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  “Why didn’t anyone tell us earlier?”

  Mrs. Jefferson swallowed. “I think some of his earlier teachers were afraid to broach the issue with you. They’re young, and you’re a huge donor and…”

  “They were scared not to ‘yes man’ me?”

  “Maybe, but also it was hard for Ian to even say as much as he had to me; maybe he sees me as more grandmotherly. Lord knows I’m only a few years off from retirement. Either way, I know it’s a lot to digest. When you’re ready, I can help you get Ian into the afterschool social skills class, and there’s a list of unparalleled child psychologists in the city that Holton Prep keeps a record of. We want to help him too.”

  I tried not to let my anger get the better of me, even if it was a napalm level of fire raging through me. How dare they try and hide things about my son. Then again, I was the one who hadn’t noticed. I cared, but Ian had hidden things from me. I tucked him in at night, had dinner with him, took him to the park on the weekends…he always seemed so happy with me and his uncle around. How could I have been so dense?

  My heart had been shattered ever since I’d lost my wife. How could my son’s be any better or more healed?

  Choking back my pride, I nodded. My voice might have been pinched and low as I spoke, but it was still the best I could do, the most honest I could be. “Please call me later this week, and I’ll see what we can do to get Ian into that skills class.”

  “That’s good. I can’t even begin to imagine how hard things have been. I lost my husband Arthur a year ago to a heart attack, but all our children are long grown.” She offered me a kind smile. “We all do the best we can, and I know you’re trying for Ian’s sake. I just want to help you do better.”

  When I swallowed, it felt like I was tasting ash. “Thank you. It’s appreciated.”

  Her smile deepened, causing the crows’ feet at the corners of her eyes to deepen. “We widows and widowers have to look out for each other, Mr. Eden.”

  If only I’d had a clue all along how upset Ian was. I was failing as a father, and I didn’t quite know how to fix it.

  ***

  “This is the best!” Ian said, digging with relish into a huge frozen yogurt layered with everything from extra sprinkles to Snowcaps to gummy worms. The green and red wrigglers stared up at me—more or less—from his plate, and I marveled a little at the palette of nine-year-olds.

  “I’m glad you like it,” I said, though my own cup of French vanilla was left untouched and melting. I wanted to keep up appearances, but honestly, my stomach had rarely been more unsettled in my life.

  Ian bit the head off one of the gummy worms and frowned at me. “Are you mad at me?”

  “Why would I be mad at you, kiddo?”

  “Because you had to go to a meeting at school, and those aren’t always good.”

  Sighing, I shoved my cup away and pulled him closer to me. I was grateful that Ian wasn’t quite old enough to be at that age where he was being tough and manly, trying to maintain a front for other kids. He still took hugs from me, and right now, I knew we both needed it. He curled into my arms, and I took a deep breath, taking in the scent of the soft, no-more-tears shampoo in his hair. He wasn’t a baby anymore, but he was my son, and I wished things were simpler, that we could go back to those days.

  That Penelope was there with us.

  She always knew what to do.

  He shuddered a little in my grip, but when he looked back up at me, Ian rubbed at his eyes and tried to pretend he hadn’t been crying. Maybe he was growing up a little. Well, maybe he was growing up far more than I liked since he was trying to hide how sad he was from me. Since he’d definitely kept from mentioning he had few friends at school. Or any.

  But Ian never had to do that, never had to hide things from me. I was supposed to protect him and not the other way around.

  Putting a hand under his chin, I forced my son to keep looking me in the eyes. “I would never be mad at you, Ian, but I’m worried. Mrs. Jefferson told me about how you isolate yourself at school.”

  “The other kids are mean though, and they don’t like dinosaurs the way I do. They don’t like anything but Pokémon Go, and it’s boring and not fun. Besides, some of them…they make fun of me for not having a mom.”

  My jaw clenched, and I forced myself to stay calm, to keep my voice level. I was so mad at the little shits who were clearly making my boy’s life hell. If I ever got my hands on them…well, I wouldn’t hurt nine-year-olds, but I might stage a hostile takeover or two of their parents’ companies. That would be rewarding and ensure the little bastards wouldn’t still be at Holton.

  “They’re horrible, and I’m going to be working with Mrs. Jefferson to help you. We’ll work on finding you more friends outside of school. I bet there are clubs or scouts or something Uncle Davis and I can get you involved in that will help. Don’t give up, kiddo.”

  “I didn’t. It was just easier to be quiet by myself, and I really do like reading. It’s more fun to read about dinosaurs than it is to try and keep Brad and his…anyway, his friends aren’t nice. That’s all.”

  A name. Well, I’d definitely be figuring out who this Brad was and working to make him very sorry that he’d made my boy suffer.

  I stroked Ian’s floppy, dirty blond bangs off his face and settled him back in his chair. “You never have to try and be brave for me, you know that, right?”

  “I just didn’t want to bother you. You’re busy a lot.”

  “I will be less busy from now on.”

  He nodded and poked at a Snowcap with his spoon. His chocolate concoction was melting too now that we were focusing on our conversation. Sticky globs oozed out of his cup to shellac themselves on the laminate tabletop. “You’re sad about Mommy too. I don’t want to make you sadder.”

  “Nothing can hurt me, Ian. Nothing, but it does tear me up when you suffer. Never feel like you can’t come to me.” I held out my hand to him until he took it, and then I shook it vigorously. “We’re a team, Ian, and we always will be.”

  Ian nodded again, his head like a tiny bobblehead figurine. “Dad, I’m sorry. I just want…I wish Mommy were here.”

  I squeezed his hand tightly and sighed. “I do too, son.”

  ***

  After getting Ian into bed that night, I spent hours researching the programs and afterschool options available to him. I’d have researched a new school too, but it was middle of the year, and I didn’t want chaos to add to his trauma. I would either be finding out more about this Brad snot-nosed brat and getting him ousted from Holton Prep, or I’d find a better private school for Ian’s gifts. Probably both. But the solution wasn’t to yank him out and make him the new kid in February. The best idea was to at least see if I could find him friends outside of that hellish class. There was a wilderness scouts program that even took a regular trip each year to the Grand Canyon. My son wasn’t the type to go hiking, but the Grand Canyon was a geological wonder and ancient. It would probably tap easily into his paleontology-loving heart. The fact they did trips to a local science museum was even better.

  That was more fixable, at least something I could do.

  As I sat on my bed with a Scotch in hand, I mulled over my other problem. There was no way to ever even come close to replacing my beloved Penelope, and I’d never think that way. Ian and I had lost so much when she’d died. However, he still needed a softening influence in his life. He had me and his Uncle Davis for guy things, and we did try to do sports events and amusement parks together. Sometimes, of the two of them, I figured that Davis was the most immature. Some days, my brother felt like he was going on about five. But Ian still needed a mother-like touch more than just the few hours he spent with his nanny before I came home from work.

  I just wasn’t sure how to give him that.

  My cell phone rang, and I jerked to attention. Odd, I wasn’t expecting a call so late. Perfect, what the fuck else could be going wrong today?

  Without checking the caller ID, I
barked into the phone, “Eden here, talk to me.”

  “Ryker?” A small, hesitant voice croaked out on the other end of the line.

  “Hello? Who is this?”

  “I…it’s Savannah Riley.” She groaned on the other end of the line. “I mean, the Green Fairy from The Bacchanal. This is probably a dumb idea. I mean, you gave me your card yesterday, and it took me until eleven o’clock tonight to work up enough courage to call you back.”

  Despite everything, my mood lifted. That dance she’d given me last night was the first time in years that I’d felt alive. Flirting with her on the veranda had also been a thrill that had left my blood thrumming in my veins.

  Chuckling low, I answered her. “Well, I’m glad you did, darling.”

  “I…were you serious about the offer for a date? I swear I don’t usually do that with VIPs who come to the show. I’ve never done it, actually, but…”

  “I know, I felt whatever that spark was too.”

  “Do you feel that often?”

  I sighed and leaned back against my headboard. “My reputation precedes me, and I know that. It’s been a long time without my wife. I don’t deny I’ve tried so many things to try and recover.”

  “Am I just that? A thing to try?” Her tone was resigned, not defensive, which made me curious. She’d called clearly assuming I was going to toy with her, screw her, and then throw her out the next day. But she didn’t seem like that type of girl the more I spoke with her, so what was it she was looking for?

  “No, Ms. Riley, I assure you that you’re not. I meant it. You feel special, and I just wanted to have dinner with you to fully explore it. If the date fizzles out, at least you’ve had some killer sushi for your troubles.”

  “Sushi?”

  “Do you eat it? Nobu does a brilliant everything.”

  “Oh, I love it, but it costs an arm and a leg, and rent in this city is killer and…wait! Did you say Nobu? I can’t ask for that. It’s too costly.”

  I laughed again. “I asked you. It would be rude of me to take you to McDonald’s, wouldn’t it?”

  “I didn’t exactly suggest that either. It’s just that I don’t know. Would there be strings attached for a killer sushi meal?”

  “No, like I said, all I want is to explore whatever this is between us. I’ve been in a dark, bleak place without my Penelope. Last night, for the first time in years I actually cared, felt that spark. It would be my honor to just have a dinner with you. What do you say, Savannah,” I said, stretching out every syllable with calculated slowness. “Do you want me?”

  She coughed on the other end. “That’s the most loaded question I’ve ever heard!”

  “But it’s an honest question. So, I repeat: do you want me?”

  “I’d like a nice meal with a man who’s charming. We’ll see where everything else goes from there.”

  “Ooh,” I cooed, playing with her. “You think I’m charming.”

  “I may be changing my opinion on that.”

  “But we’re agreed for Nobu tomorrow at eight p.m.?”

  “Yes,” She breathed out a heavy sigh on the other end. “I think I’m about to deliver you my heart on a silver platter.”

  “Don’t worry, darling. I’m hardly the big bad wolf you think I am.”

  Chapter Five

  Ryker

  “What are you doing here?” The irritation was plain in my voice, but I didn’t care.

  After a long day with a stock price dip, some legal red tape complicating our move into Canada, and finding out that Brad Meyers’ father actually had enough clout as a state senator to be a problem punishing, I wasn’t exactly in the mood to talk with Davis. Granted, I owed him for helping me find and meet Savannah, but it was getting close to seven. I was running late to get changed and ready for my date at Nobu, and I knew that shit-eating grin of my brother’s. He’d found some other trouble we could get up to, and I was ready to, at least for now, focus on the intriguing woman who’d entered my life. He might be in some self-created contest to amass new notches on his bed post.

  I certainly was not.

  Davis shrugged and helped himself to my forty-year-old Scotch. It wasn’t my best selection, but it was far from the everyday stuff either. Bastard. “I’ve been thinking about your glum act.”

  “It’s an act now, is it?” I asked as I made a beeline for my room. He’d be able to hear me calling out well enough from my walk-in closet, and I didn’t have long to prepare and still navigate through Vegas Friday night traffic to get to the sushi place. “Here I felt actually glum all this time.”

  “Very funny,” he said.

  I tried to ignore him as best I could and started unbuttoning my work shirt. “Seriously, why are you here? I have plans.”

  “You never have plans if I haven’t made or organized them. Try again.”

  “I’m serious. I have Ian with Melanie.” Our sister who lived an hour outside of town. She preferred to stay away from the boys’ club Davis and I had, but she always doted on Ian when she could. It was just with grad school pressures, Melanie’s time was limited.

  “Ooh, must be a big deal if you called in little sis. What’s up?”

  “If you must know.” I hurried into my closet and pulled out my favorite Armani and the sky blue button down to go with it. “I’ve got a date with the Green Fairy herself.”

  I had my boxers on and my pants halfway up my legs before my brother finally responded. When he did, I swore he had to be sputtering on his Scotch. No, correction, on my second-best Scotch.

  “The burlesque dancer?”

  “She headlines a whole show in Vegas. You don’t have to be so blunt about her.”

  “Sure, but a dancer who strips off her clothes.”

  Annoyed, I yanked on my shirt and buttoned it up so fiercely that I half-feared it would tear. Now? Now my brother was getting attitudes about my social life. “Excuse me? Savannah was good enough to be a hell of an entertaining performer for you, but she’s not good enough for me to date?”

  “Well, if you like dating the help…who strips.”

  Furious, I finished dressing and grabbed my jacket. I’d shove it on in the limo. As I stormed out of my room, I glared at my oaf of a brother. He was sprawled out on my sofa, and his glassy eyes told me he was easily into his third shot of Scotch already.

  “You’re a snob, Davis, and you’re disgusting.”

  “I was suggesting something better. Did you know that Bella Hall is back in the city?”

  I balled my hands into fists at my sides and shook my head. “Bella? The Bella who found a way to embezzle money from me by stealing my email passwords because she’d developed a cocaine addiction? That Bella?”

  “Bella who is back to being one of the most in-demand supermodels in the world, and who has spent six months in rehab, and met me for coffee this morning to express how sorry she was for everything. She even gave me a check for the twenty-thousand she owed the company. I deposited it, and it went through.”

  “That’s a good thing if she’s working her twelve steps and trying to make amends.” I shook my head. “Honestly, I have nothing left to say to her. Everything she ever did to me was the ultimate betrayal.”

  “But you dated her for close to a year; she’s gorgeous and completely the right girl.”

  My muscles tensed, and I felt my shoulders stiffen. “Funny how you define that. I have a date with a woman who has piqued my interest and never stolen from me, and then the other used to rob me blind to feed a habit.”

  “A sickness that she’s trying to do better with. Bella’s just…”

  “…not a burlesque dancer?” I offered. “Davis, I never knew you to be picky.”

  “There’s someone you fuck, dear brother. Then, there’s who you have a relationship with, and even a fancy date is far too much to waste on a stripper.”

  “Get out.”

  He stood and swayed a bit on his feet. I was grateful that I was too far away to smell the alcohol on his bre
ath. “What?”

  “I’ll be gone for a while, but you better get your ass out of here and to your own penthouse at Hard Rock. I have no interest in Bella Hall. If you are so swayed by her desire for redemption, then you date her.”

  “At least I won’t be fucking the Green Fairy. What, Ryker? Will it be wings on tonight?”

  I swung at him, and the connection of my fist with his jaw was beyond satisfying. Davis’s head snapped back, and he spit blood even as his jaw began to swell.

  “What the fuck?”

  “That’s for insulting my date. If you don’t leave in ten seconds, I’ll give you a second for trying to match make me with the worst mistake of my life.”

  Davis glared at me, his eyes like red fire, and then stormed out. There wasn’t time to breathe a sigh of relief, however. My wall clock already read seven-thirty. I was going to be late if I didn’t hurry. Damn my brother. Damn him for being a crass asshole, every bit the jerk his tabloid reputation made him out to be. Damn him for trying to tempt me with old patterns, and most of all, damn him for being so good with Ian. I’d forgive Davis by tomorrow, and I knew it. Because so far he was the only other person really consistently in Ian’s life, and my son needed all the friends he could get.

  Even if his Uncle Davis was an idiot.

  ***

  I flashed a smile at Savannah as I crossed past a table of eight at the restaurant. She was seated at a booth in a big, plush, red and gold bench that almost swamped her tiny frame next to a selection of giant white bamboo stalks. The low lighting of the restaurant gave her already tawny skin a golden glow and left her brown curls shimmering beautifully. Coughing, I forced my thoughts onto last quarter’s stock earnings, or lack thereof, and away from how hot she was.

  Fuck if my cock wasn’t already awake and waiting to be at attention.

  Savannah had cast quite the spell over me, left me feeling a bit like a high school senior and some punk kid who couldn’t help but think of sex when he saw her. Not that it was the only thing on my mind, but she brought out the primal instinct in me. That was for sure.