Pregnant with the Tycoon's Heir

by Elizabeth Lennox

  When he’d discovered that she’d left, leaving only her underwear as a souvenir, he’d been more furious than he could ever remember feeling. After all the women he’d had to dismiss from his life, this one had disappeared! None of his guards had been able to find her either. There was no credit card trail from the bar, no one had ever seen her before and no one could determine where she’d come from, nor where she’d gone after leaving the hotel.

  But now…here she was! And apparently, she was an employee of his!

  Ah, how the fates had turned!

  His staff saw the smile and, almost as one, they stepped back in fear. From experience, they knew that their boss’ new expression was never good.

  Chapter 7

  Naya stared at the e-mail that had just come through. She was wanted upstairs? That didn’t make any sense. The floor referenced in the message was the floor on which all of the executives worked.

  “Is it true?” Bonnie asked with breathless excitement as soon as her head popped into Naya’s office.

  “Is what true?” Naya asked, her hand instantly moving to cover her stomach. Was the news of her pregnancy already making the rounds of the employee kitchen areas? How could anyone know? The only three people in the world who knew about her pregnancy were Cassy, Ella and herself. Well, and the tiny little person inside of her womb. But she was fairly certain that the four people who knew wouldn’t say anything.

  “About the takeover!” Bonnie gushed. “Some hotshot Russian guy bought up the company. It was all hush hush until this morning. Now he’s here and it sounds like heads are really starting to roll!”

  “Takeover?” she asked uneasily. Her fingers curled in panic. Takeovers meant layoffs! Layoffs meant that a lot of staff members who didn’t directly sell the company’s product would be let go!

  She couldn’t lose this job! She needed to help pay for her mother’s rent and groceries! Oh, please, even a small gap in her income would cause problems. Not to mention, she had no idea how she was going to be able to afford a baby. And health care! Good grief, she needed her health insurance more than anything now! Being laid off 7 months before giving birth…she’d never get new health insurance!

  And then Bonnie’s other word hit her. “Russian?” The image of Pierce came to mind, but that was impossible, she thought. No way could Pierce be here. Her luck wasn’t that bad.

  Was it?

  “Yes!” Bonnie continued, oblivious to Naya’s anxiety. “I heard that the head of marketing has already been fired. Something about the last marketing campaign being lifeless, but we don’t know if that’s true or not. We’re only hearing rumors right now.”

  Naya’s stomach churned and this was completely different from the morning sickness that seemed to hit her at all times of the day. This was a panicked kind of sickness but the result was the same. She was standing up, sitting down, looking to the right and left, trying to find the trash can…then praying she could make it to the bathroom in time.

  “Bonnie,” Naya started to say, but the woman was shaking her head, continuing on as if oblivious to Naya’s panic. “I heard that this guy who bought us up is one of the toughest men in business. Scary, gorgeous and merciless. He bought that hotel over on Tenth Avenue. You know, the one that…”

  Naya knew exactly which one Bonnie was referring to, but couldn’t confirm or deny that knowledge since her phone was ringing. Both Bonnie and Naya looked at the phone as if it had grown claws. Especially since the extension in the little window revealed that the phone call was coming from the executive floor.

  Bonnie laid a gentle hand on Naya’s arm, her eyes filled with pity. Going to the executive floor probably meant that she was going to be laid off!

  “I’m sorry,” Bonnie whispered, then rushed out, not wanting to be around Naya. Both of them now assumed that Naya was about to be laid off, terminated. And no one wanted to be around the person when that was happening. It was almost as if the termination stink could be smelled, and others were expecting it to be contagious.

  Naya stood up, her heart pounding in her chest, her fingers shaking as she lifted the receiver to her ear. “Naya Banks,” she said softly, then cleared her throat and pulled her shoulders back. If she was going to be fired, she wanted to go out with dignity! She wouldn’t cower in front of anyone.

  Nope, she would wait until she got home to do that! She could cower in the dubious privacy of her tiny apartment. Well, the tiny apartment that she wouldn’t be able to afford in another month. Or week.

  “Ms. Banks, this is Lois Jeffers. Your presence has been requested here in the president’s office. Did you not receive the e-mail?”

  Naya opened her mouth to say something, but the words wouldn’t come.

  “The message was sent with return receipt so it is showing that you’ve received and opened the message. Please come up to the executive floor. The room details are listed in the message.”

  A moment later, the phone call was disconnected and Naya stared at the phone, her whole body going numb with horror. She was about to be fired! Or laid off. Was there really a difference? Not really. When it came right down to the nitty gritty details, either way, she was out of a job.

  Should she go upstairs? Or should she just collect her belongings and walk out of the building. Did she really need to hear them tell her that she was no longer needed at the company?

  Naya knew she should have shut her mouth about the last campaign. She’d said it wasn’t very good and, as the marketing campaign had progressed, the numbers showed that she was right. She’d offered up several other ideas! But her boss hadn’t listened to her. She hadn’t meant to become the squeaky wheel. She hadn’t tried to be the salmon swimming upstream. She’d just known that the ideas they were running with had no pizzazz.

  And now she was going to be terminated for speaking out.

  She lifted her chin once more. She wouldn’t just walk out with her tail between her legs as if ashamed! If they were going to fire her, she was going to accept that termination with grace and dignity. She would walk out of the office with a strength of character, showing them that she was strong and wouldn’t be cowed.

  She’d be unemployed, yeah. But now cowed.

  Grabbing a pen, she clutched it in her fingers, just to have something to do with her hands. And since that felt better, she grabbed a notebook as well. The notebook wasn’t necessary, but it acted like a shield, she thought. Okay, so that was nervous body language, but she didn’t care. Better armed with a defense than trembling visibly.

  Walking out of her office, she immediately noticed that the other members of the marketing staff glanced in her direction, then quickly away. No one wanted to look her in the eye.

  They all knew.

  Taking a deep breath, she walked out of the department and stood in front of the elevators, not pressing the call button just yet. She needed another moment. Or ten moments. Maybe a hundred would be better.

  No, it was better to just get this over with.

  Reaching out, she pressed the button and shuddered. She could do this! Somehow, she would get through this. Her mother would be fine and her baby would be perfect! Her hand instantly fluttered to her stomach as if she needed to protect her unborn, newly discovered baby from what was about to happen. It was amazing how quickly one’s maternal instincts kicked in. She was protecting her child and she’d only known about the little lady for less than fourteen hours!

  And yes, she was having a girl. She’d decided. The elevator doors opened up and she stepped inside, strengthened somehow by the idea of her small child being born. She was a mother now, she thought. Pregnancy…wow! Motherhood? Goodness, she was already a mother, wasn’t she? Just being pregnant cast her into that exclusive club.

  It was both the most wonderful and the most terrifying thought she’d had in her entire life.

  Too bad she was about to be fired. Or laid off. Whatever, the language didn’t mean a whole lot. She would be out of a job in…five minutes? Fifteen?
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  The elevator doors opened up and she stared at the executive floor. She’d never been on this floor before, but there was an energy here that wasn’t present on any of the other floors. She’d been to the accounting, human resources, financial and production during the various meetings she’d attended over the few years she’d been working here, and none of them had this sense of urgency.

  “Are you Naya Banks?” a stern, terrifying woman demanded as soon as Naya stepped off of the elevators.

  “Yes. I’m not sure…”

  “This way,” the woman ordered, interrupting Naya’s hope of getting more information.

  It took a long moment before Naya could remember that she had feet and they should be helping her to follow the older woman. She was already disappearing around the corner. Wow, for an older woman, the lady could really move!

  Naya’s feet weren’t nearly as efficient. Nor was her mind. She was working at it, but the idea of walking to the slaughter had never held much appeal. Survival instincts were working overtime. Maybe if she went to the bathroom, the person inside that conference room would move on to the next person. It would sure be nice to be second in line to be terminated. Or third. Or even tenth! Maybe if she hid in the bathroom stalls, she would be completely forgotten!

  Wait, that was being a coward again, wasn’t it?

  Her mental mind games were not helping in any way.

  “Ms. Banks, I guarantee that today is not the day in which you should choose to be slow,” the older woman hissed in a lower voice as she stood beside an open doorway.

  Naya stared at the woman, not sure what was going on. The woman looked…panicked? This was all very odd. Naya was the one that was about to be terminated. Why was this woman so worried?

  Naya had no idea what to do or how to figure the world out right now. She knew that she didn’t have ice cream in her freezer, her go-to treat when she needed comfort. Glancing at her watch, she absently wondered how long it would take to be terminated from one’s job. She’d never experienced anything like that. She’d always been the stellar employee, the one that got the job done when no one else could.

  Apparently, her record was about to be…

  “Ms. Banks!” the woman hissed again, then jerked her head to the side, silently ordering Naya to walk into the office.

  Naya stepped through the doorway, feeling like she should bow her head so the guillotine would have a better angle. Oh boy, this was it. This was the end. Her mother would become overwhelmed and head out of town again and she would lose her baby because she didn’t have the means to support her. Her hand instantly covered her stomach, protecting her baby girl.

  The door closed with a snick as soon as she was inside the office and Naya felt her whole body jerk with the sound. This was it, she thought and took a deep breath.

  “So we meet again,” a deep voice called out from her right side.

  That voice! The last time she’d heard that voice, it had been encouraging her to…well, to do things! To do naughty things! Wicked, wonderful things that had caused her to scream out his name!

  But that was impossible! It couldn’t be him! No!

  She jerked around, her eyes wide with fear, horror and panic even as her hand clenched around the pen and notebook she’d brought up with her.

  It couldn’t be him! Oh, please, don’t let it be him!

  Even as her eyes focused on the tall, devastatingly rugged man, she heard that accent and her body knew even before her mind would allow her to accept the reality towering in front of her.

  Goodness, she remembered those cold, grey eyes and how they could heat up with passion! And the way his lips could…oh, my, the way his lips had kissed her. All over her body! Those lips could do things that should be considered illegal! And probably were!

  “You!” she whispered, her body numb with shock and…hope! Anticipation! Goodness, he was taller than she remembered! That feeling of being vulnerable and yet, still protected as he wrapped his muscular arms around her, lifted her onto the bed and…

  “So you work for me now,” he was saying.

  Huh?! Wait, what?

  “I’m sorry?” she gasped out, her mind still not functioning on all cylinders. Not functioning at all!

  Pierce walked around the woman, shocked to find that she was even more lovely than he remembered. And his mind had been thinking about her for a long time. He hadn’t been able to get the woman out of his mind.

  He wanted to lift her up into his arms and kiss her, to feel those trembling lips give way to his kiss, to find all of those spots on her body that made her sigh with pleasure or gasp with excitement. He remembered so many of those places. This woman was the most responsive he’d ever held in his arms.

  Damn it! His body was tightening with need, just at the memories of how she’d shuddered in his arms, the way she’d held him tightly against her body as she’d convulsed around him.

  But she’d also walked out on him. After the most incredible night he’d ever experienced, this woman had casually strolled out of his suite, disappearing.

  Pierce wasn’t sure what he was angrier about. The fact that she’d left that morning, or that his security team hadn’t been able to find out anything about her.

  Oh, that was all going to change. Even now, he could feel her body vibrating with awareness. He could use that. Yes, he would use that against her, to show her that he was not the kind of man to walk out on!

  He would tease her body, make her want him as badly as he’d wanted her that morning, but this time, he would be the one walking out! Yes, he would be the one in control! Just as she’d left him without a word, no explanation or even a goodbye, he would return that favor. In spades!

  Oh yes, the tables were definitely going to be turned this time around.

  “I don’t understand,” his gentle beauty was saying.

  He came around to the front of her, watching her green eyes, seeing the desire flicker there. She was fighting it, he realized. Her surprise, she couldn’t hide but her desire? Yes, he’d come to learn over the last two months that desire was a much more difficult feeling to hide. Especially where this woman was concerned. It infuriated him that this woman could do this to him, could make him want her even as she tried to tamp down her own lust.

  Oh, no, little one, he thought with increasing anger, this newest game was one that he played extremely well. One he was going to win this time.

  “I am your new employer,” he explained. “As of midnight this morning, Tri-Teck came under the Danilov corporate umbrella.” He moved closer, his mind shocked at how good she smelled. “As do you,” he whispered softly, but with increasing anger as his body reacted to her scent, to the soft, worried look in her pretty eyes. He gritted his teeth, fighting the urge to pull her into his arms and tell her that everything would be okay and that she didn’t need to worry about anything.

  Naya heard his words, but she didn’t understand why he was so angry. Was he angry? Or was she misunderstanding what was going on inside this man’s head?

  That was the problem with having sex with someone before you knew him! It was hard to interpret their reactions!

  “I work for you now?” she asked, her heart pounding. Was that because this man was so close? Or was it because his words indicated that she wasn’t about to be fired?

  “You do. I am in control.” He moved so that he was behind her. “I will determine when this relationship is over now. You walked out on me the last time we were together. That will not happen this time, Naya,” he said with increasing menace.

  He was angry because she’d walked out on him? Naya blinked, opening her mouth to explain.

  “I don’t want to hear it,” he said as soon as he saw that she was going to argue with him. She shook her head, trying to get him to understand but he walked over to the large desk. “You work in the marketing department,” he snapped. “Tell me your thoughts about the most recent marketing campaigns your group developed.”

  Naya stood th
ere, her hands clasping the pen and notebook while her mind tried to catch up. So many things were running through her mind. She probably needed to explain about that morning, about why she’d run away after a night of amazing, blissful sex. She needed him to know that it hadn’t been a rejection of him, but of what she’d done. Even now, she blushed at all of the things he’d introduced her to and she couldn’t believe what she’d done with him!

  Oh, and there was the niggling issue of the child they’d created! Yes, she should probably tell him about her pregnancy.

  How exactly was one supposed to tell a furious man that she had a life growing inside of her? A life that he’d helped create?

  Gently, she thought. But then his other statement hit her. He wanted her opinion about the marketing department? Why? And what was she supposed to say? That the head of the department was one of the most un-creative men she’d ever met? That he stifled any sort of brainstorming ideas that his team tossed out to him? He was a dictator that liked all of his minions to be following behind him, supporting his ideas even if they didn’t make sense? And he’d hired several idiot guys right out of college that…had no clue how to market!

  Oh no! She wasn’t going to be the one to say things like that. Not in this tension-filled environment.

  “Mark is a fine leader,” she finally said, thinking to be as neutral about the issues as she could.

  “And this last campaign you and your team generated?” he asked, picking up the storyboards that had been lying on his desk behind him. “Do you think they were effective?”

  Naya pressed her lips together. She’d hated Mark’s ideas. The campaign had been so tedious, so boring and overdone, not to mention, overpriced, that she’d actually spoken out that time. She’d even created her own storyboards and presented them to Mark and the team during one of the earlier staff meetings, hoping that someone might stand up for her ideas, support her.

  “I think that the last campaign was very well organized,” she diplomatically replied. Because yes, if there was one thing that Mark knew how to do well it was to organize the administrative side of the marketing campaigns. He had all of his resources well documented so he just had to make a few phone calls and people would line up to get the work done and the message out to the world.