Billionaire Baby Dilemma (13 page)

She gripped the nearest bedpost, did a quick calculation on her fingers and realized the risk was minimal.

With a sigh of intense relief, she slumped down on the bed, wrapping her arms around her body and hugging tight. What on earth was happening to her here?

 

Lucas awoke in his bed the next morning thinking about Devin. His business dinner had run late. He'd briefly considered knocking on her bedroom door after he'd come home, and climbing into her bed to hold her in his arms. But he wasn't
sure if he'd be welcome. He wasn't at all sure what to make of yesterday.

Talk about a complete one-eighty.

When he'd caught her snooping around Konrad's room, he'd got the impression their physical relationship was going to be a one-time thing. He wasn't happy about that. Who would be happy about discovering such an amazingly passionate woman, only to have her snatched away?

But he was prepared to accept her decision. With everything going on around them, it wasn't fair to push her. He hoped they'd at least agreed to a postponement of the court battle, although Devin hadn't exactly said that out loud yet. But the court battle would one day come. And they'd be on opposite sides, and it would be bloody complicated if they were also lovers.

Lovers.

Lucas tossed back his quilt.

Was that what they were now? Did Devin intend for them to make love again? She must. It wasn't like they'd accidentally fallen into each other's arms yesterday. She'd obviously make a deliberate decision to seek him out.

In his bed.

He grinned at the memory, folding his hands behind his head and staring at the ornate ceiling above him. So, was the next move his? Maybe she'd expected him to show up in her room last night.

How would she feel about sleeping together with Amelia right next door? Silly question. Amelia was only nine months old. And the mansion staff was nothing if not professional and discrete.

He glanced at his clock and decided he had a couple of hours to spare. He'd shower, find Devin and see if he could get a sense of where this thing between them was going.

He vaulted out of bed, a spring in his step as he moved through the motions of his shower and shave, wondering as he did if he'd find her at the pool, or maybe they'd taken a walk to the gardens. Or maybe, if he was lucky, Amelia was with Teresa and Devin would be free for the next little while.

It was Wednesday, so Lucas selected his usual white dress shirt, buttoned the front and the cuffs and twisted his tie into place with practiced ease. Shrugging into his jacket, he passed the computer and hit a key to bring up his calendar. Maybe he could get away with spending the entire morning here at the mansion. He grinned to himself for the hundredth time. Maybe he was premature in putting on his suit.

His email program came up, and he reached for the mouse to shrink it out of the way. But then his gaze caught Konrad's name in the list of recently-viewed emails.

What on earth? Who would—

But then the date registered, and he recognized the text. He dropped down into the chair, noting three of Konrad's other emails had been recently opened.

Reality hit him like a ton of bricks.

He twisted his head to stare at the messy bed.

She hadn't been here to proposition him yesterday. She'd hadn't heard him come home early and been overcome with passion and desire. The woman had been caught red-handed, and she'd slept with him to cover it up!

And she had the gall to question
his
ethics?

Lucas continued to stare at the emails, bitter disappointment fueling his anger. He told himself that at least he knew where he stood. Unfortunately, it didn't make him feel any better.

He pushed back the chair and rose to his feet. Then he straightened his cuffs and collar and paced deliberately for the door.

Her room was empty as he passed it, and so was the nursery. There wasn't a soul in the foyer or the great room. He caught a glimpse of Teresa down the hall, but she took one look at his face and veered off into the library. She was alone, and that fact told Lucas that Amelia was with Devin.

It wasn't until he made it to the kitchen that he heard voices. They were coming from the breakfast alcove that overlooked the pool. Lexi's laughter. Good. Devin couldn't be far away.

But then Byron's voice responded. “It wouldn't have been so
bad.” His tone was laced with a deep chuckle. “But the bull's name was Clementine.”

Lucas came around the corner.

“You're making that up,” Lexi accused from where she sat on one of the curved bench seats at the round table, but there was a distinct thread of laughter to her voice.

“I swear it's the truth,” said Byron, as Lucas's entrance caught his attention. “Look, there's Lucas. Lucas can tell you—” Then Byron did a double take of Lucas's expression. “What's wrong?”

“Where's Devin?” Lucas reflexively glanced around the room, moving so he could see to the far end of the kitchen and peering past the window planters into the yard.

“Did something happen?” asked Byron, coming to his feet.

“She's out with Amelia,” said Lexi, worriedly watching Lucas.

“Lucas?” Byron prompted.

“I need to talk to her,” said Lucas. He was doing his best to keep his temper in check, but the more he thought about Devin's behavior, the angrier he became.

What kind of a woman broke in to a man's email account? What kind of a woman slept with a guy to cover her tracks? She was one amazing actress. He could have sworn—

“Mr. Demarco?”
Teresa suddenly rushed breathlessly into the room, her feet slipping on the linoleum as she rounded the corner. She braced her hand against the counter. “Something's very wrong out there.”

“With Devin?” Lucas automatically asked, fear pushing out his anger.

“Out where?” asked Byron.

“Out front,” Teresa answered. “At the gate. There's a big crowd of people.”

“Where's Devin?” Lucas was already heading for the hallway.

“I didn't see her.” Teresa shook her head. “Not out front.”

“What kind of a crowd?” asked Byron, he and Lexi on Lucas's heels as they all rushed down the hallway.

“They have cameras and microphones.”

Reporters? What would bring reporters to the estate?

Lucas pulled out his phone, pressing the speed dial number for Theodore Vick, talking to Teresa while the line rang. “When's the last time you saw Devin?” he demanded as he crossed the foyer and yanked open the door.

“They went to the park, maybe an hour ago.”

“What park?” Did the reporters have anything to do with Devin? Was she up to something more sinister than snooping through his private correspondence?

The young woman's eyes went wide, and her voice quavered. “Beside the marina. She took Amelia in the stroller.”

“Some of those are the big guns,” said Byron. “SNN, The Evening.” He lengthened his stride alongside Lucas.

“What the hell?” Lucas shaded his eyes. He'd had plenty run-ins with the press in the past, and he had no desire to make tonight's evening news. At the same time, he needed to know what brought them here.

“I can go down there alone,” Byron offered.

“No thanks,” said Lucas, giving up on Theodore and making up his mind to take the bull by the horns.

If this was something Devin had cooked up…

If she'd somehow decided engaging the press would help her cause…

“It's Lucas Demarco,” one of the reporters cried out as he approached, and nearly two dozen people crowded the driveway gate. Their lights came on, and they began clicking pictures through the bars, their TV cameras whirring.

Lucas scanned the crowd, recognizing a couple of legitimate news organizations amongst the tabloid reporters and the paparazzi.

A woman shoved a microphone between the bars. “What do you say to the accusations of fraud, leveled at you by—”

“She's got the
baby,
” someone else cried out, and attention
immediately shifted from Lucas to the sidewalk across the street.

One look at Devin's stunned expression on the far sidewalk told Lucas she'd had nothing to do with calling the press. Which left only one other suspect. Steve.

Everyone rushed toward her and Amelia, who was sitting in a navy blue stroller.

Lucas swore out loud, plugged in the combination for the driveway gate and rushed outside with everyone else, Byron at his side.

“Ms. Hartley,” demanded the woman with the microphone, while shutters clicked and cameras whirred, everyone jockeying for an angle. “How do you respond to the accusation that your sister—” the woman glanced at a notepad “—your sister Monica was complicit in an attempt to defraud the Foster family out of fifty million dollars?”

While Devin blinked like a deer caught in the headlights, Lucas and Byron elbowed their way through the crowd. Lucas grabbed hold of a man who was leaning in to take a picture of Amelia, snagging him by the collar and all but throwing him out of the way. Byron broke the man's fall and shoved him to one side.

Lucas swiftly snatched Amelia from the stroller and tucked her against his chest, obscuring her face with the lapel of his suit jacket. Then he grasped Devin's hand.

“Leave the stroller,” he ordered, pasting her to his side and shouldering his way back through the crowd.

The reporters rushed alongside them, peppering them with questions and snapping pictures.

“Will there be a lawsuit?” shouted one.

“Do you expect any arrests?” came another.

“Has there been a DNA test?”

Lucas was beyond furious with his cousin.

He shoved Devin firmly inside the gate, where Lexi and several staff members had congregated. Then he rushed through the opening himself, and Byron followed with the stroller, filling the space behind Lucas and turning to block the way of any
reporter who might be foolish enough to venture onto private property.

“What on earth?” Devin said breathlessly, craning her neck, even as Lucas kept her moving steadily forward toward the sanctity of the mansion.

“It was Steve,” Lucas growled. He was still plenty angry with Devin, but that conversation would have to be put on hold for now.

Amelia pulled back and looked up at him. He braced himself for one of her crying jags, but wasn't willing to let go of her just yet.

“But,
why?
” asked Devin.

For some reason, Amelia didn't cry. She simply blinked curiously at Lucas as he carried her toward the front stairs.

He looked to Byron to get his assessment of Steve's behavior. “What does he gain?”

Byron shook his head, looking as confused as Lucas felt. “Publicly discrediting you is all I can see him getting out of this.”

“It's not a jury decision or even a hearing,” Lucas pointed out. “It's a technical question.”

Whether Amelia was entitled to inherit would be decided by a family law judge in some little office in the bowels of the state judicial building. It wasn't like public opinion would factor into it.

“He could be targeting Pacific Robotic's board of directors,” offered Byron. “Ramp up some kind of a scandal against you?”

“Does he think he can get me fired as president?”

“I don't understand,” Devin said. “What's going on?” Then she glanced from Lucas to Amelia. “Do you want me to take her?”

“She's fine,” he answered shortly. When the crowd of reporters rushed Amelia, his protective instincts had kicked in. She was safe now. And since she hadn't started crying, she was just fine right where she was.

The group trooped through the doorway and into the foyer,
and Lucas breathed a sigh of relief. He waited until the staff went back about their business and only Devin, Byron and Lexi remained.

“So, what happens now?” asked Lexi. Like Devin, her gaze kept darting to Amelia in Lucas's arms, as if she expected him to drop her.

Lucas looked to Byron. “I don't see confronting him.” He'd already tried both reason and intimidation. And Steve wasn't going to suddenly develop a conscience.

“The boys'd know how to take care of it back home,” Byron offered, stretching out his interlaced hands and letting his knuckles crack.

“An assault charge isn't going to help us,” said Lucas, much as he'd love to take a swing at Steve right now.
What
was the man thinking, painting a target on both Devin and Amelia? How did he sleep at night?

“I don't see the press attention interfering with the legal decision,” said Byron. “The judge is going to follow legislation and precedent. I doubt he'll even be reading
The Tattler.
”

“So, Steve's master plan is to aggravate us?” asked Lucas.

Seattle was a small city, and Pacific Robotics was a prominent business. Lucas had been in the spotlight many times before, and he knew the paparazzi would hound all of them for many long days to come. There'd be nowhere to hide.

“It seems like that's the case,” said Byron.

“That reporter,” Devin began. “She asked if we expected arrests. What did that mean? Who would get arrested, and for what?”

Lucas avoided making eye contact with her. His instinct was to worry about her, but he had to stay angry. “The reporter was fishing. Steve dangled a story in front of them, and now they're digging for the details.”

“I don't want Amelia on the front page.” Devin seemed to instinctively shift closer to Amelia, who had relaxed and was now a soft, warm bundle against Lucas's chest.

“Neither do I.” His tone was sharper than he intended, and Devin gave a slight cringe.

“But they can't get on the estate?” Lexi questioned.

“Lucas?” It was Theodore Vick, who was hustling into the front hall. “Sorry. I was out on the water. I've got two men at the front gate now.”