Too bad he couldn’t say the same for himself. He’d bought two new companies. He usually rejoiced in his victories. Usually. This time, though, it seemed hollow. At that first successful acquisition, he’d picked up his mobile to call Diana, to tell her about it as a man would to his long-time lover, so they could be excited together. But then he was struck by how silly that was. She wasn’t his girlfriend. She didn’t care about anything that made him happy.
Right?
“David?” Diana’s voice shook him from his thoughts.
“Yes?”
He waited for her to speak again, to tell him off or to ask him about what he’d done over the last three weeks, to show some curiosity about him, his life. When she finally spoke, his ridiculous hopes were smashed.
“I’ve got to go. I’m tired,” she murmured, her voice thin.
Gritting his teeth, he forced impatience into his tone. “Of course. Goodbye, Diana.”
“Goodbye, David.”
She hung up, the sound of the click disconnecting the call like a sharp needle piercing his soul.
She didn’t care about him at all.
Rejuvenated by that self-inflicted slap in the face, David called Rodney.
“Bring the car around.” With that done, David cleared his desk, grabbed his coat, and exited the building. Sliding into the back seat of the Escalade, David nodded to Rodney.
“Where to, Boss?”
“The Incantata.”
The financials were wrong. Diana might not have spent the money from her account, but she was most certainly charging items to the room. Rinna had stayed in hundreds of expensive hotels, charging banquets, the finest wines, the richest foods, clothes, jewelry, and even a car to her hotel accounts. And he always paid the bills when they came. It would be no different with Diana. He would go to the hotel, he’d ask for a list of the room charges, and he’d—
And what would that prove? You want her beholden to you. You want her to be a greedy bitch like Rinna, then you can dismiss her and your babies as nothing more than an expenditure.
He gasped at the flood of bile that churned in his gut.
Was that what he really thought about her? About his own children? Shaking, he raised a hand to scrub at his face. His skin was cold beneath his fingers.
What had become of him? What sort of man put dollar signs on the things that should matter the most?
Groaning, he threw his head back and swore into the skylight.
She’d been working five-day weeks since she started, and that first day hadn’t prepared her for the days that followed. When Ms. Travato said that the laundry was hard, sweaty work, she was underselling it. It was hot, sweaty, humid, back-breaking work, but by the end of the work day, she felt…happy. She’d earned her own money, she completed all the tasks assigned to her, and she’d made a new friend. Holliday Blue was a breath of fresh, perky, petite, south Texas air. She was bubbly, sweet, smart, and just as desperate to make a dime as Diana was.
Margie called at least once a day, but Diana refused to let her come to the Incantata. She wanted Margie to be her lifeline on the outside, someone who could just be there for her and send her chocolate croissants when the need arose. So far, though, she hadn’t had the appetite for chocolate, croissants, or conversations that would veer into difficult waters.
How did one go about explaining being a pregnant pet—without the sex, mind you—of a billionaire? Margie would want to know all the details, Diana would be compelled to tell her, and then the tears would begin. The tears of frustration, of disappointment in herself. Tears of fear for her unborn babies and their future, and tears of heartbreak.
She loved David Brenner.
She didn’t know when it happened or even how it was possible, but she did know that she couldn’t go a moment without thinking about him, without wanting to see him, hear his voice, smell his scent, feel his arms wrapped around her.
God. She was sick. There was no other explanation. As terribly as he’d treated her since learning about the pregnancy, the man she met and made love to that first night was still in there. The man who’d given her an orgasm in the back of his Escalade was still in there. The man who’d pursued her to her doctor’s office, then to the café was still in there. The man who charmed her despite the walls she’d erected was still in there. She had to believe that. He was just hidden behind the asshole who was too scared to let anyone in.
Today was her day off, which meant she was going to laze around the hotel room in her sweats until ten, then she’d head out to the market up the street for the ingredients for lunch and dinner. She didn’t keep much in the room kitchen aside from milk, eggs, and bread, but she was craving peanut butter, popcorn, Twizzlers, and a big, fat, juicy steak.
Snuggling up on the couch in the main living area, Diana settled in for a short nap, her eyes drooping, her body throbbing from overexertion, her heart aching.
She didn’t know how long she’d been napping when the sound of a key card reader beeping jerked her awake. Dazed, she sat up and blinked at the door.
David was standing there, his hot gaze on her.
“Diana. What the hell?” he ground out and she immediately tensed.
How dare he ignore her for three weeks then barge in, growling at her like she was the one who’d done something wrong.
“What the hell is wrong now, David?” she snapped, scowling at him.
He didn’t answer. Instead, he stalked toward her and thrust two sheets of paper in her face.
She glanced down at the one on top. It looked like the account activity from a bank. She moved it aside to see the paper underneath. That one was the charge account print out from the hotel.
“Is this supposed to mean something?” she
