Pregnant with the Tycoon's Heir

by Elizabeth Lennox

  He shook his head. “I wasn’t snooping. I was jealous.”

  Naya’s eyes widened with that. “Jealous? Of me?” she whispered.

  He took another step towards her. “Yeah! You wouldn’t talk to me, Naya. Then you left your apartment looking upset, went into someone else’s apartment and came out looking happy again. So I wanted to know why.”

  “You followed me?”

  He nodded, but spoke carefully. “Yep. And I’m not going to apologize for that either. You are always so busy trying to get away from me, so I took matters into my own hands. I figured it out. And now I understand why you’re afraid, but that’s not gonna fly anymore Naya. You can’t run away from me.”

  Her chin jutted out slightly, defiance making her whole body tremble. “I don’t run away! My parents ran away from their responsibilities. I face mine!”

  “You run! Every time we were together, you ran away from me except when I had you isolated on an island.” He leaned closer. “Admit it, if you could have gotten away from me then, you would have.”

  She didn’t reply and he had his answer.

  “You’re going to have to change that, Naya. You’re pregnant. We’re getting married. No more running!”

  The harsh intake of her breath was his first clue that the battle wasn’t nearly over. “Married! What are you talking about?”

  He pulled the ring out of his pocket, grabbed her finger and slid the diamond ring down. “There! We’re engaged.” He felt a surge of pride as he looked at his diamond ring on her delicate finger. It looked right and beautiful. “And now I want to know about this baby we are going to have together!”

  She stared down at the ring, the finger of her other hand moving over the sparkles. For a long moment, she didn’t say anything and Pierce just watched her.

  Naya didn’t know what to say. Marriage. It had taken her a while to come to terms with the idea of being pregnant. But now marriage? He wanted to marry her?

  Something else occurred to her. “You had this ring before you found out that I was pregnant,” she whispered.

  His eyes were angry, but with her comment, they softened a bit. “Yes. I bought it in Aruba. But…”

  She continued to stare at the diamond, her forefinger delicately tracing over it. “But a work crisis happened and you had to leave.”

  He moved closer to her. “I left Aruba, Naya. I didn’t leave you.”

  She held her breath, trying to figure out what he was saying. “You had work to do.”

  “It wasn’t more important than you, love,” he told her. “I had to go, but I wanted you with me. I didn’t think you’d want to come though.”

  She wasn’t sure either. Travel with him? “I can’t give up my job.”

  He sighed. “I know. I love you though.”

  His words were amazing. But could she believe him?

  “What do you want from me?”

  He took her hand and pulled her closer. “Everything. I want you. I want to marry you and be with you for the rest of my life.” He lifted her hands to his lips and kiss her fingers. “I want this baby,” he said and his other hand touched her stomach. “I want to know you and be with you and convince you that I’m never leaving you.”

  She sobbed, a tear trailing down her cheek. “You can’t promise me that.”

  He sighed and pulled her into his arms. “I can’t promise never to die, Naya. But for as long as I’m alive, I won’t leave you. From the first moment I saw you, I knew that you were different. And being with you over the past few weeks, traveling without you last week, I’ve learned that I don’t want to be without you.”

  With that, he pulled her into his arms and held her close, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “Do you think you could take a risk on me? We can make it, love. I know we can. I won’t be like your father. I won’t leave you.”

  Her slender figure shivered in his arms and he tightened his embrace around her. “How do you know?”

  He hugged her closer. “Because I need you. I need you just like I need food and oxygen. I know that sounds ridiculous, but I need to feel you and see you. I need to hear you talk to me about your day.” He kissed her again. “And I want to know our child. I didn’t know about this baby a half hour ago,” he pulled her closer still, “But now that I know about it, I want to know our child.”

  “Really?”

  He laughed and kissed her again. “The only way I can show you is to prove it to you. Every day. Every night.” He kissed her again. “And I will. I will prove it in so many ways, Naya.” He sighed. “But you have to believe in me. You have to believe in yourself too. And I think that’s the real issue isn’t it? You don’t believe you’re lovable.”

  Naya stared up into his eyes, those green depths troubled and terrified. “No,” she cried.

  “You are. You’re sweet and generous. You are passionate about things that I don’t understand, but I don’t care. I want to see you. I need to you in my life, honey.”

  “Okay,” she finally replied.

  He stilled and Naya smiled against his chest.

  “Do you mean it?”

  “Yes. I’ll try. But it’s going to take me a while to trust.”

  He laughed and lifted her into his arms. “I can work with that. I’ll start by showing you how much I need you now.”

  Naya laughed, but was in full agreement with him. “I’m going to need a lot of convincing,” she warned him and he laughed, pushing through to her bedroom and kicking the door closed. “I’m fully on board with convincing you, love.”

  Epilogue

  “Let’s go!” Naya called up the stairs. “She’s waiting!” A moment later, there was a stampede of movement and she stepped back in anticipation. Sure enough, seconds later, four boys ranging in ages from five to twelve raced down the stairs.

  “Gramma won’t leave without us,” Jeremy announced. As the oldest, he had a confident attitude that the other three tried to mimic. They were getting there, but he’d had a couple of extra years with their father who they all tried to emulate.

  “You never know,” Naya replied, opening the door so that they could rush outside.

  “Gramma wouldn’t do that,” Bryce said, shaking his head as if their grandmother leaving without them was the craziest suggestion in the world.

  Pierce was the last one, but he came from his office and growled as he scooped five year old David up into his arms. “I think I get your share of gramma’s cookies,” he told his youngest.

  David laughed, grabbing onto his father’s hair when he was set on Pierce’s shoulders. “Gramma hides some cookies just for me,” he announced, feeling special because of his secret stash.

  Naya laughed, shaking her head because her mother actually had hiding places for each of her grandkids. It was a cute way that made each of them feel extra special, as if she were looking out for each of them.

  “Yeah, she might have a secret stash of cookies for you, but there will be no cookies until after her presentation.”

  Pierce groaned as he released their youngest and followed at a slower pace, wrapping his arm around Naya’s shoulders. “We don’t have to sit through all of it, do we?” he asked.

  Naya looped her arm through his and looked at him sternly. “Yes. She’s created a good, solid business for herself selling her sewing projects. And she feels very honored to be doing this presentation and sharing her knowledge of how others can start their own businesses as well. So yes, we’re sitting through all of it.”

  They were at the car now and her three other sons were already buckled in. For a moment, Pierce watched David try and climb into the SUV, but in the end, he lifted their youngest son up and set him down onto the hated booster seat. He hated the safety seat, but until he turned six, he was required to sit in it and not even the ribbing from his older brothers could gain him enough compassion to avoid the contraption.

  Pierce strapped him in, then checked all of the others to make sure that their safety belts were securely f
astened before he closed the door and turned to look at Naya. “Have I mentioned that you’re looking exceptionally beautiful today?”

  Naya rolled her eyes. “You’re just saying that because the doctor told us that this one is a girl,” she said, patting her very round, very pregnant tummy.

  He put his hands on her stomach as well, rubbing lightly. “True, but it’s not because we’re finally having a girl.” He kissed her lightly. “I still think you’re one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever seen.”

  She grinned up at him, leaning into him, which wasn’t very easy since she was seven months’ pregnant. “Thank you!” she whispered, still needing to hear things like that from Pierce. And then she burst out laughing when they heard the groans and barfing noises came to them from inside the SUV. Her boys were becoming experts on making gagging noises whenever she and Pierce became a bit too amorous, but Naya ignored her brood and lifted onto her toes. “I love you,” she whispered.

  “I love you too!”