Chapter 7: The Aftermath

Alex stared out the window again. Amelia's visit had done nothing to cure his restlessness. Now he had an added burden. He was going to be a father again. As much as Amelia kept things close to the vest, which made her hard to read, Alex doubted that she was lying. The child was his.

This was unexpected but never unwelcome. He'd enjoyed raising Isabel. He'd never thought he'd be a father again as he had never been willing to give his heart to anyone else. His dead wife would always be his one and only.

But he would be as instrumental as possible in raising this child, and that started with convincing Amelia to live at his house. He could make sure she went to doctor's appointments and that everything went well, including the delivery.

That's where things had gone south. He shuddered at the memory and pushed it back into its box. Amelia was younger and probably healthier than his wife had been. No, he wouldn't go down that path, but he could make sure everything was okay.

He needed an action item and he knew who would listen to him.

His brother Erik had also played hockey and then he came to work for him when his career finished up. He trusted Erik with his life and his company, and that's why Erik was the CFO of Hillen Enterprises.

Erik's office was one floor down, but only because he liked the view better on the other side of the building. An apartment occupied the rest of the top floor near Alex's office.

"I'll be down in Erik's office," Alex said to Madge.

She nodded. He hadn't shared with her why Amelia had visited him, but he'd be she knew already. She had an uncanny ability to know what was going on at all times, but not tell anyone. She told him, of course, if there was a problem, but she wasn't a gossip.

Loose lips and all that, so he was grateful she used discretion.

Erik's office was on the opposite corner of the building. He had a view of the outer edge of the city that included some woods and a few neighborhoods.

His brother was on the phone when he arrived so he settled himself on a chair and stared at his phone.

"What brings you here?" Erik asked.

Most of the time Erik visited him, so Alex understood the question. "I need some advice, or maybe just a sympathetic ear."

Erik mimed picking up his phone. "I can call someone who would be sympathetic."

Alex laughed. He should have expected that. "Yeah. I know."

"So what is troubling our great leader?" Erik asked.

Leave it to his brother to be irreverent when Alex needed him most. He wouldn't expect anything less because he'd do the same if he were in this situation.

"Any gossip come down to this floor yet?"

Alex was sure that Amelia's presence and Isabel's reaction had started rumors going around. It wasn't his problem, but it was still nice to know what was being said.

"I haven't left my office all morning. What's going on?"

Alex sighed. "Short story. I'm going to be a father again."

Erik cocked his head. "I think I need the long story."

Alex told him the long story, leaving out the intimate details of his encounter with Amelia at the conference.

"You believe her?"

"Yes. I have no reason not to. It's just a gut feeling."

"Is your gut feeling enough to want to pay child support for the next eighteen years?"

Of course, Erik would go right to the financial aspect of this. "I'm willing to have a paternity test done. I think Amelia will do it. We didn't cover it, but I get the feeling she's pretty certain about the parentage of her child."

"Nice that it's a billionaire about to launch a new product."

Their latest game was almost out of beta testing. The launch date was in a few weeks. There had been several attempts at corporate espionage, but he doubted that Amelia was one of those. She could have just stuck with befriending Isabel, who headed up quality control. No need to seduce Alex and get pregnant.

Besides, who had seduced whom? He had to admit that something had drawn him to Amelia at the conference and it wasn't in a fatherly way.

"I know how it looks, but trust my gut, okay?"

"That doesn't mean you shouldn't do a background check on her," Erik said.

"I'm trusting, but not stupid. Yeah. I'll get in touch with our agency."

He hadn't thought about it because he was still in shock over the pregnancy and Isabel's reaction to it. This was why he'd come down to see Erik. He was always the voice of reason.

"I would do that today. Do that before you commit to anything."

"Well, I can't do the paternity test until the baby's born."

"Then, Alex, get a contract with this woman. She'll have to pay everything back if the baby is not yours."

An hour ago, his life was simple and he wasn't happy. Now it was complicated, and he had mixed feelings about it. He'd never expected to start over with diapers and midnight feedings at this age. He'd expected he would begin to plan for his second retirement, this one from the company. He'd been thinking about selling it and starting a new one.

Maybe that was the source of his restlessness. He didn't know what was next. He wanted something else, or something more. A baby hadn't been on his radar.

"I'll do that."

"You okay?" Erik asked.

"I'm about as okay as I can be."

"Have you told Isabel?"

Alex grimaced. "She found out when she waltzed into my office while Amelia was there. I'm sure you heard her screech down here."

"Nope, didn't hear a thing."

"Well, she's probably stomping around her department as we speak."

"Brother, you have gotten yourself into a fine mess."