Accidentally Married to the Billionaire (Whirlwind Romance Series) (5 page)

This time she didn’t have a hangover
because of a few glasses of champagne. She had a hangover from heartbreak.

8.

When Alessandro reached into his
hotel suite, he called out to Kira. She was nowhere to be found. He was still
fuming over that allegation that he was the father of Bianca’s child. There was
no way in hell he could be the child’s biological dad. He hadn’t even met her.
Not to his recollection. But his men were working on getting some background
information. He wanted to see the results himself and have the DNA test retaken
if necessary. Something was just not adding up. Now he risked losing the
biggest deal of his life thanks to this new scandalous news.

His anger aroused further when he
saw a note on the desk written on the hotel stationery.

Dear Alessandro:

I tried to reach you by cell but
I could not get a hold of you. The media was calling constantly and people were
knocking at the door wanting my reaction to the news headline. I’m sorry but I
could not take it. I really wanted to believe you. I’m just so hurt right now and
I think it’s better that I go back home for now to Toronto. I really didn’t
want to get messed up into this. It’s more than I can handle. I hope you can
understand.

Kira

Alessandro tore off the sheet
from the pad and ripped up the note before tossing it in the garbage. Was
everyone turning on him all of a sudden? If that’s the way she wanted it. It
was fine by him. He didn’t chase after women. Ever. It was always the other way
around. And he sure as hell wasn’t going to start now. He would let her go. He
would not go after her. An annulment would come sooner than he had planned.
Right now, he had to work on fixing his tarnished image. Women were nothing but
trouble.

It had been two weeks since Kira
got back to Toronto from Vegas. She sat at her kitchen table with her laptop
looking at job ads. She did not want anything to do with Alessandro or his
money. But what burned her the most was…Alessandro didn’t even try to get in
touch with her. Was this all a façade? Did he even care? How could she have
gotten it all wrong? God, she was stupid. So gullible. Well, that’s what one
gets for wanting to live it up and play the let’s-do-something-exciting game.

She was duped. Plain and simple.

Did the week in Vegas mean nothing
to him?

Why hadn’t he even tried to reach
her? Kira thought she was going to go crazy in her mind over Alessandro. Never
in her life had she met a man that stirred so much feelings inside of her. Body,
soul and mind. She could not get him out of her system no matter how much she
tried and it was torturing her inside.

“You okay, Kira?” her younger
sister, Kerry, asked as she came into the kitchen. She was back from college
and Kira wondered how she would come up with her sister’s tuition for the next
semester.

“I’m good thanks.”

“What are you doing, now?”

“Just looking for another job.”

“What happened to Babs Magazine?”

“Oh, nothing. It was just a
conflict of interest, you know with…” It hurt Kira to even say his name right
now knowing that he was no longer in her life.

“Oh, right. That rich dude you
married on the spur of the moment. Has he called you yet?”

“No and that’s just fine.”

“Is it?”

“Yes.” Kira became agitated and
she hated herself for that. “Look don’t worry about me. I want you to tell me
all about your first semester.”

Kerry sat with her and they
talked for a while. All the time Kira’s mind kept whirling back to Alessandro.
Their time in Vegas. Their quickie wedding…

Later, Kira finished washing up
the dishes after breakfast. Kerry had gone out to the mall with her friends.
That was fine with her because she really wanted a break. She just needed to
get her mind away from Alessandro and all thoughts of him.

Just then, her thoughts were
distracted by a knocking at the door.  She wiped her hands on the dish towel
and proceeded to the front door of her apartment. When she looked through the
peep hole, her breath stopped.

Alessandro?

There he was standing outside her
door looking drop-dead gorgeous as usual. Stunning in his business suit and
tie. His hands shoved into his pockets. God, he was breathtaking.

Kira braced herself against the
door and drew in a deep breath. She could not believe that he was there. At her
apartment. He showed up without so much as a phone call during the past two
weeks. She quickly turned around to look at the mirror by the door to make sure
that her hair was in place. She looked dreadful. Terrible. As if she had a lot
on her mind. No way did she want him to see her this way.

“Just a minute,” she called out
to the closed door as she walked towards her bedroom.

She had on a worn t-shirt and an
old pair of Daisy Dukes jean shorts. She was about to change into a summer
dress. Her hair was pulled up into a messy pony-tail. The last thing she wanted
him to think was that he was right for not contacting her.

She looked through her closet but
nothing was calling out to her. Then she threw up her hands. Who was she trying
to impress? She brushed her hair quickly and swept it off her face and returned
to open the door. She didn’t want to keep Alessandro waiting. God help her if
he just walked away. Again.

“I thought you’d forgotten about
me,” Alessandro said, a grin on his face as Kira opened the door. She caught
the sweet, sexy scent of his cologne and it made her melt inside.

“Hi, Alessandro. I’m surprised to
see you here.”

Alessandro walked into her
apartment when she motioned for him to come in. The first thing he noticed was
the small size. The size of one of his bathrooms in his homes could fit this
entire living area, he thought. He also noticed that it was hardly furnished
and it could use a good paint job. It was a rental building but not properly
kept.

“It’s all I’ve got, but I’m happy
here,” she said, watching his gaze.

“You’re happy here?”

“Why does that surprise you?
Because it’s not one of your luxury penthouse suites?”

Alessandro’s eyes carefully slid
down Kira’s body. There she was not trying to impress him with a white simple
t-shirt and the shortest jean shorts he’d ever seen which showed off her
natural curves. My God! This woman oozed sex even without trying. Her soft
brown hair was brushed back neatly and she had no make-up on but a fresh look.
She looked tired but pretty.

That spoke volumes about the
woman he’d married in Vegas. For one thing,
she
had left
him
!
With all that he represented. His money, his power, his position. She left the
luxury presidential suite to come back to her homely surroundings. In other
words, she would prefer what she saw as honor rather than use him for his money
and  status. He’d never met a woman like her before and he knew what he was
going to   do about her now that he saw first-hand how and where she lived.

“Well? Can I offer you a drink?”

“Not so early in the morning, my
dear.”

Kira rolled her eyes. “I meant a
glass of water or something.”

“I know.”

Kira noticed that Alessandro
seemed deep in thought. Was he there to annul their marriage? To talk about how
she’d said goodbye to him in a note?

The silence between them was
awkward for a moment.

“Listen, Kira. We need to talk.”

Kira swallowed hard. What was
there to talk about now? Hadn’t the paternity result spoken volumes about the
man she thought she knew.

“I…”

“You don’t have to say anything
right now. Just listen.”

“Alessandro, I know I probably
should have tried harder to reach you instead of leaving you with a note
but…You didn’t even call me back. I thought…”

“There is good reason, my dear. I
had a lot to sort out.”

“I’m sorry about the deal.” She’d
heard about the Otteymans postponing plans for the site near Orlando, Florida.
Rumor had it, he’d liked Alessandro’s idea but wanted to think about it more in
light of the new scandal.

“Have you eaten yet?” he asked in
a low, deep voice.

His voice was so soothing. Deep
inside she was thrilled that he’d come to see her but still peeved about all
the disturbing things she’d heard and read in the news.

“I’m not that hungry right now,”
she murmured.

“Good. Neither am I. I want to
take you somewhere.”

“Now? Where?”

“You’ll see. Get dressed.” It
almost sounded like a command. “Not that you don’t look good enough to eat in
what you’re wearing,” he added, his voice softened.

His smooth words sent shivers of
delight down her spine. Why was she having butterflies in her stomach again?
What was with this man and his effect on her? There was no denying that she
just couldn’t get Alessandro out of her system. Even if she tried.

An hour later, Kira and
Alessandro arrived by limousine to a beautiful glass condominium building in
the downtown Toronto area right by the lake. The view was breathtaking. Her
eyes scanned the beautiful blue water with a few white sail boats in the
distance. It was a cloudless summer day and breezeless. She’d seen these
stunning high rises on her way to work but never had she been up close.

“You live in one of the units?”
she said, trying to hide her astonishment.

“I own it.”

Kira was stunned. She was in awe
of his power. Alessandro
owned
this building?

She walked beside him after the
chauffer opened the door for her. They arrived at the entrance and she was
caught by surprise. The high ceiling and beautiful chandelier and sparkling
marble floor. It looked more like a five-star hotel than a residence. A far cry
from her humble rental apartment building.

When she arrived to the penthouse
by private elevator that opened up to Alessandro’s residence she was even more
surprised. She hadn’t realized that some suites have their own elevator. The
tall ceiling to floor windows gave a breathtaking view of Lake Ontario letting
in ample sunlight into the unit. To say it was spacious was an understatement.

“Very nice,” she commented.

“Glad you like it. Drink?”

“Oh, no thanks. Not so early in
the morning,” she teased him. She’d forgotten that she was supposed to be
peeved with him. But there was just something charming and reassuring about
being with him. His aura. His captivating presence. This was the same man who’d
been so passionate about opening up the children’s hospital in Florida.

It was  his turn to playfully
roll his eyes.

“Have a seat.” He motioned for
her to sit on his expensive looking cream colored sofa. He then went to his
kitchen and came back with two glasses of freshly squeezed orange juice.

“Thank you.” Kira didn’t think
she was thirsty but was glad when she took a sip of the drink. It was
refreshing.

“I’ll have room service bring us
a gourmet lunch. Their special of the day.”

“Room service? I thought this was
a condo.”

“It is,” he grinned. “You obviously
have a lot to learn about the way some of us live, my dear. This building is
part hotel, part residence.”

“Oh, wow!” Kira could say no
more.

“Listen, I want to cut to the
chase here. I don’t want to spend any more time than I have to on what I’m
about to say. I want to talk about our future. Not my past.”

Kira listened attentively. Was he
assuming that there would still be a future between them after all that had
happened?
“There will be a news story to be released tomorrow about the paternity test.”

“Oh?” Kira was confused for a
moment. Was he going to admit that he was the father?

“I am not the father.”

“You’re not? But I thought…”

“Yes, so did the rest of the
world. And I began to doubt myself for a moment, too.”

“So the test was a fake?”

“No. The trouble was that someone
else had a similar genetic marker as I do which is very rare. Most people have
their own unique genetic marker as unique as their fingerprint. Except where
twins are concerned.”

“Twins?” Kira placed her glass of
juice down. She was more baffled now.

“Yes. I did some serious digging
during the past couple of weeks. That’s why I haven’t been able to reach you. I
had to make sure for myself. You see, my biological mother had not just given
me up for adoption. But she had given up my twin brother, too.”

“Oh, my God!”

“My sentiments exactly. And when
I had my men do further digging, we compared photographs of Bianca with the man
that was supposedly me.”