Читать книгу Her Boss's One-Night Baby - Дженни Лукас, Jennie Lucas - Страница 9

SOFT PINK CLOUDS glowed between modern skyscrapers as the sun rose over Tokyo. It was early April, and white-and-pink cherry blossoms covered the trees like wedding confetti, as joyful and sweet as a first kiss.

But Hana Everly barely noticed. She stared out the window of the Rolls-Royce, her heart pounding, her skin in a cold sweat.

“And find a new housekeeper for my penthouse in New York, to replace Mrs. Stone...”

Her boss’s low growl came beside her in the back seat as he tersely listed other tasks he needed her to handle immediately—if not sooner. Hana’s pen moved listlessly, but his words barely registered. She took a shuddering breath.

She couldn’t be pregnant.

Couldn’t be.

They’d been careful. And her boss had been clear about the rules. Even as his hot, sensual lips had kissed her, his voice had murmured against her skin, “One night, nothing more. There will be no romance, no marriage. No consequences. Tomorrow you will be my assistant again, I your employer. Do you agree?”

Such a deal with the devil, and yet she’d whispered, “Yes.”

Hana would have agreed to anything then, when he’d had her spread across his bed, experiencing such intoxicating sensuality for the first time. But even that hadn’t been enough. He’d pulled back to look at her, his black eyes cold, even cruel.

“You will leave my bed before dawn, Hana, and neither of us will ever speak of this again. Even to each other.”

Lost in a haze of pleasure, she’d nodded, and with a heavy-lidded smile, Antonio had lowered his head to plunder her lips with a sizzling kiss.

She’d thought she knew what she was doing. At the age of twenty-six, she’d told herself she could handle sex without commitment. Because Antonio Delacruz could never be her boyfriend. He was her boss, the ruthless billionaire CEO and largest shareholder of the world’s fastest-growing airline. There was a reason that CrossWorld Airways was crushing its competitors. Antonio stopped at nothing to get what he wanted.

But he hadn’t been the one to cross this line.

She’d been the one who’d kissed him first. She still couldn’t believe she’d done it. But when he’d found her crying, late one night in his palacio in Madrid, he’d taken her into his arms to comfort her.

And at that, two years of repressed, pent-up desire had exploded inside Hana. Shocking even herself, she’d lifted on her tiptoes and kissed him through her tears. It had been the barest whisper of a kiss. Terrified at her own boldness, she’d started to pull away.

Then he’d stopped her, pulling her back swiftly into his arms...

For the last two months, Hana had tried not to remember that night in Madrid. She’d tried to be modern about it. She’d tried to forget, as Antonio obviously had.

But now it seemed her body would not let her. The single night of hot, raw, shocking pleasure between Hana and her handsome, arrogant, rich-beyond-imagination boss would be one she’d live with forever. Because she was going to have his baby.

As the sedan drove north through Tokyo in the cool morning, Hana put her clammy hand to her cheek, feeling dizzy with morning sickness and fear. Her baby would grow up with no father or worse—a bad father. Because Antonio Delacruz hadn’t become rich by caring about other people. He’d won by being ruthless. He had no family and, in the two years she’d worked for him, his longest love affair had lasted six weeks. Not that she’d been paying attention.

A lump rose in her throat. This wasn’t how she’d imagined having a baby. Her plan had been to get married, settle down and then get pregnant.

This was wrong, all wrong. She didn’t even have a home. She couldn’t raise a child like her parents had raised her, always on the move, never staying long enough to build roots, yanking Hana out of each place the moment she started to make real friends.

The lump in her throat turned to a razor blade. She never should have slept with Antonio, no matter how incredible it had felt in the moment. She should have waited for a real relationship, a committed one. She should never, ever have sought comfort in Antonio’s arms, placing her whole future, and her unborn baby’s future, in his careless hands—

“Hana?” her boss demanded acidly beside her in the back seat of the Rolls-Royce. “Hello?”

“Yes,” she said. Numbly, she looked down at her notes. “You want the SWOT analysis for the expansion into Australia, the numbers from the Berlin office, hire a new housekeeper for New York and arrange the after-party in London.”

He stared at her for a long moment with his deep black eyes, and she felt a shiver of fear. But not even Antonio Delacruz, the fearsome billionaire with the mysterious past who’d built a worldwide empire from nothing, had the ability to read minds.

At least she prayed he didn’t. Otherwise, she was in big trouble.

“Good,” he said grudgingly. He looked back at his laptop screen. “And contact the lead architect on the new first-class lounge design for Heathrow...”

As the chauffeur drove them north toward the Marunouchi district, she fought her despair as she looked out at the glittering skyscrapers. She had visited Tokyo many times since she was a child. She loved this city, the place where her grandmother had been born before she’d emigrated to America. Her best friend Ren lived here, and the sakura season, or cherry-blooming season, was the most beautiful of the year.

But for once, the sight of Tokyo Tower, which looked like a bright red Eiffel Tower overlooking the city, did not make her heart rise. Even the lushly blooming trees did not cheer her. She was lost in her own panic.

There will be no romance, no marriage. No consequences. Neither of us will ever speak of this again. Even to each other. Do you agree?

Yes.

She’d never imagined their one night together could lead to a child. What should she do? Should she tell him? Could she?

Hana had only found out about the pregnancy a few hours ago, when she’d taken the test on their private jet from Madrid. But already, this child felt real. She placed her hand wondrously over the curve of her belly. A baby.

“What’s wrong, Hana?” Antonio demanded beside her. “Why are you so distracted?”

Looking up with an intake of breath at the handsome Spaniard sitting beside her, she choked out, “Antonio, there’s something I need to tell you.”

The local driver and Ramon Garcia, the bodyguard who usually traveled with him, glanced at each other in the front seat. None of Mr. Delacruz’s employees would dream of calling him by his first name. Aside from their night in bed, Hana had never taken such a liberty before. At least not out loud.

He looked at her coldly. “Yes, Miss Everly?”

His husky, slightly accented voice put her firmly in her place, reminding her—if she needed reminding—that she was his employee, nothing more.

Hana’s soul quailed. They were nearly to the Marunouchi district, where a critical business negotiation waited. She and Antonio, along with the rest of the Tokyo-based team, had been prepping for this for months. Antonio was obsessed with negotiating a codeshare with Iyokan Airways, an important regional airline that would gain them routes to Tokyo, Osaka and beyond.

Maybe she should put off telling him about the baby for now.

Maybe she should put it off forever.

She pushed the traitorous thought aside. Even if Antonio rejected her and the baby outright, didn’t he have the right to know? Didn’t her baby at least deserve the chance to have a father?

“I need to tell you something,” she whispered. She glanced uneasily toward the two men sitting in the front seat, who were pretending not to listen. “About...that night.”

Antonio looked at her, his dark eyes like ice. “Which night is that?”

Did he truly not remember? His handsome face was so arrogant and cold, she almost wondered if the night he’d taken her virginity had been a dream. But the pregnancy test had left no doubt.

Hana lifted her chin and said clearly, “Our night together in Madrid. Two months ago.”

The eyes of the men in the front seat went wide. Antonio calmly pressed the button to close the privacy screen between the front and back of the luxury sedan. Once it was closed, he turned on her fiercely.

“You promised never to talk about it.”

“I know, but—”

“There’s no but. You gave me your word.”

“I have good reason—”

“I can imagine.” His jaw clenched as he turned away. “You will put that night from your mind, Miss Everly. It never happened.”

As the Rolls-Royce Phantom turned up the sweeping curve in front of a gleaming skyscraper overlooking the wide green-and-pink vistas of the East Gardens of the Imperial Palace, her voice was a squeak. “But—”

The car stopped, and a waiting doorman reached to open his door.

“It never happened,” Antonio repeated, and without bothering to look at her, he swept out, all masculine power and hard muscular angles in his dark suit and sharply tailored black cashmere coat.

Pulling her handbag over her shoulder, Hana climbed out behind him numbly. Her heart was pounding. She held her notebook and briefcase tightly against her chest, as if they could protect her.

“Welcome, Mr. Delacruz,” Emika Ito, the Tokyo team lead, greeted them in English with a respectful bow of her head. She was pretty, black-haired and chic. She smiled at Hana, who tried to smile back. “All is ready, sir.”

Standing on the sidewalk, Hana glanced at the building. Inside the glass and steel lobby, she saw the rest of the lead team already assembled, waiting for their arrival so they could go to their new office on the top three floors.

“Yes, of course,” Antonio said. “Thank you, Miss Ito. Give me a moment.” With a nod, the girl returned to the lobby, leaving Hana and Antonio alone, with his bodyguard at a discreet distance. He looked down at her.

“So you agree?” he said tersely. It was intimate, having them so close together on the sidewalk in the cool spring morning. “It’s forgotten?”

Hana felt a breeze against her hot cheek, saw a single cherry blossom floating and twisting in a tumult on the wind, before disappearing into the traffic of Hibiya Dori.

She couldn’t tell him. She just couldn’t. She’d nod and quietly go into the building, and be the assistant he needed during this important meeting. Afterward, she would quit. She would disappear. She bowed her head.

“Good,” he said. She saw the glint in his eyes as he turned toward the door. She tried to follow. To be silent.

But her heart wouldn’t let her.

“I’m pregnant, Antonio,” she heard herself blurt out.

Pregnant?

Antonio Delacruz froze, sure he’d heard her wrong. Above them, the sky was overcast as from a distance he heard ominous thunder.

Slowly, he turned to her on the sidewalk. “What?”

“You heard me.”

His eyebrows lowered fiercely. “April Fool’s Day was yesterday.”

“It’s not a joke. I’m pregnant.”

Antonio told himself he felt nothing. He wouldn’t, couldn’t, feel the rush of emotion suddenly circling him like a predator, looking for any crack in his armor, so it could invade and destroy his heart.

She’d slept with another man.

He tapped the roof of the car harder than necessary, and the chauffeur drove away from the curb. Forcibly relaxing his shoulders, he said merely, “I thought you had more sense.”

Hana’s sweep of dark eyebrows lifted over her warm brown eyes in surprise. “What?”

He wondered who the baby’s father might be. She’d been a virgin when—he cut that thought off immediately. But she must have found a new lover right after.

The same week?

The same night?

For Hana, it would be easy. Any man would desire her. Unwillingly, Antonio’s gaze traced over her slender form. Hana Everly was the most beautiful woman he’d ever met, though he’d spent almost two years trying to pretend she wasn’t, trying to think of her as only his secretary and nothing more.

Her beauty was elusive and indefinable. All the attributes of her melting-pot American heritage combined into exquisite grace. He’d asked her once about her ancestry, and she’d shrugged. “I’m American. My family came from everywhere. England, Ireland, Brazil, Japan. Other places. And you, Mr. Delacruz?”

“Spain,” he’d said shortly. It was probably true, but he’d never know for sure.

Now, Hana looked at him, her brown eyes huge in her oval face, her lips pink and full, her dark hair pulled back into a long ponytail. Always the consummate professional, she wore an elegant, feminine white skirt suit that was simple and sleek as required for the executive assistant to a billionaire, without drawing undue attention.

And yet Hana always drew attention, whether she wished it or not. Even here on the Tokyo sidewalk, as men passed by, their eyes lingered on her. She looked untouchable as a star.

But Antonio had touched her. He was the only man who ever had.

At least so he’d believed—

“Is that all you have to say to me?” Hana said in a low, harsh voice, her lovely face caught between anger and pain. “You thought I had more sense?”

“I’m disappointed,” he said tightly.

“Disappointed,” she repeated.

He’d relied on her. Believed in her. Now she was pregnant by another man. She was going to quit her job to be with him and raise their child. That had to be the reason he felt this crushing sense of emotion, like he couldn’t breathe. Hana was the best damn secretary he’d ever had, and he was going to lose her.

How had she hidden her love affair from him? He and Hana had been working together day and night in Madrid and around the world, preparing to negotiate this deal. How had he not known she’d taken a lover?

Antonio had known Hana’s value as his assistant. So in spite of his attraction to her, he’d never crossed the line of professionalism, not once. Not until that night in Madrid, when he’d found her crying for reasons she wouldn’t explain. He’d been trying to comfort her—that was all, truly—when, like a miracle, she’d suddenly lifted up on her tiptoes and kissed him full on the lips.

That kiss...

Antonio pushed away the memory, closing down his feelings, burying them along with the other things he didn’t want to remember.

All right, fine. She was leaving. He wouldn’t be a jerk about it. Hana had been a good assistant. He’d try to be happy for her. After all, she’d made it all too clear she wanted the whole domestic fairy tale someday—husband, kids, house. Damn it, he’d send her off with a wedding check big enough to pay for the kid’s college tuition. She’d been worth it.

He’d pay her off. He’d move on. And above all, he’d make damn sure he never let himself ask...

“Who’s the father?” he heard himself say, as if his mouth was no longer controlled by his brain.

She drew back, her lovely face incredulous. “Are you kidding? You know who the father is!”

“Do I?” He frowned, searching his memory. “I’m amazed, actually. How did you manage to sneak away for an affair, in the midst of our working twenty-hour days? Does the man work for me? A gardener? A driver?”

Hana’s face blazed with sudden fire. “Stop it, Antonio. Just stop.”

He stared, astonished to see her so angry. Hana never showed anger. She was always patient, kind, understanding. She was the kindest person he knew. “Why are you upset?”

“Because it’s you, you idiot! You’re the father!”

Antonio’s body felt the impact of the words before his mind comprehended them. He felt them like a blow. “What?”

“Of course it’s you!”

Stumbling a step, he instinctively reached a hand out against the column of the building. He had to. His legs were shaking.

“Do you really think I would sleep with someone else, after we were together?” she demanded. “I can’t jump in and out of affairs so quickly. Even if you can!”

If only. If only he’d been able to forget her. If only she meant nothing to him now. As the first raindrops fell from the gray sky, one fell against his cheek. Antonio stared at her, feeling sick and betrayed.

“I’ve been feeling out of sorts for the last month. I thought my cycle was messed up by too much work and stress and not enough sleep but...” She hesitated. “I bought a pregnancy test in Madrid. I took it on the plane, right before we landed. I’m pregnant.”

When Antonio still didn’t respond, Hana’s forehead furrowed. Her expression became almost bewildered.

“Look,” she said finally, “I know you’ve never been interested in anything like marriage or children. This was a surprise for me, too. We used a condom. It shouldn’t have been possible. But I thought you at least had the right to—”

“Enough,” he ground out. “Not another word.”

“Was I wrong to tell you?” Her eyes were luminous with unshed tears that seemed utterly genuine. He despised them. And her. Most of all, he despised himself for ever letting his guard down. For thinking she was different. For believing he could trust her, as he’d trusted no one else on earth. For resisting his desire for her, day after day, so they could maintain that precious working relationship, the closest relationship of his life.

And all along, she’d been sleeping with another man. And now lying about it.

Assuming she was even pregnant at all. It was possible that, too, was a bald-faced lie.

But either way, she must have planned this all along, from the moment she’d started working for him. She’d set him up, hoping to take a nice juicy portion of his fortune. And Hana likely would have succeeded in her goal, except for a vital fact that she didn’t know.

He couldn’t have gotten her pregnant. It was physically impossible.

Antonio’s body shook as he reached out to take the briefcase and files from her hands. He said abruptly, “Your services are no longer required, Miss Everly.”

Her luscious pink lips fell open. “You’re—you’re firing me?”

“You’ll get severance pay as your contract dictates. But I want you gone.”

“But—but why?”

“You know why.”

“Because I’m pregnant with your baby?” she cried.

“Because you lied to me,” he said harshly. “You tried to trap me. Tried, and failed.” He narrowed his eyes. “Goodbye, Miss Everly.”

Turning on his heel, Antonio went into the building, followed by his glowering bodyguard. He went through the swiveling door into the lobby where his team waited to help negotiate the Iyokan Airways deal. He left her standing alone on the sidewalk, shivering in the cold Tokyo morning. And he didn’t look back.