The Billionaire Wins the Game (14 page)

Please
, she screamed inside her own head,
please don’t take away my child
.
“Lucas, I’m sorry, but she isn’t yours. That night we had together
was great but I moved on. I don’t know what else to tell you…” she
said with as much conviction in her voice as she could
manage.

“Fine, if you say the child isn’t mine,
we’ll have a DNA test done tomorrow. The procedure will be somewhat
painful for you, but will cause no harm to our child,” he said,
calling her bluff.

Amy turned stark white at his words. He
could tell she had no idea such a test existed. She probably
figured he’d have been glad not to be the father, and run as far as
he could. She obviously didn’t know him at all.

She started to speak, and then just
gave up.

Game.

Set.

Match.

He smiled without humor. He knew
getting married wasn’t what either of them wanted, but there was no
possible way he’d ever let another man raise his child, or that
he’d be a weekend parent. She was carrying his baby; therefore, the
only solution was for them to wed. He’d never understood how a man
could walk away from his family.

Chapter Seven

Lucas decided he’d had enough for one
night. “We’ll finish this business tomorrow. Enjoy your last week
as a single lady, because on Friday we will marry,” was all he said
before walking out her front door.

Amy collapsed on the sofa and allowed
herself a good cry. How could she have ever fooled herself into
thinking he would believe her child wasn’t his. Why hadn’t she
gotten rid of that test? If only she’d emptied her garbage, she
could’ve kept her secret for a few more precious months, maybe even
longer if she found the right clothing.

She’d only confirmed the pregnancy
recently. She started feeling sick and ran into her guest bathroom,
which was closest. She rarely used it, unless she got sick. She
threw up as all the stress from the day caught up to her, then laid
against the cool tile for a moment.

When she got up to wash her
face, she looked down and moaned. S
tupid,
stupid, stupid,
she berated herself as she
spotted the test in question.

She couldn’t believe she’d left the
smoking gun where he could see it. Feeling defeated, Amy dragged
herself back to her room and cried herself to sleep. She just
wanted the day to be over with.

The next morning, Amy awoke feeling
miserable. She ran to the bathroom and emptied her entire stomach,
and then some. She showered and threw up again. She was just
starting into her second trimester; the morning sickness should be
subsiding.

She knew she was losing weight, as her
clothes were hanging on her, which should’ve been the opposite. She
hadn’t worried too much about it, as everything she’d read so far
had shown morning sickness was a normal part of the first
trimester.

She weakly sat on the floor of the tub
as steaming water washed over her. She threw up more and when there
was nothing left, she continued to dry heave. Amy turned off the
water as the last of the liquid, from her stomach, washed down the
drain.

She sat in the tub
shivering, but was too tired to climb out. She was frightened by
the weakness in her body. “
Please God; let
nothing happen to my baby. I’ll bear nine months straight of
sickness if you will just spare my child
,”
she quietly muttered.

Since she couldn’t find the energy to
climb out of the tub, she grabbed the nearby towels and threw them
over her in an effort to keep warm.

She couldn’t even get up to call into
her job. She’d get fired for sure, as Lucas would assume she was a
no call/no show, in an attempt to avoid him.

She fell asleep from the pure
exhaustion that had stolen throughout her entire body. She thanked
the blackness, as she wouldn’t have to feel the overwhelming cold
and achiness consuming her.

Lucas decided to wait until Amy left
before he’d leave for work, just in case she decided to try to run.
He’d put his guard on alert to notify him during the night, at any
time, if she was to leave the building. The employees of his
company were loyal to him as they were treated well. No questions
were asked; they just told him he’d be notified.

He hadn’t slept well and was feeling
cranky. When it was starting time and she still hadn’t left the
building, he was furious. So, she figured now that she was
pregnant, she could skip work. Over his dead body! She wasn’t
avoiding him to try and come up with more lies.

He marched down to her apartment and
let himself in. She wasn’t in the living room or kitchen. He was
even more furious. She hadn’t even bothered to get out of bed.
Well, she’d gotten the husband, so he figured she didn’t want to
work any longer. Why work when you could get all you wanted for
free?

He walked to her bedroom and swung the
door open, ready to pull the covers off her and have a rip roaring
fight. He needed to vent his anger and she was the expected target.
He was angry about everything and he desperately needed something
to take out his frustrations on.

When he opened her door and the bed was
empty, he began to feel his first stirrings of unease. Had she left
without him knowing? That wasn’t possible. He had a secure
building. She wasn’t a prisoner, but his staff would’ve told him if
she’d left. He double checked his phone to make sure he hadn’t
somehow missed a call.

He turned to go into the living room
when he noticed her bathroom door was shut. He walked over and
listened for a moment. There was no sound from inside. Without
thinking of her privacy he opened the door and walked
in.

Lucas was terrified when he saw her
small body lying there, barely covered in the tub. Had she taken
her life? No! He ran to her and fell to the floor, then breathed a
sigh of relief as he saw her chest move up and down. She was
shivering, even in her sleep, and had dark purple smudges under her
eyes.

He took a good look at her and noticed
how small she looked. She’d dropped significant weight. Weren’t
pregnant women supposed to gain weight? How hadn’t he noticed the
changes in her body?

That was an easy question to answer. He
hadn’t noticed because he’d done all he could to avoid looking at
her too closely. He’d avoided her as much as possible so he didn’t
take her right there on her desk. He’d hoped to have gotten over
her by this time, as he’d never been so hooked on any
woman.

He knew no one could fake this kind of
illness. He immediately felt guilty at what he’d put her through
last night. Thinking back, he could see where she’d looked
exhausted and he hadn’t cared. He’d only cared she was trying to
fool him.

Lucas wrapped his arms under her body
and stood up, lifting her from the tub. She immediately snuggled
closer into his grasp, seeking warmth, even in her sleep. The
towels fell from her body and his gut clenched in shock.

She’d lost even more weight than he’d
first thought. She wasn’t having a good pregnancy. He should’ve
been paying attention. He laid her on the bed and covered her,
while her body curled into a tight ball. She let out a soft moan of
pain, not once waking. He noticed the slight bump on her stomach
for the first time.

Wow
, he thought,
that bump is my
child
. It really slammed home that he was
going to be a father in six months. Now that his anger had fled,
the idea of a son was amazing. In six months he’d be holding his
baby. He’d be bouncing him on his knees and then throwing balls
with him in a few years.

He was shocked to find he already loved
his unborn child. He loved the precious baby growing inside her. He
wouldn’t let anything happen to him, or his mother.

Lucas called the family doctor, then
climbed into the bed and pulled her close. He simply wanted to warm
her up. He needed to protect both of them. He’d never felt such
terror as seeing her lying in that empty tub.

She curled around him and let out a
sigh. After a few minutes, her shaking subsided. He held on and
rubbed her back, willing her and his child to be fine.

When Lucas heard the doorbell ring, he
let the doctor in, scared there was something seriously
wrong.

“Amy, there you go, open up your eyes.
That’s good. My name is Dr. Scott and I’m going to check you over,
okay? Do you know what happened this morning?” was what Amy woke up
too. She had no idea how she’d gotten into her bed, but the warmth
felt so good.

“I was throwing up a lot and then
climbed into the shower and couldn’t get back out,” she mumbled in
a cracked voice. She finally looked around and noticed Lucas
standing behind the doctor.

“I don’t know how I got here, or really
what happened. I was just so cold and tired,” she
finished.

“Save your energy, Amy. We’re going to
make sure you and your child are okay,” said the doctor, comforting
her. She closed her eyes again, since they felt like they had ten
pound weights on each one.

She felt him touching her and then felt
a slight pinch, but the worst part of the whole exam was being
uncovered periodically. She faded in and out of sleep. Finally, she
heard the doctor quietly talking to someone. It felt more like a
dream. Maybe it was.

“She’ll be fine. She needs to be on bed
rest until I get these tests back, but it looks like severe morning
sickness, leading to dehydration. There’s no bleeding, but she’s
undernourished. The baby seems to be fine. Your child takes from
Amy what he or she needs, but Amy hasn’t been able to eat enough to
nourish herself. I’ll want her to come to the offices in a day or
two for an ultrasound, but it seems she’s about three months along.
Get a lot of fluids into her today, such as soups and juices. The
more calories, the better.”

“That’s great, Scott. I appreciate you
rushing over here so quickly. I’ll see you on Friday.” Then she
heard some steps and the door shutting. She faded back out to the
blissfulness of sleep.

Lucas paced the apartment after he
called in and cancelled all appointments for the day. He wanted to
shake her awake and force feed her, but the doctor told him rest
was just as important as food. Scott had given her sleeping aids
and anti-nausea pills and told Lucas to keep an eye on her, to make
sure she ate and drank whenever she woke.

She partially woke several times and he
practically force fed her. She mumbled complaints, but took his
administering.

By the time darkness hit, Lucas was
exhausted. He went into the room and climbed in bed next to her. He
pulled her close and fell into a deep and exhausted sleep. He felt
that he could sleep an entire week with her in his arms.

Lucas felt Amy moving around and opened
his eyes. They were facing each other and she was staring at him
with shock, embarrassment and panic. “Morning,” he mumbled. “Did
you sleep well?”

Her eyes opened even further at his
casual words. He knew she was confused, he could see it. She was
most likely wondering how they’d gotten into bed together and if
they’d done anything.

“Don’t look so panicked. All we did was
sleep. You were freezing all day and night until I laid down to
share my body heat,” he said lazily. He felt pretty great waking up
next to her. He hadn’t slept that well in too long. He hadn’t woken
up once during the night.

“Excuse me,” she said as she tried to
untangle herself from him. “I um, need to use the bathroom,
please,” she turned bright red. He let her go and she quickly
stepped into the bathroom.

Lucas was grateful he’d dressed her. He
wouldn’t have been able to handle watching her walk naked from the
bed. Not after her body had been molded to his the entire
night.

He continued to lie there, not able to
get out of the bed. He was wearing nothing except a pair of boxers
that would show her the restraint he’d used in letting her go. When
he heard the shower start he decided he’d better get
dressed.

Amy was in the bathroom long enough to
make Lucas worry. He was about to go in after her when the door
finally opened. She was wearing the robe he’d seen hanging off the
back of the door. She took his breath away.

Even pale, underweight and makeup free
she was spectacular. He was beginning to think waking up with her
daily wasn’t such a bad thing. He thought they could actually make
the marriage work, and before long he’d be able to hold his baby,
their baby, in his arms.

“Thank you for calling the doctor. I,
uh, don’t know what happened yesterday. I think, maybe I haven’t
been eating enough or something. The baby seems to zap a lot of my
energy,” she said with a small smile while rubbing her
belly.

She was nervous and didn’t know how to
deal with it, or what to say. She’d never woken up with a guy
before. She didn’t think they’d had sex, but wasn’t a hundred
percent on it. She was already falling in love with Lucas and
needed to back up and figure things out.

One minute the guy was being an
arrogant jerk and then the next he was fretting over her and making
sure she was well. She couldn’t figure him out. It was confusing
and she was more scared than she’d ever been before. That was
saying a lot, considering the way she’d grown up.