The Billionaire's Baby Bargain (A is for Alpha)

by Shelli Stevens

  Andrés leaned his head against the leather seat of the Rolls-Royce and glanced out the window as they pulled away from Diablo’s Paraíso. He was exhausted. Physically and mentally.

  A week had passed since he and Chloe had returned from Paris, and in that time so much had happened.

  When they’d arrived back at the villa, confirmation was waiting that Estella Martinez had indeed been requiring the employees at the resort to flirt heavily with the guests. Further investigation had led to the discovery that at least two employees had even begun to sleep with guests for extra cash on the side.

  What a mess. He pressed the tips of his fingers to his temples and shook his head, trying to put aside the memory of having just fired Estella from her position as manager of Diablo’s Paraíso. She’d been viciously angry, defending her policies and how they’d only created success for the resort. The woman was mad to think he would ever allow such sleaze to continue.

  His thoughts turned to his wife. So sweet and sensual, who drove him beyond reason. Chloe made him want to feel things he refused to. There was an innocence about her that was rare and incredible and that time and again he looked for an excuse to try and doubt it. Because of his father and his own experience with women, he’d been so damn quick to convict her without taking the time to weigh the evidence.

  Andrés closed his eyes with a sigh. Cristos, he was a bastard. And somehow, still, she’d managed to fall in love with him. His heart clenched with a mix of amazement and fear at the reminder.

  Every night since Paris he’d taken her in bed, almost ruthless in his determination to prove that their passion would be enough to sustain a marriage.

  But he’d watched her with each passing day, and though at night she came alive in his arms, during the day she was a ghost of herself. She barely ate and had shadows under eyes that seemed to be forever swollen from crying. And he’d begun to realize it wouldn’t be enough. Not for Chloe.

  When the Rolls-Royce pulled up the drive to his villa, the first prickle of premonition hit him that there was change about.

  Andrés climbed out of the car, slowly approaching the house. The air outside was cool, the skies dark and ominous with the threat of rain. Before he could reach the door it swung inward, illuminating Chloe and the small suitcase she clutched in her hand.

  “I’m leaving,” she said unnecessarily, her eyes void of expression. “If you want to try and take our child after it is born, I’ll fight you in court with every penny I have. Maybe I won’t win, but I’m willing to take that risk. I can’t live like this.” Her voice finally cracked. “I won’t.”

  But she didn’t move, just stared at him, as if daring him to stop her. Or maybe begging silently for him to say the words he couldn’t speak.

  Andrés stared down at her. Helplessness and frustration gnawed at his gut. And regret. He’d done this to her, had made her life hell. He’d tried to keep her, knowing how much she believed in finding love. Knowing that he could never be the one to give it to her. She’d given him everything. Her trust. Her body. Her heart. And what did he give in return? Not the one thing she’d needed most.

  Swallowing hard against the emotion that grew tight in his throat, Andrés jerked his gaze away to look out at the fierce gray clouds gathering. Their darkness and misery matched the mood in his heart. The thought of letting Chloe and his child go made every muscle in his body scream in protest, set his blood pounding with denial.

  But for once in his damn life, he was going to try and do the right thing. After everything he’d done to her, she deserved to be happy. He owed her that much. He drew in an unsteady breath and looked back at her.

  “Go, Chloe,” he said tonelessly, welcoming the numbness that settled in his heart. “I’ll have the papers drawn up for a divorce.”

  She made the tiniest sound of anguish; her small teeth clamped down on her lower lip. Giving a brief nod, she stepped forward and leaned on her tiptoes to press one last kiss against his cheek.

  “I’ll always love you, Andrés,” Chloe whispered brokenly. “Goodbye.”

  Andrés didn’t turn around as she walked past him to the Rolls-Royce. He was frozen, emotionally and physically, even while his heart pounded a tumultuous ballad of grief that she was leaving.

  He listened to the car door slam shut and then the purr of the engine starting. Soon after came the crackling of tires on the paved drive.

  Chloe was gone.

  Almost climactically, thunder boomed through the Catalonia countryside, shaking the house and dragging him from his numb shell.

  He turned to watch the car disappear, just as the first fat drop of rain hit his face. Followed by another. And another. Soon the rain was falling in merciless sheets of water.

  It didn’t penetrate in his mind that they were having the first massive rainstorm in months until he was drenched. Then consequences of what would soon follow such a rain in this region began to sink in.

  The pain in watching Chloe leave blasted away as the icy grip of fear and realization clutched his chest.

  No. Dios, no!

  He shook his head, his mouth bone-dry with horror as he spun and ran into the house to grab the keys to his Land Rover—the fear of God instilled in him.

  Chapter 11

  It took everything in her power for Chloe not to beg the driver to turn around.

  Tears streamed down her face, blurring her view as much as the rain pounding the windows of the car.

  Why was she leaving him? Was she completely insane? Surely being with Andrés, even if he didn’t love her, was better than going home to Seattle and completely cutting him from her life?

  She moved her hand over her belly, feeling the small weight of their child nestled there, so innocent and unaware. And being taken farther away from its father with every passing moment.

  When she’d made the decision to leave, she’d been hopeful Andrés would force her to stay again. Or would finally break down and admit that he loved her. But he hadn’t. He’d actually let her leave. Her heart clenched and she wondered again if she was making a mistake.

  “Dios mío,” the driver muttered.

  Chloe glanced up when the Rolls-Royce slowed. “What’s wrong, Felipe?”

  “Esto no es bueno, Señora.” The driver shook his head. “The rain, it comes too fast and the road is going to flood.”

  Her pulse quickened as she scrubbed the tears from her eyes and tried to focus for the first time out the window. The streets had become a wave of brown from the rain and the deteriorating land around them.

  The need to turn around consumed her. Not just for their safety but because suddenly she knew, with every fiber of her being, that leaving Andrés had been the wrong decision.

  Maybe living with a man who didn’t know how to love would be hard, but living without him would be agony. And still, the conversation in the foyer from the other night gave her hope. He didn’t believe himself worthy of love, but he was wrong. Heaven help her, she would prove it to him.

  But first they had to turn around and drive back up the hill to the villa.

  “Can you turn around? Return us to Andrés’ villa?” she asked quickly, the first seeds of fear burrowing themselves in her chest.

  “I tried, but it does not look good,” Felipe muttered. “We must get out of the car, Señora Montero, and try to get to higher ground.”

  “Is that wise?”

  “It is our only hope now.”

  Her heart almost stopped when the gravity of their situation hit. She’d seen news reports about people and cars getting swept up in flash floods, led to their death. But the idea of getting out of the Rolls-Royce and trying to cross the street—which had become several inches of rapidly flowing water—had her almost frozen with terror.

  “Now, Señora!” Felipe screamed, pushing open his door and stepping out into the water.

  Chloe grabbed the handle of her door and thrust it open. The roar of the water greeted her as the rain ruthlessly pelted against her face. />
  “Señora!” Filipe yelled, trying to move around the car to her, but the rushing water kept pushing him back. “No. I can’t get to your side. ¡Corra! Run toward the hillside, Señora!”

  The water continued to rise. Chloe knew with each second that passed, the more dangerous it would be. Oh God, if anything happened to her baby…

  Thrusting aside the almost debilitating fear, she took a deep breath, said a quick prayer, and then pushed herself out the door.

  Andrés pressed the accelerator to the ground, plowing through the water that rushed down the dirt road. He dragged in uneven breaths, his chest tight with terror. His heart slammed against his ribcage; his pulse pounded with adrenaline.

  Flash flooding wasn’t uncommon in Spain around this time of year, and especially around the area he lived, where there were more dirt roads than paved ones.

  If he had been thinking straight he would’ve realized there was a storm coming and the risks that could follow. He would have forced Chloe to stay at least until the danger passed. But he wasn’t thinking straight. He’d been so tormented with the pain of her leaving that he’d been blind to anything beyond watching her drive away.

  What if something happened to her? To the baby? Dios, he would never forgive himself for driving away the woman he—

  Andrés tightened his fingers around the steering wheel, blinking in shock at the thoughts running through his head. No. Could it even be possible?

  But whether he’d thought himself capable of it or not, he knew now without a doubt that he was in love with Chloe. Whether he deserved her or not, he loved her.

  The sudden awareness of his feelings just hastened his need to find her. Forging through the water on the road, which was deeper now, Andrés steered the car around a corner. And that’s when he saw the car.

  The Rolls-Royce had turned sideways in the street, blocking any traffic that might come along. He spotted Filipe on one side of the road, climbing up the hillside. But where was Chloe?

  His gaze raked over the road until he just barely spotted her head peeking out of the car.

  “Chloe!” he screamed, even though she couldn’t hear him. He steered the car up and onto the side of the hill, just enough to keep it grounded, and then put the brake on.

  He reached for the handle on his door just as Chloe flung herself into the swiftly moving water.

  “No.” Andrés jumped out of the Land Rover, calling her name over the roar of the rain and water.

  Chloe finally seemed to hear him, because her head jerked up and relief swept across her face. He saw his name on her lips, her eyes wide. And then she stumbled, falling into the quickly moving flood.

  Panic and terror ripped through Andrés, twisting his heart and tightening his chest. He plowed after her, screaming her name, helpless to stop the flood that carried her down the road.

  Her head disappeared under water. His life flashed before his eyes, because Chloe gave his life breath. She was his heart and soul, and dammit, he would not lose her. He moved faster through the water than could have ever seemed possible. He gave a strangled moan of relief as her head broke from the surface and she managed to grab onto a tree on the side of the road.

  It gave him just the break he needed to catch up to her. He caught her around the waist, and lifted her drenched body from the water and up into his arms.

  She clung to him, arms limp around his neck, her body shaking with sobs.

  “Señor!” Filipe screamed and tossed a rope toward them.

  Andrés caught the other end, recognizing it as the rope he’d kept in an emergency box in the back of his Land Rover. Filipe had tied it to one end of the vehicle and Andrés gratefully used it to haul himself and Chloe back to safety against the downward rush of floodwater.

  Minutes later they were back in the Land Rover, driving back to his villa. He thanked God that they were alive, also praying it wasn’t too late to convince Chloe what she meant to him.

  Chloe tightened the blanket around her body and stared into the crackling fire. Even after a hot bath, her body still shook from the cold water and at how close to death she’d been.

  Her hand traveled to her stomach and another wave of fear hit her. Was the baby okay? When she’d fallen in the water, it had been complete turmoil. Like being on a horrific waterslide where she couldn’t break the surface to catch her breath, while being pounded by rocks and land.

  “How are you feeling?”

  Chloe gasped and turned around, having not heard Andrés enter the room. Her heart lurched into her throat, pounding at the sight of him. He moved slowly across the room, so devastatingly handsome with his hands thrust into the pockets of his jeans and his somber gaze moving over her.

  Tears pricked at the back of her eyes and she blinked rapidly to dispel them. It was ridiculous how much she loved this man. How could she ever have thought she could leave him? All she wanted right now was to run into his arms and beg to be held.

  “I’m all right,” she finally answered.

  “I’ve spoken with the doctor. She says most likely the baby is fine but to rest until she can do an ultrasound once the roads are clear.”

  His words helped to ease the fear a bit and she swallowed hard as he came to sit beside her chair. She glanced up at him through her lashes, emotion thick in her throat. “You saved my life. I don’t even know how I can possibly thank you.”

  “You could stay with me.”

  Her eyes flooded with tears, but she dipped her head so he wouldn’t see them. She loved him too much to be away from him, and her child needed a father. She knew he could be wonderfully attentive and giving, and she had no doubt he would adore his child.

  “Of course,” she whispered.

  Andrés moved to his knees in front of her and caught her chin, lifting her head until their gazes collided. “Don’t stay because you feel obligated to, Chloe.”

  The expression in his eyes was gentle, regretful, and had an emotion that lit a tiny spark of hope in her heart. Something she cursed herself for wanting to believe was there.

  He smoothed his thumb over her mouth and murmured, “Stay because I love you, cariño.”

  Her heart tripped and she blinked in disbelief. A sob ripped from her throat and the tears rolled down her cheeks. They were the words she never thought she’d hear from him, was still almost afraid she’d imagined.

  “You were right. I’m in love with you, and I suspect I have been for some time. Dios, but I was a fool and could not even admit it to myself. I am so sorry,” he muttered hoarsely and pulled her off the chair and into his arms. “I’m sorry for always being so quick to make assumptions about you—I treated you appallingly.”

  “Enough, Andrés,” she choked out, pressing her hand against his cheek. He loved her. “Please, we can leave that behind us now.”

  Turning his head, he pressed a kiss into her palm with a groan. “And I hate that it took me almost losing you to realize how much you mean to me. Chloe, you are my world. You’ve brought light into my heart, which used to hold only darkness.”

  “I love you,” she said softly, her heart swollen with the emotion. She wound her arms around his neck. “You’re my husband and my soul mate. And I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you.”

  “I don’t deserve you. Te amo, Chloe,” he said thickly, cupping her face in a gentle grip. He covered her mouth with his own in a thorough and passionate kiss. “I love you.”

  “Te amo,” she returned the endearment on a whisper, knowing without a doubt she meant it with every inch of her being.

  One year later

  Chloe stared at the pregnancy test and shook her head at the sense of déjà vu. Another positive. Her stomach did somersaults as she drew in an unsteady breath.

  Tossing the pregnancy test into the garbage bin, she left the bedroom and walked quickly down the stairs of the villa. A moment later she strode outside, where Spain’s last days of summer beat down over the green valley surrounding Andrés’ villa. Shiel
ding her eyes, she glanced around to locate her husband. Finally she spotted him in the gardens.

  Her pulse tripped and her heart softened. He pointed to a flower and murmured something as he cradled their four-month-old baby, Rebecca, in his arms.

  Andrés glanced up just then and saw her. He turned to walk toward her, his smile widening. “There’s your madre,” he crooned to Rebecca, pressing a kiss against their daughter’s forehead.

  When he reached her side, Andrés leaned down to capture her mouth in a thorough kiss that left her knees weak. He lifted his head a moment later and murmured, “You look beautiful, cariño. Did you manage to sleep a bit longer this morning?”

  “Yes, I did sleep in. Thank you for taking care of Rebecca.” She reached down to trace a finger over her baby’s smooth cheek and laughed as she cooed and smiled back up at her.

  “I read Rebecca your story in Modern Coquette,” Andrés said with a slow smile. “I think our baby enjoyed hearing the story of how her grandparents fell in love.” He touched her cheek gently. “And how we fell in love. It was a beautiful article, cariño.”

  “Thank you.” Her throat tightened with emotion. A quick phone call from Andrés had reinstated her job at the magazine, and for the past year, Chloe had been enjoying the ability to work as a part-time international columnist, writing from Spain.

  “How are you feeling? You look exhausted,” Andrés murmured, his brows creasing with concern.

  “I’m all right. Though I am exhausted, and I think I’ve discovered why.”

  “Sí?” Andrés stilled, his expression turning anxious. “What is it?”

  “Nothing,” she said quickly and then took a nervous breath, “As long as you don’t mind the expansion of our family.”

  He stared at her for a moment and then gave a wide grin. “Sí? You are pregnant again?”

  “Yes.”

  “Do I mind? No, Chloe, I am thrilled.” He kissed her again and then lifted Rebecca into the air, exclaiming, “You are going to be a big sister.”