Pregnant with the Tycoon's Heir

by Elizabeth Lennox

  Jessica looked down at her hands, picking at a hangnail nervously. “Yeah. I just…get a bit overwhelmed. Monica, that’s my therapist, she says that everyone gets overwhelmed. It’s just a natural part of being alive.” Jessica looked down at her feet. “I didn’t know that, Naya. I didn’t know that everyone else felt this…pain in their chest when life became too difficult.” She looked at the wall, blinking back the tears. “I thought I was the only one that felt…frustrated and overwhelmed.” She took a breath and nodded her head. “Monica is helping me to understand those emotions. I need to ask for help before I get overwhelmed to the point of needing to leave again.”

  There was a long silences as Naya took in that information. It explained…so much! Naya blinked back a few tears of her own. “You do, Mom. I ask for help all the time.”

  Startled, Jessica looked up at Naya with hopeful eyes. “You do?”

  “Yeah,” Naya replied with a nod. “And you can ask me for help.”

  “Will you…” she paused, shuffling her feet slightly as she rubbed her hands on her denim-clad hips. “Will you come to me when you need help too?”

  Defiantly, hope blossomed in Naya’s heart. “Yes. I will. In fact,” she took a deep breath. “That’s why I’m here tonight, Mom. I had…” she blinked, fighting back the tears. “I did something stupid a couple of nights ago, Mom. And I just…needed to talk with you.”

  Jessica’s whole demeanor changed. “You…you needed me?”

  Naya smiled, wiping away the tear. “Yeah. I needed my mom,” she replied.

  Jessica laughed and cried. “Oh, honey!” and Naya was enveloped in her mother’s arms. It was exactly what Naya needed, but hadn’t hoped to get. “I’m so sorry!”

  Naya sniffed and hugged her mother back. “I needed to see you. So here I am.” She pulled back. “So yeah, when life gets to be too much, will you call on me too?”

  “Yes!” Jessica replied with an energy that Naya hadn’t seen in her mom for a long time. “Okay, but dinner! I’m going to make dinner.”

  Jessica tried to hide the cringe of horror. Her mother was…well, Naya’s mom and, as much as she’d tried over the years to ignore her instinctive need for the woman’s approval and affection, there were some things that Naya had completely given up hope about. One of those things was for Jessica to cook something edible. The woman tried, God love her. But usually, she failed miserably. “We can just order something to be delivered,” Naya replied nervously.

  Jessica waved that suggestion aside. “Nope! I got pasta and sauce. I’m going to make spaghetti tonight!” she announced with an enthusiasm that caused Naya to groan inwardly.

  A half hour later, the two of them sat down on Jessica’s tiny, concrete balcony and ate a bowl of pasta. It wasn’t great, just canned spaghetti sauce and white flour pasta, but it was a whole lot better than some of the meals they’d shared in the past.

  “That was great, Mom,” Naya said and gave her mother a hug before leaving. “Let me know how else I can help you with the bags. I really think it’s a great idea.”

  “I do too. Maybe if I can make enough of them, I can do this full time,” she offered.

  Naya wasn’t sure if there was that much of a market for cotton grocery bags, but she kept that opinion to herself. Naya was going to do everything she could to help her mother make a success of her small business. Even if Jessica made a few extra dollars, that money might keep her mother’s stress lower.

  Of course, her mother might just spend all of her extra money on booze, but Naya knew that there was nothing she could do to save her mother from her alcoholism. Jessica had to do that all on her own.

  For right now, Jessica was sober and excited about life, Naya thought as she walked down the steps to her car. Jessica was seeing a counselor, which was amazing, and finding other resources of income and assistance. Life was pretty good, she thought.

  At least for a while, Naya cautioned. Jessica Banks wasn’t used to sobriety. And when she started drinking, her mind shifted into a depression. When her life became too difficult, Jessica just…up and walked away. Her thinking was that she could just leave all of her problems behind.

  The problem in the past had been that Naya had been one of those problems. Twice! Naya had been five years old the first time that her mother had found life too difficult to deal with and had just driven off one afternoon, leaving Naya sitting on a park bench all alone. Naya hadn’t understood, but even her five year old mind had understood the tears on her mother’s cheeks as Jessica had walked away. It wasn’t until a neighbor had noticed Naya sitting alone on the park bench that the authorities had been called.

  The second time, Jessica had been thirteen. By that point, Jessica had still been a ward of the state, in the foster care system. Thankfully, that had been the year she’d been invited to join The Burling School on a full scholarship. She’d been a good student, but had had no hopes of going to college. She couldn’t pay for college and wasn’t sure how she could get a job that would pay her enough to support herself. But the boarding school had opened doors for her, trained her to use her mind and think differently. It had changed her life.

  Jessica had been back now for just over a year. Naya tried very hard not to get her hopes up. Jessica would eventually leave again. It was just in her nature. But that didn’t stop Naya from hoping that things would be different this time around.

  Still, Jessica was the only family member Naya had. Her father had left the year before her mother had disappeared. He’d just walked out of the house one day and never came back. So Naya should be used to people disappearing by now.

  She wasn’t. Naya was just waiting until the day when her mother left again. But until then, Naya had decided to enjoy her time with her mom for as long as it lasted.

  Chapter 4

  “What’s wrong?” Bonnie demanded, coming in to sit in the empty chair.

  Naya glanced up slowly, trying very hard not to move very quickly. “I’m fine,” she told her co-worker, not wanting to admit that she felt horrible.

  “You’re not fine,” Bonnie countered. “You look like death. You’re sick,” she announced.

  Naya didn’t argue, mostly because turning her head from side to side might cause her to throw up. So she sat at her desk, quietly staring at…nothing. She couldn’t even focus.

  “You need to go home.”

  Naya breathed in slowly. “I can’t go home. Something is going on. You and I both know it.”

  Bonnie groaned. “Naya, I agree that there is an odd tension in the department. It’s all over, actually. I have a friend in the accounting department and her manager keeps disappearing. Plus, someone is asking for some really weird reports, but no one knows what’s going on.”

  “See?” Naya argued. “That’s why I can’t leave.” She tried to push up so that she was sitting up straight, but the effort just about caused her to throw up again. “I’m fine,” she said, pressing her lips together to keep herself from sobbing out her misery. This was the third day this week that she’d felt like this and it was really getting old. By the afternoon, she felt better. It was just…getting through the morning.

  “Eh!” Bonnie waved her hand in the air. “It’s been like this for more than two months and you know it,” she said. “This is the new normal, don’t you think? Everyone running around, trying to impress the mysterious person. We’re probably being bought up, don’t you think?”

  Naya wanted to groan, but she wasn’t sure if the impulse was caused by the idea that their company had been bought out by someone new, or because she still felt as if she wanted to curl up into a ball and cry. Both, probably. Bonnie was right. There had been something going on in the office lately. Something was off and all of the managers were on edge, which meant that their staffs were also feeling the pressure. Naya didn’t understand what was going on, but when she felt this horrible, she didn’t feel as if she could figure it out very easily. Then again, she wasn’t figuring anything out lately. She’d
been feeling sick for a while now and…why wasn’t she getting better? Was the tension causing her to have this kind of daily nausea? Or was it something else? Something worse?

  Something…else? Naya’s whole body froze. Two months. Something else. Two months ago, she’d met a man in the bar…the most amazing man and they had…!

  “You’re right,” Naya replied to Bonnie’s curious expression. “I’m going home. Would you tell the boss man?” she asked, then grabbed her purse and raced out of her office before Bonnie had a chance to reply.

  Naya got into her car and started the engine, but her fingers were shaking so badly, she wasn’t sure if it was safe to drive. Two months. Two months! And then…whammo! She started feeling sick and nauseous and…she reached up a hand, pressing against her breasts.

  “No!” she whispered and narrowly missed hitting a guy trying to cross the street. The guy made several rude gestures as he yelled while crossing in front of her car, but Naya laid her head down on her steering wheel. “Please, don’t let it be that!”

  A horn honking behind her warned her that she’d been praying for too long. Jerking upright, Naya was surprised that she didn’t need to pull over and throw up. Instead, she eased forward, slowly accelerating now that the pedestrian was safely across the street and out of harm’s way now.

  It took her less than a half hour to reach her small but tidy apartment in one of the more upscale areas of the city. She dropped her keys twice before she was able to insert the key into the lock and enter her apartment. Once there, she walked straight into the bathroom and threw up one more time.

  Chapter 5

  Naya stared at the stick, sure that she was reading it wrong.

  “What does it say?” Naya’s best friend Ella called out from the other side of the door. Naya knew it was Ella because she accompanied the question with a knock, revealing the energetic woman’s impatience and curiosity. It was always dangerous to try to hide something from Ella. The woman was a hard core detective when even the hint of a secret sprang up.

  Naya glanced at the plastic stick again, then at the instructions. “Um…well…it is a bit confusing.”

  Cassy laughed but the sound was muffled, probably because the third friend in their trio was pregnant herself. As a lawyer for a very conservative law firm though, she’d created also had a fake fiancé, not wanting her firm to know she was pregnant and unmarried. Oh – and perhaps Cassy didn’t want the sheik-dude-baby-daddy to know either. That was a whole other story!

  Cassy, being Cassy and not one to hide from the truth for any reason, wasn’t allowing Naya’s delaying tactics. “There’s no confusion. Come out, Naya. Let us see.”

  Naya stared at the stick again. “Wait, I’m just going to take another test. This one might be wrong.”

  There was silence on the other side of the door. “The first one was positive, wasn’t it?” Ella demanded after a moment.

  Naya couldn’t answer Ella, too afraid of actually confirming the test results out loud. That would make it real.

  Cassy’s gentle knock startled Naya and she braced her hands on the bathroom sink. “Honey, come on out. We’ll talk and you’ll feel better.”

  Naya covered her stomach with her hand, precisely where the new life was forming.

  “I can’t,” she whispered. Nothing would be better. Talking definitely wasn’t going to make this situation “better”.

  The door to the bathroom opened up and Ella’s short, dark curls appeared. “Honey, everything is going to be okay,” she said with enthusiasm.

  Walking into the small bathroom, Ella took Naya’s hands and pulled her to a standing position. Tugging gently, Ella slowly led a very stunned, very shell-shocked Naya over to the sofa where Cassy was already sitting, her hands resting on her protruding stomach.

  Cassy smiled gently at Naya, fully aware of what she was going through. “Okay, so talk to us. Tell us what’s going on.”

  Naya stared down at the plastic stick that had a huge, blue plus sign staring back at her. Mocking her.

  She took a deep breath. Lifting teary eyes up, she looked at Ella. “You remember that night? We were in the hotel bar? It was the night Kevin broke up with me after telling me what a frigid b…” she didn’t finish the word, bowing her head in shame. She couldn’t look at her friends, afraid of what they might think of her now. Especially after what she was about to reveal. “I had a one-night stand.”

  Ella laid a gentle, encouraging hand over Naya’s clasped fingers. “We know, honey. You told us the next morning.”

  Cassy leaned forward, running a hand over Naya’s shoulder in a soothing manner. “You also mentioned that the night with your man was incredible.”

  Naya nodded her head. “Yes. But…it wouldn’t have worked out.”

  “Why honey?”

  Shrugging her shoulders, Naya tried to remember the reasons in her mind. “Because…well, because he was so completely out of my league.”

  Both friends looked down at the stick in Naya’s hands. “Evidence is indicating that he was definitely in your league.”

  Naya laughed, but the sound turned to a sob. “What am I going to do?” she cried, leaning her head against Cassy’s shoulder. “You’re so much stronger than I am, Cas. I can’t do this by myself!”

  Ella was still holding Naya’s hand and Cassy took the other one. “You’re not going to do this by yourself,” Ella assured her. “We’ll get through all of this together.”

  Naya knew that her friend was sweet and had the energy of ten people, but… “Why did I have sex with the man?”

  Cassy laughed. “Same reason I am in the same position,” she said, patting her stomach. “We were swept off of our feet.” She shrugged, but a tear escaped her eye, rolling slowly down her pale cheek. “It happens to the best of us.”

  Chapter 6

  Pierce walked into the building, his anger so ever-present that his staff was nervous to even speak. It had been like this for the past two months and he still couldn’t believe how furious he still was. Over a woman! He never became emotionally involved with women! But damn it, he was still furious that he’d woken up and the woman had been gone. After two months, he should be over this fury!

  He was also livid that he hadn’t been able to find her again either. Damn it, he wanted to…Pierce wasn’t sure what he’d do if he saw Naya again. That thought about making her his woman popped into his head and he…damn it! He was so angry about everything!

  Stepping off of the elevator, he paused, ignoring the other people surrounding him and looking confused. He had to get a grip. He had a business to run and important meetings today. He couldn’t be distracted any longer.

  This latest acquisition was the result of his fury over losing that woman. Never had he gone through an acquisition so fast or so furiously. Yes, he’d already had this company on his radar as a potential acquisition prior to that night. The management staff here was pathetic even though the products it produced were excellent. Unfortunately, the company was underperforming on several fronts, and, before he’d bought up the excess stocks that had been flooding the market, the company had been losing money. Because of that, it had been an easy target to acquire. The executive staff hadn’t been able to pull up the cash reserves to fight his takeover. Now he owned the majority of the stocks and it had been one of the easiest takeovers to date.

  This place could be so much more productive with a bit of…encouragement. Tweaks, he thought, focusing on business instead of a pair of moss green eyes and full, pink lips. Tweaks to the business model that would shift productivity into high gear. But he’d rushed through the processes that would normally take twice as long, pushing his staff hard because he was livid.

  Emotions should never impact business decisions, he reminded himself as he pressed the button for the top floor. Looking around the lobby area, his eyes took in the slow pace of the workers as they filtered in to the building. There was no sense of urgency, no real sense of purpose. Everyone here was jus
t going about their jobs as if they had all the time in the world. And yet, this company had some outstanding products that weren’t hitting the marketplace with enough energy to make an impact on the profit margins.

  In a few hours, that lack of urgency was going to change!

  Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of one worker who was rushing out of the bathroom, her hand slapping against the metal door leading to the stairs. Damn, she was beautiful! His eyes stared hard…his mind working in overdrive as his eyes narrowed on her slim figure. Navy suit, conservative heels, cream silk shirt and pearls. Naya!

  Did she work here?

  His mind sifted through the details of that night. The hotel where they’d met was less than a block away. But there were other bars and restaurants closer. Why had she been at the hotel bar instead of the place right across the street?

  He didn’t know, but as he watched her lean over slightly, using her security badge to release the lock on the door and walk through it, a feral sense of satisfaction settled into his chest. The fury of the past two months was gone, replaced by a determination.

  Everything inside of him went into hyper speed, his mind reeling with the realization that he’d inadvertently bought the company in which his ex-lover worked. He remembered his fury when he’d discovered that Naya had left his suite the following morning. No note, no warning, not even a “Thanks for a great time!” message. After the night they’d shared, he would have expected…hell, he had no idea what he’d expected. He only knew from experience that women tried hard to get into his bed, not leave it. And his night with Naya had been…explosive. He’d woken up that morning, fully prepared to continue making love to her. His first thought was that he would need to cancel his meetings as his erection proved his impatience to make love to her again.