Hidden (Stolen, Book Two) (An Alpha Billionaire Romance) (2 page)

Pushing out into the beautiful day only made it worse. Why the hell was the sun shining so brightly when inside her chest, a huge black hole had opened up and was swallowing her whole?

The tiny bit of hope that she had was now lying crushed on the ground in the vitamin aisle of a fucking drugstore.

All because of the selfish asshole who called himself her father.

H
arper bolted
down the sidewalk going in the opposite direction from Ethan’s apartment. Everything blurred in her vision and she didn’t stop until she was in front of Kylie’s building.

Her one true friend. Her only remaining friend.

God she had to be home. Harper pushed into the lobby and waved to Walter the doorman. The graying older man smiled back.

“Is she home?” Harper asked.

“Just came in about an hour ago. Go on up.” The man walked with her to the elevator and waited until it opened before giving her another smile and moving back to the lobby. “Have a good day Ms. Matheson.”

The doorman’s kind words made her almost cry again. It was so rare that anyone who knew her last name would smile or be anything other than cold and indifferent.

The doors closed and the elevator lurched, taking her up twenty floors to where Kylie lived.

God, she’d been so stupid standing there thinking that she and Ethan would what, have some kind of happily ever after.

Her father had made it impossible for there to be anything between her and Ethan. No matter how much she wanted it. By the time she got to Kylie’s door and her friend pulled it open, tears blurred Harper’s vision once more.

Kylie took one look and pulled Harper into her arms without asking any questions.

“Everything is so fucked up, Kye.” Harper’s shoulders shook as she tried to catch her breath. Not once since all the shit started with her father and the accusations and lawsuits had Harper cried. She’d been harassed, sworn at, called names and dragged into his business, and she had not broken. Why now?

“What’s going on?” Kylie’s father was the CEO of one of the biggest investment firms on the East Coast and thankfully had not been one of the people that Harper’s father had stolen from.

When the accusations had started and Harper’s friends dropped like flies, Kylie stuck around. She’d been there for Harper throughout everything so far, and Kylie was the only person who she could turn to.

They sat together on the white leather sofa that faced a wall of windows overlooking the Common. Maybe she could just stay right there, staring out at the trees and grass until all the shit stopped. She’d be old and grey before people forgot what her father did.

“I might be pregnant,” Harper whispered, needing to say it out loud to remind herself that it was real.

“What? I thought you and Stan broke up? Why didn’t you tell me you were back together, I would have put away that voodoo doll I made, which may or may not have a pin stuck in its dick.” Kylie narrowed her eyes. “Wait, if I had a black magic hex that caused erectile dysfunction on his cock, how did you maybe get pregnant?”

Harper laughed. She could always count on Kylie to cheer her up. She knew that Kylie was there for her and didn’t judge Harper for what her father had done.

Harper shook her head. “It’s not Stan. It was...remember when I went to Tahiti alone? Well, I wasn’t exactly alone the whole time.”

Kylie’s eyes got big then a grin broke out over her face. “Oh my god. You hooked up with someone? You, who gave me enormous shit because of Club Z guy?”

When she and Kylie gone out about six months ago, Kye had met some guy at the club and had actually had bathroom sex with him. Afterwards, she came out, had another drink and danced for the rest of the night. She didn’t even get his name and Harper had given her shit about it for months.

But Club Z guy and Ethan weren’t really the same. Harper had spent the day with Ethan first. At least she knew his name, even though she woke up alone the next morning. Harper shifted on the couch and couldn’t quite meet Kylie’s stare. Her friend would never judge her for a mistake, but Harper still felt like an idiot for what she’d done.

That first night they were together in Tahiti.

Not the next time they had sex in his apartment. That time had been with full disclosure on who each other was. She had wanted him and she was pretty damned sure he wanted her too.

“So this happened weeks ago and you are just now getting around to telling your best friend? You brought me back a lame magnet when you could have told me a raunchy bedtime story?” Kylie pouted.

“Yeah. You got a magnet, but…” Harper sucked in a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “I may have come back with more than a keychain souvenir from that night.”

Her smile faded and Kye put her arm around Harper. “Shit. So this guy might be your baby daddy…” Kylie waved toward Harpers stomach.

“Please don’t say that. I’m sure I’m not actually pregnant. Just maybe pregnant.”

“Did you get a name? Was he a tourist too? Are you going to tell him? Do you even know how to get in touch with him? I can have one of my dad’s security guys do some looking...”

“It’s Ethan Wentworth,” Harper blurted out. “And yes, the same Wentworth family that my father basically stole money from? Yeah, he’s the son.”

Kylie’s mouth fell open and her delicate eyebrows scrunched down. “Seriously? Ethan Wentworth is like the hot new thing.”

“I never thought about that. I didn’t know who he was when we met.”

Harper nodded, feeling the tears welling in her eyes. Kylie was the first person that knew what had happened outside of her and Ethan and the weight of telling her friend pushed down on her like a ton of bricks. It made it feel real and real was absolutely terrifying.

“You went halfway around the world and screwed some stranger and might be pregnant
and
he just so happens to be the son of the guy spearheading the case against your father? Babe, are you sure he didn’t know who you were? This all seems...I don’t know, too coincidental?”

Which was probably why Ethan was jumping to the same conclusion. It really would seem like more to her too if she hadn’t of seen the look on Ethan’s face at the courthouse.

The harsh accusations he threw at her inside.

No, neither one of them knew who the other was. It was one giant gag joke from the universe apparently.

“He didn’t know who I was and I didn’t know who he was. We’ve actually seen each other since I got back.” She hung her head and hot tears splashed onto her clenched hands. “We sort of hooked up again last night. I hadn’t been feeling well so he talked me into seeing the doctor on staff at his place and being pregnant came out as a possibility. In Tahiti we weren’t careful. At all. One time, right? What are the chances?”

Her voice broke on a hiccup and she bit back a sob. Pressure built inside her chest. “We were actually buying tests right before I came here. Everything was...good? Then his father called and my father is suing them for defamation because of the things they've said about him in the media. All true by the way. After everything he did, he’s trying to make it loos like he’s not the bad guy. Ethan freaked out. Asked if I knew about it and I just ran. I came here. You know the worst part? For a few minutes it really felt like it would be okay. That we could deal with whatever happened.”

“So you don’t know for sure?” Kylie asked quietly.

Harper shook her head. “No.”

“Well, then, that’s the first order of business. You need to know for sure and then you can either get drunk or gorge on chocolate. And whichever it is, I’ll be right there with you.”

Harper leaned over and laid her head on Kye’s shoulder. “Thank you.”

“What are friends for?” Kylie wrapped her arms around Harpers shoulder and gave her a squeeze. “Now come with me. I’ve got a test in the cabinet and we will do this together. Do you need something to drink so you can pee? I’d make mimosa’s but that might not be the best thing. What if you got a false alcohol induced positive something? Can that even happen?”

They stood and Harper followed Kylie into the bathroom.

“Not sure that’s how it all works,” Harper said, sitting on the edge of the bathtub while Kylie dug around in a large cabinet. Her triumphant “AHA “echoed in the room and Harper’s heart skipped a beat. This was it. Moment of truth.

Sweat beaded on her forehead and her fingers felt tingly then numb.

What if it’s positive? What if it’s negative? What if...She swallowed against the huge lump in her throat. This was the first time that she’d ever peed on a stick like that.

Her stomach rolled and she took a breath. “So why do you have that anyway?”

Kylie looked at her sideways and pulled the package from the box. “Well, every once in awhile I get the urge to pee on something and since it’s socially frowned upon to lift my leg in public, I get one of these things out and pee on it since that the whole point of them and sometimes I even howl a time or two and the urge goes away.”

Laughter burst from Harper’s chest. When Kylie lifted her leg next to the cabinet, Harper almost fell off the edge of the tub because her body shook so hard. Her friend was crazy.

“You are the weirdest person I know, Kye,” Harper said when she could finally talk, “but thank you for that. I needed to laugh.” The tension had faded enough so that Harper could take a breath now and with its release, she was ready to know for sure.

Kylie must have seen it in her eyes because she handed the test to Harper and stood up. “I’ll be right here as soon as you’re done.”

When the door closed, Harper sat for a few minutes just staring at the wrapped test. She should have been doing this with Ethan, but he father made sure to screw that up too. God, what if it was positive. Could she really do it alone?

Do what?
A voice in her head whispered.
You don’t even know for sure yet.

With a heavy sigh, she read the directions and did everything she had to exactly as it said. When she was done, she set the white test on the counter and washed her hands. Kylie came in with a kitchen timer and set it to two minutes. The ticking echoed in the small room as Kylie sat and took her hand. Neither of them said a word. When the timer dinged, Harper jumped.

“Ready?” Kylie asked, squeezing her hand.

She wanted to shout that she wasn’t ready; to look at the test; to have a child.

“Want me to do it?” her best friend asked softly.

“No, I need to look first.” Harper stood and crossed to the vanity, then picked up the test. Her heart thundered against her ribs. What was she looking at? Two lines meant positive right? She looked down and for a second, everything stopped. Pressure built in her chest until it felt like she was going to burst apart.

She turned to Kylie and promptly burst into tears.

“Oh sweetie, it’s positive?” Kylie asked, standing and wrapping her arms around Harper. “I’m so sorry.”

Harper sucked in air and tried to get herself under control. This was ludicrous. The sinking feeling in her stomach should not even be there.

“It’s negative,” Harper finally whispered, trying desperately to push down the crushing disappointment that should, in all reality, be relief. “I’m not pregnant.”

Kylie pulled back just enough to brush Harper’s hair from her face. The understanding Harper saw only made it worse.

“You wanted it to be positive?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” Harper said between sobs. “It’s stupid right? Ethan hates me because of what my father is doing and we don’t even know each other at all…”

“But you like him?”

“I really do, Kye. He’s...being with him makes me feel different. With all the shit that’s been thrown down the past few months, I didn’t think I could feel anything except like I was drowning in anger, but with him, none of it seems insurmountable. I can breathe easier with him. Like, if he and I could be together then maybe everything my father did won’t ruin me too.”

“Babe, you’re not your father and you’re not ruined. The people who know and love you already know that. If Ethan can’t see it, maybe you’re better off without him around.”

Harper snort laughed and moved away to grab a tissue. “Doesn’t really matter now anyway. He has no reason to even try, and even though things might have been different under better circumstances, the truth is we’re on opposite sides.”

“But are you? Harper I know you hate what you’re father is doing. Step away. Distance yourself so that everyone doesn’t make you guilty by association. They don’t know you can’t stand him right now; all they see is a man with his wife and daughter standing by his side. If you weren’t there, then they’d speculate that maybe you don’t agree with what he did.”

Kylie was right and Harper knew that, had known it for awhile, but for some reason she was trying to get her mother to see what she was doing to herself by sticking by him. So far all it had done was show Harper that her mother had her head in the sand. How much longer could she try to protect her if she didn’t want to be protected?

Harper had a degree and when it came time to find a job, who was going to hire the daughter of an embezzling asshole, especially one that had stood by during the shit storm of a trial? Because that’s what her mother expected of Harper, to be there every day and support her family.

She had no idea if she could even do that. How was she supposed to listen to people testify that her father had ruined their lives and not show how much it affected her too. Her father had a lifetime of perfecting his poker face, but Harper hadn’t and she didn’t want to.

“I know. I just wish my mother would admit that he’s wrong. She is standing by his side like he’s in the right and I hate it.” She didn’t understand it either. Her mother was smart and had to know that what the media was blaring across the front page was the truth. Especially with so many people behind the accusations.

“You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink,” Kylie said.

“Did you seriously just use that lame quote on me?” Harper asked.

“What? It fit the moment, am I right? Your mom is the horse, the water is everything...”

“I got it, Kye. And yes, as lame as it was, it fit perfectly. Except in this case, it’s my father that’s the ass.”

They stared at each other for a few seconds then burst into laughter. Again, Kylie had made Harper feel better. Maybe she could hide out at Kylie’s place until the entire trial was over. No one would even remember Harper Matheson by then.

“I think we need a massage and mani/pedi date,” Kylie said. “A few hours of pampering and mimosas?”