The Billionaire's Baby (The Romero Brothers, Book 5) (6 page)

And apparently
that coward didn’t have a conscience to come forth. Amber suffered selective
amnesia at the time and didn’t recall as a key witness who that other driver
could be or what the other vehicle was, which was tragic in
itself
.
That person would never be found.

How horrific for
Amber. She’d gone through so much.

And to make
matters worse, she’d been through several life-saving operations at the time.
He hadn’t realized the scars were the result of surgeries from her scalp to her
back and abdomen and upper thighs. No wonder Amber often dressed conservatively
and covered up as much as she could. She’d been ostracized. Humiliated. Then
she was forced to live with her estranged grandfather who had passed away and
then she got bumped into living with her aunt who wasn’t even close with
Amber’s parents to begin with.

“I’m really sorry
you went through all that, Amber.” His voice was low, almost breaking with
emotion. God, it killed him inside to know she’d been through so much hell. And
she didn’t even let him know the full effects of that crash—until now.

So that’s why Amber
always covered herself up while they dated.

She was so
different from any other woman he’d been with in the past. It was his first
platonic relationship with—a girlfriend. Come to think of it, there was a
lot of firsts with Amber. She got him into this “try a platonic relationship
for a change” line while they were dating saying she wanted to “take time”
before getting intimate. Of course, that did nothing for his testosterone
levels but he really was into Amber. They had so much more in common. It nearly
killed him not to be inside her at the time, but he really got a chance to get
inside her mind, her heart and her soul.
Especially, her
heart of gold.
She put her neck on the line for his sister-in-law Venus
and his brother Carl. Who could forget that?

Still, he had to
remember he told her he wasn’t ready to commit to her then so how could he
expect them to stay together very long when getting married was what she wanted
then?

“I know it’s hard
for you to understand right now, Jules. I know you’re a caring, a kind guy. I
really enjoyed spending time with you. I just didn’t want you to see how I look
underneath my clothes.”

“So that’s why you
didn’t want to be intimate with me?”

Amber was
beautiful.
Scars or no scars.

She recomposed
herself. “I’m fine. I’ll be fine. I just thought I wasn’t good enough. And you
said you weren’t ready for commitment back then. I later met someone else who
said he was ready to commit to a serious relationship. He turned out to be
cruel and told me no man would want me and that he was doing me a favour by
being with me. I left him faster than you could say YOU’RE FIRED!”

“Not before
you....” He gestured to her baby bump.

“When I met Rex I
thought maybe I would have a chance to have a family. But…well, it didn’t work
out with him. And now, here I am, single—and with a baby.”

“It’s okay, Amber.
We all have scars.”

“Not everyone.”

“Oh, don’t kid
yourself, Amber. Most people have psychological scars even if they don’t admit
it. The truth is, nobody is perfect, Amber.
None of us.
And love means loving a person in spite of his or her faults because we all
have them, maybe not the same ones but we all have them.” He looked deeply into
her eyes and she wrapped her hand around his waist and hugged him. He felt her
sweet energy transfer to his body and he reacted.

“Amber, I want to
be here for you and your daughter. Please let me.”

“Jules. I can’t
ask you to-”

“You’re not
asking, I want to be here with you.” Oh, boy. Jules was digging himself deeper
and deeper. He needed to be focusing his energies on his new acquisition but
why didn’t that seem like the most important thing to him right now? Why was
his heart pulling in the direction of the beautiful, kind-hearted woman who
dumped him?

Heck, it wasn’t
even his kid and already he felt protective of the little miracle and more
protective of Amber.

“Besides, I had a
little accident a while back and well…” Jules said.

“An accident? Oh
my God! Were you hurt?”

“Actually, yeah,
it’s complicated, too.”

“Complicated?”

“Yeah,” he
hesitated. But deep down inside, he really wanted her to know. “Amber, I
sustained some pretty serious injuries. I’m healthy and well but…well, doc said
there was some damage done to the area near my vas deferens, the muscular tube
that connects my…”

“Oh, God! Jules, I’m
so very sorry to hear.”

“It’s okay. I’m a
survivor. I just don’t know if I’ll ever
have
any survivors if you know what I mean.”

“Oh, no.”

“Well, I’m kind
of glad we met up again. I mean
,
I didn’t realize how
much I missed our time together until I spent time with you at the class
today—as parents. I thought helping you with your baby was like a
blessing in disguise—I could be like a godfather or uncle or something.”
Okay, he was getting all emotional inside. Time to switch the topic.

“Anyway, enough
of that!” he said in a commanding tone. “I want to make sure that you guys are
okay, Amber. Where are you staying?”

“First, Jules,
I’m fine, really. And as far as your…situation, it wouldn’t matter to me.
 
You’re a great guy!”

“You’re a sweetheart,
but let’s not worry about me. I’m concerned about your condition. You just had
a scare.”

“But I’ll be all
right.”

“I won’t rest
until I know for sure, Amber.”

After assuring
Jules this, too, would pass and that one baby was plenty for her in her
lifetime, the door swiftly opened and the doctor returned with the ultrasound
tech.

 
“The baby’s condition looks satisfactory,
Ms. Johnson-Murray,” the doctor said.

Amber smiled
while Jules continued to have his arm wrapped around her shoulder for support.

“Can she go home
now, doc?”

“Well, not yet,”
he hesitated, his face evident with concern. He turned to
Amber
.
“We would like to run a few more tests and monitor you for a while just to make
sure. We need to get your blood pressure under control. And I do suggest plenty
of rest. You said in the ER that you felt a leg cramp, which is not uncommon at
your stage. We took the ultrasound as a precautionary measure to ensure your
baby is doing okay. No distress there.”

“Oh, good,” Amber
said, her voice sounded breathless.

Jules truly appreciated
what a woman went through more than ever now. She was carrying all this extra
weight and still going on about her business while another life was growing
inside her. Have mercy!

“Oh, and another thing. Leg cramps during pregnancy are often caused by
compressed blood vessels as a result of the extra weight you’re carrying. So you
can help the blood circulate throughout your body and minimize cramping by
putting your feet up whenever you can and drinking plenty of fluids.”

Jules took note of what the doctor advised. His mind raced as to his
upcoming appointments. Why was
Amber
dominating his
interests all of a sudden? He would rearrange a few meetings and take Amber
home then make sure she was settled.

There was no way he was going to let her go through
this
again, alone! Not if he could help it.

A week later, Amber
was finally ready for discharge. She ended up staying in the hospital for more
than seven days and Jules had visited her each and every day in between his
business meetings. Her blood pressure was unstable and she wasn’t eating due to
severe nausea, so IV fluids were her only source of nutrition. The medical team
was worried about the baby’s
well-being
given Amber’s
history of multiple surgeries since her childhood accident. They soon
considered her to be a high-risk pregnancy and wanted to take proper
precautions.

Jules brought her
beautiful flowers and fluffy teddy bears to cheer her. She felt as if her heart
melted. Her mood was certainly elevated. Aunt Mavis managed to drop by once, for
which Amber was grateful. But Jules had seemingly moved his schedule around to
be with her. That meant the world to her. He kept telling her that she had
saved his brother and sister-in-law and it was the least he could do. But there
was so much more.

Amber hated that
she felt a magical spark between them again.
A chemical
reaction of overwhelming proportions.

Or was that her
imagination? Amber fought to ignore the feeling.
Back then
,
Jules was all about sex
. It seemed evident that he’d
changed. But after that sweet heat turned disaster of an ex, Rex, she did not
want to risk having her heart singed again in another failed relationship. She
just couldn’t bear it—again. Jules was merely being a gentleman. Nothing
more. It could never lead to anything more than his friendly support.

People could genuinely
tell who cared for them when they were at their lowest. When they were most
vulnerable. Jules was that caring person and Amber would be eternally grateful
to him. God, what if Jules hadn’t been there for her? She would have ended up
alone in the ward. Venus just had a baby, so she was unable to visit. Her body
was still healing. And Amber’s aunt was simply too busy running the café in
Amber’s absence. And it was a good thing. Amber wanted things to run smoothly
at the Murray Café in her absence. Amber enjoyed working at the café and
chatting with customers. Sometimes her working relationship with her aunt got a
bit out of hand with her aunt’s mood swings but the smiles on the faces of
satisfied customers who loved to come in and share how their day was going
really made Amber’s day.

Amber really
didn’t have a whole lot of close friends. Mostly acquaintances but not the huge
lot like the Romeros had.
 

When she was
released from hospital Jules was by her side, amazingly supportive as always. Amber
was visibly relieved to have a ride home in Jules’s comfortable SUV. He told
her he couldn’t stand the thought of her having to take the bus in her
condition knowing full well that she was having some sort of joint pain related
to her pregnancy.

 
When they finally arrived at Amber’s
apartment above the café and Amber turned the key in the lock and opened the
door, Jules stood there, perplexed. He glanced around the cramped studio apartment.
Was Amber crazy? How could she even think of having a baby there? He saw a
small, old couch with a couple tears in the fabric and a few stuffed pillows
and a throw blanket on it. It looked as if Amber used it as a bed.

The kitchen walls
were dotted with grease stains and were so dark he couldn’t tell if it was the
color of the wall or the stains. A container of cleaning solution sat on the
counter along with a cloth. The small window had a crack on the lower left
corner and some white duct tape over a part of the broken pane. The carpet was
old and tatty. Nothing seemed to be new in the joint. It looked as if frozen in
a bad time warp capsule from the
1980s
. Amber was
staying there? His heart fell to the ground. A sinking feeling slammed into
him.

The room was the
size of a guest bathroom at Romero Manor, his family’s estate. In fact, it was
the size of
his own
bathroom at his penthouse condo on
the lakefront. No way in hell was he going to leave Amber there. This was no
place for a woman and her growing baby.

“What?” Amber
said as she walked into her apartment. She appeared nervous and bit down on her
lip, rubbing her belly. “What is it?” she asked, gaping at his expression.

“Since when have
you lived in a…bachelor pad?”

“Since I lost my
job at the embassy, I had to downsize. And oh, I know the window looks bad. It
happened recently. Someone must have tossed a rock and it hit the window. I’ve
already gotten some estimates from a glass replacement company to have that
replaced. It should be done by the end of the week. I know it doesn’t look like
a palace but it’s not like I have to pay rent or anything.”

“But doesn’t your
aunt own and live in a nice house on the east side?”

“Well, yes. But
she has tenants there, so…it’s not an option for me. Aunt Mavis said I could
use this space until I get myself back on my feet.”

“How sweet of
her,” Jules said in an acid tone, his voice laced with charming sarcasm. To say
he was gutted or appalled was an understatement. Why didn’t her aunt just shove
her in a dungeon or a prison cell? It would have probably been a step up from
this
place. He had seen farm animals
live better than this!

Jules didn’t want
Amber to feel bad so he altered the subject a bit.
 
“Speaking of getting yourself back on
your feet, you should be
off
your
feet right now. Here, why don’t you sit down while I get your things?” He guided
her down on what looked like a sofa bed.