Free Taking Chloe by Anne Rainey

muttered. “I love him. He’s the best brother anyone could ask for, but it’s not easy living in his shadow. Dad looks at him with pride and respect. He looks at me with…” Chloe caught the misery in his voice, and her heart hurt for him. “He respects you. I know he does.”
    “Lacey and Blade both know their place in life,” he continued. “I’ve always been the one who had to struggle for everything. In school, I studied twice as hard as Blade just to get a B. In college, Blade got into some boxing, he was great at it. His grades were top notch too. I, on the other hand, stayed up every night, drank more coffee than is healthy and passed with average grades. Hell, I think Mom and Dad were just glad I graduated.” Chloe had never known Merrick to feel inferior, and especially to Blade. She didn’t have siblings so it was difficult to imagine. Her mother had always made her feel strong and intelligent, as if she were capable of anything. Her father, although emotionally distant, had told her more than once that she could do anything she set her mind to. He’d smile with pride and say she was just like her mother.
    “But look at you now,” she hastened to reassure him. “You own your own business and you’re definitely more successful than Blade.”

    Merrick shrugged. “I’m not trying to make it a competition. I’m happy for Blade and his success.
    Anyway, that’s not what I want to explain.” He turned and pinned her with his gaze. Chloe’s breath caught at the raw anguish on her husband’s face. “I thought it would make me a better man when I hit my first million. That I’d finally earn some respect and I’d have my place in the family. I was so goddamn wrong. I’ve been kicking myself for not seeing it sooner.”
    “Seeing what?”
    “You. I should’ve known how successful I’d become the instant you drifted into my life. I should’ve realized that losing you is the only thing that could make me a failure. Nothing else matters. Not money, not social status. Not my parents’ approval.” Hearing her husband’s confession and seeing the sincerity in his intelligent blue eyes turned her inside out. Tears spilled free, and her body shook with all the worry and fear and sadness she’d felt over the last six months. She swiped them away quickly, sensing Merrick had more to say.
    “The first time you spoke of having babies scared the shit out of me.” Chloe had been prepared for nearly everything, but never that. She’d thought Merrick wanted children, too. The notion that he might not had never crossed her mind. “Don’t you think I’d be a good mother?”
    Merrick wrapped his fingers around her knee and stroked. “Aw, angel, you’ll make a wonderful mother. The best ever. I want children with you.” His palm cupped her belly. “I want to watch your belly swell with my son or daughter. Hell, both,” he growled. “You’ll be sexy as hell pregnant.”
    Thank God, Chloe thought. Her stomach settled a little. “Then why the fear?”
    “Because I started imagining being a father,” he ground out.
    Merrick stood and paced, hands in his pockets. Chloe took a moment to digest all Merrick had revealed. She thought back to that first time she’d mentioned wanting to get pregnant. She’d ached to fill their house with the laughter of a baby. With total clarity she could see that day in her head as if it were yesterday. Six months. She’d brought up the subject six months ago, right after breakfast on a Saturday morning. Immediately afterward, Merrick’s schedule had filled with work. He’d literally poured every ounce of himself into the business. Deep down, she knew her husband would be the best father in the world, but how could she convince him when he seemed so insecure?
    Chloe stood and went to him. She wrapped her arms around his middle and buried her nose in his navy blue t-shirt. He stood as still as a marble statue, as if afraid of letting himself be comforted.
    His arms