Carter shook his head. “No, son, there isn’t anyone like her. She is the most important challenge for you to face. Do your best to win her back, and if you do, you will find that your life will be as good as it ever possibly could be.”
Ryder nodded. “Thank you, father. For all of it. I’ll never be able to tell you how much it all means to me.”
“I know, son.” Carter gave him a nod and a smile. “Now go win your wife back.”
Ryder smiled and then headed out into the foyer, looking up the stairs with determination on his face. Taking a deep breath, he headed up the stairs and down the long hallway to the room at the end that she had taken.
He knocked. There was no answer. He opened it and found that she wasn’t there. Frowning, he wondered where she had gone and thought that perhaps she was with her friend Marie, or maybe out with Cami.
Ryder descended the stairs and headed for his own bedroom, marveling at the lightness in his heart and mind after having mended the rift with his father, and wondering how on earth he was ever going to do the same with Regina.
He opened the door and strode into his bedroom, only to stop in surprise as he looked forward. She was sitting at the edge of his bed with something in her hands. She hadn’t been expecting him and she looked up in surprise and gasped.
Taking a few steps, he went to her and fell on his knees before her. He hadn’t thought about it, he hadn’t planned it, but there was nothing else to do. He had to have her back.
“Regina,” he began as he looked up at her, “I have been horrible to you these last couple of weeks, and I don’t know how I’m ever going to fix it, but I want you to know that I’m willing to do anything to try. I spoke with my father. I mended everything with him. He forgave me and we’re okay now, he and I. If he can forgive me for a lifetime of anger, perhaps you could find a way to forgive me as well. I want you back. I need you back.” He spoke from his heart, and he saw her eyes fill up with tears.
“Ryder, how am I ever going to trust you again?” she asked weakly as she stared at him. She wanted to believe him. She wanted him back more than she could imagine, but she wasn’t going to go back to a relationship that was based on lies and saturated with bitterness. She wasn’t going to let him treat her the way that he had.
“You can trust me again because I want you. I love you, Regina, more than anyone in the world. I want a real marriage with you. I want you in my life as my wife and lover always. I want to build a family with you!” He meant it. He meant every word of it and she could see it in his eyes and hear it in his voice.
“Good,” she whispered through her tears of sadness and relief. “It’s a good thing you want a family.”
He blinked in surprise and shook his head. “Why is that?”
She handed him the object in her hand. He looked down at it and stared. “What is this?”
“It’s a pregnancy test. It’s positive. We’re having a baby.” She said it quietly, hardly able to believe it herself. It certainly explained all the tears she had been shedding.
He gawked at it and slowly looked back up at her as he rose to his feet. “This is… this is…” he tried to speak, but his mind was numb for a moment as the news sank in. “We’re having a baby?” A laugh escaped him from somewhere deep and he closed his eyes and shook his head, laughing again as he opened them and looked at the test. “This is incredible! How did this happen?”
She gave him a little smile and reached her hand up to his chest, running her fingers down the front of it slowly. “You know how this happened,” she said with a soft voice and a coy gaze.
“How did you know so fast?” He asked in amazement as happiness began to bubble up in him.
Regina raised her eyebrows and gave her head a shake. “Actually, I didn’t know. Your father did… at least, he suspected it, and he hinted pretty heavily at it, so I took a test and I guess he was right.”
She laughed, and then he laughed with her, reaching for her and pulling her into his arms. He kissed her softly and sweetly and then looked at her intently.
“I love you, Mrs. Regina Carrington, and I’m so sorry that I hurt you. It will never happen again.” He meant it.
“I love you too, Mr. Carrington, and I forgive you, on the condition that you spend a lot of time over the next few weeks making it up to me in this bed.” She giggled and kissed him and he grinned at her.
“Oh, I think I owe you a lot more than a few weeks.” He pulled her clothes from her, and his from himself, laying her back into their bed as their bodies joined and loved deeply and passionately once more.
***
Carter was in the breakfast nook the next morning when Regina and Ryder joined him for breakfast. He looked up at them happy to see them sitting with him. Regina kissed his cheek and grinned at him.
“Are you two reconciled?” he asked, looking from one to the other of them.
“We are, and we have a gift for you.” Ryder told him, handing him a small box with a white bow on the top.
Carter laughed softly and looked up at them in surprise. “What’s this?” He tugged at the bow and pulled the top of the box off, peering inside and then grinning. It was a pair of tiny baby shoes.
“It’s the future.” Regina answered him with a grin.
{{**}}
Message From The Author:
Hiii
Hope you LOVED the book and if you want to check out the other books in the “Manhattan Bachelors” series then they are listed below!
Book 1 – The Billionaire's Twin Fever
Book 2 – The Billionaire She Could Not Resist
Book 4 – The Billionaire's Secret Surrogate
Or turn the page to check out the special bonus book I included for you, it is one of my previous bestsellers!
Susan x
xx
AMEDEO,
HER ITALIAN BILLIONAIRE
A BILLIONAIRE ROMANCE By..
SUSAN WESTWOOD
Summary
Self employed businesswoman Violet was dedicated to success in her career and she would not let anything get in the way of that.
But after a one night stand with charming billionaire Amedeo Killiano left her pregnant she was forced into making a HUGE decision.
Expecting that the Italian playboy would not be interested in becoming a father and feeling that this was not the right time in her life to start a family she thought there was only one choice.
Abortion.
However, when she told Amedeo the news she was stunned by his reaction and she was stunned further when the Italian Billionaire then made her an offer she simply could not refuse...
Chapter1
Violet Taylor didn’t want to look at the stick she peed on moments ago. The timer had gone off. She should look at it, even though she knew the answer to her question. Her breasts were sore and exhaustion had been her constant friend. She knew. She’d known for a week.
Not that she’d experienced pregnancy before. Ever. Still, she knew this wasn’t her getting her period. She should have gotten that two weeks ago. For someone who was never late, this was beyond late.
She paced the small bathroom in her tiny apartment. She had no idea why people built small houses. If you could afford a house, build one you could live in. Her place felt even smaller right now. She looked around. She couldn’t raise a kid here. No way.
She didn’t think she could go through with an abortion, but she couldn’t keep this child. She’d go through the whole pregnancy only to give it up.
And the father? Did he have a right to know? She wasn’t sure. She wasn’t sure about anything. Pregnancy brain, or stress from the situation.
“Are you going to look at it?” Kalia, her best friend, asked.
She’d called her before taking the test. Her friend was knocking on her door minutes later because she only live across the hall in her own tiny apartment.
“Fine.”
She looked. Two blue lines. She was pregnant. She sat on the edge o
f the tub, her legs not able to hold her at that moment. The tub’s coldness seeped through her threadbare robe.
Kalia grabbed the stick. “Shit.”
“Yeah, shit is right.”
“Who was he?”
Violet thought back to that night six weeks ago. She’d been itching to get out of the apartment, so she’d gone to a bar. This guy must have been slumming because his designer-tailored suit hung on him as if he’d been born with it on. That didn’t scream neighborhood bar. She’d gone willingly to a hotel. Stupid enough and now she was pregnant.
“Some guy I picked up. Guess the condom broke.”
“Violet, let’s take a deep breath before you do anything rash. This guy might want to know.”
He’d been so out of her league. A white guy, no less. Not her usual type. One night stands weren’t her thing. He’d been the first guy she’d ever picked up in a bar. This was why you didn’t do that. You ended up pregnant. She’d admired his long, dark hair. Remnants of her days when she was attracted to bad boys. He’d been a bad boy in his own right. She remembered that he knew his way around a woman’s body. He’d played her like a virtuoso.
Her mouth dried at the memory.
The best sex she’d ever had. And now she had a baby growing inside of her. Shit.
“Do you remember anything about him?” Kalia asked.
Then Violet remembered. He’d put her in a cab, but put his number in her phone.. She’d never used it, too embarrassed by her actions that night. “He put his number in my phone.”
Kalia left, then brought back her phone. It had minimal charge left. At least her electricity hadn’t been turned off and she could charge it. She scrolled through her contacts.
“Find him?”
“Amedeo. I remember he made me think of Mozart.”
“Was he Austrian?”
“No, Italian. First generation, I think. We didn’t talk that much that night.”
Kalia flashed her a smile, clearly seeing the humor in her remark. Violet took a deep breath, then blew it out. “Guess I better call him.”
“Give it some time. Nothing’s going to change in twenty-four hours.”
“It might. I’m not sure I have rent this month. Well, it’s due for three months ago. I don’t have the front or the back rent.” She looked at Kalia as tears threatened to leak out of her eyes. “What am I going to do?”
“You are going back to bed and sleep. Then when you wake up tomorrow, you’re going to have a clearer head and then you can decide a course of action,”
Violet sighed. Her friend was right. The news was still a shock. She couldn’t make a hasty decision. There was now a baby involved. She might actually have to find a real job instead of freelancing. She chafed at the idea, but she needed benefits to go to the doctor. She had someone else to think of now.
“You’d better get to work.”
Kalia waved a hand. “I already called in to tell them I’d be late. I’ll call in sick if you need me to.”
Kalia was the best friend that Violet had ever had during a life that saw few good things happen. “I think I’ll go back to bed. I’m wiped out and I need to make some serious decisions about my life.”
“You’ll do the right thing, Violet.”
“Yeah, past history tells me that. I wouldn’t be in this spot if I’d done the right thing.”
Kalia patted her hand. “Go back to bed. Get some sleep. I’m going to work. I’ll be off at three and I’ll check in then.”
“Use your key in case I’m asleep.”
“No problem.”
Kalia left her sitting in the bathroom. Could she handle this new wrinkle in her life? She wasn’t so sure. She had no choice. She couldn’t afford an abortion, but she’d bet that Amedeo could. She’d be out of his life if he paid for it.
There was no way he would want a baby from a one-night stand. Did she want a baby from a one night stand? She patted her stomach. “I don’t know what I’m going to do little one, but it has to be best for both of us.”
No answer from her abdomen. She didn’t expect one, but some divine intervention might be due about now. She looked at her phone. Should she call him now? No, she’d wait until she had some sleep. Things would look better then.
She left her phone on the sink, then crawled into bed.
***
Amedeo Killiano couldn’t sit still. He normally had a lot of energy. It was why he took up running. If he needed to sit by a computer all day, which was his passion, he knew he’d have to get physical in other areas of his life.
He’d received a cryptic phone call from a woman he’d had a one-night stand with. He’d given her his number, but she never called. He’d been sorry he didn’t get her number. They’d had a good time and he’d wanted to see her again. Not just for sex.
He waited a week then tried to forget about her. Here it was a few months later and she’d asked to see him. They hadn’t flirted on the phone so Amedeo had no idea what this meeting was about.
Not being able to concentrate on his latest program or read his emails, he’d found himself staring at the screen for minutes at a time. Not seeing, just wondering what she wanted. Had she changed her mind? He thought they could have had fun together. Nothing serious, but she’d had the best lips and he couldn’t forget how they looked on his dick.
That had been the best blowjob he’d ever had.
His secretary knocked then entered. “Just wanted to go through our day with you.”
“Sure.”
She sat. “You have this mysterious appointment this morning, then you have to meet with your finance guy about that loan. He wants you to consolidate some debt.”
“He just wants a bigger commission. I have very little debt.”
“Then why’d you let him make an appointment?” Madge said.
She’d been his secretary for years and she could pretty much say anything she wanted to him. Never rude, but she was always forthright about giving her opinion. She was smart, so he always ran things by her. Always one to use his resources, he liked that she would give her opinion freely.
Except when it came to his dating life. She thought he should settle down with a nice girl. She was practically his second mother because his first mother said the same thing. Now that his brother Dante was married, his mother had turned her sights on getting him hitched. Which was the last thing he wanted.
No time. He worked odd hours. He liked to come and go as he pleased. He liked to sleep with whatever woman took his fancy that week. He did have stock in a condom company. Or so people thought.
Amedeo shrugged. “He’ll just badger me until I give in. This way, he thinks he won because he doesn’t know that I’m not changing anything.”
“You’re evil sometimes.”
“Sometimes. I mostly use my power for good,” Amedeo said.
“Let me leave you to your work. It’s a light day today for meetings.”
“Good, because I have some programming to do.”
“You could farm that out,” she said.
“Nah. I’m a code monkey at heart.”
She left, but only a few minutes passed when she buzzed him to let him know that his first appointment was here. He told her to wait two minutes, then send her in. He needed to get himself together. His heart rate went up and he checked his drawer for condoms. Hey, a guy could hope.
Violet Taylor strode into his office as if she owned it. Her eyes darted around, but that was the only chink in her façade he saw. His body woke up in reaction to her proximity. They’d been good in bed. He hoped they’d be there again at some point.
She sat on the chair his secretary had just occupied. What was the etiquette post one-night stand? Did they hug? Shake hands? Clearly, Violet wasn’t doing any of it. She just looked at him. He returned to his seat.
“Good to see you, Violet.”
She licked her lips. Those full dark lips… He needed to stop thinking about that.
“You may not think so af
ter I tell you why I’m here.”
He loved that her voice was husky. Low and almost masculine. Though there was nothing else masculine about her. She had rocking curves and a great big booty. He was sure he’d bitten that booty at some point during their night of passion. Her skin was a beautiful mocha and she had glossy black hair, down to her shoulders.
He tried to discreetly adjust himself under his desk.
“Then just say it. No reason to dance around whatever brought you here.”
“I’m pregnant.”
Okay. He wasn’t sure what to say. “You’re pregnant? You’ve taken a test?”
“Three tests. They all came out positive.”
Three? “Did you bring them with you?”
As a billionaire, women often tried to rope him into marriage. He wore a condom every time, so he was skeptical about pregnancy claims. She dug into her purse, producing all three sticks. She’d anticipated his question. She was good.
“What does this have to do with me?” he said finally.
“Since you’re the only person that I’ve had sex with in a year, you have to be the father. Unless this is divine intervention, but I don’t see any star in the east.”
He loved that sense of humor. She’d had it in bed, also. “I’m supposed to just believe you?”
She rose. “Yes. I’m only telling you so you know. I didn’t come here for anything. Well, except that I don’t have money for an abortion.”
The Billionaire's Secretly Fake Bride (MANHATTAN BACHELORS Book 3) Page 25