Page 87 of Boss's Baby: A Fake Fiance Romance

“So you decided to tell the biggest lie of your life. Maybe the biggest lie anyone’s ever told me, and all because you wanted to take my place.”

“There’s more to it than that.”

“This I’ve got to hear.”

“When you had your heart attack, Dad, I was scared. We’ve already lost Mom, and the idea of losing you too…seeing you in that hospital bed…” I trailed off. Dad shifted in his seat, and I could sense he was as uneasy with the mental image as I was. “It made me want to do anything to make sure you stayed with us.”

“Like giving up the company.”

“Like giving up the company. I had it all planned out—I’d stick with the fake marriage for long enough to start the transition, and when you weren’t in a spot where you might have another stress heart attack, I could break things off.”

“So, this was all for my benefit.” I wasn’t sure if he was convinced or not.

“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to be CEO, sure. But it was you I was thinking of. I don’t know what I’d do without you, Dad.”

He said nothing, appearing to consider the words. “And the girl. Who is she? Some random woman you roped into this?”

And there was the other matter—Cass.

“She’s actually the most truthful part of this whole thing.”

“What does that mean?”

“Yes, she started out as someone in on a plan with me. But the longer this went on, the more I realized what was going on between us wasn’t a lie. It was love.”

“Love.”

I couldn’t believe I’d said the word. But it’d come out so easily, so naturally, that I knew it had to be the truth. I loved Cass.

“Love. I love her. And there’s more…”

“More bad news.”

“No, good news. I think.”

“Say it.”

“She’s pregnant.”

Dad said nothing for several long moments before finally speaking. “Holy shit.”

“She’s pregnant with my kid. Your grandson. Or granddaughter.”

Dad had always been the type of man to be unflappable, no matter what. But I could tell this news had thrown him for the loop of his life.

“How do I know this isn’t another lie? More bullshit to make me, I don’t know, let you off the hook?”

“You don’t. But it’s what Cass told me, and I trust her. Listen, Dad, I know I screwed up. You want to fire me, fine. You want to cut me out of the will, fine. But all I want is for you to be there in my life and in the life of my kid. Telling this stupid fucking lie—all it’s made me think about is how scared I’d be to lose all of you if this got out. Even Sam.”

He allowed himself a snort of a laugh.

“And that’s the truth. I’m ready for whatever punishment you have in mind for me. But I love this woman.”

“Does she love you back?”

“I don’t know.”

“Good. A little uncertainty and fear is what you deserve.”

He was right. “And I acted shamefully, no other way to put it, after she told me the news.”

“Oh god. What did you do this time?”

“I acted like a coward—no other way to put it. I fucking ran off.”

Anger flashed on Dad’s face. It was scary as hell, of course, but almost a relief when compared to the silence. “You ran off? A woman tells you she’s pregnant with your kid, and you run off?”

“I don’t know what to say.”

“Do you have any idea what she’s going through right now? She’s got the fallout from her family, and on top of that she’s stuck wondering if she’s going to have to raise a kid all on her own.”

“I know what I did was wrong. But all I can think about, all I want to do, is make things right.”

Dad shifted in his seat. “Kid, I don’t know what I’m going to do with you. I want to think you’re throwing more bullshit my way with this ‘love’ talk, but I remember how you looked when you told me you’d stuck up for her the other night. And I can see the way you’ve been looking at her. Reminds me of the way I looked at your mother when I realized how I felt about her.”

I said nothing.

“You’re going to face some serious consequences, no doubt about that. But right now you’ve fucked up big time, and you’d better start thinking about how you’re going to unfuck things, pronto. Get to it. You can salvage this thing. We’ll talk again.”

“Thank you, Dad.”

“Just try to do the right thing, Joshua. God help me, but I know you have it in you.”

There wasn’t anything else to say. I hurried from the study, filled with a passion I’d never known before in my life. And more than that, I was certain. Now that I’d said the word, I knew for a fact that I loved Cass, that I’d do anything for her. And I had to start by making things right.

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