Page 38 of The Billionaire's One-Night Baby

Dodi had no doubt Jago had received aWhat the hell?phone call from his twin.

‘So, I’m still not clear on something...’

Oh, God, she knew what was coming.

‘Are you and Jago together or not?’ Thadie demanded.

How could she answer that question when she had no idea what they were, nor how they were going to be?

The best way to answer Thadie was, Dodi quickly decided, to distract her. ‘Your bridesmaids’ dresses arrived. We need to arrange a final fitting.’

‘Stop trying to change the subject! Are you and Jago—?’

Dodi slapped her hand to her mouth, faked a heave and waved her hands in the air. ‘Got to go! Morning sickness!’

Thadie still managed to get a few words in as she fumbled to disconnect the call. ‘You are such a liar, Elodie Kate Davis!’

She was. Absolutely.

Exhausted by the long day and Thadie’s interrogations, she walked from Jago’s private sitting room onto his balcony and saw that he was talking on his phone. Seeing her, he wrapped up his conversation.

‘That was Micah, checking in.’

Dodi dropped into the sofa next to him, sighing at how comfortable it was. The space was protected from the elements but still, a sofa this expensive, this lovely, shouldn’t be outside. Ever.

‘Let me guess...he wants to know whether we are together or not.’

‘Yep.’

Dodi narrowed her eyes. ‘And I bet your nosy sister nagged him to call.’

‘Yep.’

Dodi pulled a face. ‘God, she’s relentless.’

Jago stretched out his long legs, linking his hands on his stomach, his expression thoughtful. ‘We’re all determined people—having a father like Theo, it’s inevitable. But Thadie got a double dose. It’s the only trait she inherited from our father, thank God.’

‘You didn’t like him much, did you?’ Dodi asked.

‘Did you like him?’ he countered.

‘I hardly knew him,’ she replied. ‘But he was always charming to me.’

‘Of course he was—that was how he was with most people,’ Jago bitterly replied. ‘That wasn’t the person he was at his core.’

‘So who was he, Jago?’

Jago ran his finger up and down the side of his cold beer bottle. ‘Theo established Le Roux International himself. He didn’t have any family money behind him. He hustled and lied, ducked and dived, made promises he couldn’t keep, over-promised and under-delivered. But somehow, because he was so damn charismatic, he made it work. Even when the business took off, even after he made his first million, billion, he still couldn’t stick to the truth. Sometimes I think he lied to keep people unbalanced, because it was fun, to see if he could get away with it, and he always did. He was Theo Le Roux, wealthy, successful, with this huge personality and he was feted and adored.’

Dodi heard the bitter tone in his voice. ‘Did he lie to you? To your siblings?’

Jago’s expression tightened. ‘All the time. He made promises to us, and my mum, that he never kept. He said we could get a dog one day, changed his mind the next. Said that if I got a B plus for maths I could get a motorbike, the next report card I needed to get an A, then when I did the goalposts moved again. He promised to join us on holiday, never did. Promised us he’d be there for Christmas, missed many of those.’

So much bitterness, so much pain.

‘He treated my mum badly, kept her constantly off-balance, neurotic. Praising her one moment, belittling her the next. He did that to Micah and me as well. One day we were his favourite child, the next day we were scum on his shoe. He pitted us against each other, created competitions, fostered enmity. He hated that we were so close and tried whatever he could to come between us, between us and our mum. Everything was always about him, all the time.

‘My father fed off drama and he loved arguments, fights, confrontation. His volatility was the reason I learned to read people and situations. I learned to anticipate trouble and how to take control of a situation, how to make it work for me, and, more importantly, my siblings. Because of him, I have back-up plans for my back-up plan.’

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