Her Boss's One-Night Baby. Jennie Lucas
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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.
SHOCKED, HANA WATCHED the father of her baby turn scornfully and leave her abandoned and alone on the Tokyo sidewalk.
Except Antonio hadn’t just left her.
He’d fired her.
He’d taken her innocence. He’d changed her life forever. And now, to add insult to injury, he’d kicked her out of a job she loved.
Shivering, she heard another low rumble of thunder, rolling above the city, making the glass and steel and neon tremble. She felt a cool breeze against her overheated skin, and looked up at the lowering gray sky as the drizzle turned to rain.
Obviously, Hana had known that Antonio wouldn’t react like the hero of a romantic movie, and kiss her joyfully at the news of her pregnancy. She’d known he didn’t want children, or the slightest commitment.
But she’d never imagined he could be such an utter bastard as this.
Trembling, she wiped her eyes as she felt the cold splatter of raindrops against her face. Why was she so surprised? As his assistant, she of all people had seen how heartless Antonio Delacruz could be, especially to his lovers. She’d seen him relentlessly pursue a woman until the thrill of the conquest started to wane. It never took long—a few weeks, or perhaps even just a single night, until he was bored, finished.
Hana had always been amazed at those foolish women who let themselves care for him, each of whom apparently believed, incredibly, that she’d be the one to finally tame the untamable playboy. Hana had pitied them. Could they not see how he turned on his interest and charm like a switch? One moment, he was a passionate lover, with all the intensity of relentless desire; the next, he was gone.
Although it wasn’t fair to say Antonio was just a plague to womankind. He treated everyone badly, men and women, though with men his ruthlessness was manifested by him taking their businesses if he wanted them—their businesses, and their girlfriends.
But Hana had thought she was special. For two years, she’d worked at his side, often twelve-hour days, seven days a week, and for the last few months, far more than that. She’d been inspired by him, challenged by him. His success was her success, and she’d given him every bit of her blood, sweat and tears to make CrossWorld Airways the global airline he wanted it to be.
She’d thought that they were partners of a sort, if not friends. But now she saw how truly unspecial she was.
You tried to trap me. Tried, and failed. Goodbye, Miss Everly.
The cold rain pattered the rhythm of his words against her, soaking through her dark hair and white suit. People stared at her as they passed by, all of them sensibly holding umbrellas to block the rain. She probably looked like a fool, standing there with her mouth still agape. She felt like one.
Antonio had made her one.
No, that wasn’t fair. Hana took a deep breath. She’d done this to herself.
Closing her eyes, she lifted her face up to the sky. But she’d never imagined in a million years that he’d fire her for being pregnant. However the world saw him, she’d thought, at his core, Antonio Delacruz was an honorable man. She’d thought, however badly he’d treated his other mistresses, he would never act that way toward her.
Hana’s eyes abruptly opened.
She,