The Billionaire's Baby (The Romero Brothers, Book 5) (20 page)

“And so be it,”
Jules added. “And you know we’re not wrong. Our boys were spot-on with the
investigation.” Jules tried Amber’s cell phone again, obsessing over why she
wasn’t answering, praying she was safe.

Dion flipped through
some of the printed notes given to him from their source. “You’re right, he’s not
even a real psychologist. He’s a FAKE, that son-of-a-bitch! He flunked out of
school somewhere in Europe.”

“Maybe that’s why
the coward didn’t want to fess up to the hit and run. He knew his career and
his life would be done AND his marriage. But that’s too damn bad. Amber’s
parents and brother are dead. And it’s all his fault.” The memory of losing his
own mother came back and haunted him at that moment. But he could not even
begin to imagine how horrible it would be to lose his entire family.

And
Amber’s body.
Her
beautiful skin fractured, scarred for life all because of that idiot. He would
pay. If it
was
the last thing he’d do, Jules would
make sure. Danye was going to pay.

“Oh, God, you scared me,” Amber said, her
heart jackhammering in her chest. She was afraid.
Very afraid.
But she wasn’t going to let him know. “W-what are you doing here anyway, Dr.
Danye?”

“I…
.I
think we
need to talk, Amber.”

Amber backed away slowly against the
kitchen sink, her eyes scanning for anything to use in her defense. She didn’t’
have a good feeling at all. “D-did you send me the text message to meet you
here, pretending to be my aunt?”

“I’m sorry. Yes, I did.” The old man limped
two steps towards Amber with his cane,
then
he paused.
“Amber, I know you would probably have it figured out sooner or later.”

“Figured out what?”

“That it was me who was driving that car
that night.”

Amber’s eyes widened, her heart exploded in
her chest. She couldn’t breathe. She struggled to suck in air. “Y-you?” she mouthed.
Her heart was beating frantically in her chest.

He nodded slowly.

Amber was cornered. Her cell phone buzzed
over by the table on the floor where her bag was dropped after the door
slamming startled her. It was no use. Dr. Danye was too close.

“It’s okay, Amber. I’m not going to hurt
you. I promise.”

“Like you didn’t mean to hurt my family?”

“I deserve that.”

“But why? I don’t get it. Why?” Amber’s voice
was strangled. The pain was too great. Dr. Danye did this to her. He was the
one to scar her for life!
To take away her family.
And
he sped off without so much as stopping? It was all too much for her to take
in.

Oh, Jules. Where was Jules? Why hadn’t she
answered his call? Dr. Danye was probably going to kill her to silence her for
good. It was obvious now why he’d been treating her—to make sure she never
remembered what happened that night.
To act on things if her
memory ever returned.
He hadn’t been treating
her,
he’d been monitoring her for his own interests.

“It’s not what it looks like, Amber.”

“Are you even a real psychologist?”

“Well. No. I’m not.” He looked eerily
apologetic. “But that doesn’t matter now. Let’s worry about you.” His
expression was unreadable.

Amber shook her head, her mind still
reeling in disbelief. “You left the scene of an accident,” she said, her voice
cracking with emotion. “How could you do that? I could have died as well.”

“I’m truly sorry, Amber.
And
to your parents and your brother.
But they are dead. I had my life to
think about. I was a coward for the way I left, but I was glad you had
survived. I know it seems as if I started seeing you to make sure you couldn’t
identify me but that’s not the case. I really wanted to see if I could help you
move forward. I knew you needed a good listener at that time, so-”

“Just as long as I couldn’t identify you
and put you behind bars,” she finished his declaration. Her voice sounded
more harsh
and was laced with sarcasm. Suddenly her grief
was replaced with blind anger.

“Amber,” he said moving closer to her,
backing her against the sink. “I-”

Before he could finish his sentence, the
door was kicked open and Jules and Dion stormed in. “Stay the hell away from
her!” Jules made his way in a lightning fast motion and grabbed Dr. Danye,
slamming him against the wall. “Stay away from my wife.”

“Jules!” Amber cried out.

The police arrived seconds later.
Everything had happened so fast.

Amber sat at the
police station, her head resting on Jules’s chest as he stroked her hair. They
had both given the detectives their report and Dr. Danye had confessed to the
crime. But somehow Amber felt as if things were far from over.
She’d been betrayed by someone she trusted, not once but twice
.

Her aunt was
charged as an accessory after the fact. Amber couldn’t get her heart or her
head around this information. Her body felt cold as a melting icecap in the
Arctic. Her breathing was shallow. She was numb with shock, yet burning with anger.

On another note,
the police also informed Amber that the mystery man she reported to have been
following her was, in fact, an investigator who was on to Dr.
Danye
and his phony practice. At least there was
confirmation that she wasn’t going crazy after all thinking she was being
followed.

Amber was feeling
utterly drained and her energies spent. She just couldn’t wait to get back home
to see her little gem, Crystal.

“Okay, Mr.
Romero, you and your wife are free to go.” One of the detectives had come into
the interrogation room to give them the green light.

“Good,” Jules
said, kissing Amber’s forehead. “We’re more than ready to go.” Jules sounded as
drained as Amber felt. It had been a long week and she could sense it was going
to be longer.

*
     
*
     
*

“How are you
feeling?” Jules asked Amber in a controlled voice later that night. She sat up
in bed. Jules was sitting up in the chair at her bedside.

“Tired,” she said
softly. She was feeling
more weary
than anything else.
She knew what was on Jules’s mind. “I really don’t want to talk anymore
about…the past…the accident. I don’t want to relive that…”

“I understand,
Amber. I don’t want you to.” His voice was soft but his eyes were filled with
pain and disappointment. She could see it. She could feel it.

“I want to know
who Crystal’s father is, Amber. I need you to tell me everything. I don’t want
any more surprises. I need you to tell me.”

“Jules, I…I…I
don’t know who he is.”

Jules’s
eyes widened in shock.
“You don’t know? How could you not know?”

Amber whipped off
the sheets and got up, heaving a sigh. “I didn’t want to tell you, or anyone
for that matter. I swore to myself and to my then unborn child that she was
going to have a normal life.”

“You’re not
making any sense, Amber.” Jules leaned forward with his elbows pressed on his
knees. Even in this moment of frustration, he looked so handsome and appealing,
his ripped muscles on his bare arms and chest, wearing nothing but silk pajama bottoms.

“Jules,” Amber
said, tears filling her eyes. “This is very hard for me to tell you. But…when I
was little, after the accident, kids would tease me and tell me that no man
would want me or touch me. I felt like a reject, a loser,
a
monster because of my scars. Can you imagine growing up hearing that?”

Jules frowned,
feeling her turmoil and her pain.

“I loved you so
much but I was terrified that you’d be grossed out by my disfigurement.”

“I would never do
that, you know that now,” he assured softly.

“I know,” she
said. “Anyway, I met Rex after you and I broke off. I thought Rex and I would
get married. Well, he turned out to be a real jerk and when he was no longer in
the picture, I still had the burning desire to be a parent so…I went to the
Mayberry Hill Fertility Clinic.”

Jules looked up,
stunned. “What did you say?”

“I…I had IVF
treatment to get pregnant. I didn’t want to go through that painful rejection
again by a lover and I wanted to be a parent so badly.” Amber hugged herself
looking out the window at the dark sky and moonlight.

Jules got up.
“You what? You had in vitro? That’s your secret? That’s it?”

Amber nodded
slowly. “Can you imagine the shame and disgrace if people found out? They would
laugh at me and tell me that they were right about no man wanting me and having
to go to a clinic to get pregnant. I know this is all probably in my mind but
I’ve been dealt with such cruelty that I didn’t want to give any juice to the
gossip mill. It wasn’t anybody’s business and I didn’t want people making fun
of my daughter because she wasn’t conceived naturally. That she was a product
of artificial insemination.”

“Oh, honey! But
so many couples go that route. It’s nothing to be ashamed of, Amber.”

“Not if you’re
voted the winner of most-likely-to-never-be-touched-by-a-man,” she replied.

“Ouch. I see your
point, Amber. It’s nobody’s business, and you can’t let haters dictate the way
you live your life.”

“I know. I’ve
grown a lot tougher since then. But I never had an easy childhood, Jules.”

“You don’t have
to tell me that.” He moved towards her and gently pulled her into his arms.
“Our daughter will have a good childhood. Because she’s got us.”

“You know
something, Jules?”

“What?”

“Let’s go forth
with the annual barbecue. I still want to take part in it.
For
the families.
I want to be an example that women can have babies
naturally or not and it was all okay.”

He smiled. “Are
you sure you’re okay with this?”

“I can’t let
haters dictate the way I live my life. Someone wise recently told me that. I’m
going to respond to that comment and I want you to let them know that we had an
IVF baby. So what if I got pregnant through IVF? Countless women have gotten
pregnant that way for many different reasons. I’ve got love and your support, and
that’s all I need, Jules.”

“Have I told you
lately, how proud I am of you, Amber?” Jules lowered his head to hers and kissed
her tenderly. Amber shivered with delight as his loving energy surfed through
her body. Oh, that magical feeling again.

“I don’t mind
hearing it again,” she teased him.

“Good. I love
you, Amber.”

“I love you, too,
Jules.”

Amber leaned into
his chest and felt that feeling of warm love again. Maybe things would be okay
from now on. Jules didn’t look down on her for what she had done. And that
counted more than anything.

*
    
*
    
*
  

The following week, the garden at the
Mayberry Hill Family Center was filled with hundreds of guests from the
community. The energy in the air was electric. A live steel band played in the
background as waiters dressed in white came around and offered refreshments to
everyone. All families, regardless of how they came to be, were encouraged to
attend.

This was another phase in Amber’s life. She
was not only the first lady of the center but she now had complete control of
the Murray Café and Jules had agreed to help her with some renovations on the
café while keeping the staff paid through the temporary closure. Amber was
going to have some major upgrades done, hire more staff and keep her family’s
legacy and business going. She was so excited to begin this overdue undertaking.
But right now, her thoughts were on the wonderful day celebrating the official
first Family Annual Barbecue since her husband Jules took over the Mayberry
Hill Family Center.

“You look beautiful, Mrs. Romero,” Brenda
said, beaming. Amber still loved the sound of that. Mrs. Romero.

“Thank you, Brenda. You’ve all done a
wonderful job.”

Amber had been thanking and mingling with
tons of guests since midday. She looked around for her busy husband and when
she spotted him, she couldn’t wait to make her way over to see him.

*
    
*
    
*
  

Dion Romero was glad to see things working
out for his little brother, Jules, at the Mayberry Hill Family Center’s Annual
Barbecue. He was happy that Jules had acquired this new property to add to his
other businesses. And Jules and Amber looked so relaxed together. He sure was
glad all that drama with Amber’s aunt was out of the way. Man, that woman was a
real psycho in a dress!