Billionaire Baby Daddy

by Claire Adams

  “This is great,” I said to Andrew.

  He stirred and blinked, as though his mind had been a million miles away. “It is great,” he agreed, squeezing his arms around me briefly. “And the fireworks are about to go off.”

  I hummed in agreement. “I can't remember the last time I came down to see the fireworks,” I admitted. “I didn't want to bring Emma down when she was too young because she used to be really jumpy when it came to loud noises.”

  “Emma mentioned that she hadn't seen fireworks before,” Andrew said with a mischievous glimmer in his eyes.

  I frowned at him. “What did you do?”

  He laughed, holding up both his hands. “You're getting to know me too well,” he said. “I paid for the fireworks show tonight.”

  “You what?” I asked.

  “I just wanted to make sure that Emma got the chance to see the very best fireworks show ever. To make this night really special. So, I donated a substantial amount of money to the city council, with the stipulation that it all went into tonight's celebration. And when they weren't sure if they could do that, I added a little extra money and said that they could keep the extra money if the money that I had originally agreed to donate went to the fireworks show tonight.”

  I laughed. “Emma has a pretty generous dad, doesn't she?” I commented.

  I leaned in to kiss him, appreciating the gesture. It was another of those things that I wouldn't have expected from him. I was pleased to hear that he wanted only the best for our daughter.

  I sighed and settled in his arms, watching the evening grow darker. “It's funny how things work out for the best, isn't it?” I asked, thinking of where I'd been a year ago on the fourth of July.

  I'd had a seasonal sales job at a local shop that got a lot of tourists in during the summer. I'd hardly had time to spend with Emma, and I'd been exhausted whenever I did have an hour or two of time for her. We hadn't gone to the fireworks because I'd been working late on the fourth. Misty had been watching her.

  And now here we were, just a year later, sitting on the yacht of one of the preeminent businessmen in the city and waiting to watch the fireworks from one of the best seats possible.

  “Things always work out for the best, even if you didn't realize this was the way that things were going to work out,” Andrew agreed, watching Emma. He turned back to me. “I'm really glad you're here, in my life.”

  “I am too,” I told him softly.

  It was on the tip of my tongue to spill that revelation that I'd had earlier, about loving him, rather than merely liking him, but just then, the fireworks began to go off. It was probably for the best anyway. I wasn't sure that either of us were ready for those declarations just yet.

  Emma jumped up and squealed as she watched the bright explosions of blue and green and gold as they sparkled across the sky.

  “Boom boom!” she yelled, continuing to jump up and down.

  Watching her as I sat there in the arms of this wonderful man, I couldn't picture my life getting any better than it already was. In fact, I was happy enough that I could feel tears in my eyes. Tears of joy. I might not have a job, and I might still be dependent on Andrew for everything from food to a place to live, but it felt like we were cobbling together a family, and I'd wanted that more than I had allowed myself to realize.

  “Hey,” Andrew said softly, his long fingers coming up to brush away one of my tears as it traced a slow line down my face. “Are you okay?”

  “Perfect,” I choked out, laughing. “The fireworks are beautiful.”

  Andrew stared down at me for a long moment, his palm cupping my cheek. “So are you,” he said, and it should have been cheesy, but somehow it wasn't.

  He kissed me, and I felt my heart swell with happiness. I wished that things could stay like this, forever. Just us, our family, there on the yacht, watching fireworks in the warm evening twilight. I was pretty sure that I'd never been so happy before in my life, and I wanted to hang on to it.

  Andrew pulled back, breaking the kiss, but he continued to hold me close as we returned to watching the fireworks and our daughter's delighted antics.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Andrew

  I couldn't help whistling as I headed out to my car that evening. We were on track to pull in record profits that quarter at Orinoco, and I'd had a couple afternoon meetings that day which had gone exceedingly well. Couple that with a few great days off the previous weekend, where Lexi and I had taken Emma camping for the first time, and I was really starting to realize how great my life was.

  That was, until I got close to my car, one of the last ones in the parking lot that evening because I did have to work late some nights, and saw someone lurking there waiting for me.

  I immediately pulled out my phone, planning to call security. It could just be one of my coworkers wanting to discuss one last detail before we headed home for the day, but I doubted it. It could also be someone having trouble with their car and needing help getting home for the night. But I doubted they'd be waiting here for me if that were the case. They'd be more likely to wait by the exit to the building.

  Whoever it was, they were there waiting for me specifically. And I feared it meant they might try to mug me, or even kidnap me and ransom me.

  Or worse, that they've kidnapped Emma and Lexi and are looking for you to pay to find out where they were, I thought.

  I forced myself to walk forward with measured steps, knowing that if I showed how worried I was, things could escalate quickly. But I breathed out noisily when I realized who was really there, lurking in the shadows next to my car. I should have known. Fucking Renée.

  “You psycho bitch,” I swore. “You've gone too far this time. What the fuck are you doing? Stalking me?”

  “Of course not,” Renée said, tossing her hair casually back over her shoulder. She stepped closer to me. “Anyway, it's good to see you, too.” She sounded sarcastic, as though she really expected there should be any reason for me to welcome her presence here.

  “Get away from my car,” I spat. “I'm going home.”

  “You should take a look at what I've got first,” Renée said, waving around a file folder.

  “I don't give a shit,” I told her, incensed. “Whatever it is that you think you've got there, you can shove it up your ass. Stay the fuck away from me and my family. And if I see you near my company again, I'll have no choice but to call the police and get a restraining order.”

  I didn't really want to do that. The paperwork would be messy, and I knew that the tabloids would be all over it. Renée came from a wealthy family, and I respected her father quite a bit. I knew that he wouldn't want to see his daughter's reputation ruined. But it was getting to the point where she was leaving me no choice.

  “Just read it, would you?” Renée snarled, shoving the folder against my chest so that I had no choice but to accept it.

  I rolled my eyes and flipped it open, making a big show of glancing through it.

  “I had a private investigator do a little digging,” Renée told me. “Of course, it was hard to find someone willing to bend a few minor laws and do what I required, but once I found the guy, it was almost too easy. You're being conned.”

  “Oh, am I?” I asked, deciding just to humor her so that I could finally go home and get some peace and quiet.

  “The private investigator was able to get some hairs to do a little DNA testing,” she said. “And I, of course, had plenty of samples of your hair on the clothes that you left at my place.”

  I stared at her, wondering where she was going with this. I glanced at my watch and saw that it was even later than I'd told Lexi that it would be. I was rapidly getting impatient.

  “She set you up,” Renée said triumphantly. “You aren't the father of that brat. The bitch is just trying to extort money out of you, and you're playing right along with it! This isn't the first time, either. At least once in the past, she's been arrested for fraud. Not in the state of Washington, of cou
rse, but my private investigator was able to find out everything about her.”

  I sighed and pressed my fingertips to my temples. “I don't believe a word that you're saying,” I told her. “Especially since a simple DNA test would, in fact, prove if Lexi was conning me or not, and she knows very well that I have all the resources to have one ordered and expedited. She wouldn't have been stupid enough to try it.”

  “That's all part of her scheme, though,” she crowed. “You didn't actually get the DNA test done, did you? She tells you that you could, and you assume that she would only say that if the brat truly was yours. But then you never actually go through with the paternity test, and you never find out that she's conning you.” She shook her head. “To be honest, I didn't realize what a scam she was running until you made that comment about how I was just mad that her skills were better than mine and that she'd been able to trick her way into your life. If you hadn't said that, I might never have uncovered all of that evidence.”

  “This is hardly evidence,” I said, rolling my eyes. “Sure, you got some guy to pull together what you claimed was Emma's hair and my hair. And I’d like to know how the fuck you got it. For all I know, you're the one trying to con me.”

  “Don't be ridiculous,” Renée said, and for a moment, I wondered if she actually believed the words coming out of her mouth. Especially when she continued. “I know that you and I are over. You made that quite clear the last time I saw you, when I came to your office. I understand that. But I still care about you. We were friends first, remember? Before we started dating.” She ignored my concern over the validity of the hair sample. It wouldn’t be too hard to get, but it was disturbing nevertheless.

  “What we were can hardly qualify as friends,” I said acidly.

  “Whatever you want to call it then,” Renée said, rolling her eyes. “We ran in the same circles. We grew up together. We had a relationship long before we were dating. I don't want to see you get conned, especially not by some girl from the wrong side of the tracks. You always were too nice to people.”

  I couldn't help laughing at that one. “That's the first time I've ever been called that,” I said. I shook my head. “Renée, we're never getting back together. I don't care if you think you can be nice to me or remind me of what we used to have. Whatever game you think you're playing, just stop. And take this stupid folder back. I'm not going to carry around the evidence of your lunacy.”

  “For the last time, Andrew, it's not lunacy,” Renée said, her mood starting to swing back in the other direction. She put her hands on her hips, refusing to take the folder. “Look, I'd go to the police myself, but you're the only one who can really testify to her fraud. But you need to go to the police.”

  I scowled at her and spun towards the door to my car, the file still clutched in my fingers. “Fine, whatever. Thanks for the heads-up. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to go home. And like I said, this had better be the last time that I see you around me. I mean it this time; one more unannounced visit and I'll make sure everyone knows what a crazy fucking bitch you are.”

  “Fine,” Renée snapped as I slammed my door shut.

  I shook my head as I drove toward home, glancing over, now and again, at the manila folder on the passenger's seat. I needed to get rid of the thing as soon as I could. And I needed to get rid of the thing without Lexi seeing it.

  I could only imagine what she would start to think if she thought that I didn't trust her. If she thought that I'd gotten a paternity test without her knowing. She'd be upset just knowing that I'd seen Renée, probably, and I didn't want to upset her.

  Things had been going really well lately. We were comfortable. We were sleeping together every night, even though we didn't always have sex, and I liked waking up with her just as much as I'd known I would. And beyond that, there were all of our family outings. I liked those too. I didn't know how much of that would go away if Lexi thought I didn't trust her, but I had a feeling she wouldn't be in a relationship with a guy she thought didn't trust her.

  And even though we still had yet to have that conversation, I was starting to think of what we had as a relationship, more and more so every day. A serious relationship, even.

  I drummed my fingers on the edge of the steering wheel, feeling agitated.

  The thing was, I tended to have pretty accurate instincts for people. It came with growing up in a business empire, I was sure. When Lexi had shown up on my doorstep, I hadn't thought for a second that she was lying to me about Emma's paternity. Especially not since the little girl looked so much like a young Katherine. But now, with that file sitting there on my seat, I started to wonder if maybe we should get the DNA test done. Just to have absolute reassurance.

  What would happen if it turned out Emma's father was really some other guy, and he one day came along and wanted to take her away from me? He'd have every right to do so if the DNA was a match, I had a feeling. Despite all of my millions, the comfortable family life that I'd managed to cobble together could come crashing down in an instant.

  I wondered if maybe I should confront Lexi. The more I thought about it, the more it seemed like a good idea. Come to think of it, I didn't know why I hadn't had a background check run on her already. I knew that she was having difficulty getting hired, and I had to assume that there was something in her history that made her unemployable. Sure, she had said that Albright was blackballing her to everyone else in the industry, but what if that wasn't the case? What if she had a criminal conviction for fraud?

  Hell, that could have been the whole reason why Albright had fired her in the first place, if that arrest history had only suddenly been made known to them.

  I didn't want to go behind Lexi's back, though. I could hire a private investigator of my own and have all the information I could ever have wanted on her in a day's time. But that felt sneaky, and I felt like I owed it to Lexi to do this face to face. But I was going to need to ask her.

  I took a deep breath to calm myself and pulled into a parking lot down the street from my mansion. If I was going to confront Lexi, I might as well do it with Renée's documents in hand. And if I was going to do that, I would need to know exactly what was there in that file.

  I began to leaf through the file, heedless of how late it was growing.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Lexi

  I stood up and went to the front door as I heard Andrew enter. Emma had gone to sleep a little while ago, and it had taken me three stories to get her to close her eyes. She'd been distraught at the fact that her Daddy wasn't there to tuck her in. Andrew had been good about being there lately, and it had been nearly a month since the last time he'd missed bedtime.

  “Hey,” I said, coming into the front hall and leaning up on my toes to kiss him, even as he was still taking his jacket off. “Did your meetings run late? I know you said you were going to be running late this evening, but I didn't expect you to be quite this late.”

  Andrew grunted in response, and I frowned. Maybe something had gone wrong in one of his meetings? But I couldn't think of what. He'd just been telling me yesterday, as he prepared his notes for his meetings today, that everything was going amazingly for this quarter and that he was so proud of his team.

  But maybe there had been some new problem that day, something to do with shipping lines or warehouses, and he was just caught up in that. It wouldn't be the first time that he was unable to draw his mind away from a work problem.

  “Emma's already in bed,” I told him slowly, wondering if maybe thoughts of our daughter could draw him out of his funk. “She was pretty sad that Daddy wasn't here to tuck her in.”

  Andrew scowled. “I'm not always going to be here to tuck her in; you know that,” he said. “I run a very important business. You shouldn't set her expectations so high.”

  I blinked, wondering if what he really meant was that I shouldn't set my expectations so high. I bit my lower lip, feeling wounded. “There's still some dinner leftovers,” I told him. “Do y
ou want me to fix you a plate?”

  “Would you quit that?” Andrew snapped.

  “Quit what?” I asked, holding my breath as I waited for his answer.

  “Quit acting so domestic. We aren't a couple.”

  I stared at him, feeling tears pool in my eyes. I blinked them rapidly away. “Of course not,” I said, wondering what I had done wrong. “Sorry, I'll just head up to bed, I guess.” I paused. “Should I sleep in my own room?”

  “I don't really want to cuddle tonight, no,” Andrew said. He really sounded distracted; his mind was clearly elsewhere.

  “Okay,” I said, feeling something inside of me shatter at his words.

  Sure, it was just one night away from one another. It would be nice to stretch out in my own bed and not have to worry that I was stealing too much of the blankets or that I was too far over on his side of the bed.

  But even though I wanted to believe that this was only one night apart, something had clearly happened, and I had zero idea what it was. If I didn’t know what the problem was, I couldn’t begin to figure out how to fix it. Maybe he'd just grown tired of me.

  I started towards the stairs, trying not to trip over my feet, feeling the tears already starting to spill over.

  “Lexi, wait,” Andrew said, catching my wrist and pulling me back towards him. He ran a hand back through his hair. “We need to talk.”

  “Did something bad happen at work?” I asked, hoping that would explain this scary outburst of his. Maybe that would be the end of it, and we could go back to some semblance of normal.

  But if anything, Andrew just looked more agitated. “People are always trying to take advantage of me in my business,” he said. “Whether because they think that I'm young and inexperienced or because they're just blindly after my money, they think they can just walk all over me.” He paused and then said, weighing the words significantly, “But people try to take advantage of me in my personal life, too.”