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chapter 10
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The Billionaire's Secret Baby chapter 11
DEIRA The first thing Makayla asked when I picked her up from school was the first thing Makayla asked every day. "Mommy, how were the flowers today?" I smiled at her and said the same thing I said back to her every day. "The flowers were beautiful, baby." Ever since I'd started my second job at the floral boutique, Makayla was obsessed with the flowers there. She wanted to know how they were doing, if they were growing, and who had come into the shop to buy them. "So, nobody bought the whole shop today?" I don't know why, but she was obsessed with the idea of someone buying the whole shop as a big romantic gesture. She must have seen it in a movie somewhere, probably one of Dani's beloved rom-coms that were far too mature for her to be watching. I'd explained to her frequently that it was really rare for that to happen in real life, but she liked to check every day, just in case. I strapped her into her seat carefully before heading out on the road. "Do you have work tonight,
The Billionaire's Secret Baby chapter 12
I couldn't help but feel a little twinge though, when she talked about my blog. I wanted to be a good example for her, to show her that even if you were alone, you could go after your dreams. But there was no time. Speaking of which, I just barely avoided being late for work. My shift started at four, and the clock literally switched over to a minute past four right after I punched in. I rushed to the locker room to change and get out front. Not only would my boss notice if I wasn't out there, but it was the busiest time of night, and the more tables I could get to, the more tips I got. The restaurant was already full, the Italian-themed dining room packed with customers of all kinds. There were noisy families, old married couples, and young kids on what looked like their first date. In the back a group of high school kids had pushed a bunch of tables together so they could all sit in the same place. I paused to look at them, remembering a time when the biggest problem I had was how
The Billionaire's Secret Baby chapter 13
CASSIUS I didn't bother to watch the man leave, but as I went back through the front door, I heard the sound of his car starting. Michelle was waiting just inside the door for me, and she immediately started telling how we needed to talk this through and that she still loved me. I had steeled myself for an argument, at the very least intending to make her apologize before I broke up with her. But the minute that I looked at her face everything I thought I had to say died on my lips. It was too late. All I felt when I looked at her was the pain and anger at this betrayal; all I could see was the image of her in our bedroom with someone else. There was no salvaging this relationship, and I wasn’t going to waste any more time on it. So, I pushed her and her protestations aside and headed for the bedroom. She followed me. “Why aren’t you saying anything?” she asked as I went through the bedroom and into the closet. “What’s there to say?” I asked, staring up at the shelves over the rack
The Billionaire's Secret Baby chapter 14
I grabbed a sandwich at the gym's cafe and ate it in the parking lot, leaning against the car and watching the sun start to set. I checked my watch and realized it was almost eight. I still didn't have any plans for where I would sleep that night. It should be easy enough to get a room at a hotel. Somewhere convenient, where they knew me and what I liked, so I wouldn't be bothered with needless questions. The River Grand downtown, perhaps? I finished the sandwich and got into the car, checking the map to remind myself which street the hotel was on. As I headed that way, I hit a button on my steering wheel and instructed the car's phone system to call them. A polite voice answered the phone. "River Grand Hotel, how may I help you?" I gave them my name and asked for a room. "Yes, of course, Mr. Reade. We're delighted to have you staying with us again. Any special requests for your room, besides your usual requirements?" "No, the usual is fine." "Great, give me just a moment." I co
The Billionaire's Secret Baby chapter 15
DEIRA The first thing I became aware of was a terrible headache. I kept my eyes tightly closed, the pain thudding in my temples. Where was I? What happened? Slowly, the memory of the crash came back to me. I'd been turning at a four-way stop when a car had come out of nowhere and slammed into my jeep. Remembering the impact seemed to make my head throb even worse. I was in a car accident, I said to myself.I must be at the hospital. It didn't feel like I was at the hospital. The bed felt really nice. The pillow was soft. The mattress might have been better than the one I had at home. At home...Makayla. At the thought of my daughter, I wanted to open my eyes and sit up straight in bed. The best I could manage was to blink, slowly opening my eyes to a harsh fluorescent light. I tried to focus. I hadn't picked up Makayla yet. She hadn't been in the crash with me. She was with Dani. Whatever had happened, Dani would have kept her safe. I looked around, trying to open my eyes wider. Fo
The Billionaire's Secret Baby chapter 16
Lunch? Hadn't I been on my way home at night? Was it the next day? How long had I been unconscious?I watched him retreat and felt myself relax a little. I turned to the nurse."Is it true that I'm not seriously hurt?""You're being held for observation because you did take quite a blow to the head. You were also cut in quite a few places by the shattering glass. But, so far, no major complications, and all those lacerations are expected to heal without too much damage or scarring.""Thank you," I said to her. She nodded."Are you okay? Your heart rate's a little..." She glanced at the machines again. "It dropped once he left. And I know we say men make our hearts race, but even one as good-looking as that shouldn't have this kind of effect. Unless there's another reason he's making your heart rate spike?"I stared at her. How did she know to ask that? Was it written on my face that I knew this man, and that I was keeping a huge secret from him? She smiled gently, as if maybe I didn't
The Billionaire's Secret Baby chapter 17
CASSIUS I stood in the hospital hallway, at a loss for what to do now. All I wanted to do was go back into the room and apologize again, to keep apologizing until I was sure she believed me. She had looked so pitiful, lying there unconscious for the past sixteen hours. The doctors had assured me that she wasn't in a coma, but rather her body was just exhausted from the physical trauma. Trauma that I'd caused. I felt a hot wave of shame rise up once again, followed closely by anger at myself. I took a deep breath. Anger was what got me into this mess. Losing my cool, especially in the middle of a hospital hallway, was the last thing I needed to do. I thought I'd be relieved when she woke up, but if anything, I felt worse. The way she had reacted to me... It was almost like she was afraid. Like even before she knew the accident was my fault, she instinctively shrank away from me. Her heart rate had spiked, for god's sake. And once she'd had a chance to gain her bearings, she'd made it
The Billionaire's Secret Baby chapter 18
"Why are you sitting outside in the cold after getting in a car accident?""I needed some air. Don't worry, I was almost completely unharmed."His eyes lingered on the bandage on my forehead."Doesn't look like it."I touched the bandage, remembering how I'd gotten the gash."Oh, no, this was after. I was reaching through the window of the other car.""You were what?" he asked, his eyes widening. I started to explain, and the whole story spilled out. About the accident, and the woman I'd injured, and how I was sure that she hated me now. And then about the rest of my day, how angry I'd been with Michelle, how betrayed I felt, and how mad I was at myself for letting my anger get the better of me.Scott listened silently, and when I was done, he let out a whistle."Cassius, you've had a terrible 24 hours." He paused as if digesting further and then said, "Are you hungry? Let's go get some food, okay?"I didn't feel hungry, but I nodded anyway. It's not like I had anything else to do."D
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The Billionaire's Secret Baby chapter 55
I held the door for her to get into the car. My dad picked up Makayla so she could give Deira one last hug while I walked around to get into the driver's side. We waved at everyone, and I drove away. As we wove through the grounds of the estate, I kept looking over, stealing glances at Deira as the dappled sunlight flitted over her, turning her hair gold and making her skin glow. I could feel heat pooling in my groin and a desperate need coursing through my veins. I thought again at how long it would be until we got to the hotel that night, and decided it was simply too long.Instead of turning toward the main road, I looped us around toward the back of the estate. I remembered a particularly secluded spot that was perfect for what I had in mind. A few minutes later, I pulled the car to a stop."Is something wrong?" Deira asked, looking over at me curiously."Nothing's wrong," I replied with a wicked grin. "I just don't want to wait until we get to Hawaii." When she realized what I me
The Billionaire's Secret Baby chapter 54
CASSIUSThree Months LaterDeira made a beautiful bride.Watching her walk down the aisle toward me, with all our family and friends present, I knew that I had made the right choice in asking her to marry me. In fact, I knew that every choice I had made since that moment I decided to step into that steam room, despite it unexpectedly being occupied, had been the right choice.It was a simple ceremony, because once I'd proposed and she'd accepted, we both wanted things to move quickly. Neither of us saw a reason to wait. So, our whole wedding party was just three people. Scott was my one groomsman, and Dani was her one bridesmaid, and Makayla was the flower girl. In fact, Makayla was something of a flower empress, having demanded to be put in charge of all the floral decisions for the wedding. When that happened, Deira just laughed and looked at me."She gets this from you, you know," she had said, smirking.For my part, I thought she had made great decisions. The flowers looked beauti
The Billionaire's Secret Baby chapter 53
A few days later,I was standing outside a hospital room, fidgeting with my dress. Cassius took my hand, pulling it away from the floral garment."You look great," he whispered. "Don't worry." We were about to go into his mother's hospital room, where his parents were waiting to meet Makayla and I for the first time. Makayla was bopping excitedly beside me. She had been on cloud nine ever since Cassius and I had explained that she had grandparents, and they were waiting to meet her. I, on the other hand, was very nervous."Ready?" Cassius asked. I took a deep breath, and nodded.It turned out that I didn't have anything to be nervous about. Cassius's father immediately stood up and gave me a warm hug, and his mother insisted I come sit by her so she could hold my hand and talk to me. They both were very kind to me and, more importantly, to Makayla. Just as she'd been with Cassius, Makayla seemed instantly at ease with them. It didn't take long before she was chatting away to them, talk
The Billionaire's Secret Baby chapter 52
DEIRALeave it to Cassius to make a dramatic entrance, I reflected as I stared at him from afar. Whether it was barging into my steam room or crashing into my car or running through the airport yelling my name, he never did anything subtly. I looked at him, standing there breathing heavily. Had he run through the airport looking for me?I glanced back at Dani, and she raised an eyebrow. She didn't have to say anything more for me to understand the question she was asking. That raised eyebrow said, well, what are you going to do? It might as well have said, well, Deira, what do you want? I hadn't expected to have to answer that question at the airport, right before we went through security, but apparently, that's what was happening. Now I had two choices.I could turn my back on Cassius, take Makayla's hand, and walk through the security gate toward a totally new life, or I could go over to Cassius and ask him why he was here. I could give him one last chance to be part of my life. It
The Billionaire's Secret Baby chapter 51
CASSIUSThough my mother was doing well, I still spent the next week or so in the hospital. Now that I'd reconciled with my parents, I wanted them to know that I was there for them. But also, I knew that once I returned to my real life, I would need to talk to Deira, and I wasn't ready. Not because I wasn't sure what to say—in fact, the opposite. I knew that I wanted Makayla and Deira to be part of my life now, and forever. But we'd had such a rocky path, I was a little scared of how Deira would respond to me.So, I put it off for days, until my mom finally prodded me to leave the hospital."You've been here forever," she said. "Go home, get a shower, and get a good night's sleep. And then, once you're refreshed, maybe talk to your girlfriend about us meeting our granddaughter." She winked at me."She's not my girlfriend, Mom," I protested, feeling like a teenager."But you like her, right?" my mother asked, and all I could do was grin in response. "See," she continued. "You have to g
The Billionaire's Secret Baby chapter 50
The next morning, Dani took Makayla to school on her way to work, letting me sleep in. I laid around her apartment all morning in my pajamas, then went for a quick run before getting myself some lunch. I was very consciously not thinking about work, or Cassius, or anything else. I had half-expected him to call me at some point, but he didn't, and I couldn't help but be relieved. I didn't think I could talk to him until I decided what to do about Mr. White.In the afternoon, I picked up Makayla from school and took her to the park to play. That night, the three of us made pasta and played board games. It was nice to have some time to just have fun, without thinking about all of the stress of the past few months. The next day, after dropping off Makayla at school, I found myself thinking about my blog. I hadn't thought about it in months. I went to the home page and started looking over some of my past entries. Before long, I found myself writing down ideas for new posts. It had been ye
The Billionaire's Secret Baby chapter 49
DEIRA I had hurried inside after getting out of Cassius's car, but I didn't want to go back to Dani's apartment when I was so upset. I waited until I saw Cassius drive away, and then I went back out to take a walk around the neighborhood. I had meant to calm down, but I found myself reliving our conversation and soon I was crying. Cassius not believing me about Mr. White hurt even more than I had let on. I'd let out all my anger on him, but beneath the anger was a deep pain and a sense of betrayal. Why did he think I would make something like that up? What did I have to gain from that? And did our relationship mean so little to him that the word of an employee he barely knew was better than my word? That last part stung more than I wanted to admit. For all the ups and downs of our relationship, it had never felt meaningless to me, but it seemed for Cassius this always came second to his job. He believed Mr. White over me, just like he had taken a business call instead of watching
The Billionaire's Secret Baby chapter 48
After I got my dad calmed down, I went to find the doctor. I wanted a clear understanding of the accident and my mother's injuries. The doctor confirmed that the coma appeared to be because her body had been through a trauma, and that there was nothing worrying on the scans. All her other injuries were minor, especially considering the severity of the accident, but we wouldn't know her true status until she woke up. I made sure he understood that I was the point person now, and that my mom was to want for nothing. He nodded and reiterated that there was nothing to be done but wait. The waiting was excruciating.I found myself wanting to call Deira, but remembering the look on her face as she'd slammed the car door, I didn't think that was a good idea. I called Scott instead. He offered to come to the hospital, but I asked him to take care of the business instead. That way, I could concentrate on taking care of my parents."Of course, man. Whatever you need. Anything else I can do?" he
The Billionaire's Secret Baby chapter 47
The address wasn't far, and I made it there in twenty minutes. Deira was just taking Makayla inside when I pulled up. I waited in the car and a few minutes later she emerged. I was going to get out and meet her, but she walked right to the car and got into the passenger seat."I can't talk long," she said. "But I realized storming off like that earlier wasn't helpful, so I wanted to try to explain." She fidgeted, like she was nervous."I did talk to Mr. White," I said, wondering if what he said was true, and now she was nervous because she regretted her actions. At his name, she glanced over at me sharply."Did he admit what happened?" she asked, seeming surprised."He told me his side of things. Why don't you tell me yours?" At the phrasehis side of things, her face fell. She looked down at her hands and took a deep breath. Finally, she spoke."He accused me of sleeping with you to get my job," she said quietly."What?!" I hadn't been expecting that at all, and I was so shocked I fel
