The Billionaire's Triplets (A Steamy Contemporary Romance Novel) (12 page)

“This is a pretty elaborate game.” She thought for a moment. “You gave Tina a contract for the same work, didn’t you?”

He smiled. “If I did, that’s between her and me.”

“How is it that you have contracts with two different firms for the same work?”

“I often work with multiple subcontractors as a form of assurance that I’ll get what I want from one or another of them.”

“So, if I decided to do the work for you, you’d have to pay me?”

He smiled. “That would be a perfect outcome. I’d gladly pay you, assuming the work was any good.”

“What if I objected to working with Tina?”

“Who could blame you? The woman is useless for the project. If you say the word, I’ll get rid of her.”

“I thought she had a contract. They cut two ways.”

“That wouldn’t be a problem at all. I can restructure my business and make her role obsolete. I might have to pay a fee, a small penalty.”

“She was the one who gave you this contract?”

He smiled. “She gave me much more than that. But with this restructuring coming up, I’ll have to tell her the bad news. That makes way for you.” He closed his briefcase and stood up. “If you decide to honor your obligations, please let my new project coordinator know. You two should get to know each other.”

“Who is that?”

“Willa Gruber.” She saw him watching her face and she imagined he was hoping for a sign that she was shocked. At the moment, being shocked would have taken more energy than she could summon.

“Julio’s PA is now your project coordinator?”

“Of course, I could be persuaded to make more changes. Perhaps that would be a better role for you. I like the idea of you working directly under me.”

“And Willa?”

“I’m sure I can find another role for her. I promised I’d give her the job, not that she could necessarily keep it.”

“I’m glad to know how you regard loyalty.”

“Other people’s loyalty to me is quite useful. At any rate, let me know what you decide, if you decide anything at all. At times, inaction is the best course.” She sat still as Acker picked up his briefcase and left her office.

Now what?

She sat for a moment before getting up and walking into Abby’s office. “It was weird seeing him here,” Abby said.

Lissa held out the contract. “Apparently one of the things Tina did before she left was get us some new business that she never bothered to mention.”

Abby looked at it. “The bitch. And it isn’t even a good deal for us. Talk about salt in a wound.” She looked at Lissa. “So what do we do now?”

“Did you find a copy of anything like this document on the server?”

“No. I might have missed it, though.”

“I don’t think you would have. And it’s probably boilerplate from Acker’s files, not one of ours.”

“I’ll check for it specifically.”

“If you do find it, I need to know the origination date of the first draft.”

“If it’s there, that’s easy.”

“While you do that, I need to talk to Tina.”

“Will she talk to you? I mean, she’s been sleeping with Tom Acker, right?”

“She wouldn’t have before, but it seems that she just got screwed in a less pleasant fashion by Willa Gruber.”

“She’s working with Acker now?”

“For him, and it seems that she got Tina tossed out on her ear.”

Abby grinned. “It’s a bitch-eat-bitch world over at his company. I think if we stand still long enough, we can take the field by forfeit.”

“I’m rather thinking of a nuclear option that takes out the opposition entirely.”

“That does sound like much more fun. As long as all of us are well away from ground zero, that is. What’s the plan?”

“Plan?” Lissa closed her mouth and pressed a finger against her lips as she began to think out loud. “I need to talk to Tina, but she is a mercenary, and if she was bought, maybe I can make a better offer.”

“I hate to think of you dealing with her.”

“Me too. I hate that she might profit from her shady games, but I’d hate losing out even more.”

Abby sighed and looked at her watch. “Isn’t it closing time? I need a drink.”

Lissa smiled. “For the moment, I still own this company, so as far as I’m concerned, it
is
closing time. Alert the answering service, Abby. Drinks are on me.”

Abby only wanted one drink, then insisted on leaving for home. That was fine with Lissa, since she needed to think. The Tom Acker situation had been a blow, and there wasn’t a damn thing she could think to do about it. It was still early in the day, and she could have gone back to the office, but the idea of staring at the contract and contemplating the legal bills she’d need to pay to get out of it was just depressing. With Joan doing such a great job running things, she was able to enjoy her time with the babies. Right now it seemed that her children, and Joan’s help, were the only things going right in her life. Julio’s role was the only unknown, but at least he wanted to know them; he insisted they know he was their father. He’d even told her that he intended to have his lawyers work on getting their birth certificates amended.

When she let herself into her apartment, she hadn’t expected to see him, sitting on her living-room floor. Her heart swelled as she took him in. He was wearing jeans and a tee shirt, surrounded by the babies. One was lying on a blanket by one leg, another by his other leg, and the third was on his lap. He looked completely relaxed and enthralled.

“What are you doing here?” she blurted.

He looked up. “We’ve been having serious father-son chats. They have lots of questions, and I rotate the boys around so they don’t think I like any one better than the others.” He grinned self-consciously. “I hope it’s okay. I just had this overwhelming urge to spend a little time alone with them.”

“Where’s Joan?”

“Oh, I gave her a quarter and sent her to the movies. Isn’t that what American men do with kid brothers and sisters?”

“Not since about 1955.”

“I told her to take the rest of the day off, and she seemed pleased to do so.”

“And what did you intend to do when one of your boys messes a diaper? Can you handle that alone?”

He laughed. “My sons are well-bred lads. They wouldn’t do that to me. Even if they did, I grew up caring for younger siblings. I am an expert with diapers.” He held up his cell phone. “I took lots and lots of pictures. I sent a nice set to my Mamacita.”

“Mamacita?”

“Little mother. An affectionate term for the boys’ paternal grandmother. She was so excited when I told her about them. Those pictures will be shown in half the homes in Barcelona by tomorrow.”

“She’s pleased about them, then?”

“She’s excited. She won’t truly be pleased until I bring them to visit so she can pinch their cheeks herself. The only thing she’s not pleased about is that I couldn’t tell her their names.

Lissa laughed. “What, Joan didn’t tell you?”

“Nope, she refused, she said….” He took a moment to scan his memory banks, as a finger rested on his closed lips. “She said, ‘my sister should be the one to give you that bit of news,’ or something to that effect.”

Lissa sat down, hard. Joan was a sneaky one.

She’d named them in the hospital, while she still held out hope that he would give a shit. Later, after it was obvious that he didn’t, she’d regretted that she’d given each of them his name, but not that it seemed more likely that he cared…

She sighed.

“What, did you name them Dipshits One Two and Three or something?”

Lissa laughed and punched his arm, “Of course not, silly.”

“Okay, but don’t laugh.”

He crossed his heart then zipped his lips.

She pointed to her first born, then to her second, and then to her third born son.

“That’s Marco Julio, that’s Ryland Julio, and squirmy one over there is Hunter Julio.”

His smile lit up his face and for the first time, she saw a tiny dimple in the cleft of his chin. Her heart gave a lurch; he was happy she’d done that.

She thought he’d make a big deal out of it, but instead he just turned to the boys.

“Well, hello, Mr. Marco Julio, Mr. Ryland Julio, and Mr. Squirmy Hunter Julio.”

The boys giggled.

“You four look so sweet down there. I think I’ll change clothes and join you,” she said. “Life can seem simpler on the floor.”

As Lissa dressed, she tried to get a handle on her feelings. On the one hand, it was exciting to see Julio in her home, playing with his children. On the other hand, she’d been looking forward all day to being alone with them herself. It was just dawning on her now that she wasn’t the only family they had—it wasn’t Lissa and her three boys, with the assistance of Joan, against the world. They had a father who was delighted with them, and uncles and aunts in Spain, and grandparents. There was a network of people who cared about them.

For so long she and Joan had been family, and this sudden population explosion in her life changed so many things. She needed to rethink her life.

As she went to her room, she realized that she had so much left to learn about Julio, about his family, about his way of living. And they needed to decide so many things, so many important things. Many of them would determine not only how they lived, but who their boys would grow up to be. It was time to throw preconceptions out the window.

When she returned, she sat on the floor, father and mother absorbed in enjoying their three children.

Eventually, Julio spoke about something other than how incredibly handsome and smart their children appeared to be.

“Could we talk a little business, for a moment?

She glanced at him. “Sure, but first I have to tell you. I found out why I never got your messages. I don’t know about the alleged flowers, but all emails to or from you got routed to the trash by a virus program. The IT guy said Tina had it installed.”

Julio’s relaxed face suddenly stiffened, and he looked away. “Lissa, I feel bad that I never just got on a goddamn plane and knocked on your door. I missed so much. I missed seeing you big as a barn with our babies, I missed seeing them born.”

“You probably didn’t for the same reason I didn’t track you down when I found out I was pregnant—hurt, savage pride.”

“Aren’t we a pair? Both of us nursing our grievances.”

She opened her briefcase and showed him a sheaf of papers. “I’m catching up with your emails. Abby found them.”

He raised an eyebrow. “I hope I said nice things.”

“So far, except when you lost your patience.”

He cringed. “Mea culpa.”

# # #

Tyler Walker offered her a chair in his plush office. The chair was a comfortable, soft, light-brown leather. A seductive chair. “So Acker found himself a trump card?”

The word was out already. Naturally Acker would make sure it was known far and wide.

“I’m trying to work out a solution. I thought I’d see if you might have any ideas.”

“Advice and ideas are free, gratis, on the house.”

“So no charge?”

“I’d only ask a small token payment—marry me.”

“No, Tyler. You’d hate me after a week.”

“I’ll risk it. And what if I don’t care?”

“The father of my children might still object.”

“There is that. He probably is the reason you don’t want to work with Tom.”

“Ah, here is where it gets interesting. I don’t like being coerced.” She told him about the contract. “On top of that, I want to work with Julio. He and I share ideas and values, or seem to.”

“And three kids.”

“By working with him, I think we could do an amazing job.”

“The idea that it’s backdated is just a theory, right? I mean, it’s a notarized document.”

“By his secretary.”

“What does Tina say?”

She winced. “Probably something along the lines of ‘fuck off.’”

“You haven’t talked to her? But if she’s been cut out, maybe she’d be willing to make a deal.”

“There is a gray area there, making a deal with her to tell the truth.”

“True.”

“So I’m open to other ideas,” Lissa prodded.

Tyler steepled his fingers and sat back in his chair. “All this wheeling and dealing is rather outside my area of expertise, unfortunately. You need to talk to Julio, and probably to Tina.”

“So that’s your advice?”

“I did tell you to marry me.”

“Yes, you did.”

“I could try and talk to Tom, but I think he is out for blood.”

“To cripple the opposition.”

“I told you to throw Tina out the window. You should be taking my advice more seriously.”

“Throw Tina out the window and marry you.”

“Except that it’s too late for the Tina part.”

She stood up. “I love talking with you, Tyler. It seldom accomplishes much, but it makes me feel better.”

“Another reason to marry me.”

“As if you needed another reason.”

“Maybe I should ask Joan to marry me. You might have gotten all the stubbornness allocated to the family.”

“You’re welcome to try.”