Second Chance For The Billionaire: A Billionaire Second Chance Secret Baby Romance

by Alice Moore

  “Uh- erh- well… I was wondering- maybe you could come with us? I- I’m planning on doing video’d interviews, and Roark and Sam already agreed to help as businessmen… but I only have one scientist. So, I was hoping- maybe- if you wouldn’t mind…” She’s so friggin cute. Jesus Christ.

  “I have a meeting in ten minutes that I can’t miss, but if you want, I’ll try drop by the Garden when I’m done. How does that sound?” I didn’t mention that it was highly inappropriate that I was in what could be called a relationship with my student’s brother. There was no possible way I would be reprimanded by the school, but I still had high standards for myself; the academy didn’t care about what teachers did, as long as they managed a classroom.

  It was just another reason this school was so terrible.

  “Yeah- yeah- that sounds good.” A soft ping sounded from Julianne’s phone, and I smiled as she bolted up from her seat and grabbed her bag. Her smile was a mile wide, and she looked like I’d given her a gift from God as she grabbed the door handle. “I’ll see you there, Ms. Mazkov!”

  “… Why are the ruined ones the brightest?” Posing my question to an empty classroom, I shook my head absently and returned to my desk. Julianne didn’t stay at the forefront of my mind for long when I caught sight of the disciplinary slip that sat on top of a pile of blank tests and assignments, though.

  It’d been a week since Cassandra decided to go on her little strike, and her parents finally agreed to have a sit down with me. She was the only one of her posse that was still being impudent; all of the other girls were too scared I would fail them. Truthfully, I wasn’t sure whether to be annoyed at their lack of backbone or to praise it.

  I didn’t want any of my students to fail because that would mean I’d have to teach them again next year. That was just simply unacceptable.

  Déjà vu hit me when a soft creaking sounded, and I glanced up to find Cassandra slinking into the classroom in front of her parents. Her father was tall, lanky, and wore sleek glasses, but it did nothing to shield how obviously pissed off he was. The woman with them was clearly not Cassandra’s mother, and I stood up to meet the trio halfway across the room.

  “Mr. Geroni, thank you for taking the time to meet with me.” Shaking his hand briefly, I smiled automatically while he only scowled. I couldn’t tell if he was mad at me or his daughter, and he gestured towards the woman next to him without a single change in his expression.

  “This is Mary, my secretary. I hope you don’t mind if she’s in the room for this or that she records the conversation.” My brows shot up at that, and Mr. Geroni’s scowl deepened, if that was even possible. “Not because of you, Ms. Mazkov- I assure you.”

  Sending a scathing look at his daughter, he tugged lightly on his crisp suit jacket and exhaled harshly. Cassandra wore a totally unscathed expression, but out of the corner of my eye, I saw her chest stutter.

  She knew she was in some deep shit, and I held back a smirk.

  “No problem. I don’t mind at all. Have a seat, please. There are several things I need to discuss with you.” Waiting patiently as the man and his secretary awkwardly slid into the desk seats, I clasped my hands together before opening my mouth. I’d rehearsed what I would say simply because I didn’t want to come off as exuding favoritism, and he crossed his arms over his chest and stared at me through narrowed eyes. “As you may be aware, Cassandra hasn’t been doing her classwork or homework. While other instructors here do their assignments online, I prefer to have my students use good, old pen and paper. That being said, all of this started because I gave Cassandra a bad grade because I couldn’t read what she’d written.”

  Mr. Geroni didn’t ask why I liked to use conventional methods, and I cocked my head when his expression darkened a few shades. Clearing my throat, I swallowed the lump that had formed and trudged on while the other two women in the room sat silently on either side of him.

  “I offered to give her half credit if she completed the assignments, but she refused. As it stands, Cassandra is in danger of failing. Her initial grade was barely 77% out of 100%, and she has refused to do a collection of eleven handouts, two tests, and four labs. She even managed to convince other students to participate in this ‘strike’. Normally, I wouldn’t care how she associates with her peers, but this is becoming a problem in the classroom.” Silence met my little speech, and I held my breath as Mr. Geroni rubbed his clean-shaven face in agitation. Maybe it was the subject matter, but I didn’t get the impression that this was something he experienced often. There was something innately calm and level about him, but with this- he just cracked.

  “Ms. Mazkov, can you please explain to me, specifically, what problems Cassandra is causing with the other students?” This is an ongoing problem. The realization struck me hard, and I exhaled through my nose with a nod. This is probably the straw that broke the camel’s back.

  “I can really only speak for what I’ve observed personally, but it seems to me that Cassandra thinks that you and your wife’s money and influence means she doesn’t need to learn. I’ve been threatened on more than one occasion over the past half year that Mrs. Geroni will take my job- make sure I never teach again- and other things similar to that. I’ve written her up several times for disrupting class by talking to other students and hampering their ability to do their work. As I mentioned, her circle of friends went a few days without doing their work as well. I wanted this conference partly to discuss this, but also to touch base on what we can set up to help get her through the class.” The more I revealed, the angrier Mr. Geroni became, and I sincerely hoped he wouldn’t flip a desk or something. Parents had been known to react such a way, although for very different reasons than I suspected he had. Glancing at Cassandra from under furrowed brows, I narrowed my eyes on the unease that became clearer the longer the silence dragged on.

  “Have you personally observed Cassandra bullying other students in any way, verbally or physically?” The question caught me off guard, and my attention snapped back to the man directly in front of me as he set his palms flat on the desk. “I assume she more or less behaves herself in your class, Ms. Mazkov?”

  “… I’ve had concerned parents bring up Cassandra’s aggression towards their children. While Cassandra does indeed behave herself because she knows I won’t tolerate bullying, I’ve been approached by parents or guardians that questioned me about Cassandra specifically. I’ve never observed her becoming verbally or physically violent with another student, though.” Answering truthfully, I frowned at the harsh, shocked gasp that echoed around the room and bounced off the walls. Cassandra stood up in a flurry, and I ground my teeth together as she exploded with rage. Face an angry, beet red, her fists shaking at her sides, she was tense and ready to lunge over the desk at me.

  “You’re a liar! You’ve had it out for me since the year started! You hate me, and you want me to fail your class!” High pitched, almost reaching a decibel I couldn’t hear, Cassandra’s accusations were flaky and childish. Arching a brow at her, I forced myself to remain as calm as I could as her father’s eyes flickered between us.

  “I would rather you didn’t fail my class, Cassandra, because that means I would have to teach you again next year.” Keeping my voice even was a chore, and I sighed with a dismissive wave of my hand. Cassandra had the mentality of a spoiled seven-year-old, and she went into wide-eyed shock at my revelation. “I don’t hate you. If I fail you, it’s because that is what you earned. You can’t do anything for yourself, and I’ve tried to help you. I offered you extra time after school that I could’ve spent with other students that actually cared about their futures. I offered to give you credit for the assignments you haven’t done in the past week and a half- you just had to do them and turn them in. I’ve even tried to do things the hard way and write you up.”

  “Ms. Mazkov- thank you for your time, but I’ve heard enough. I’ll be notifying the school that I’m pulling Cassandra out, and she’ll be attending a public high school in t
he city. If you have any recommendations, I would love to hear them.” Oh shit. Is he serious? Surprise must’ve been clear on my face because Mr. Geroni stood up with determined anger and disappointment twisting his features. “You’re the first teacher that really seems to understand that my daughter is destroying her life. I looked you up after your last e-mail. I’m thankful that you tried to help Cassandra, but clearly she needs a harsher dose of reality than you can give her here.”

  “Uh- okay…” Stupidly replying, I raked my brain under Mr. Geroni’s expectant gaze while Cassandra stood off to the side, her fuming replaced with absolute horror. “Well, I can suggest one school- the same high school I went to. I’m not sure if the teachers are the same, but I can e-mail you the details if you’d like, Mr. Geroni.”

  “I would appreciate it. Thank you again for your time.” Time sped up, and before I had a chance to blink past the shock of what had just happened, Cassandra, her father, and his secretary were gone.

  Taking a deep, shuddering breath, I closed my eyes and leaned against the wall to heave a sigh.

  “What the Hell just happened…?”

  Roark

  “He really said that he was sending her to a public high school?” Something akin to awe laced my voice, and I laughed loudly when Ally nodded vigorously as she sat between my legs with an assignment in her hand. “That’s great. I never thought I’d hear that. What happened after? Before you texted me, I mean.”

  “I went and told Kelly, like, immediately. It was so surreal. I’m still in shock about the whole thing. And the thing is, Cassandra didn’t seem all that scared or surprised. I think she thought she could get out of it, but her dad- I got the sense that he’s hard to anger. I don’t think she realizes how bad a storm she created.” Scribbling elegantly with a red pen, Ally talked as she worked, and I rubbed her shoulders gently. Listening to her talk about what happened earlier in the day gave me a sense of something I never had before. The sensation was warm, fluid, and indescribable, but if I had to try, I only had one word.

  Happiness.

  This was a different happiness than getting what I wanted for Christmas as a kid or splurging a little on an experience I wanted to have.

  This was the happiness of having a woman in my life that completed me in every way. Not many people were destined to experience this, I knew, and I was beyond grateful I could.

  Rubbing Ally’s shoulders as she set the paper in the ‘done’ pile to her right, I snapped out of my daydream to lick my lips. My mind was in a fog, and I blinked hard before her voice filtered through my eardrums.

  “I love you.” Blinking hard, I stiffened at that, and my heart nearly stopped beating. Under my tense hands, Ally wiggled her shoulders, and she glanced over my knuckles with a small frown.

  “What did you say?” A lump lodged in my throat, and I had to force my question to squeeze past it. Coming out a strangled gasp, I furrowed my brows and tried to get those three words off my mind as Ally opened her mouth.

  “I said ‘I’m done now’? What did you think I said? You look ready to throw up or pass out- or both…” My heart did stop at that, and I leaned back while Ally twisted to face me fully. Concern painted her expression, and I ground my teeth together as I debated lying or not. Dropping my gaze, I let out a hot breath before opening my mouth.

  “I thought… you said that you loved me.” Blood rushed to my cheeks, and I felt like a teenager fumbling over my first glimpse of the popular, perfect girl at school. “I don’t know why. I’m sorry- just forget I said anything.”

  “Uh- I mean- I- I… accept your apology?” Confusion and embarrassment tickled my ears, riding Ally’s high voice, and I pursed my lips into a thin line. When I couldn’t take the quiet anymore, I looked up, and she still stared at me with wide, bright eyes and a frozen expression.

  I just fucked it all up.

  “I’ll go.” Untangling myself from her, I hauled myself halfway off the couch before she grabbed the waistline of my pants and yanked. Falling backwards, I grunted when my ankle hit the coffee table, and the world spun for a few dizzying seconds. Before I even had a chance to get my bearings, Ally was on top of me. She liked to sit on me; it was an intimate position, a comforting position, and I’d never gotten aroused from it alone.

  “No- Roark… we need to talk about this.” Conviction threaded Ally’s declaration, and I closed my eyes and let my head fall back. “Are you going to play dead or say something?”

  “What do you want me to say, Ally? That I’ve been trying to stave off this feeling that I could marry you tomorrow and be perfectly, blissfully happy for the rest of my life because I promised we’d take it slow? I don’t want to go home because I get the urge to pack you up and take you with me? That I have so much fun with you that I don’t find you sexually attractive until I get hit with this overwhelming need for you that I can’t fulfill?” Self-depreciative desperation leaked into my tone, and I scoffed lightly- as if I hadn’t just thrust myself deep into a radioactive zone. “I can’t stop thinking about the future, and you’re always there. Two hours from now- two days from now- two years from now…”

  “Roark…” Clamping my hand over Ally’s mouth to staunch whatever she was going to say, I opened my eyes and lifted my head to stare into her incredibly wide eyes.

  “I can never shake this feeling that where ever I am, you’re supposed to be there with me, Ally. And when I’m not with you, I wonder how I can function properly. You don’t understand how much this fucking sucks. I- I can’t take this anymore. It’s driving me insane. I mean, I just heard you say something you didn’t even say, for Christ’s sake…” Carefully releasing Ally’s lips, I caressed the soft flesh with my thumb even as a hollow chuckle bubbled up my tight throat. “I know what I said, Ally- but I can’t keep that promise.”

  “Tha- that’s a lot to take in, Roark…” Sinking into my lap heavily, Ally picked at her fingernails as I dropped my head to stare at the ceiling. I couldn’t remember the last time I wanted to crawl into a hole and wallow in my own misery; that simple fact wasn’t impressive at all, but it made it increasingly hard to breathe. “I don’t even know what to say…”

  “So much for talking about it.” Scorn dripped from my tongue like acid, and I struggled to take a shallow breath before continuing. “I was stupid to tell you.”

  “No- no… I’m glad you told me, Roark… I just-… I feel the same way, but it’s… scary, honestly.” Ally’s confession was a shock to my heart, forcing it to beat hard and fast as the bone-deep cold slithering through my veins began to warm. Holding my breath, my chest tightened when she pressed her palm there to anchor her nails in my shirt. “You make me feel like I’m 17 again, but I’m… I’m terrified it’ll be a train wreck like most teenage relationships.”

  Sluggishly covering her hand with my own, I forced a deep breath into my lungs, and Ally’s fingers curled into a fist under my own. For what felt like minutes we sat in silence, basking in what had been revealed during this conversation. My body stabilized by the time I opened my mouth, and I licked my chapped lips heavily before speaking up.

  “Do you believe in soul mates?” The question sounded so stupid to my ears, I nearly cringed, and I silently cursed Sam for his crappy words of wisdom.

  “Yes?” Maybe not so bad words after all. Wrapping my arms around Ally at her tiny, singular admission, I pulled her to my chest to close my eyes and relish this moment. She came easily, her hands slithering over my shoulders to grip the top of the futon mattress. Releasing a sigh, a hundred pounds lifted from me, and I managed to do something I hadn’t done in a long time.

  Well and truly relax.

  As with all perfect moments, ours was over too soon, and I groaned softly in annoyance when a phone chimed out a ringtone. Even my foggy mind registered that it wasn’t my cell phone, and Ally shuffled atop me to fling her arm out across the couch.

  “Hello?” There was a smile in her voice; I heard it clear as day, and my lips curved to accomp
any the affection that swelled to crowd my heart. Whatever she heard, she must not have liked it, and Ally shot up with shock coloring her features. Her eyes darted around, and I held her hips as she frowned deeply.

  “How did you get this number, Riley? I told you never to contact me again after you stole all of my shit to support your girlfriend’s drug habit.” My eyes widened at that, and Ally’s face became pinched as incoherent, muffled words tickled my ears. “Why would they call you about that?”

  “… Well, thanks for telling me- but if you ever call me again, I’m gonna find you and that won’t be pretty.” The conversation spanned mere seconds before Ally hung up abruptly, and I furrowed my brows in a silent question as she huffed. “My brother- youngest brother- Riley. I guess he went to see Matt, and Matt told him that his parole hearing has a set date. I didn’t know it would be so fast…”

  “Prisons are crowded and underfunded, Ally. There was no possible way your brother was going to serve his full sentence. So, why did Riley call you? Why not Matt?” Truthfully, I was just as surprised as Ally was that her brother already had a parole hearing. Then again, he’s in for a misdemeanor. He’s not required to carry a gun permit, but he does have to have it. If it wasn’t already in the system, he would’ve gone down for a felony.

  “I don’t know…”

  Ally

  Picking at my bra straps, I pushed and jiggled my boobs in a vain attempt to get rid of the discomfort of my bra. Scrunching up my nose as I stared down at myself, I huffed lightly before looking back at myself in the mirror. The deep, dark red lace made me feel like a model, and I twisted to stare at my butt before a snorting laugh broke the silence surrounding me.

  In the mirror’s reflection, Kelly covered her mouth with her hand, and I glared at her as she waved in surrender.