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

by Shadonna Richards

  “Of course, the guy was loaded so he could have any private mechanic fix it. And as far as his injuries…”

  “The man obviously went out of town have his leg operated on. But got a botched job. That’s why he ended up with a permanent limp.”

  “According to that report, he told the officials he was involved in a fishing accident. Yeah, right. Been limping ever since.”

  “But didn’t Amber tell you her doc had the injury from childhood?”

  “He had an injury from childhood but not that one. Amber started seeing him around the same time he started using a walking cane.”

  “So I don’t get it. Why did he start treating her?”

  “He wasn’t a real doctor! He was a fake! And he wanted to make sure her memory never came back,” Jules said in a deadly low voice, anger seething through him. Just the mere thought of that hypocritical creep getting near Amber made his blood boil in his veins.

  “That’s creepy all right. Man, I hope we’re wrong. Anyway, if Mavis was in the car with him, she’d be charged as an accessory to manslaughter.”

  “And so be it,” Jules added. “And you know we’re not wrong. Our boys were spot-on with the investigation.” Jules tried Amber’s cell phone again, obsessing over why she wasn’t answering, praying she was safe.

  Dion flipped through some of the printed notes given to him from their source. “You’re right, he’s not even a real psychologist. He’s a FAKE, that son-of-a-bitch! He flunked out of school somewhere in Europe.”

  “Maybe that’s why the coward didn’t want to fess up to the hit and run. He knew his career and his life would be done AND his marriage. But that’s too damn bad. Amber’s parents and brother are dead. And it’s all his fault.” The memory of losing his own mother came back and haunted him at that moment. But he could not even begin to imagine how horrible it would be to lose his entire family.

  And Amber’s body. Her beautiful skin fractured, scarred for life all because of that idiot. He would pay. If it was the last thing he’d do, Jules would make sure. Danye was going to pay.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  “Oh, God, you scared me,” Amber said, her heart jackhammering in her chest. She was afraid. Very afraid. But she wasn’t going to let him know. “W-what are you doing here anyway, Dr. Danye?”

  “I….I think we need to talk, Amber.”

  Amber backed away slowly against the kitchen sink, her eyes scanning for anything to use in her defense. She didn’t’ have a good feeling at all. “D-did you send me the text message to meet you here, pretending to be my aunt?”

  “I’m sorry. Yes, I did.” The old man limped two steps towards Amber with his cane, then he paused. “Amber, I know you would probably have it figured out sooner or later.”

  “Figured out what?”

  “That it was me who was driving that car that night.”

  Amber’s eyes widened, her heart exploded in her chest. She couldn’t breathe. She struggled to suck in air. “Y-you?” she mouthed. Her heart was beating frantically in her chest.

  He nodded slowly.

  Amber was cornered. Her cell phone buzzed over by the table on the floor where her bag was dropped after the door slamming startled her. It was no use. Dr. Danye was too close.

  “It’s okay, Amber. I’m not going to hurt you. I promise.”

  “Like you didn’t mean to hurt my family?”

  “I deserve that.”

  “But why? I don’t get it. Why?” Amber’s voice was strangled. The pain was too great. Dr. Danye did this to her. He was the one to scar her for life! To take away her family. And he sped off without so much as stopping? It was all too much for her to take in.

  Oh, Jules. Where was Jules? Why hadn’t she answered his call? Dr. Danye was probably going to kill her to silence her for good. It was obvious now why he’d been treating her—to make sure she never remembered what happened that night. To act on things if her memory ever returned. He hadn’t been treating her, he’d been monitoring her for his own interests.

  “It’s not what it looks like, Amber.”

  “Are you even a real psychologist?”

  “Well. No. I’m not.” He looked eerily apologetic. “But that doesn’t matter now. Let’s worry about you.” His expression was unreadable.

  Amber shook her head, her mind still reeling in disbelief. “You left the scene of an accident,” she said, her voice cracking with emotion. “How could you do that? I could have died as well.”

  “I’m truly sorry, Amber. And to your parents and your brother. But they are dead. I had my life to think about. I was a coward for the way I left, but I was glad you had survived. I know it seems as if I started seeing you to make sure you couldn’t identify me but that’s not the case. I really wanted to see if I could help you move forward. I knew you needed a good listener at that time, so-”

  “Just as long as I couldn’t identify you and put you behind bars,” she finished his declaration. Her voice sounded more harsh and was laced with sarcasm. Suddenly her grief was replaced with blind anger.

  “Amber,” he said moving closer to her, backing her against the sink. “I-”

  Before he could finish his sentence, the door was kicked open and Jules and Dion stormed in. “Stay the hell away from her!” Jules made his way in a lightning fast motion and grabbed Dr. Danye, slamming him against the wall. “Stay away from my wife.”

  “Jules!” Amber cried out.

  The police arrived seconds later. Everything had happened so fast.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  Amber sat at the police station, her head resting on Jules’s chest as he stroked her hair. They had both given the detectives their report and Dr. Danye had confessed to the crime. But somehow Amber felt as if things were far from over. She’d been betrayed by someone she trusted, not once but twice.

  Her aunt was charged as an accessory after the fact. Amber couldn’t get her heart or her head around this information. Her body felt cold as a melting icecap in the Arctic. Her breathing was shallow. She was numb with shock, yet burning with anger.

  On another note, the police also informed Amber that the mystery man she reported to have been following her was, in fact, an investigator who was on to Dr. Danye and his phony practice. At least there was confirmation that she wasn’t going crazy after all thinking she was being followed.

  Amber was feeling utterly drained and her energies spent. She just couldn’t wait to get back home to see her little gem, Crystal.

  “Okay, Mr. Romero, you and your wife are free to go.” One of the detectives had come into the interrogation room to give them the green light.

  “Good,” Jules said, kissing Amber’s forehead. “We’re more than ready to go.” Jules sounded as drained as Amber felt. It had been a long week and she could sense it was going to be longer.

  * * *

  “How are you feeling?” Jules asked Amber in a controlled voice later that night. She sat up in bed. Jules was sitting up in the chair at her bedside.

  “Tired,” she said softly. She was feeling more weary than anything else. She knew what was on Jules’s mind. “I really don’t want to talk anymore about…the past…the accident. I don’t want to relive that…”

  “I understand, Amber. I don’t want you to.” His voice was soft but his eyes were filled with pain and disappointment. She could see it. She could feel it.

  “I want to know who Crystal’s father is, Amber. I need you to tell me everything. I don’t want any more surprises. I need you to tell me.”

  “Jules, I…I…I don’t know who he is.”

  Jules’s eyes widened in shock. “You don’t know? How could you not know?”

  Amber whipped off the sheets and got up, heaving a sigh. “I didn’t want to tell you, or anyone for that matter. I swore to myself and to my then unborn child that she was going to have a normal life.”

  “You’re not making any sense, Amber.” Jules leaned forward with his elbows pressed on his knees. Even in this momen
t of frustration, he looked so handsome and appealing, his ripped muscles on his bare arms and chest, wearing nothing but silk pajama bottoms.

  “Jules,” Amber said, tears filling her eyes. “This is very hard for me to tell you. But…when I was little, after the accident, kids would tease me and tell me that no man would want me or touch me. I felt like a reject, a loser, a monster because of my scars. Can you imagine growing up hearing that?”

  Jules frowned, feeling her turmoil and her pain.

  “I loved you so much but I was terrified that you’d be grossed out by my disfigurement.”

  “I would never do that, you know that now,” he assured softly.

  “I know,” she said. “Anyway, I met Rex after you and I broke off. I thought Rex and I would get married. Well, he turned out to be a real jerk and when he was no longer in the picture, I still had the burning desire to be a parent so…I went to the Mayberry Hill Fertility Clinic.”

  Jules looked up, stunned. “What did you say?”

  “I…I had IVF treatment to get pregnant. I didn’t want to go through that painful rejection again by a lover and I wanted to be a parent so badly.” Amber hugged herself looking out the window at the dark sky and moonlight.

  Jules got up. “You what? You had in vitro? That’s your secret? That’s it?”

  Amber nodded slowly. “Can you imagine the shame and disgrace if people found out? They would laugh at me and tell me that they were right about no man wanting me and having to go to a clinic to get pregnant. I know this is all probably in my mind but I’ve been dealt with such cruelty that I didn’t want to give any juice to the gossip mill. It wasn’t anybody’s business and I didn’t want people making fun of my daughter because she wasn’t conceived naturally. That she was a product of artificial insemination.”

  “Oh, honey! But so many couples go that route. It’s nothing to be ashamed of, Amber.”

  “Not if you’re voted the winner of most-likely-to-never-be-touched-by-a-man,” she replied.

  “Ouch. I see your point, Amber. It’s nobody’s business, and you can’t let haters dictate the way you live your life.”

  “I know. I’ve grown a lot tougher since then. But I never had an easy childhood, Jules.”

  “You don’t have to tell me that.” He moved towards her and gently pulled her into his arms. “Our daughter will have a good childhood. Because she’s got us.”

  “You know something, Jules?”

  “What?”

  “Let’s go forth with the annual barbecue. I still want to take part in it. For the families. I want to be an example that women can have babies naturally or not and it was all okay.”

  He smiled. “Are you sure you’re okay with this?”

  “I can’t let haters dictate the way I live my life. Someone wise recently told me that. I’m going to respond to that comment and I want you to let them know that we had an IVF baby. So what if I got pregnant through IVF? Countless women have gotten pregnant that way for many different reasons. I’ve got love and your support, and that’s all I need, Jules.”

  “Have I told you lately, how proud I am of you, Amber?” Jules lowered his head to hers and kissed her tenderly. Amber shivered with delight as his loving energy surfed through her body. Oh, that magical feeling again.

  “I don’t mind hearing it again,” she teased him.

  “Good. I love you, Amber.”

  “I love you, too, Jules.”

  Amber leaned into his chest and felt that feeling of warm love again. Maybe things would be okay from now on. Jules didn’t look down on her for what she had done. And that counted more than anything.

  * * *

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  The following week, the garden at the Mayberry Hill Family Center was filled with hundreds of guests from the community. The energy in the air was electric. A live steel band played in the background as waiters dressed in white came around and offered refreshments to everyone. All families, regardless of how they came to be, were encouraged to attend.

  This was another phase in Amber’s life. She was not only the first lady of the center but she now had complete control of the Murray Café and Jules had agreed to help her with some renovations on the café while keeping the staff paid through the temporary closure. Amber was going to have some major upgrades done, hire more staff and keep her family’s legacy and business going. She was so excited to begin this overdue undertaking. But right now, her thoughts were on the wonderful day celebrating the official first Family Annual Barbecue since her husband Jules took over the Mayberry Hill Family Center.

  “You look beautiful, Mrs. Romero,” Brenda said, beaming. Amber still loved the sound of that. Mrs. Romero.

  “Thank you, Brenda. You’ve all done a wonderful job.”

  Amber had been thanking and mingling with tons of guests since midday. She looked around for her busy husband and when she spotted him, she couldn’t wait to make her way over to see him.

  * * *

  Dion Romero was glad to see things working out for his little brother, Jules, at the Mayberry Hill Family Center’s Annual Barbecue. He was happy that Jules had acquired this new property to add to his other businesses. And Jules and Amber looked so relaxed together. He sure was glad all that drama with Amber’s aunt was out of the way. Man, that woman was a real psycho in a dress!

  “Congratulations, bro,” Dion added.

  “Thanks, Dion. I couldn’t have done it without everyone’s support. It means a lot,” Jules said.

  “Yeah, I know. And, congratulations again with Amber, too. Are you two planning on having a big wedding ceremony where Grandpa won’t be complaining every year on your anniversary how he wasn’t even invited to the original nuptials?”

  Jules grinned. “Very funny. I don’t think he’d like the idea of being in a labor and delivery room. Besides, you saw how nervous the JP was. And he’s Grandpa’s age. When the time is right, we’ll have a big reception. Besides, why don’t you give him what he wants? You know he wants us all married off before he puts one foot in the grave.”

  “A wedding? I don’t think so. You know I’m not a marrying man,” Dion felt uneasy. There went his heartbeat again. Pounding hard in his chest. Dion had done the engagement thing once before but caught his now ex with his BFF – backstabbing freaking friend. Currently, ex-friend. He knew then, betrothal wasn’t for him. It was a good thing they hadn’t walked down the aisle yet.

  How could he ever trust that a woman wasn’t going to rip out his heart from his chest again after he figuratively handed it to her on a silver platter, with a diamond engagement ring on the side? “Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy for you, Lucas, Zack and Carl but I really don’t see myself tying the knot.”

  “I know you had it rough, man. But really, when you meet the right one—”

  “Jules, I’ve been down that road before. I’m not going there again. I dodged that bullet! It’s lucky that you and the others found someone special. And I say blessed luck! But I’ll continue to keep my relationships temporary, thanks. Physical, hot, and wild, nothing more. As long as I let the pretty ladies know up front I’m not a marrying man, they can take it or leave it.”

  “Fine. You say that now…”

  “And I’ll be saying that until my dying breath.”

  Jules play punched his brother Dion. “Yeah, right. I’ll believe that when I see it, man.”

  Just then his sister-in-law, Amber, showed up beside them. Dion excused himself and headed for the refreshments table. Another man walked over to where Jules and Amber were standing.

  * * *

  “Hi, honey,” Amber said when she got close to Jules.

  “Hey, beautiful, have you met Mr. Jackson from the Regent Center?” Jules said, turning to the man beside him.

  “No, it’s nice to meet you,” Amber said. Mr. Jackson took her hand and kissed the back of it.

  “Your wife is very gracious and beautiful, Jules. Congratulations.”

  “I know she is. Thank y
ou.”

  Amber was happy to see Jules in good spirits. It was a trying month for them.

  When she pulled him aside away from the crowd, she couldn’t wait to tell him the good news.

  “We’re having a baby?” He beamed.

  She nodded joyfully. “I just got the message and couldn’t wait to tell you. It looks as if you’re okay after all, baby.”

  “Amber, you don’t know how happy I am to hear that.” He wrapped his arms around her and practically picked her up.

  “I can’t wait to share the good news.”

  “Neither can I.”

  “You said you wanted to speak with me tonight about some good news. Well, even though it’s not as good as mine.”

  “Yeah, right.”

  “Oh, come on. What could be more thrilling than us having a baby … together, honey?”

  He leaned her against the wall and looked deeply into her eyes, hunger and passion filled his dark, sexy eyes. “Do you remember the ski accident I had?”

  “Of course. That’s when the doctor said erroneously you couldn’t make babies.”

  “Yeah, well, at that time, he also told me I could have my sperm surgically removed and stored and so I took him up on the offer at the time and then forgot about it.” A wicked grin touched his lips.

  Amber’s heart fluttered hard in her chest, her throat closed up with emotion. “J-Jules…what are you t-telling me?”

  “I didn’t want to say anything until I got the confirmation but…as it turned out, the lab staff accidentally took my sample and got a local woman pregnant with it. I should be totally pissed, but turns out, there’s more to it.”

  Amber eyes widened. She was crestfallen another woman could be out there with a little Jules or Julie that was not theirs! “A-and?”

  “Well, I had them track down this mystery lady and according to DNA tests, Crystal happens to be my biological daughter! Can you believe that?” Emotion filled his dark, lovely eyes.