Special Delivery (The Billionaire's Baby Book 1)

by S Cinders

  Mrs. H still didn’t know who the father of Mandy’s baby was. But she had come to adore Mandy in the short time they had all lived together. It felt nice to spend Christmas morning as a family, even if it was rather unusual.

  Robert gave Elliot a few books that he had been looking at. Elliot, in turn, gave Robert an all-expense paid trip to anywhere in the world for a week. With one stipulation, he had to come back!

  Mrs. H gave Elliot a hand knitted scarf that was every bit as fine as something one would find in a fancy boutique. Elliot gave Mrs. H a years’ subscription to her favorite audiobooks service, along with a gift card for her favorite teas and cakes shop. She too was given the all-expense paid holiday.

  Elliot gave Mandy so many different things that one could hardly list them all. There were clothing and gift cards to all of her favorite shops. Every book in her favorite series had been wrapped up and signed by the author. Mandy felt overwhelmed by the outpouring of love.

  There were gifts for the baby, and Mrs. H confessed that many of them she had gone out to shop for. It was so exciting to have a new baby coming, she said.

  When it came time for Mandy to give Elliot her gift, she hung back feeling shy.

  Mrs. H and Robert promptly got up stating that they had things which needed to be taken care of immediately.

  Elliot quirked a brow and waited for Mandy to hand him the gift. When he opened it, he stared at it for a long while without speaking.

  Finally, in a gruff voice, he asked, “Where did you find this?”

  Mandy felt sick. It had been a stupid idea, she told herself.

  But she wasn’t one to back down, “Mrs. H was showing me some of the photo albums from when you were a child. I thought maybe you might like to have something like this.”

  He turned the frame over so that she could see her own artwork. Mandy wasn’t a professional by any means, but she had an eye for design and had been drawing since she was a child. It was often an escape for her when life got too overbearing.

  In the picture, there were two sketches facing each other. One was of Elliot, and the other was of his mother in the last picture Elliot had of her.

  He wasn’t sure how she had done it. But somehow Mandy had managed to create love in his mother’s gaze as she looked at her adult son.

  Elliot would have done anything to have one more moment with his mom. This was the next best thing.

  He tried swallowing the lump in his throat and partially succeeded.

  “This is the best gift I have ever been given,” he rasped.

  Mandy shook her head, “I know it isn’t much.”

  “No,” Elliot’s voice was firmer than she was used to as he spoke with her. “This is priceless. Do you understand what you have done here? Mandy, you have given me back my mom.”

  Mandy didn’t know what it was like to love your parent as much as Elliot loved and missed his mother. But she was thrilled that he liked her gift. She gave him another one of the packages that she had set aside for him and he opened up a navy striped tie.

  “Hey,” he wrapped it around his neck, “How do I look?”

  Mandy giggled, “Very handsome!”

  He clutched her then and brought her in close to give her a hard kiss.

  “This is the best Christmas I have ever had,” she whispered against his lips.

  He smiled, “It is the first of many.”

  NATE AND KIM ARRIVED around noon, and there were more presents passed around. They had a large dinner with turkey, stuffing, ham, mashed potatoes, and all the sides. Elliot insisted that Mrs. H and Robert joined them again for dinner and they all laughed and talked for hours, long after the food had gotten cold.

  When it was time for Nate and Kim to leave, there was a knock at the door. Elliot shrugged, not sure who would be calling at his house on Christmas day.

  Robert returned with the visitor and Mandy felt the color leaving her face.

  “Hiya, Mandy-girl!”

  Kim narrowed her eyes. She had never been a huge fan or Shay’s. And she didn’t like the way her sister’s friend was eyeing Nate like she knew him from somewhere.

  Nate looked ill, “Shay? Isn’t it?”

  CHAPTER 32

  Shay blinked twice before answering, “It’s been a long time, Nate—too long.”

  Nate didn’t answer, as he rubbed the back of his neck. Kim stiffened beside him.

  Immediately Shay slipped into femme fatal mode. She jutted out her hip and raised a delicately arched brow as she assessed the situation. It seemed the Johnson sisters were rolling with the big time now.

  It wasn’t lost on Shay that her supposed best friend, Mandy hadn’t mentioned a word of this when they met up the other day. Hell, Shay would still be in the dark if she hadn’t of stopped over at Mandy’s parents and been told this address.

  Her eyes taking in the two sisters and the handsome gentleman, that were standing rather closely beside them. This was going to be fun, she thought to herself.

  Kim was starting between Shay and Nate, “You two know each other?”

  Shay smiled, it was the cat who had invariably gotten the cream type of smile. And to add insult to injury, Shay licked her bottom lip before answering, “Oh, we know each other—intimately.”

  What Shay hadn’t expected was the pandemonium that ensued.

  Kim didn’t respond to Shay. She didn’t scream or yell, or even hit anyone. She turned on her heel and walked straight out the door. Nate was busy grabbing keys and her purse but followed hot on Kim’s heels.

  Shay turned a smug look to Mandy, she wasn’t sure who this other guy was. But he looked very familiar. And the fact that he was in the same room as Nate led her to one conclusion.

  “Do you work with Nate?” Shay asked in what one could only call and accusatory tone.

  “Who are you?” Elliot barked out, “And how dare you come into my home and treat my guests so rudely.”

  Shay didn’t bother to look ashamed because she wasn’t. But her eyes narrowed at Mandy who seemed frozen in the space she was in.

  “I am Mandy’s best friend, and former roommate. I hadn’t realized that she kept in touch with anyone after the party.”

  “What party?” Elliot expostulated, “What are you talking about?”

  Shay’s smile widened, “The costume party that Mandy and I served it with a bunch of corporate bigwigs. It was, seven or eight months, ago.”

  And then she stopped, eyes rounding, and looking over to where Mandy stood white as a ghost. Shay started to laugh, it was a nasty bitter sound that grated on everyone’s ears.

  “This is too good!” Shay shook her head, “Only you, Mandy, can manage to get knocked up by the richest prick in town.”

  And it was those words that did it.

  Elliot swung wild eyes to Mandy and her guilt and shame was written clearly across her face.

  It seemed to spur her into action, “You don’t know anything about it, Shay. Elliot Brand is my boss, nothing more.”

  She ignored the hurt in his eyes.

  Shay took a step toward Mandy, “You don’t sleep around, hell you don’t have one-night stands, and you don’t pick up guys at parties. But you did that night. You went home with a man in a royal blue mask with thick dark hair just like his.”

  Tears gathered in Mandy’s eyes, but she refused to let them fall.

  “Shay, your accident was just after that. You aren’t remembering things right.”

  Elliot gripped Mandy’s arm, “Did you work at that masquerade party down on the wharf?”

  A tear slipped, unbidden as Mandy nodded once.

  Doing the math, he looked from her stricken face to her rounded stomach and immediately released her arm.

  “Is that my child?” his tone was firm and demanding.

  Mandy did the first thing that came to mind and tried to put some distance between them.

  He raised his voice, “Answer me!”

  Mrs. H and Robert came sailing out of the backrooms.
Seeing the tense situation and the strange woman they weren’t sure what was going on.

  Mandy’s lips trembled as she lowered her head and one syllable slipped out, “Yes.”

  It was as if time stood still.

  Their beautiful holiday seemed to be melting away as lies and betrayal took precedence.

  Elliot turned to Robert, “Get her out of here and never admit her again.”

  Shay squawked her outrage and Robert firmly escorted her to the door. He would be following her all the way to the lobby where he could inform the doorman that she was banned from the premises.

  “Did you always know?” Elliot’s voice had deepened to a dangerous degree. “Is that why Dr. Robert’s suggested you come work for me? Was this all a game? I suppose it would be a great coop to pull one over on Elliot Brand.”

  “It was nothing like that!” Mandy protested. “I didn’t know your name. So, when I found out that I was pregnant I couldn’t contact you. And then I lost my job and my apartment and ended up at my parents again. Dr. Robert’s was just trying to help me out. I didn’t know it was you until I walked into that interview.”

  His glare was full of icy disdain, “You have known since the day of the interview?”

  “Yes,” another admission that seemed ripped from her soul.

  “Were you ever going to tell me?” he asked coldly.

  Mandy couldn’t stop the tears from falling, “Of course, I was. I almost have so many times.”

  “But you were afraid that I would be mean to you? That I would turn away my child?” his tone was incredulous.

  “No!” she blurted out, “You aren’t understanding, Elliot. I didn’t tell you because I thought you would be angry, that you would hate me. And the more time passed the harder it was to admit the truth.”

  “You are right about one thing,” his lips compressed into a line before he nailed the coffin shut, “I am extremely angry.”

  Mandy turned and ran toward her room, tears blurring the way and he didn’t stop her this time. Mrs. H looked from him to Mandy and back again before shaking her head and following Mandy.

  Elliot swore.

  Picking up the closest thing to him he hurled it at the wall. It wasn’t until he looked down that he realized it had been the drawing of himself and his mother that Mandy had given him. A surge of remorse so strong swept through him. He walked over and ignoring the gash in the wall picked up the broken frame.

  He pushed the glass away and removed the drawing dropping the rest.

  Elliot stared at it for a long time.

  Finally, he folded the drawing and put it in his pocket next to his heart. Then grabbing some keys, he left the apartments. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do, but he couldn’t be there another moment.

  He didn’t hate her. He couldn’t. But Elliot was far too angry to remain there and the last thing that he wanted to do was hurt Mandy with words that were better off unsaid. Once he calmed down, they could talk about things.

  It would better this way, he tried to convince himself.

  Elliot got into his sports car and sped out of the parking garage. He drove for what seemed like hours and ended up grabbing a drink at a seedy bar. The time was beneficial for him to see the kind of position that Mandy had been in. He still didn’t like that she hadn’t been honest with him.

  But a large part of him understood why she was out to protect herself and her unborn child. He had to respect that. He didn’t know where things stood between them and he wasn’t sure how things would play out.

  But he was finally ready to talk.

  CHAPTER 33

  “Kim! Kim, would you please slow down?”

  Nate raced after Kim as she barreled down the sidewalk to Nate’s car. He said a silent prayer that at least she had stopped this time and he wasn’t going to have to chase her halfway through the city in bitter cold temperatures.

  “Kim, can we talk about this?”

  “Open the door, Nate,” Kim tugged on the handle.

  Nate sighed and unlocked the door. Kim was inside before he could blink. She turned to him with a furious expression.

  “Are you coming?”

  He blinked, “Um, yeah, of course.” Rounding the car, he got into the driver’s seat and asked, “Where are we going?”

  Kim looked at him like he was crazy, “To my fucking parents’ house. Didn’t you hear Slutty Shay in there? My parents told her where to find Mandy which only means one thing.”

  Nate wasn’t following the conversation very well at all. But what he had noticed was that Kim didn’t seem pissed at him. Thank the good Lord, he sent another silent prayer up thanking whoever was listening for Christmas miracles.

  Kim gave Nate curt directions to the run-down bungalow that she and Mandy had grown up in. The neighborhood looked like something one would see on the six o’clock news, and Nate was pretty certain that he had at one point or another.

  Kim wrenched the door open the moment the car stopped and was halfway across the yard before Nate caught up with her.

  “You don’t need to come in with me,” Kim said in a low voice.

  Nate’s hand clamped down on her elbow, “Like hell, I don’t. You have told me a lot about your parents and none of it is good. Do you honestly think I would let you go in there alone?”

  Kim wrinkled her brow but didn’t comment when he stepped along beside her up to the front porch. Kim tried the knob, but it was locked which wasn’t unusual. She pounded on the door.

  There was some scuffling from inside, but no one came to answer her knock. Kim pounded again, louder, and more insistent this time.

  “It’s Kim, open up mom.”

  A few clicks of bolts being undone followed by the creak of a hinge that had never seen oil and the door was opened to reveal an older woman with indescribably matted gray hair. She smiled at her daughter but there wasn’t love in her gaze. In fact, it seemed almost menacing to Nate and he yanked Kim closer to his side.

  Kim glared at her mother, “Are you going to let us in?”

  Kim’s mom shrugged, “Don’t see why you are here.”

  Nate felt his blood heat, “You don’t understand why your daughter would want to see her mother on Christmas Day?”

  Both Kim and her mom let out a harsh laugh.

  “There isn’t anything special about today, boy.”

  Mrs. Johnson coughed, the sound rattling her thin frame and for a moment she looked vulnerable. That is, until she looked back up at her daughter, then hatred filled that space in her eyes.

  “My money isn’t enough for you?” Kim spat at her. “You had to go and take Mandy’s as well?”

  Mrs. Johnson smiled, her brown and rotting teeth turned Nate’s stomach.

  “It gets expensive to live these days, Kimmy. We allowed Mandy to move in here and she needs to pay her way.”

  The corners of Kim’s mouth turned white with fury.

  “I paid your rent the entire time that Mandy lived here. I know for a fact that she bought groceries. Almost everything else is covered by government assistance, so tell me Mom, is Mandy covering your drug money, or am I?”

  Mrs. Johnson’s eyes narrowed into dangerous slits. “Get the fuck out of my house!”

  “Gladly,” Kim retorted, “But you will not see another dime from me or from Mandy. Do you understand that? Your little trick tonight, sending Shay to where Mandy lives backfired. What was she supposed to do, Mom, steal something? Find out the codes and a way into the place?”

  Mrs. Johnson didn’t even pretend that she didn’t know what Kim was talking about. “You think your shit doesn’t stink? Let me tell you something, Kim. Your loving husband has been fucking Shay off and on for years. She was only too happy to go and see what you both were leaving her out of. Your husband didn’t mind sharing you both, maybe this new boyfriend won’t mind Shay in his bed either.”

  Nate barely restrained Kim before she attacked her mother. He tossed her over his shoulder and went to leave. He cou
ldn’t believe that Kim and Mandy had managed to thrive in such horrible circumstances.

  But before he got out the door he turned to Mrs. Johnson, “If you try and extort money from either of them I will have you brought up on charges so fast that your head will spin. I have friends in the DEA as well as at the precinct. Go ahead and try me, lady. I’m a lawyer as well as a businessman. Let me tell you this, the abuse you and your husband have inflicted on these girls could have you locked away for a very long time. So, please, contact them—I dare you.”

  Once outside he set Kim back on her feet. He hated to see the angry tears rushing down her cheeks.

  “I am so sorry, Kim. I was with Shay a long time ago. I can hardly remember that night and it was only once. I had never met you. I would never cheat on you. I swear it.”

  Kim’s watery blue eyes glanced up at his, “I know, Nate. I am not mad at you—not really. I am pissed at Andrew, and what a shitty husband that he was. I am furious at myself for allowing the situation with my parents to get to this point. I have worried that if I didn’t help them, they would die, and it would be on my shoulders.”

  “No, sweetheart,” Nate pulled her close, “You aren’t responsible for them.”

  Kim nodded against his chest, “I know. The way she threw Shay in my face brought back so many other crappy things that she has done to us. I am not giving them a dime, and Mandy better not either.”

  Kim swallowed and pushed back a little to look into Nate’s face, “Do you really think that Elliot is the baby’s father?”

  Nate shrugged, “It doesn’t look good. Has she ever said anything about who the father is?”

  Kim shook her head, “No, and Mandy has only slept with three people her entire life. That’s why I was so surprised when she told me she was pregnant. I should have been there for her, and I tried, honestly, I did. But I was so damn jealous. I wanted a baby of my own and it seemed cruelly unfair that Mandy would get pregnant when she wasn’t even trying. Hell, for all I knew she wasn’t having sex.”

  Nate raised a brow, “And what about now?”