Accidental Baby for the Billionaire_A Billionaire's Baby Romance

by Lia Lee

  Maddie’s breath grew deep and steady. Her weight seemed to increase as she relaxed against him. He liked the feeling of her draped across his midsection with her leg thrown over his. There was an element of possessiveness and even comfort in sharing a bed with this woman. She was going to be the mother of his child.

  As if that thought alone had been enough to call out the devil, his phone began to vibrate again. This time it didn’t stop. Alex could tell the call went to voicemail, but the caller just tried again. He was either going to have to wait out the caller, or he was going to have to get up and answer it.

  Maddie started to stir beside him.

  He didn’t want the stupid phone to interrupt her much needed sleep. With a sigh, he realized that he was going to have to answer.

  ***

  THERE WAS SOMETHING going on with Alex’s phone. The thing would not shut up. Maddie heard the vibration over and over again as the thing buzzed in his pocket. He’d left his clothes on her chair, which was fine. But now the stupid phone was bumping against the wood and making a horrendous noise that was bound to drive her insane.

  “Sorry,” he grunted. “I’ll take care of that.”

  She felt strangely bereft as he set her aside and rolled out of bed. Snuggling up to him had been oddly comfortable. He was the most scrumptious body pillow ever, that was for certain. Now she was lying on the mattress by herself and not really all that happy about it.

  In the dim light that filtered through the blinds in her bedroom, she could just make out Alex’s shadow as he dug through his pants pocket to find the offending electronic. When he pulled it out, he appeared to glance at the display.

  Maddie rolled to her belly and propped her chin on her hand. She watched him actually glare at the phone before taking it out into the other room. Of course there was no way she could possibly understand any of the conversation that followed. He was speaking in rapid, pissed off sounding Russian. It was sort of disconcerting to think that this was what her life was going to be like from now on. There would be people talking all around her in a language she could not comprehend. She would never know if they were talking about her or not. She wouldn’t understand their culture.

  Alex suddenly reappeared in the bedroom doorway. Something about the outline of his broad shoulders made her think he was not at all a happy camper. “I’m going to have to return to the hotel.”

  “What? No!” The words popped out before Maddie had a chance to realize what she was sounding like. There was nothing worse than a whiney, clingy girlfriend. She wasn’t even Alex’s girlfriend to begin with, which certainly meant she had no whine or cling rights.

  She took a deep breath. “If you have to go, I suppose that’s just the way it is.”

  He started to get dressed. She watched the methodical way he moved and wondered what had caused him to retreat all the way back to this stiff demeanor. He had actually started to relax. He’d touched her. He had brought her wonderful pleasure, and he had let her curl up beside him in bed.

  The guy getting dressed in her bedroom wasn’t a toucher, a snuggler, or anything remotely close to approachable.

  “What’s wrong?” She hazarded the question, already knowing she wasn’t likely to get a satisfactory answer.

  He paused a moment before sitting down to put on his shoes. “What makes you think there’s anything wrong?”

  “Because you’re back to being all stiff and formal.”

  “I have to return to my hotel because my mother has decided to make an appearance in town and her plane has apparently just arrived.” He did not sound thrilled. Actually, he sounded sort of pissed.

  ***

  THERE WAS NO reason to take out his bad mood on Maddie. It was not her fault that his mother had decided a trip to New York was necessary to preserve her shot at the imperial succession. Alex was already contemplating the possibility of strangling his cousin Yuri. Obviously the little rat had been busy while Alex was occupied with business matters.

  “I take it this is not a good development.” Maddie sounded hesitant. “Will your mother be angry?”

  “About what?” Alex wanted her to clarify. Especially since his mother was likely to be angry about pretty much anything and everything.

  “Well, I suppose your mother might be angry that I’m pregnant with your baby,” Maddie suggested. “But she could also be angry that you were spending the night here with me instead of staying in the hotel where there is more adequate security.”

  “Security,” he scoffed. “I could do more damage to a potential threat with my fists than most of those ham handed guards could do with several guns.”

  “All right then,” she agreed. “My original question still stands.”

  “I told you that my mother wants very badly to be in line for the throne.”

  “Okay,” she began slowly. “So this has more to do with the baby than your spending the night.” Maddie sounded matter-of-fact instead of angry. That threw him off a bit. Then she really caught him off guard. “What if I sign something saying that my child will have no claim to her precious throne?”

  He raised his eyebrows in shock. “I’m not entirely certain that’s legal, since the choice would technically belong to our son. But would you actually do that?”

  “If it made things easier for you, yes,” she immediately answered. Then he could see her cock her head. He couldn’t make out her expression in the darkness, but her outline looked soft and inviting. “You referred to this as our son.”

  “Of course.” Why wouldn’t he have done so?

  “That’s really sweet. We haven’t really referred to him as anything yet,” she pointed out. “Do you think you’ll be able to get away tomorrow?”

  “I believe so. Why?” He wondered where she was going with this.

  Then she completely threw him. “I have to go to this party for work. A record producer is giving it in honor of one of my clients. I wanted you to go with me.”

  He could not have been more surprised had she spontaneously begged him not to leave right now. Yet the words he needed came surprisingly easy to his lips. “Of course I’ll go with you. I would be honored.”

  “Awesome.” She bobbed her head as though she were smiling. “Just pick me up here at eight.”

  Chapter Nine

  Alex could think of a thousand places he would rather be right now. Unfortunately, he had no choice in the matter. By the time the limo pulled up in front of the hotel, there was a second long, black car just pulling up beneath the portico of the Trump Tower Hotel. Alex barely had time to exit his car before Tatiyana Nicolaevna’s long slim legs appeared through the second car’s open back door. Seconds later, his mother was on the sidewalk and stalking toward him with a very angry expression on her face.

  “How nice of you to meet me, Alexei,” she said pointedly and in English. “At least I presume that is the only reason you are standing outside at this time of night.”

  Alex could not resist needling his mother just a little bit. It was a crime he would likely pay dearly for later, but for now it was gratifying.

  Since she’d started the conversation in English, he continued it. “Actually, I was just getting back to the hotel after a nice night out.”

  “Excuse me?” Tatiyana’s icy glare could have kick started another ice age in Siberia. She switched to Russian. “You cannot act the part of a lowly commoner, Alexei. I do not understand this bizarre behavior! What is wrong with you?”

  “What is wrong with me?” He took a breath to answer then stopped himself.

  He turned and walked away. There was no point in speaking. Anything he said would only make his mother more angry, and it would make things more difficult for him when it came time to let her know that he was going to handle this baby situation in whatever way he deemed fit.

  She was right behind him. He could hear her. Failing that, he would have been able to smell her. The perfume she wore was so pervasive it seemed to coat his tongue and the back of his throat
. It invoked unpleasant memories from his childhood despite his resolution to stick to his plan. Somehow whenever Tatiyana was around he was immediately transported to the nursery where he could never make his mother happy. No matter how hard he worked at his lessons, she could always find fault with his manners or in the way he walked or spoke to others. It was as if she had been grooming him for political power from the cradle, which she had been. The thought was sobering.

  The next thing that went through his mind was a resolution not to treat his own son that way.

  He had a chance to make certain that his child knew he was loved and valued no matter if he remembered which dinner fork to use first, or how to bow to a grand duke.

  The elevator door whooshed shut behind them, and Alex was alone with Tatiyana for the miniscule amount of time it would take them to reach the hotel’s top floor.

  He gave his mother a cool once over. “I assume Yuri contacted you to whine about something not to his liking. I told you that bringing him along on this trip would be a pointless endeavor.”

  “Pointless?” She snorted. “Hardly. The man has proved an invaluable resource for information about your repetitious idiocy.”

  “Is that right,” Alex murmured. He was not agreeing with his mother’s opinion. He just wasn’t going to disagree openly with her. There was no point. Not yet anyway.

  “It continually baffles me that I have reached twenty-seven years of age, and yet you believe I need a babysitter.” Alex examined his nails. He layered his attitude around him like armor and prepared for the worst.

  Tatiyana’s scowl seemed to defy the Botox industry. “I only want what’s best for you, Alexei. Why have you never understood that? This is your birthright! It’s your destiny to rule on the throne of your ancestors.”

  “No.” Alex sighed. He had said this over and over with little to no result. No positive result anyway. “There is no throne in Russia, Mother. There has not been a throne since Nicolai Romanov was deposed and executed.”

  “Your people need you, Alexei!” his mother insisted. “They need a strong man to rule, not some woman who cannot find time to decide anything more important than what jewels will go with what dress.”

  “I happen to like my cousin Maria,” Alexei said mildly. “She and I both agree that Russia is on the correct path for now.”

  “For now!” Tatiyana burst out.

  The doors opened just then, and Alex strode out of the elevator’s stifling atmosphere into an even worse morass of irritation in his hotel suite where Yuri waited. Alex glowered at his cousin and wondered if the man even realized just how angry Alex was with him.

  “What did you tell her?” Alex demanded of Yuri. “How much did you overhear, how much did you make up, and what did you throw in to add fuel to the fire?”

  “So dramatic!” Tatiyana said as she walked in behind Alex. “Yuri has told me of your little whore.”

  “Excuse me?” Alex swung around to face his mother. “My whore, you say?”

  “It is unfortunate, of course, but easily remedied.” Tatiyana pulled out her phone and began texting with a clickety-clack from her long, blood red nails. “In fact, I’m having that woman brought here right now so we can deal with this and be done.”

  Alex was almost speechless with a combination of rage and disgust. He turned on Yuri. “You cannot have her brought here now! It’s the middle of the night! She’s not some peasant for you to drag around the city at all hours dependent upon your whim. She’s a woman with a life who needs her rest!”

  Tatiyana’s derisive snort said it all. Maddie was on her way to the Trump Tower Hotel, and there would be no gainsaying either Yuri or his mother when it came to their wants and desires.

  ***

  MADDIE WAS GOOD and pissed off, and she knew exactly who to blame for her current predicament. Any other woman might have been angry at the man who had rolled out of her bed half an hour ago and disappeared into the night with a vague story about having to meet his mother. But Maddie wasn’t any other woman. She knew there was no way in hell the prim and proper Alex would have dragged her out of her bed in the middle of the night. Nope. Maddie was pretty damn certain that her current state of affairs was because of a woman who was bound and determined to make herself royalty.

  The black suited man sitting next to her in the limo didn’t speak. He hadn’t said a word since he’d insisted that she was coming with him. Maddie had even suggested to him that her next phone call would be to the cops. The guy had just told her that he had diplomatic immunity, and unless she wanted the state department involved, she should cooperate. That had at least intimidated her a bit. But the more she thought about it, the more she believed the entire thing was a racket. Someone was lying, and Maddie was going to find out who.

  Her silent companion finally broke radio silence to mutter into his phone. “We’ve arrived.”

  “So you do say something other than ‘do what I say or die,’” Maddie snapped.

  The guy didn’t respond. He waited for the limo to pull up beneath the arched entryway to the Trump Tower Hotel. Then just about as quickly as was safe, the man opened the door and got out.

  He didn’t actually offer to help Maddie out of the car. No. He stuck his hand back in, clamped onto her arm, and dragged her to the sidewalk. He was muttering to another man who had apparently been riding up in the front seat. The two of them were talking Russian, looking at her, and then laughing. It was as if her earlier nightmare was coming true. Nice.

  Maddie jerked her arm away from Hekyll and gave Jekyll a dirty look. Hekyll just grabbed her arm again and began dragging her into the hotel. She planted her feet and forced him to stop walking.

  “Hey!” she snarled. “I’m perfectly capable of walking on my own. Thanks. Let go, or I’ll start screaming. And this is America, asshole. If I start screaming my head off in a public place and claiming I’ve been kidnapped, you’re going to have some issues.” She made an ugly face at him. “Diplomatic immunity or not.”

  He muttered something that did not sound complimentary and then stomped inside with her walking behind him. She followed him to the elevator, and he punched the button for the top floor.

  It was a long ride up mostly because her companion didn’t say anything audible and kept up a running tirade beneath his breath. Maddie really wanted to deck him. The guy was a dick. Although at this point anyone who came within punching distance was probably going to get it.

  The doors whooshed open, and Maddie followed her escort’s lead. The suite was gorgeous, but she’d been there before. The night her baby had been conceived, she had come here with Alex after the club closed. Tonight it felt a little different.

  The first thing she saw was a tall woman with long legs and impeccable taste and style. She had Alex’s dark complexion and his piercing dark eyes. But where Alex always seemed to be brooding, this woman looked mean as hell. Her expression was pinched. She stood in the center of the room with her hands on her narrow hips. Maddie knew without asking that this was Alex’s mother.

  “So this is your American whore?” the woman said in heavily accented English. “I cannot even see the attraction! She is fat!”

  Maddie raised her eyebrows. Oh hell no! Nobody talked to Madison Castillo that way! “And you must be Alex’s mother. I knew you were a bitch of epic proportions, but I must say the descriptions of you on the Internet do not do you justice at all! Perhaps you should eat. Starving to death is bound to make someone grouchy.”

  The mother—Maddie remembered that her name was Tatiyana something—made a high pitched sound of outrage.

  “Are you going to allow this woman to disrespect me?” she shouted at Alex.

  Maddie turned, meeting Alex’s gaze and seeing something there that she had never expected. Fire. There was fire and determination in his eyes. What was he planning?

  “Actually, Mother,” Alex began in a painfully formal tone of voice. “I believe the complete breach of protocol was on your part. You were the on
e who dragged Madison here against her will. I would imagine anything she wishes to dish out would be just punishment for your rudeness.”

  “Excuse me?” His mother whipped around to stare, obviously shocked.

  “You heard me.” Alex gave a nonchalant shrug. “I intimated that you are being unforgivably rude to this young woman and reminded you that your behavior has only antagonized a woman who is well known for being forthright and very difficult to intimidate.” Alex gave a strangely inelegant snort. “One might say—in the American vernacular—that you have poked the bear.”

  “Enough!” Tatiyana shouted. She raised both hands to command their attention. “You will pay off this whore right now. I want the child taken care of. There should be no bastards around to challenge for the succession.”

  Maddie felt her blood begin to boil. “So you want me to murder my child because you want to protect your imaginary claim to a throne that doesn’t exist?”

  “Yes,” Alex agreed. “That seems to be exactly what she’s suggesting. I, however, have an alternate plan.”

  “Which would be?” Maddie raised her eyebrows.

  “Come to my vacation home with me.” He waved a hand at his cousin and his mother. “We can be rid of their interference and have a chance to spend some time together. Then we can better decide what to do in order to make sure our baby is well provided for.”

  Maddie was shocked, really and truly shocked. “Seriously?”

  “Will you, please?”

  There was absolutely no way or reason to turn him down. “Yes! When do we leave?”

  Chapter Ten

  The next time someone offered to take Maddie on vacation, she was going to make damn sure she knew where she was going before she agreed to go. For some reason, she had made an assumption that Alex owned a vacation home in the Hamptons or on Cape Cod like everyone else. Even a cabin in Montauk would have been all right in her opinion.

  Now as she leaned out over the balcony railing, all she could see was the rocky coastline, white sand beaches, and the blue water of the Adriatic Sea. Why? Because Alex Stepanov had flown her to freaking Croatia!