

If she knows about the baby, she’ll see it as a vulnerability she can take advantage of. Marrying you is the only way I can shield you. Can give you the protection of my life and my fortune.”

“This doesn’t make any sense. You and I just met. Whatever course of action you were following before should be your course of action moving forward.”

He stood at that, unable to sit still any longer. “Don’t you get it? The baby changes everything.”

“Of course it does. We’re going to be parents. To her grandchild. That has to mean something.”

“I’m her child and it hasn’t made any difference.”

Mayson stood and walked toward him, taking his hand in her own when she reached his side. “You’re not thinking through this. You’re thinking like the little boy with the Spider-Man backpack. She can’t hurt you. Or us.”

He tried to find the right words to explain it to her. The few times his mother had come back into his life since his childhood had ended in ugly incidents he’d continued paying for long after she’d found her next mark. Or husband.

The incidents were often hard to pin on her, but he’d known she was responsible. Thinly veiled threats to his business associates that turned the tide on a deal. Subtle sabotage that had resulted in someone losing their job just before he managed to close a client. He lived and worked in a high-stakes environment and deals often went sideways, but he knew his mother had been involved.

“She can and she will. That’s why we need to get married. We need to take her bargaining chip off the table.”

“I can’t marry someone I don’t love. There has to be another way.”

“And I can’t take that risk with my unborn child. There is no other way.”

…

Holt’s words—and the haunted look in his eyes—continued to keep Mayson company throughout the rest of the week. She knew she owed him an answer, but no matter how she turned the issue over in her mind, she’d struggled to make sense of it. People didn’t just get married over potential threats of blackmail or business adversaries who thought it was the right thing to do.

Even if that was exactly what was happening, that reasonable voice in her head rose up to remind her.

The reality of his situation was too hard to believe. What he’d made himself into, despite the earliest negative influences—it awed her, showing yet another facet of the man that melted away a piece of her heart.

And what could his mother possibly do to her? To them?

Whatever she can find. If she knows about the baby, she’ll see it as a vulnerability she can take advantage of. Marrying you is the only way I can shield you. Can give you the protection of my life and my fortune.

She ran a hand over her still-flat stomach, the urge to protect the fragile life there immediate and absolute. She didn’t doubt Holt’s obviously real panic, but no matter how she turned it over in her mind, she couldn’t grasp the threat. The McBride name wasn’t without some power of its own, and that had only solidified with her sister’s marriage to one of the leaders of the business community.

Of course, the entire business community had watched in fascination the previous fall when Nathan went after them, intent on breaking up the company. The whispers—innuendo that had dogged her and her sisters as they tried to resurrect McBride Media from her father’s poor choices—had risen to a firestorm as the media community waited for them to fail.

A few well-placed comments about the health of their business, and Mayson knew the storm could flare up once more.

The sound of the door pulled her from her circular thoughts and she looked up into the warm gaze of her gynecologist.

“How are you feeling, Mayson?”

“Good, Dr. Martin. Really good.” After a quick update on her situation and the results of the home tests she’d taken, she allowed the doctor to run more of the same, including a sonogram as a precaution tied to her life-long menstrual irregularity. A half hour later she left the office clutching a sonogram photo of her baby.

Their baby. The urge to call Holt was strong, but she ignored it and walked back to the office, the photo tucked away in her purse.

The office was quiet as she headed up to her floor, the rush of early morning already faded into the gentle hum of mid-morning work. She had no sooner booted her