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

by Mia Caldwell

  “What happened?”

  “It got misplaced in the office on Friday and wasn’t found until today. So everyone has known about this but us.”

  “I think Willa is still running your Barcelona office.”

  “What do you mean?”

  She told him about Tina approaching her, about paying the money. “She mentioned that Willa told her to come to me. I think Willa arranged for that notice to be delayed. It’s another way of sticking a knife in me for getting back together with you. But that isn’t important. I still don’t understand how they can cancel the project. It must be serious, as they’ve already invested heavily in the damn thing, and put a year of planning into it.”

  “I know. Everyone was eager to get working on it. It’s a huge setback for an ambitious group of people.”

  “What happened?”

  “The initial site-mapping studies missed something significant.” He unrolled a map of the site. “It’s a nice spot for the purpose, almost perfect, except for one problem. Apparently a few hundred years back, the city built an underground aqueduct right under this spot, right here in the center of the proposed building. They think it might have been part of the navigli, the network of artificial waterways that were built around the city. It probably redistributed water to or from the Po River. Anyway, there is no way the ground at that point will support the structure they wanted there.”

  “I can’t believe they missed that.”

  “The story is that right after it was built, it partially caved in. It was abandoned and forgotten about. It’s narrow, and somehow the surveyors missed it—either there was bad documentation or just some sloppy work, but this is serious enough that it will undoubtedly put this project in the courts for a long time while everyone involved sues everyone else.”

  Lissa thought quickly. “If it was just an aqueduct, why can’t it be filled in?”

  “That’s possible, but the new information suggests that there might be some sort of fault or sinkhole there. Very localized.” He handed her the report. “You can read the details for yourself, but their conclusion is that the cost of verifying the precise location of whatever is wrong and working out a fix would be enormous and prohibitive, even for a project of this scale.”

  “And it can’t be relocated?”

  “Possibly. I don’t think the consortium has the heart for starting over on scouting locations, and they’ll have bankers and governments breathing down their necks to make decisions fast.”

  “So they aren’t willing to give us time to come up with options.”

  “They’ve called a meeting. I need to go to Milan tomorrow. I’ll know more about the options after that.”

  “And just in case the project is actually on, I can’t go unless I represent Tom Acker because of that damn contract.”

  “I’ve talked to a contact with the consortium. Tom and Willa are arriving tonight.” He sighed. “I need to go to the hotel and pack. It’s an early flight.”

  Lissa felt her heart flutter. They were just beginning to get to know each other outside of the bed, and now he was being called away on urgent business. This had happened before and been disastrous. She wanted to cling to him, either get on a plane and go with him or keep him from going.

  This was business, and he hadn’t caused this. She didn’t blame him, but somehow he was being taken from her for a second time.

  “See if you can stall them while I take a close look at what we know. There has to be some way to make this project happen. I’m willing to bet I can come up with a fix that will make the project even better.”

  “That American optimism. Okay, I’ll do my best.”

  She knew she sounded desperate, but something inside Lissa made her feel that the fate of the Milan project and her relationship with Julio were entwined, that they would sink or swim together. She didn’t know if that was good or bad or even true, but it felt that way.

  Conflicting emotions tore at her. She wanted him to fly to Milan and fight for the project, but having him pulled from her again for business dragged up bitter memories. She wanted to go with him, but that might compromise his bid if nasty legal wrangling came up. Sometimes there didn’t seem to be any entirely good days.

  Their parting kiss was disappointing, but then neither of them wanted to say goodbye. At least she didn’t. Sometimes she still wondered how he truly felt. It was one thing to love the children, and to like making love to her, and another to take it to the next level. And she had to wonder about her own feelings for him. She wasn’t used to wanting a man that way, feeling empty when he was gone. It made her feel weak.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  The package was unmarked except for being addressed to her. “A courier delivered it,” Joan said.

  She opened it and found a memory stick and a note. “Keep your guard up,” it said. It was signed by Willa, with a flourish on the W.

  “What the hell?”

  “She’s playing games with you.”

  “Even so…”

  “You have to see what it is.”

  So, instead of jumping on the site problem, she dug out an old laptop and turned it on. Joan gave her an inquisitive look. She shrugged. “It’s from Willa. This might be an attempt to hack my computer. This one isn’t connected to any network.”

  When she scanned the disk, she found a few photos. Some were of Julio and Willa naked in bed together in hotel rooms. Then there were three of him with a tall black woman. She recognized the bar at the Park Plaza. The woman looked a lot like her. Somehow that didn’t seem a coincidence.

  Joan looked over her shoulder. “So the German bitch is showing you that she was screwing Julio and suggesting he might be fooling around now? Maybe that he likes black girls in America?”

  “Seems something like that. Or maybe she wants me to believe she’s still having an affair with him herself.”

  “Either way she’s just trying to get under your skin.”

  The problem was that it did unnerve her. It had never occurred to her that Julio might have been sleeping with Willa—that she managed to do more to come between them than interrupt communications. Her brain didn’t think it changed things at all. Her heart lacked that sublime confidence. Maybe Julio didn’t make long-term commitments.

  # # #

  Julio reached her on a video call in the office. Seeing him gave her a rush that combined relief and apprehension. “How are you? How is it going?”

  “I’ve managed to buy us a small window of opportunity. We have to move quickly because a number of the consortium are fed up with the project. But at least we have a clear field.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Do you have a solution to the basic problem?”

  “I think so. I’m still getting some expert opinions to confirm things.”

  “Well, Tom Acker took no for an answer. Willa’s hung around to watch things, but they have no interest in the project anymore. I think he’s starting something in Chile next week. So I need you to fly over here right away. We need to make a formal presentation of how we can save the world.”

  “Or this small part of Italy. What about the family?”

  “Bring everyone. Fly first class.”

  “What about my little contract problem? Working with you is still a no-no. Even if Acker doesn’t make a bid, I can’t work on anyone else’s bid.”

  He smiled. “Well, first of all, we can argue you aren’t working on the bid. You are working on a proposal that will allow there to be one.”

  “I’d still be in a situation where the contract might apply.”

  “What if I had an idea? The contract is between your company and Acker, and your company is a corporation.”

  “It is.”

  “Essentially, you are the major stockholder and an officer, but also an employee of your company—you work for you. So what happens if you take a leave of absence from your company, you and Abby both? What if you went to work for me on a limited-term contract?”

>   “I have no idea.”

  “I have my legal people checking it out, but unless you signed a contract with your own company, I think you can do that. Your company can’t. But there’s no way that anyone can sign away your rights for you as a person. Not without a power of attorney. I’ll get my miserable legal people to earn their extravagant retainers.”

  “So my company shuts down for say, one year, with us on leave, and we take jobs with you?”

  “Sure. You say that Willa is now being called Acker’s project manager. Well, you could become my project manager. Equality is a beautiful and slippery slope.”

  “That just might work.”

  “Like I said, I need to have the experts sprinkle my crazed idea with their holy water, but I suspect that’s an option. There might be some ambiguities. We also can battle this with another interesting twist that’s in our favor. My company is a Spanish company. We don’t even have an office in the US. If Acker wants to sue me for employing you, he’d have to file in Spain or Italy. Then the battle is fought where my guys have the home-court advantage.” She smiled. “I see you like my sneaky thinking.”

  “I do. We also have Tina’s statement, which can be something of a deterrent.”

  “Precisely. So let me know your flights.”

  She heard voices in the background. Women’s voices. She tried to laugh at herself. He was around women all the time, and until Willa sent her those photos, she’d never given it a thought. Well, she needed to think, and see. But his idea was sound. She’d go over there and salvage the damn project, then they’d build something magnificent.

  She’d decide if she had the strength to try for more than that later. When she could think.

  # # #

  Milan was exciting and busy. They settled Joan and the boys at the hotel suite. Abby, unused to jet travel, went to her room for a nap. “I’ll meet with Julio,” Lissa told her. “Rest, and we can catch up later.”

  Julio seemed excited to see her. She let him kiss her, but he caught her lack of enthusiasm. He said nothing about it.

  “I’ve got it,” she told him.

  “A solution?”

  “One they’ll love. You know the changes we wanted to make for some of the infrastructure?”

  “The access roads?”

  “Right.”

  Julio sat up and folded his hands. “Okay, I’m listening.”

  “They wanted the building to face north to avoid solar gain in summer. That makes sense, but if we face it northwest, that will simplify the access roads from the A4—the main artery. We’d talked about that, and we can create a split-level system that will route the commercial traffic directly to loading docks, and the cars to parking lots.”

  “The traffic isn’t really the serious problem here.”

  “Actually, there is no problem. They want to see innovation, right?”

  “They say that.”

  “Then consider this. First, it we relocate things the way I’ve marked them, the building should stand forever. The problem, the structural problem, was that the center of mass was directly over the fault.”

  “And moving it a little bit changes that?”

  “Entirely. We will ensure that by using some new support structures that are fundamentally iron-reinforced concrete, but with some additives that give them tensile strength bordering on the heroic. Some new anchors let us put them in the collapsed area, and then we fill the voids with a special foam, and before you can say ‘ain’t technology grand,’ the site is more stable than they thought it was before.”

  “I think they just might go for this.”

  “Especially when they find out that the company that makes the products will provide them at cost, along with technical expertise and safety shock-load testing just for the chance to show what their stuff will do.”

  “Now there is a good hook.”

  “Abby was putting together a snazzy presentation on the flight over that I think will sell them on the idea. There is some clever animation. Another part that works for you is that this doesn’t require changes to anything you might have come up with for the building itself, unless you were planning an underground swimming pool.”

  “I’d entirely forgotten to put one in. How careless of me.” He looked at her. “Your solution is perfect. Well done.”

  “When they bless it officially, we can start work on the project—do the work we wanted to do in the first place.”

  “Yes, of course. Now, unless there is anything else… What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing is wrong.”

  “No?”

  “I’m unsure,” Lissa said.

  “What’s changed since I left? It’s only been a few days.”

  “I’ve learned a few new things. Like about you and Willa.”

  Julio became very still. “I see,” he said, finally. “I assume she told you?”

  “She sent pictures, actually.”

  A muscle worked in Julio’s cheek. “Sneaky woman. I didn’t know about them.”

  “I didn’t think that was your style. She picked photos that showed your…enthusiasm.”

  “I’ve never said I didn’t find her attractive.”

  “No.”

  “And I thought I’d lost you.”

  “See. That uncertainty thing.”

  He sighed.

  “How do we get over that?” Lissa asked.

  “How did you get over being uncertain about your analysis techniques?”

  She gave him a grin. “I was never uncertain about them.”

  “Okay, that’s a bad example.”

  “When I’m with you, I don’t feel the uncertainty. But when you are away from me…” Lissa tried to explain.

  “Then maybe we have to resort to extreme measures and have me never leave your sight.”

  “Or something close that’s slightly more practical?”

  He raised his eyebrow. “If I might suggest a starter course?”

  “Please.”

  They’d been sitting in the grouping of chairs by the window in his room, looking out at the beautiful lights of the city. Julio rose and pulled the curtains closed. He reached for Lissa’s hand and pulled her out of her chair. He put his large hands on her shoulders, then slowly moved his fingers to the buttons of her blouse. “I think it would be a good and positive step forward for us both if I were to tear your clothes off you and make wild love to you.”

  Lissa’s body shook as he traced his knuckle across her breast, then circled it over one nipple. She felt it stiffen immediately and felt her body responding, getting wet, craving him. Her words were breathless, a rasp. “You do?”

  “I do. I propose I rip off your clothes, then make you put them back on later, after I have my way with you, so you can take me to my children so that I can play with them.”

  He placed his hands on either side of her blouse, as if asking for permission to tear her blouse off her.

  “No, don’t,” she said, pulling away. “I didn’t have time to pack, you can’t rip this.”

  “Then hurry up,” he said, moving towards her like a leopard stalking its prey.

  She giggled and moved away from him, then ran away. But his eagerness, his desire for her, was too much for her to resist, so she let all her reservations fade and allowed herself to succumb to her need for him. When they came together again, this time, he insisted on feasting on her pussy first. She lay back on the bed as his mouth sucked and toyed her swollen, aching clit. When her orgasm came, she couldn’t hold back her cries of pleasure. She was still writhing in the afterglow when she entered her, filling her completely on the first thrust.

  “Ah, ah,” she cried out as he forced her body against his. She wrapped her arms around his neck and fisted her hands in his hair.

  “Lissa,” he groaned into her ear as his hips thrust into her even as he yanked her against him.

  When she came this time, her cries of pleasure mingled with his, and she felt his fertile seed once again, spilling without
barrier into her womb, and a part of her sex-lubricated mind hoped that she’d get pregnant again, as if three children wouldn’t be enough to keep him in her life.

  # # #

  Julio was gone before she’d woken up, and when they spoke, there was no mention of the previous night, or anything else regarding their relationship. They talked about the boys, and how Joan was getting on with them, then went straight into planning and prepping for the critical presentation later that day with the backers for the project.

  Lissa had a million things to still prepare, but she couldn’t concentrate. Her nerves were shot. All her thoughts kept circling back to the same inescapable conclusion, one she didn’t want to accept, that she was falling hard for Julio Torres. She was afraid to let that happen. It was obvious he was attracted to her, and he’d be around for the kids, but she was kidding herself if she expected him to stay around for her for much longer. She needed to protect her heart from being shattered in two. She couldn’t risk falling in love with him.

  # # #

  “Well?” Julio asked conspiratorially a short while later, as Lissa pulled beside him in front of the food and drinks table.

  Lissa picked up a small plate and placed a strawberry dipped in white chocolate on it, even though her stomach was twisted in tight knots and she knew she couldn’t eat a bite. She and Julio had both been circulating around the foyer outside the small conference room where they’d be making their pitch. They’d split the duty, and had been chatting up key players, hoping to gauge their positions prior to making the final case. Her mind hadn’t been one hundred percent on her task. She’d been thinking about Julio, her future, her babies' future, and those darn pictures from Willa, and her admonition. Keep your guard up. It was starting to sound, more and more like a good idea.

  “Are you all right?” Julio asked. “You seem off.”

  Now wasn’t the time, she had to get her head straight. In a few minutes she’d be making the presentation of her life. “Nothing’s wrong, it’s just that no one I spoke to was in a particularly good mood.”