Daddy Plus One: A Single Dad Secret Baby Billionaire Romance

by Brooke Valentine

  “My patience is wearing thin. I’ve tried to have a civil tongue, but this ambush is raising my temper to a boil. Take one more step down the hall and you will regret it. I’m not the same little girl I was when I married him under protest. I knew deep down we were never right for each other.” She was saying everything she had always wanted to but never had the chance.

  Tony was pacing back and forth, and then there was this sudden loud clap of thunder when he smacked his fist into his hand.

  “I will not tolerate you speaking to my mother like that. We can do this the easy way or we can do this the hard way. It doesn’t really matter to me. I will be more than happy to drag you by your hair, kicking and screaming.” He had never been shy to put his hand on any woman and Yvette’s attitude was really vexing him.

  “Don’t even think about putting your hands on my daughter. If anybody is going to take matters into their own hands, it’s going to be me. You do raise a valid point and sometimes a daughter needs to understand her obligations to her family.” She was standing defiantly with her arms crossed over her yellow, ‘70s-style jacket.

  “My boy could’ve done a whole lot better than her. We had a frank conversation before he went down the aisle and I expressed myself eloquently. I told him she was nothing but a gold-digging tramp trying to trap him by getting pregnant.” Helena was pulling on her black hair, which had come straight out of a bottle. She had turned gray by forty years old, and was hiding her age by any means necessary.

  “This isn’t good for my image. The other partners have been looking at me funny lately. My wholesome image has been tarnished because of this ugliness. I can still get things back on track, but only if you are by my side, smiling and being the dutiful wife you’re supposed to be.” Tony wasn’t tall, but he had a reputation for using his 5’8 frame to intimidate those in the courtroom. This was the same tactic with the same booming voice and conviction behind every word.

  “It has always been about you and never once have you considered what I want. I’m window dressing and you would rather me be seen and not heard. It’s no wonder my father left to get away from my mother’s shrill voice. I’m taking a page from his book to find my happiness with someone who can truly appreciate me.” She wasn’t going to sit back and allow them to browbeat her into doing something she was never going to do.

  “I have a good mind to slap the taste out of your mouth,” Lupe said, and raised her hand to her daughter. Yvette grabbed it in midair with her eyes burning. She was never going to allow her mother to lay her hand on her in anger again. They stood toe to toe, looking at each other like two immovable forces unwilling to bend.

  “This isn’t the woman I married. I told you what to do and you did it without hesitation. I made the rules and you followed them. I don’t want the woman I don’t recognize as being my wife.” Tony’s eyes were cold and calculating like that of a seasoned psychopath.

  “I will get through to her if it’s the last thing I do. Don’t give up; the woman you married is still in there. The devil can be excised from her soul.” Lupe tried to pull her hands free but found Yvette’s grip to be like iron.

  “My boy deserves better than this. A marriage is like a roller coaster. Sometimes you want to scream and other times you want to laugh. It’s an emotional upheaval. It would be best for you to learn your place.” The words were barely out of her mouth when she was accosted by an expression stopping her cold in her tracks.

  If looks could kill, Helena would’ve been on the floor writhing in agony with her last breath coming out of her mouth.

  “I’ve listened to all of you and it’s time for you to finally listen to me. I have no intention of going back to Tony, and nothing on this green earth would ever make me want to go back to that living hell.” She went over to the door and opened it, fuming mad and looking for someone to make it necessary for her to act with a physical display of emotion.

  “Lupe and I are going to go to your room and pack your things. There’s a taxi waiting for all of us outside at the curb. It will take us to the airport where there is a ticket in your name. Don’t make this any harder than it has to be.” Helena and Lupe made a few steps in tandem.

  “You’re my daughter and I know what’s best for you. Stay here with Tony until we get back.” They had barely made it halfway down the hallway when there was the crash of glass shattering into a million pieces.

  “I’ve tried to do this the nice way, but the only thing you understand is violence. Get out of my home and never darken my doorway again.” She saw the knife block and grabbed the biggest cleaver she could find, wielding it like a crazed lunatic.

  “Put that down and stop acting like a crazy person.” Tony took a step toward her, feeling there was no way she would actually use the cleaver. He was wrong.

  The blade swung in the air and the cold menacing steel sliced through his jacket and shirt to his sensitive skin underneath. One step closer and he would have been in desperate need of medical aid.

  “Stop talking to me like I’m a child. I’m through playing by the rules. For the first time in my life, I’m living for nobody’s approval. I’m going to say this one more time with feeling so there is no miscommunication. If you know what’s good for you, you will leave before things escalate.” There was a droplet of his blood staining the steel of the blade.

  “I don’t need this hassle. You have become unraveled. I’m leaving, but you should know this is not the end of it. The penthouse is my possession and I want it back. I have this document for you to sign back the ownership.” He had it in his hand and suddenly, it was being shredded by the very cleaver that had destroyed his jacket and custom-made shirt from overseas.

  “I have no intention of giving you anything back. Let me make things a little clearer. Leave now or there will be a need for the police to come haul me away. I have this cleaver in my hand and my mother can attest to my knowledge of using it.” Yvette had never brandished anything in anger, but there was always a first time for everything.

  The document was sliced in half with one part on the floor and the other one still clutched in Tony’s hand. He dropped the other piece and casually walked backward towards the door with his mouth wide open in shock. He swallowed hard thinking about how she might possibly use that cleaver on another part of his anatomy.

  “I can’t talk to you when you are like this. To be perfectly honest, I don’t want you back and I’m having fun playing the field.” It was a hurtful thing for Tony to say, but he felt like he was backed into a corner like a wounded animal.

  “Tony, when are you ever going to listen to your mother? It’s always the quiet ones you have to worry about. I have a few friends with single daughters you should seriously consider pursuing. I want you to wash your hands of this; it’s not worth the headaches. I was wrong to let Lupe convince me to come here.” The two of them stormed down the hall going to the elevator.

  Lupe held back, still stunned by what had transpired.

  “You’re not going to use that on your mother. Look at the mess you’ve made of your life. You had everything, and you ruined it by walking away when things got tough. I’m ashamed to call you my daughter. I need to let you hit rock bottom before you realize the mistake you’ve made.” Her daughter was holding onto the cleaver with her fingers turning white from the effort.

  “Tony was an unfortunate chapter in my life and I finally closed it by signing on the dotted line. It’s time for a new chapter dedicated to me and nobody else. The freedom to think for myself is not something I will easily give up. I still love you, but I don’t have to take your verbal abuse.” She fought the urge to scream and kept her voice steady with her breathing, making it feel like she was going to hyperventilate.

  “I hope for your sake you finally come to your senses. I’ve said what I needed to say. I will pray for divine intervention to step in to save your soul. I will talk to Father Michaels and get him to perform a sermon in your honor.” Lupe didn’t feel there was anything le
ft to say, but her daughter had something else in mind.

  “I’m going to reiterate what I said to you on the phone the other day. This is my life and I found my voice. It was a good thing he cheated on me. I probably would’ve remained in a mundane existence and you would’ve been happy. I don’t think that I would’ve been able to say the same.” Lupe looked at her daughter and found what she saw was a stranger.

  “You have fallen from grace, but there is still hope. Never forget your mother loves you. I just can’t stand to see you like this.” She had the final say and walked out the door with her head held high.

  Yvette was running on pure adrenaline and slammed the door with a definitive motion of her hand. She fell back and dropped the cleaver which landed and stuck into the wood floor at an angle.

  She had her hands over her eyes and slumped to a sitting position with her arms wrapped around her knees. The moment was over and the breakdown was inevitable. She wept openly with rocking sobs that she wasn’t able to hold back any longer.

  Outside the door, Blake had listened to the whole thing from beginning to end. He was proud of her for taking a stand and not backing down. He was tempted to back her up, but to do so would’ve only made her look weak and frail. Those two words couldn’t possibly describe the woman he had been dating.

  He had hidden down the hall around the corner in time for her ex-husband and his mother to emerge.

  He could hear her letting her emotions come to the forefront. He put his hand on the door as a sign of respect and solidarity. He could only hope she could feel his strength through the door.

  Chapter Nine

  “Slow down…you’re not making any sense. Take a few deep breaths and maybe I might be able to make sense of what you’re saying.” Adam was awakened from a deep sleep on the couch after watching a cheesy old movie on television.

  The scream sounded ungodly and he bolted to a sitting position to see Blake on the balcony howling at the moon. It wasn’t the first time he had seen him in a state of unrestrained emotion. This was his way of dealing with what had been building up inside. It was supposedly cathartic and would release the pent-up frustration.

  “They shouldn’t have… they did… I wished I’d done something.” Blake wanted to intervene on her behalf, but had restrained himself out of misplaced loyalty and respect for the woman he had gotten to know.

  “Who are they and what did they do to get you so fired up? I thought that you were on a date with Yvette. Don’t tell me she shot you down at the end the night again. I’m sure it was a blow to your ego, but you will get over it. She has hometown values and we have to take all of that into consideration.” Blake was wearing a pair of black boxer shorts, while still trying to connect the dots of what had transpired during the evening.

  “They fucking ambushed her and I did nothing. I stood there listening to them rake her over the coals. She didn’t deserve the verbal abuse. It was unconscionable especially when it was coming from her… her…mother of all people.” Blake was trying to compose himself, but it wasn’t easy when his anger was getting the best of him.

  “I’m starting to understand, but maybe you should start at the beginning. I came in a little late to the conversation. I need what most people would call context to make an informed judgment.” He was trying to be articulate, but Adam felt like he had just stepped into a soap opera.

  “I don’t understand what they thought they were going to accomplish. I was appalled by the hurtful words her mother was spewing in her face.” Blake had never witnessed anything like it. It was deplorable and made him grateful for the family he had.

  “Could it be that her mother doesn’t approve of her decision to walk away from her marriage?” Adam knew how to read between the lines better than anyone. It was a gift and a curse at the same time. She didn’t know what he meant by ‘they.’

  “Our mother would have never said anything like that. It didn’t matter what we did wrong. We’ve had our fair share of differences over the years. Family is the benchmark of society, but you wouldn’t know it from how she treated Yvette.” Blake was usually more composed.

  “This is highly unusual. It’s usually me going off the handle over nothing. You’re the one that has to talk me down from the ledge. I can’t say I like this reversal of fortune. I’m going to try to put it into perspective for you.” Adam could tell Blake was unresponsive staring blankly into the night, but he was going to have to try and get through to him.

  “I am puzzled by how any mother could rationalize disowning her own child. I’m sure in her mind there was precedent, but the woman she spoke of didn’t remind me of the woman we have gotten to know.” Blake couldn’t bear to hear her cry and should have barged in to take her into his arms.

  “Tell me that she didn’t allow her to kick her when she was down.” Adam had his hand on his brother’s shoulder in a reassuring gesture of brotherly love.

  “You would have been proud of her. She showed them no mercy and gave them something to think about. She actually picked up a cleaver and used it to defend her honor. Her ex-husband didn’t even know what hit him until it was too late. You should have heard him backpedaling like mad to find an exit.” He thought about what she had gone through and he finally realized he was in love with her.

  It was like a slap in the face. He could still feel the metaphorical sting and it left him powerless to resist. He was at her mercy and would have given anything to take away her pain.

  “Wait… I thought it was just her mother. You left out some interesting tidbits of information from this conversation.” He didn’t like the sound of this.

  He had this knee-jerk reaction to run downstairs and grab her ex-husband by the scruff of his neck.

  “It was her mother, her ex-husband, and his mother ganging up on her. She held her own like a lion tamer with a whip in her hand. She held back the snarling jaws of contempt coming from all three of them. It touched me and terrified me at the same time to see her having to resort to those extreme measures to be heard.” Blake hadn’t taken off his jacket and decided at that exact moment to go and comfort her.

  “It sounds like she finally got some things off of her chest. The divorce left her drained. She had to find out who she was without his influence in her life. She’s always going to have her mother’s voice in the back of her head. It’s the nature of the beast when it comes to the bond a mother and daughter have.” Adam had been watching way too many talk shows and he was verbally repeating everything he had heard from Dr. Phil.

  “I’ve never heard you speak with such compassion and understanding. Could it be you have finally gotten over this phase of being all about yourself? Say it isn’t so. How am I going to recognize you without hearing your selfish display of arrogance?” He was poking fun at his brother and enjoying a little bit of levity.

  “I’ve always been a sensitive soul underneath it all. Nobody wanted to dig down deep enough to find the human being with a beating heart of gold. The only one who has been able to peel back the layers like an onion is Yvette. It would be a good idea for us to let her know we are always there for her. She might require a shoulder to lean on.” Adam felt it was his responsibility to protect her from anything causing her pain.

  He thought about the letters and how disturbing they had become over the past few months. The black petals of a rose inside an envelope written in bold indelible red ink had him puzzled. The only thing saving him from sleepless nights was thinking about Yvette. He hadn’t even talked to his brother about the possibility of danger lurking in the shadows.

  “I don’t believe it… it can’t be possible after all these years for us to finally agree on something.” Blake could easily see the balcony below him and was waiting to see her lean over the railing to get a breath of fresh air. She never appeared.

  “We can’t always be at odds. We are brothers and sometimes we may not act like it, but we always have each other’s back. I might tease you, but I hope you know it’s only in a brotherl
y jest. I don’t mean any harm. I would never want to hurt your feelings on purpose.” Adam wanted a life with Yvette, but he suspected this sentiment was shared by Blake.

  No woman had ever made him feel like he was walking around on eggshells trying to find the right words. It was always easy, but with her, he had to take a moment to compose his thoughts before saying anything.

  “You have always pushed me to be my best and I have never fallen. I’m going crazy thinking about what Yvette is going through. She can change her clothes and change her name, but she can’t change her family. She doesn’t need somebody to come to her rescue. She’s more than capable of fighting her own battles.” Blake knew something was bothering Adam, but felt it wasn’t his place to fix what was wrong.

  He did see an amazing change come over him and it was due to Yvette being part of both their lives.

  She made them want to be better men and treat her with the kindness she deserved. They had placed her on a pedestal praising her virtues and giving her a sympathetic ear to speak candidly about her feelings.

  Blake could smell the barbecue meat on his brother’s breath. They were amazingly healthy but had a few vices they couldn’t bear to let go. Meat was unhealthy, but sometimes the craving was too much to ignore. Add bacon and they were asking for a heart attack,

  “It kills me to know this isn’t something I can fix for her. I can be there holding her hand, but ultimately it’s her decision what she wants to do about her family. The only thing I care about is her happiness. I would die a little inside if she felt it was necessary to leave this new life she has built from the ground up.” Blake went back inside and found the bar with a bottle of cognac calling his name.

  “Life is about changes and we know from experience nothing stays the same. We all have our stories unfolding one chapter at a time. People have the tendency to judge a book by its cover without turning the pages to see what is inside.” Adam was once again resorting to platitudes and things he had heard from those therapists on TV with multi-million-dollar deals.