The Baby Contract (The Billionaire Bachelor Series) (8 page)

Liam’s money would go to the Double H and what was left would be put in a trust fund for her baby’s college education. She wouldn’t need Liam’s help with private schooling, the child would go to public schools same as she had. Her job—if she still had one after Aspen—had excellent medical insurance.

She returned to the living room and flopped down on her couch. What about Caroline? The new concern popped forefront. Liam’s mother would be the child’s grandmother, and she sincerely wanted Caroline to know her only grandbaby. Whether Liam approved or not, she’d introduce Caroline to the child, it was only right. And Abby believed Caroline would love the child, regardless of the reasons behind its birth.

The fantasy lulled her mind and soothed her frazzled nerves. She listened to the gurgling aquarium and drifted nearly to sleep under its humming lullaby. A soft rap sounded at her front door. Her eyes popped open. She rose from the couch and went to answer it. She peeked through the peephole and frowned before pulling the door open.

“Can I help you?”

The visitor wasn’t a stranger. Abby watched suspiciously as he adjusted his red tie.

“Miss Haden?” He grinned down to her.

He was the person who’d cornered her by the elevator at Whitmore Tower. She stood up straighter. “Yes.”

“I’m Spencer Davidson.” He shoved his hand forward, and Abby took it in a quick handshake. Her knuckles popped beneath his steely grip. “I should’ve introduced myself properly when we first met. I apologize for the intrusion. I work with Liam. I’m his cousin, actually. May I come in?”

She pulled her hand from his painful grasp, and couldn’t keep the confusion off her face as she stepped aside, allowing him entry. Mr. Davidson peered around her home, and she couldn’t help the feeling he was judging her two-bedroom bungalow. She lifted her chin and folded her arms over her chest. The place was hers; she’d made the down payment from her portion of her mother’s life insurance policy, and had only a few more payments left. She was proud of it.

“Well, cozy place you have here.” Mr. Davidson rubbed his hands together and faced her. “But let me get to why I’m here.”

“Please do,” Abby returned, meeting his slate-colored eyes head-on.

His gaze dropped to her mother’s necklace where she fingered it.

“It’s about your…agreement with my cousin.” He shoved his hands inside his pants pockets and rocked back on his heels. “I believe you’re planning to produce an heir to the Whitmore name. Is that correct?”

Her face heated. She chewed the inside of her cheek. What she and Liam had planned was no one’s business but theirs.

Mr. Davidson’s smile broadened, and he held up his hand. “I understand your hesitance, I’m sure Liam has sworn you to secrecy. He’s a private man, and no one knows him better than me. We grew up together. There are only a few years of age between us.”

“Why are you here?” She hated beating around the bush. The faster she got this intruder out of her home, the better.

“I know my cousin probably promised you a big cash pay off. And he’ll pay it as agreed. When it comes to most business dealings, he’s good on his word. I’d like to stress
most
business deals. I imagine he’s also promised you sole custody, since he’s...well, not the settling down type. He has a lot of women within his social standing at his beck and call, and I’ve seen many come and go and come again. But I’m sure you’ve seen all this in the tabloids, they’ve managed to nail down his generalized faults.”

Abby refused to comment, her annoyance growing.

“He couldn’t go to those women, because they’d expect either marriage or child support payments that could feed a small nation for a week.”

A frown passed her lips. Liam had already said as much. The intruder’s unwavering smile raised her irritation even further. She tapped her foot.

“This is what I’m getting at,” he finally continued after a brief pause and glance to his vibrating cellphone. His smile faltered, and he stuffed the phone back in his pocket. “Liam is territorial—what’s his is his. You’re not the…er, type of woman he’d take seriously. But once the child,
his
child, is born, regardless of what he’s told you, regardless his contractual obligations, he’ll feel possessive. It’s his inherent nature. After all, it’ll be a Whitmore, and every blood Whitmore I’ve ever known has needed control. He won’t leave a stranger to raise his offspring, he’ll take his child to father as he sees fit.

“Think your decision through carefully, Miss Haden. He has the money, the pull, and the power to take your child from you. It’ll break your heart, but he won’t care, because he’s only ever had affection for his mother. He has no feelings for me, for my two young sons, or any other relative. I wouldn’t call him a sociopath, but your child will be raised by a cold man without the ability to love another.”

Abby went speechless feeling like a bucket of ice water had been dumped over her head. She stared at Mr. Davidson, appalled by both his frankness and his revelation.

“I’m only telling you this because I have children and I’d never want someone like Liam to raise them. Not with his self-centeredness, and his temper. I’ve been on the receiving end of his anger more times than I can count, and I can only say I’m happy I’m a man his size. When he snaps....well, there isn’t much you can do but bear the brunt of his fury until it runs its course. It tends to be irrational and explosive, a trait he got from his father, I’m afraid. That’s why his parents separated. Aunt Caroline couldn’t deal with it. Unfortunately, it hadn’t been soon enough, Liam picked it up as a way to deal with life’s frustrations.

“Though to be fair, he takes most of it out in this shabby boxing gym downtown. Knocking around a punching bag seems to have helped a little, at least until he gets bored with it at some future time. If you truly want a child, Miss Haden—an innocent, small, and helpless being—you could do better than having one by my cousin. I’ll leave you to your day.”

He turned, then paused and looked over his shoulder. “Oh, and Miss Haden, I ask that you keep this confidential. Since Liam and I work together, I’d hate for our conversation to get back to him. It might affect negatively on my career, and I have a wife and two sons to support. You understand.”

Abby nodded. He left her home, while Abby remained rooted to the spot, her mind regurgitating Mr. Davidson’s speech.

How true could his words be?

Tears of frustration welled up, blurring her vision, her ears still ringing from the speech. She trudged to her sofa and looked to the contract promising her full custody.

But what good would a few sheets of paper be when he’d have a team of lawyers backing him? He’d most certainly have legal visitation and equal custody rights if he chose to enforce them.

She believed Liam to be power hungry, a corporate tycoon would have to be, and she didn’t know a thing about him personally. Who was she to refute anything she’d just heard, and from his very own relation?

Liam had a temper, an irrational and explosive anger as his cousin put it, that could be directed toward a child. Why in the world would his cousin make something like that up then drive all the way out to see her? Bile rolled to the back of her tongue. She’d never want a helpless soul to have to face something so horrible. Not when she knew firsthand the damage it caused. The physical pain, the loss of self, the dark and terrifying places it threw someone into.

Her resolve wavered. If she backed out now, she wouldn’t be hurt in an unimaginable way later. She plopped down on her sofa and swiped her hands over her eyes. Since Liam had approached her with the offer she’d been a whirl of emotion. Now, with Mr. Davidson’s warning thrown into the mix, the turmoil turned into a full-on hurricane.

Abby looked to her goldfish, wishing they had advice to give. She wished she had her mother to turn to with such an impossible decision to make. Self-preservation said she should rip up the baby contract and forget she’d ever been offered this chance. Watch her family lose their ranch, and what would her father and brother do then? Jobs were scarce in their part of the country; they’d have to move to one of the major cities like San Antonio. Wither away in menial labor jobs, the only thing they’d be qualified to do after a lifetime of ranching. Her father was too old to restart his life, and she feared his already stressed health would fail him.

If she didn’t give Liam a shot, she might very well lose her father, and his death would be
her
fault. She’d spent years blaming herself for her mother’s accident, throwing her into a downward spiral of the darkest years of her life. She’d come to accept she hadn’t been at fault for a rain-slickened highway, despite the fact she’d had a huge fight with her mother before she’d left for a trip to the grocery store. But it’d taken far too long to come to that realization, and revisiting even the smallest measure of that guilt terrified her.

Walking away from seven hundred fifty grand
would
be her doing. In the end she had no other options. Abby would help her family by the only means she had. She’d save the Double H and ease her family’s financial troubles. If Liam went back on his word, if he decided he’d steal her child away from her, he was in for one hell of a fight.

Chapter 9

Liam stayed beneath the shade of a large patio umbrella. The crowd clustered around Charity’s in-ground pool consisted of women in a variety of string bikinis. Charity stood in their midst, looking rather pleased with the turnout. A woman in a scanty dress played a guitar and sang love ballads off to the side. A high privacy fence surrounded the back lawn. The home was in an exclusive gated community and sat at the end of a cul-de-sac. Prying eyes would be hard pressed to catch sight of the party.

The only male in the middle of a pool party, most men’s fantasy, but Liam wasn’t in the mood to enjoy good fortune. And chances were most wouldn’t be interested in him anyway.

“Hi, sugar. Good to see you made it.”

Liam peered up and met a pair of designer sunglasses. Long, wet, blonde hair hung over the woman’s barely concealed breasts. Moisture from the pool beaded on her tanned and oiled skin.

“Megan,” he said in greeting.

“I know Charity’s sweet tea is famous, but how about some champagne?” Megan said, holding up her own flute. Strawberries filled the bottom of the glass.

“I’m good, thanks,” Liam replied, taking a swallow of his tea. It was a bit too sweet for his taste. Though Megan had always been a pleasant person, his thoughts lay elsewhere. Particularly his coming week with Abigail, and all that it’d involve. Despite being surrounded by women, only one held his attention, and she wasn’t even present.

A woman squealed, drawing his gaze to the pool. Two women toppled into the water, a bathing suit top flying into the air. Laughter broke out. Before night fell half the group would be topless, he knew Charity’s soirees.

“A penny for your thoughts?” Megan took the chair next to his and sipped her champagne while watching the party.

“I’m right as rain,” Liam returned.

“Now I’m calling foul. We have too much history, Liam.” She placed her sunglasses on her head and leveled her brown eyes on him. “I know that look. You’re brooding over something.”

“Business,” he said simply.

“Ah yes, the ball busting Takeover Tyrant can never share what’s on his mind.” Megan gave him a picture-perfect pout then sighed. “So what threat did Charity hold over your head to get you here?”

Liam couldn’t help but chuckle. “Nudity.”

Megan’s lips turned up at the corners as she purred, “Nice. I’ve always been a fan of her threats.”

“I fear they’re always empty.”

Megan cocked an eyebrow. “For you maybe.”

Charity looked their direction and winked before making her way toward them. She stopped in front of their table and placed her hands on her hips. “Are you ever going to move from that spot?” she asked Liam.

Liam smiled. “Doubtful. I’m enjoying the view too much.”

“Uh-huh, I’m sure.” Charity walked over and sat on Megan’s lap before wrapping her arms around the other woman. “I fear Liam has a schoolboy crush that’s distracting him from my wonderful party.”

Megan giggled. “I see. Do tell me more, sweetheart.”

“I’m afraid I’m sworn to secrecy on the matter.”

Liam watched their playful exchange. He supposed he should’ve felt angry when Megan had left him for his lesbian assistant. They’d dated a month and a half, but things had been casual and their chemistry had been lacking. Charity had been determined to ignore the blonde, even though Liam had assured her they had his blessing. After a couple months the two had finally hooked up and they’d been together a year.

Seeing the happy couple opened up that irritating hollow spot inside Liam. His mind played with the idea of him and Abigail finding something beyond simply sex. Then he just as quickly shot down the notion. God knew he didn’t need to moon over her like some teenager with a crush. Business was business.

As the afternoon faded into evening, he found his attention more and more centered on his glass full of watered-down tea, the ice cubes long melted. The heat left him sweating, but he resisted a dip in the pool. From time to time a breeze stirred making the sunlight tolerable. Charity had given up trying to draw him out, and he remained as he wanted—off to the side and ignored. He considered leaving early, but being alone in his empty home with his thoughts seemed intolerable. At least here he had some distraction from time to time, though the amount of female flesh now exposed should’ve left him more interested.

When Liam reached his limit for quasi-socialization, he bid his goodbyes and drove to his home outside of the city. The expanse of it was a bit much, a status symbol he’d thought he’d needed, but now wanted to sell. The housing market was in a slump so he was stuck with it for the time being.

He showered then dropped down on his couch and flipped the TV on to a news channel. Voices droned in the background of his thoughts, making the home feel less empty. A glass of bourbon rested in his hand as he stared at the faces on the television screen.