The Billionaire's Baby (The Romero Brothers, Book 5)

by Shadonna Richards

  His lovemaking was incredible. Gusts of desire overtook her body. His hardness electrified her. She came, not once, but several times as he pleasured her to carnal heights, loving her body, caressing her and pleasing her with his currents of desire. Oh, God. Jules was an amazing lover. Ecstasy rippled through her entire body.

  After she came hard, Jules’s body convulsed with orgasmic release as well. Her blood pumped hard and fast in her body as he collapsed on top of her. Both breathing hard and heavy as they embraced each other after their magical experience. Deep sexual gratification assuaged them.

  Amber had never experienced such mind-blowing passion that caused a rush of blood to course through her veins like that. She ran her fingers over Jules’s taut muscles and sculpted chest, feeling sated and rejuvenated. The pleasure was pure and explosive between them. The chemistry was awesome and unique, especially the way Jules caressed and admired every inch of her body making her feel special and loved in every way. Even normal. This was good. This was so good. Her body was pumped. So alive. She felt on top of the world. There could be no other lover like Jules—her incredibly sexy and awesome husband. Her body was still buzzed after their magical love-making while she rested on his muscular chest, listening to the steady beat of his heart, savoring the feeling of satisfaction Jules left her with. So this was what it really felt like to be Mrs. Jules Romero.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  The next morning, Amber woke up to the sound of the baby cooing in the next room, the scent of baby wash and a man’s voice singing—or trying to sing—Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. She felt deeply rested and re-energized. Jules was obviously with the baby. Oh, no. Crystal needs feeding. There were still some things daddies were not equipped for.

  She whipped the sheets off her and sprung out of bed. Amber grabbed her silky pink dressing gown from the chair by the bed and threw it over her. She glanced at the time. Crystal was sleeping through the night these days but it was time for her to eat. Amber quickly went into the washroom to brush her teeth and freshen up as she prepared to go to the nursery in the next room to feed the baby. Actually, since Crystal was officially three-months-old, she had graduated from baby to “infant” now. Amber could not believe her little baby was officially an infant. Imagine that! It was as if yesterday she was born. My, the time did fly as days turned into weeks then weeks to months.

  A smile curved Amber’s lips at the lovely memory of Jules last night and their lustful night together.

  A part of Amber felt a burning guilt over not telling Jules who Crystal’s biological father was. She wondered if she should let him know. But she didn’t want to spoil the momentum. Did it really matter? Jules was Crystal’s father. Born to Amber and Jules in wedlock. What else could possibly matter? It wasn’t as if Crystal’s biological father would ever be in the picture. It just wasn’t possible at this point. Or was it?

  Why was it that when everything seemed to be looking hopeful, there was that stomach-sinking sensation over something about to happen to change all that?

  Think positive, Amber. You’re in a better place in your life. Let the positive energies of the universe flow through you and in your life. Stop creating so much unnecessary drama in your head.

  Amber had to learn to switch off any negativity that sometimes crept into her mind at the most unexpected moments. Dr. Danye was right! As soon as she switched her thinking, her mood and sense of well-being would follow suit. Life was just too short to be creating head drama about something that might never happen. “Live in the moment” were words Dr. Danye often prescribed to her during her therapy sessions with him. And that she would do.

  Amber finished in the bathroom and tied the belt around her robe to go into the nursery. And when she walked in through the open French doors of the room Jules and his brother Dion had so artfully decorated for Crystal, her heart melted and a wide grin curled her lips.

  Jules was sitting in the rocking chair, holding Crystal, an empty milk bottle on the side table beside them. Amber had expressed her breast milk and left it in the fridge so Crystal could be fed by the nanny in case of emergency or if Amber was on her medical appointments or unable to for some reason. The milk would only be left for twenty-four hours at time and Amber would end up using it beforehand to feed Crystal. But it looked as if doting daddy Jules had already beat her to it.

  She folded her arms across her chest and leaned against the doorframe watching him rock and sing to their daughter. What a golden moment. Amber hurried to her room, grabbed her smartphone and returned to the nursery to take a few snapshots of this tender moment of bonding between Crystal and her daddy, something for her baby’s photo album and scrapbook. Memories to treasure.

  “Nice going, Daddy,” Amber said, admiring the memorable vision before her.

  Jules looked up, his dark, handsome gaze locking with hers as Crystal rested comfortably on his chest while he gently rubbed her back. He smiled lovingly. “Hey, what are daddies for?”

  “You’re a wonderful daddy, you know that?” she said. “I thought you would still be jet-lagged.”

  “Nothing could make me too tired to do my daddy duties. Our daughter will get nothing but the best from her parents. She’s even got your beautiful eyes,” Jules said, admiring his daughter.

  Amber’s heart squeezed in her chest. That feeling again. She wished she could say that the baby had something for Jules. But she didn’t. Crystal looked like everything Amber was. Amber wondered what Crystal would look like if she were a true Romero. Would she have inherited Jules’s mesmerizing eyes, his strong cheekbones and his height when she grew older? Amber would never know. What if, God forbid, Crystal ended up looking more like her biological father? The thought caused Amber’s breath to pause.

  “You should have seen our daughter this morning when she woke up,” Jules continued, unaware of Amber’s inner turmoil. “She had a riot looking in that mirror there,” Jules continued, stroking Crystal’s soft hair.

  “Oh, not that funny mirror,” Amber teased. Crystal’s dear uncle Dion had gifted her one of those lovely child-safe activity mirrors and Jules insisted that it stay pinned at the side of the crib for Crystal to entertain herself looking at her face, exploring those adorable chubby cheeks of hers. She was at the stage where she was fascinated with visuals.

  Amber looked around the bursting-at-the-seams nursery. The Romero family was nothing short of kind and generous in their time with Crystal while Jules was away on business. Their affection was endless.

  “Grandpa Toni was a hoot yesterday,” Amber said as she sat down beside Jules and Crystal.

  “Yeah?”

  “Oh, yeah,” Crystal sighed. “He could not stop singing to her.” Amber grinned and shook her head. “Well, I know where your talent came from.”

  “Are you trying to be funny, Mrs. Romero?”

  Amber smiled. “I’m just saying, you Romeros have a very unique…um, let’s just say…style of singing, that’s all.” She leaned over to him and planted a sweet kiss on his cheek. “And I love you for it, Jules. Crystal couldn’t stop giggling yesterday. You know your family has been nothing but wonderful accepting me and Crystal,” she added, her voice trailing off slightly.

  “Hey,” Jules reproached, “you and Crystal are my family, their family. There’s nothing more to accept. When are you going to stop regarding me as her stepdad? I’m her father. Period.”

  “I know. I just can’t help but feeling that…well, they know. They all know that when we met up again, I was already pregnant.”

  “So?”

  “So…” Amber felt her throat close off with overwhelming emotion. Was it her hormones? Oh, heaven help her if she was going through post-partum depression. She prayed not. But she really must stop being so sensitive and self-conscious.

  “Listen, Amber. You need to know that we, they don’t think that way. No one in my family thinks that way. Wait a minute! Has someone said anything to you?” Jules’s voice sounded defensive and sharp.

&n
bsp; “N-no! No, of c-course not.”

  “Good. Then please drop it, okay, baby?” he said gently. His voice so soothing, smooth and filled with warmth. “I know you’ve been through a lot feeling self-conscious and everything, but trust me, there’s no need around here. You and Crystal are a part of me now. I would lay down my life for you in a heartbeat. You’re my family. That’s all anyone has to know.”

  But Crystal wasn’t his blood and for the first time since their marriage, she felt a piercing pain of regret over it. She really wished Jules was the father. She really prayed that no one or nothing could bring up anything in the future to tarnish what they were building. The painful memory of what happened to her was all too fresh in her mind when the kids at her school found out that she wasn’t really her stepfather’s daughter. Amber was made to feel like trash in her past. And now, looking at her angelic, chubby-cheeked, innocent-eyed, beautiful daughter caused a gut-wrenching feeling to creep into her soul. She would die if anything like that happened to her precious princess. But Jules was right. The Romeros were not judgmental. Lord knew they’ve had their own reputations grinded through the gossip mill by the media in the past.

  And Amber and Crystal were part of the Romero family. They were Romeros. She would deal with anything that came her way—if it ever did. Until then…

  “I’m taking Crystal to the café today.”

  “You are?”

  “Yeah, my aunt told me everyone has been asking to see her. I thought it would be nice to stop by for a few minutes and see the old gang. I really kind of miss them even though I’m on maternity leave.”

  “I wish I could go with you but I have an important meeting later this morning,” Jules said. “You know, you don’t have to go back to work.”

  “Jules, are you saying you want me to be a stay-at-home mom? What if I enjoy running the café with my aunt?”

  He looked into her eyes and her body responded. He didn’t have to say anything, it was just the way his sexy, dark eyes filled with passion captivated her. A grin of amusement curled his sweet lips. It was the look of I-don’t-believe-that-for-a-second.

  “All right, I confess. Maybe, I don’t want to go back to work right now. And I could think of a hundred different reasons why I don’t enjoy working with my aunt, but I do want to take a break and show off little Crystal in her new decked out stroller Toni and Shelly got for her.”

  Jules laughed. “Yeah, just be careful with my daughter. I’ll have our driver take you guys there and wait for you.”

  “But what if I don’t want to have a driver with me?”

  “I think it’s a good idea, Amber.”

  Was Jules going to be overprotective of her and the baby forever? Part of Amber appreciated his thoughtfulness but she really craved her independence. She didn’t mind driving herself to wherever she and the baby had to go. Plenty of new moms do it all the time.

  “Yes, sir, Daddy!” Amber finally responded, giving in. He’d have his way. Just this once.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  “So, big guy, where’s Amber and Crystal? Thought you’d bring them in to the office today,” Dion said to his brother, Jules, as he propped up he knee, leaning back in the chair opposite Jules’s desk at the headquarters of the Mayberry Hill Family Research Center.

  It had been a few months since Jules Romero’s company had officially taken over ownership of the not-for-profit organization and added it to his portfolio of family-friendly affordable health centers in the province. As his grandfather would preach to him and his brothers, it wasn’t always about ways to make money. It was encouraged to think of ways to give back and help others in need. Jules could certainly relate to a time in his youth when he was in need before he became one of the wealthiest men in the universe.

  He was getting ready to meet with his newly hired executive director who would oversee the organization in his place while he oversaw operations of the R.M. Fitness facilities. Did Jules really have his hand in too many projects? Amber had spoken to him about it before and he’d playfully tell her there’d be plenty of time to rest when he was dead.

  Jules sighed, multitasking as he flipped through some paperwork on his desk to sign left by his assistant Brenda. “Amber’s at the café with Crystal. She wanted to see her colleagues and her aunt.”

  “Ah, I see.” Dion did not sound impressed. “You sure you trust her around Aunt Mavis?”

  “Hans, our driver, is with her. You know he’s a good detective and bodyguard. I told him not to leave them alone.”

  “Good thinking.”

  “So what did our men come up with? You said you had some concerns over her aunt and some other people in her life.” Jules dropped the files on his desk and looked pointedly at his brother, pressing his hands together as he leaned back in his leather executive chair. He was anxious to tie up some loose ends surrounding his wife and now his baby. He wanted to be sure Amber was not in harm’s way given the new developments in the accident case surrounding the deaths of her parents.

  “Well, Miss Mavis is one unique character, I’ll tell you that,” Dion said.

  “Why do you say that? What have they uncovered?” Jules knew in his heart that Mavis was a bit off, the way she would glare at Amber when her back was turned and just her aloof manner. At first he chalked it up to her personality but then he wondered about her. She had pressed, almost bullied, Amber not to dig too far into the investigation surrounding the demise of Amber’s parents, her own sister being Amber’s mother. They were apparently not very close growing up and then when Amber became an orphan, Mavis wasn’t too thrilled having to take over guardianship. Poor Amber had to feel as if she was a burden, losing her family like that.

  Jules was fiercely protective of Amber. She meant the world to him. Just thinking about how fragile she’d become since the accident, yet strong at the same time, willing to put her neck out to save a friend, or hold her own ground. Always trying to be independent and stay intact. She was the real deal. Humble and sweet. He’d teach a lesson to anyone who tried to step into her life and mess it up any more than it already had been since the tragedy that befell her in the past.

  “Well,” Dion continued. “You know your wife is seeing that therapist, right?”

  “So?” Jules was defensive but then mellowed. This was his brother, Dion, he was talking with. “What about it?”

  “Well, we have reason to believe that Mavis spoke to the therapist on several occasions regarding Amber’s memory.”

  “Her memory?”

  “Yeah, her memory of that night.”

  “What are they getting at?”

  Dion heaved a sigh as if wondering how to tell his brother whatever he had to say. “Man, something’s just not adding up.”

  “Amber told me about her selective amnesia. There’s nothing that can bring her memory back of that night, so why does it matter?”

  “Oh, but there might be.”

  “You mean there could be a trigger that could make her remember?”

  Dion shrugged, flipping through a magazine that he just swiped off the counter beside him. “Anything is possible.”

  “You think Mavis might have had something to with the accident?” Jules was dubious.

  “I know the cops won’t rule anything out. It wasn’t as if Mavis and her sister were close and loving. There must be some rivalry or something macabre going on. They’re still working on things. I just thought I’d keep you posted. You know we need to keep these things under wraps. Not too much phone discussion.”

  “Yeah, I know.” Jules knew all too well. The brothers always kept a close eye on the safety of those around them and rarely spoke on the phone as to certain sensitive information. And he knew something was bugging him but couldn’t quite pinpoint it. The day Amber told him she thought she was being followed while going to the therapist’s office raised his defenses even more and he started to have security shadow her from a safe and discreet distance.

  The Romeros might be popula
r but they also had haters amongst their so-called rivals. They left nothing to chance. Just having money and power made them anonymous enemies not to mention the crazies that stalked people like him in his position and those close to him. The investigative agency the Romeros used was highly discreet and very few people knew about the boys inside at the detective firm outside of the family circle. They liked to keep it that way.

  Not that the vigilance they took was without merit. In the past, the Romeros were victims of corporate espionage and a kidnap attempt. Besides, Romero was a Spanish name for protector. And Jules had no trouble living up to his surname, especially where his wife and child were concerned. Then another thought bit into Jules. Did this somehow have anything to do with Crystal’s biological father? He somehow hoped it didn’t. It couldn’t. Amber said the father was out of the picture. He decided he was going to respect her privacy until she was good and ready to tell him the truth. The last thing he wanted, as tempted as he was, would be to question her timing and go behind her back to dig up information on this dude. Amber said she would tell him soon enough. He would leave it at that for now.

  Jules rubbed his stubble thinking about the explosive revelation his brother Carl discovered about his own wife, Venus. Oh, God, did all women have secrets and skeletons in their past?

  There was a knock on his office door. “Come in,” Jules called, obviously distracted.

  “Good morning, boss!” Brenda, his cheerful executive assistant, came in with some posters in her hand. She was a petite Asian woman with lovely shoulder-length, dark hair and a beautiful smile. She rarely frowned, no matter how hectic things got around the office. Jules was grateful to have her on his team. He had it in mind to promote her. She was excellent at handling many projects on her own and was well-educated and fluent in several languages. Oh, the wonders of overseeing human resources. No wonder Amber told him to slow down and relax and take a break once in a while. He was always working overtime—especially in his mind, thinking of his next strategies, promoting, organizing, delegating. It never stopped. But oh, last night was deeply relaxing. Jules thought of the intense, heated passion he’d experienced with Amber, and that mellowed him a lot. He was ready for everything. He couldn’t wait to be alone with Amber again, especially after last night when she opened up to him emotionally.