Billionaire's Black Secret Baby (BWWM Second Chance Romance)

by Ciara Cole

  “Trust me, my friend,” boomed a voice out of nowhere and interrupting what Tamira was about to say. “Tamira might get up to a lot, but one thing I do know about her, is that she definitely hates to share,” the deep voice added.

  The figure behind the voice was tall, broad shouldered, and moved forward out of the shadows of the restaurant. Tamira’s mouth fell open when she saw Rafe. He stood there next to their table looking dashing in a turtleneck and coat, a huge bouquet of flowers in one hand and a small shopping bag in the other. As Tamira gaped at him in disbelief, Rafe winked at her and grinned.

  “Who the fuck are you?” snapped Barry, his smarmy act dropping.

  “Your replacement,” Rafe said, not easing his wide grin while turning to Barry. “I was set up with Tamira for tonight as well. And it looks like your time is up.” He glanced pointedly at his watch. “I think you’ve done enough damage to the honor of all self-respecting men on the planet with your tactless and tasteless behavior.”

  “What the hell?” Barry shot to his feet, looking furious as he glared up—way up—at the imposing figure before him. Rafe’s smile had edged off, and now the atmosphere was tinged with an unmistakable threat of violence that even Tamira could glean from the dark depths of his eyes as he pinned his gaze on Barry.

  Barry took a glance around at the other diners, sensing their curious looks. Then he glared back up at Rafe and finally shot the same thwarted, furious look at Tamira before grabbing his “gift” from the table. He seemed ready to drop some scathing words to Tamira, before he slanted a look at the hovering Rafe and changed his mind. Moments later he was storming out of the restaurant.

  Tamira was still in shock. Was she trapped in one of those telenovelas Nisha always teased her for watching?

  Rafe took the seat just vacated by Barry, and the next moment Tamira snapped back to herself, as it was her turn to glare at him. Her anger, pain, and betrayal, though, were of a far different variety than the foolish Barry’s.

  When she simply stared at Rafe with her mixed emotions, he smiled and placed the shopping bag on the table between them. It was then Tamira saw it held a beautiful pair of brand-new designer heels that looked strangely familiar. Rafe said, “This is to replace your broken shoes. Remember, from that first night we met? I never got to make up for that.”

  Then he held up the exquisite bouquet. “And this is to wish you a happy birthday. Aren’t you glad I showed up and got rid of that bozo?” he teased, not seeming to mind that Tamira was looking far from beholden.

  “Thank you for saving me,” she said blankly, no hint of sarcasm in her tone despite the daggers in her eyes. “You’re always quick to the rescue, aren’t you?”

  “I know,” he said with that same cocky grin as he settled back and undid the buttons of his coat. “It’s like I’m your guardian angel.”

  Tamira’s glaring eyes gave out stormy sparks. Rafe merely cocked his head and indicated the flowers in his hand. “You won’t even accept your birthday present?”

  The smoky heat from his eyes swirled around her in tendrils, just like the silken bass of his husky words wrapped her in ribbons of sweet enchantment.

  “Why are you doing this to me?” she breathed. Her anger whooshed out of her in a gust of helplessness she tried to mask. “I thought we were finished. Why are you stirring my heart? How did you even know it’s my birthday?”

  Her only thought was that maybe Nisha had something to do with this. But that didn’t explain how he was back when she’d been unable to reach him for weeks.

  Rafe’s answer was to smile slightly, and then he bent to sniff at the bouquet. A moment later he pierced Tamira with his hazel-steeped gaze. “And what if I am trying to stir your heart? Would that work on you?”

  Tamira didn’t know what answer to give. She doubted that she even understood what was happening right now. She could only sit there fighting back her rising agitation.

  “I’m just saying,” murmured Rafe, “setting aside the fact that we ever worked together, or even that we had a Dom/sub arrangement. Just purely, with no other conditions, are you interested in being stirred by me? Or rather… how about you stir my heart instead?”

  That killer white grin was in full force, his words doing things to Tamira’s senses that didn’t even seem reasonable. How could she find him sexy and thrilling after all he put her through?

  “Is this a joke? Rafe, you aren’t interested in commitment, or romance. I didn’t need a crystal ball to tell me that during the time we were together,” Tamira shot back in an accusing tone.

  “That’s why I’m asking you to stir my heart,” he said huskily. He sat forward and set his hand over hers on the table. How strange it was that another man’s touch just minutes ago had made her skin crawl, while now, her body, her whole flesh, welcomed the warm assurance of Rafe’s hand?

  He was the man who’d caused her the most pain in her life—why couldn’t she bring herself to hate everything about him, especially his touch? Instead, her heart pounded from the same chills running down her spine since she saw him first appear in the restaurant.

  “Tamira. Don’t let yourself think of anything else, but showing me what it is I’ve missed. That’s why I’m here. I want to stop fighting what could be,” Rafe told her, his grasp tightening on her fingers as he speared her deeply with his gaze. “I want you to fill my head with thoughts of how I need to start trusting and building dreams with someone. Can you do that?”

  Tamira’s confusion was mirrored in her eyes. She still didn’t know how he happened to be here, holding her hand in this moment. It still felt like a dream. And if it was… then she didn’t want for the night to end. She’d haunt anyone, she vowed to herself, who dared wake her up from this dream.

  “Rafe…” she said, eyes wavering as they stared into his. The next thing she knew, he’d arched up from his chair, and leaned over to capture her mouth in a swift, breathtaking kiss.

  Chapter Eighteen

  They were outside heading for the beach that stretched close to the restaurant. After the stomach-squelching kiss, Rafe and Tamira left the place knowing they needed more privacy, if just to talk.

  Stone steps led down to where the beach was, the atmosphere secluded and serene. Rafe lowered to sit on one step, looked up, and reached a hand out to Tamira. After a moment of hesitation, she took his hand and let him guide her to sit next to him.

  “Talk to me, Tamira.” The silence had stretched too long, and now he linked their fingers and compelled her to meet the heat of his gaze. “Ask me anything you want. I promise I’ll explain myself the best I can.”

  Tamira drew in a shuddery breath. “How could you just leave? All those weeks. What happened to your plans for the athleisure line? The big campaigns and collaborations?”

  Rafe turned his gaze to roam over the waterfront, the dark waves beating against the moonlit-washed sands.

  “I’d made the company my focus for years. Especially in the past several months since I was made CEO. I’d striven to prove myself, retaining my spot despite those who felt it had simply been thrown in my laps.”

  For a moment, Tamira felt his hand give hers that eloquent squeeze. “Now none of that matters,” he went on. “I took time off just to get my bearings and figure things out. I’m home now, but I won’t be returning to my position as CEO.”

  “What?”

  Rafe turned again to Tamira, catching her dazed look which caused him to smile humorously. “I quit. More to the point, I’ll be stepping down. Neither I, nor any choices I make, will have any bearing on the company anymore.”

  “But… why? Does this have something to do with the emergency board meeting that took place months ago? I heard the rumors, though no one could confirm anything,” Tamira said in concern. “The athleisure project was a rousing success. Did you get in trouble with the board members somehow?”

  “It’s nothing to do with that.” Rafe shrugged without seeming the least perturbed. “What matters is I’ve decided t
o take control of my life, my choices. I wasn’t going to let anyone, least of all my mother, have the power to sway my judgement just to keep my lofty CEO position.”

  When the confused Tamira then went on to ask just how his mother had wanted to sway his judgement, little did she dream it had anything to do with her.

  With evident reluctance, Rafe began to tell her the truth behind it all. How his mother, Elise, had started to disapprove of them ever since she saw them together at the art event. She’d spoken to him about keeping up the right appearances with the right sort, and he’d told her to stay out of it. The next week, she drew up an emergency board meeting.

  “A lot of arms in the Cavendish Group had to review their financial reports, and thankfully my company had pristine records of revenue in the last six months. But I got the message—my mother was trying to tell me that she was the one who held the power and I should bend to her wishes,” Rafe said, and Tamira ached at the anger now seeping into his voice.

  “I had to forge ahead and focus on making the opening a success so she’d have less of a weapon against me. I couldn’t tell you what was going on—I wasn’t sure how involved you wanted to be. No use in dragging you into my feud with my mother and making you feel any kind of pressure. Tamira, I liked being with you and didn’t want any shadows lurking around that.” He briefly held her knuckles to his lips for a kiss. Just hearing him say her name so softly made her heart beat like a bass drum.

  Then he let out a harsh sigh. “But then the night of the opening, my mother confronted me and told me to end it or she’d finish you. I couldn’t think. I kept telling myself, staying away from you was the best way to keep you safe and untouched. I cold-shouldered you and it killed me each second I went through with it.”

  Tamira almost couldn’t bear to see the pained look on his face, feeling an echoing throb in her heart just sensing his inner turmoil. She let him continue, only this time applied gentle pressure on the hand wrapped around hers so securely. Rafe smiled at the reassuring touch.

  “I went off some weeks for some preplanned travel. It was a mission trip for the company, as part of our third-world initiative spanning a few East African locations. Unfortunately, it meant I had to go tech-free for all that time. Visiting rural communities, teaching in school, and just doing aid and volunteer work. It was like my cleansing moment. I began to realize what was important. Seeing people happy and fulfilled with what little they had made me understand everything I lacked in my life despite having all the affluence and prestige. Most of all, I didn’t have you. I knew I had to get you back.”

  Their eyes locked as if by an unseen force, and it slayed Tamira how she could find so much feeling in Rafe’s eyes now that she looked hard enough, and believed hard enough.

  “So I returned early this morning… and saw all your messages. I tried to call you but could only get hold of Nisha. She chewed my ear off about abandoning you in your time of need. She didn’t really take time to explain anything, but she was the one who told me it was your birthday today and you were set up with a blind date you only reluctantly agreed to, just to please your parents. I decided to rescue you, and Nisha gave her blessings.”

  An irrepressible smile crossed Tamira’s lips. How instantly her heart lifted! Just like that, her world seemed ten times brighter. Her foolish heart was such a lightweight when it came to the heady promise of hope of something between her and Rafe. Could she really start to dream of a future together now?

  “So that’s what you meant when you said you’d also been set up with me tonight.”

  “I never imagined that Nisha would play matchmaker between us. But obviously, she seems to know what we share has potential.” Rafe’s teasing words only made Tamira sober up. She’d told Nisha about the baby, and she was glad her best friend hadn’t leaked the information to Rafe. Nisha must have felt she was helping the situation by getting Rafe involved the way she had tonight.

  Tamira felt a shiver hit her body and she rubbed on her shoulders to fight the rising breeze. The next instant, Rafe had swiftly shed his coat and brought it to rest around her shoulders.

  Cocooned within his deliciously scented warmth of a coat, Tamira thanked him, then nodded in assent when he said they should leave since it was getting chilly by the water.

  They soon reached the road and Rafe joked, “We’ll have to take a cab. Sorry I couldn’t bring the Ferrari. Since I told my mother I’ve decided to give up my CEO position, she blocked my cards and had my cars repossessed. You don’t mind, do you, living it rough with me till I can get back on my feet? Or you could just support us both.”

  Tamira rocked on her heels, her face freezing as she stared at him grinning with a nonchalant shrug.

  “Rafe! If this is all because of me…”

  “It’s not. I won’t be bullied, and at the same time I’m going to fight for what I believe in. And I believe in us.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Tamira wanted to believe in them too. She wanted to spread her heart out in offering while hoping that Rafe wouldn’t walk all over it. For the next few days she spent time close with him, and it was heaven. Yet she held back news of the pregnancy.

  Maybe she thought they needed to sort out their feelings for sure before she could trust that what they had could stand to the test. But as the days went on and they shared such powerful intimacy, togetherness, and understanding, Tamira felt guilty for being in doubt.

  Rafe was indeed changed. He showed in every little way that this time he wasn’t going to keep whole parts of himself beyond reach. The first time he told her he loved her, Tamira was so in shock that for a full minute she didn’t even realize she hadn’t said the words back yet.

  Tamira felt troubled that Rafe had been made to let go of so much, even those things he’d rightfully earned while holding his past role in the company. “The sports cars, penthouses and no-limit expense cards were all incidental to the position of CEO and once I relinquished it, it’s only right that the perks had to go too,” Rafe explained. “Tamira, I’m the happiest I’ve ever been. I still have some property I acquired on my own, and I have plans for what next to start on to build my career. It’s not like I couldn’t get a good paying job if I wanted. As for my trust fund, I can’t have access till I’m thirty and that’s still two years off.”

  “Rafe,” Tamira said in a protesting tone, but he simply drew her close into his arms. “My girlfriend is successful and earns more than enough. It’s not like I’m going to starve, right?”

  He nuzzled Tamira’s throat while tantalizingly unbuttoning her blouse. “Can’t deny, being a kept man could have its benefits,” he teased, pulling slightly back and running his gleaming eyes over her exposed breasts, much fuller and lusher than he remembered.

  “Why won’t you even listen when I…” Tamira’s exasperated tone turned into a gasp as Rafe clamped his mouth over one nipple. There was not going to be much protesting from her after that…

  Chapter Twenty

  Rafe had been in talks all day with the people from a major TV network. He’d been approached a week ago about an idea for a reality show for top fitness, athletics, and fashion trends. He was to be part of the headlining social media personalities which included other men and women in the public eye known for their lifestyles of fitness, style, and motivation.

  “We’ve seen a few of your TV interviews, YouTube, and Instagram videos, and we know you have the charisma and presence on camera. We think your addition to the lineup will be great for the show.”

  Rafe was still thinking about it. It felt good to be acknowledged for something other than being known as the “heir to a billionaire fortune.” He wasn’t sure how he felt being on TV or having any kind of limelight. He’d simply been doing his thing, not really for attention but to inspire himself and others. However, if the show was going to be a way to broaden his chance of reaching out to more people in a positive way, he might consider giving it a go. No one seemed interested in the fact that his family w
as worth billions or that he was the name behind the big athleisure brand that had only just become a massive hit, selling out weekly. The Cavendish Group had kept it under wraps that Rafe was no longer CEO, but it couldn’t be hidden for long. That wasn’t Rafe’s problem anymore, though.

  Just then his phone rang, and it was Tamira. He had a smile on his face, thinking she must miss him already.

  He’d reluctantly parted with her that morning, after noticing she’d felt queasy and wanted to lie in. She’d told him not to worry and go for his meeting, and that she always had those morning twinges. Rafe had spent many nights over at her place in the past week and had even teased about moving in completely anytime from now. Things weren’t that bad yet—he had more than a few investments of his own, some start-ups he’d clocked in early on which were yielding promising dividends. He’d be back on his feet in no time, and he’d never have to think of going back to his mother, cap in hand. He felt more than optimistic for the future already. A future with Tamira cozily in the center…

  So when she called him just then and sounded strange, he began to feel a certain dread.

  Tamira was in hospital… had run some tests… She needed him there right away because she couldn’t handle the news…

  What news?

  He couldn’t make any sense of anything she said, as she went on and on saying what a shock she was in and could he just drop everything and get there? “I’m so scared, Rafe,” she breathed between sobs.

  “I’m on my way,” he said calmly. “Just hang on. I won’t let anything bad happen to you.”

  Rafe sounded more certain than he felt. He couldn’t get over how Tamira’s voice shook with emotion, and the way it made his mind reel. Why couldn’t she tell him what it was? Had she had an accident? Or had she discovered some terrible illness? What if she was dying? What if—