Total pages in book: 31
Estimated words: 29398 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 147(@200wpm)___ 118(@250wpm)___ 98(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 29398 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 147(@200wpm)___ 118(@250wpm)___ 98(@300wpm)
"It's not a date, but I really need to go." I make my way to the elevator.
“I have to open it.” I swallow hard at his words, but I don’t let my nervousness show.
“Please do.” I force a playful laugh. Thankfully, he does. The second the doors open, I rush on.
“I’ll call the agency and get everything started,” he informs me. I don’t respond. The doors have closed.
I let out the breath I was holding and fall back against the elevator door, somehow knowing it’s not going to be that easy to get away from Robert Remington.
Chapter Three
CARR
“I’ve got an invitation to the LACMA charity event tonight. Everyone who is anyone goes to that. Did you see last year’s guest list? Zendaya! Gigi Hadid! The Kardashians!” My cousin Dee throws out his arms.
“And when you take the paternity test, you can leave.” I glare at Dex. The manchild can’t even look at me. His backbone is made of jelly.
“It’s not mine. I swear it.”
If he grows any more agitated, the sweat on his forehead is going to drop into the coffee cup. His condition may also be from withdrawal. He hasn’t had anything to drink in over twenty-four hours. When Dex said he was playing pickleball, he didn’t mention that it was in a gym in Los Angeles. I sent Ben on a ten-hour round-trip flight with strict orders that Dex needed to be sober. Unfortunately for us, that meant waiting around for almost an entire day since Dex was full of more than alcohol. In the meantime—while Ben finally caught some shut-eye—Errol and I learned how to make baby formula, sterilize bottles, change diapers, and swaddle. The last bit was key because making the baby into a burrito blanket is one of the only ways we could get her to stop crying.
“Then taking the test shouldn’t matter.”
I stomp out of the room and call my mom. “You wanted a grandkid, right?”
“I don’t even get a hello before you slap me across the face with an unexpected pregnancy?”
“It’s not mine. I don’t know whose it is, but it might be Dex’s.”
“Oh, dear. Let me sit down. I need a mimosa. Sheryl, get me a drink, would you? Yes, I know it’s only ten, but I need it. Sorry about that, darling. Tell me everything.”
I give her a brief rundown of my encounter with Megan. “I have Dex locked up in my guest room and the baby is sleeping, although”—I check the time—“I’m going to be on parenting duty in about thirty minutes, so we need to talk fast.”
“If you’re thinking about calling Dex’s mother, she’s in the Mediterranean right now. She met a count and is on his yacht. You may be able to touch base with her, but I highly doubt she’s going to be rushing back to help you.”
“I can’t take care of a kid. I’m about to close on a building deal for towers in the new development in Osaka that I’ve been working on for over a year.”
“There’s always foster care.”
“Mom, be serious.”
“Send your lawyers over to Megan and get her to sign off on her parental rights, and then you can put the child up for adoption. It’s more permanent.”
“Are you kidding?”
“I’m assuming you’re calling me because you want someone to take this child off your hands.”
“It sounds sinister when you say it like that.”
“Darling. I love you and your sister oodles, but my child-rearing days are behind me. I am firmly in my grandmotherly spoiling era or will be once you give me grandchildren.”
“It feels like you’re punishing me for not going out on the date you set up last month.”
“Perhaps. I hope you sleep well tonight.” She cackles a little as she hangs up.
An alarm goes off on my phone. The alert says I have a meeting with a supplier for the Osaka complex in thirty minutes. I’m never going to make it. I text my contact a link to a Zoom room and hop on. “Remington, what are you doing here?” I check my contact information which says Kyo Frost, not Robert Remington. I don’t do business with Remington.
“I’ve want in on the Osaka contract so I bought out a local Japanese supplier who you need to fulfill the deal.”
Fuck me.
“Why?”
He smirks. “Because I heard you were in charge, and there’s never been a project that you haven’t made a fortune off of.”
We both know I would never have let him on board, but he took advantage of the fact that the overseas suppliers weren’t aware of his shady reputation, his propensity to cut costs, and his general assholery.
“Come and meet me in person and can hash all these details out over a drink.”
“I’ve a little issue at my home and can’t leave right now.”
His eyes widen slightly. “You’ve taken to locking women up? I never knew that you were that type of man, McRae.”