“Long day.”

“I have food,” he said, as if that would solve everything. Sometimes in her pregnant state, it did.

They settled into neighboring chairs. He’d even set the table, something he never did before, and waited for her to pick her food.

She loaded her plate, mumbling about family issues and he figured she’d talk to him when she was ready.

He bit into a spare rib and she said, “I ran into my father today.”

“Seriously?” He put down the rib and wiped his face on a napkin. “What happened?”

“He treated me the way I’ve seen him treat the other side of the family all these years. Said he heard I was pregnant, I said funny, I haven’t heard from you, but then that’s your MO. You find someone new and forget the family you have.” She shrugged as if it didn’t matter, but he could see it really did. “Then I told him best of luck and walked away.”

“That had to have hurt,” he murmured.

“Karma maybe. Not to me, but now I know what my half siblings really felt like all these years and it sucks.” She looked up at him with damp eyes. “For us he was a good dad. Until he wasn’t.” She drew a deep breath. “Then I went to Mom’s. And though I told her she should have expected as much from my dad, I mean, cheaters cheat … I also said I’d be there for her while she puts her life back together.”

“I’m so sorry, sweetheart.” He reached out and pulled her into his lap, wrapping his arms around her. “You have a big family that loves you. I know you’ll all figure it out.”

But suddenly he sensed that wasn’t what she wanted or needed. She needed someone in her life who would put her first. Who’d never hide things from her or treat her like a child.

She needed him.

After the Colorado trip, Ethan had settled into himself. He’d seen what kind of life his brother had built and realized that he wanted the same thing. He thought he’d tried to create that life with Mandy but they were too different. They were both so work focused, their personal lives fell by the wayside. And then Mandy just fell apart and he’d been either unaware or powerless to stop it.

And he realized he could have those things with Sienna. The only thing holding him back now was how much she valued her family. She seemed to need them around her as much as she needed the air she breathed and his life, his business, his family were in New York. Unlike Parker, he couldn’t pick up and move. KTT was a New York based corporation.

“I worked out a new charity function with Avery,” she said, leaning her head against his shoulder. “It’s going to be amazing. We’re going to help women whose kids have cancer. I’ll explain more later but I know it’s going to be awesome.”