Page 38 of Playboy Billionaire's Secret Baby

“Hello, nice to meet you,” the man sitting behind the reception desk asks me the moment I step inside the building. “Can I help you?”

“Oh yes, I’d like to speak to the manager about work.”

“Right, sure. I will just call Evan for you…get him out here to meet with you.”

I take a seat in the reception area, unable to keep my legs still as I wait. The fear that Lexi will simply walk in and catch me is a little overwhelming. I don’t want my plan wrecked.

Thankfully, Evan is just as eager to meet with me, so it doesn’t take him long to come out and greet me. I am relieved that we go to his office where I can’t be caught. I take a seat opposite him and catch his eyes.

“It’s nice to meet you… sorry, I didn’t catch your name?”

“Frederico D’Amici,” I reply as I shake his hand. “Nice to meet you too, Evan. I wanted to talk to you about a project I’m working on and the person I’d like to work on it with. Someone who works in your office, actually. If that’s okay?”

Evan looks a little confused, but thankfully, he nods. “Okay, sure, fill me in…”

***

I pace up and down the hotel lobby, wondering if Lexi is going to turn up. I mean, this plan is all well and good, but what if she doesn’t want it after all? What if she doesn’t pick up on the subtle hints that I’m waiting for her? Or she does and that’s what keeps her away? Because she doesn’t want a part of it. Fuck, I can hardly handle it. As much as I thought this was going to work, now I’m not so sure. Should I call Allegra and ask for her advice. Maybe I should have done that in the first place.

“Oh!” Before I can get lost in a downward mental spiral, I hear Lexi sweet voice, the one I have missed so damn much it hurts. It floats through the room and pumps me up all over again, reminding me how much I have at stake. “It’s you.”

The color drains from Lexi’s cheeks as my eyes meet hers. I guess Lexi didn’t discern any of my little hints. It seems that she didn’t know I would be here in England. What scares me is the fact that I can’t tell how she’s feeling. Is that a good or bad thing? Does she want me to go or is she happy to talk? I really hope it’s the latter.

“What are you doing here, Frederico? This is weird, am I meeting with you?”

“I have a room upstairs,” I jump in quickly, immediately regretting it. It sounds like I only have a one-track mind. I didn’t get the room for that reason. “I just want to have somewhere private…just for, you know… to talk.”

Oh God, that makes it sound even worse. What happened to the smooth guy I used to be? Lexi has turned me into a blubbering fool.

“Right, yes.” She folds her arms defiantly across her chest. “We should talk, I suppose. We did leave a lot of things hanging in the air, didn’t we?”

I nod slowly in agreement. Maybe she’s finally going to confirm what I’ve already worked out. It’ll be scary to hear those words as the truth is finally revealed, but it’ll also be very freeing. Especially now that I know exactly what I want. Iachefor her in my life, and for James as well. I want the family I didn’t even know I had.

Lexi follows me to the room. I thought things would be a little less awkward. I didn’t plan for the walk to the room to be quite so unnerving. We’ll get there… I’m hoping this is the first step toward a more positive future for us both. We should open up this conversation with the idea of making life easier for the pair of us. It can’t get any worse, surely…

Once inside the room, I can see that Lexi is impressed. I might have gone all out to get a lovely environment: the penthouse suite. Although now that I’m looking around, I realize this definitely gives off the impression that I have more planned for the night…I head over to the dining table to take a seat, ignoring the bed as much as I can, hoping she will do the same.

“So, I assume this isn’t a meeting about work…” Lexi declares as she takes a seat opposite me. I can’t look at her without my heart skipping a beat.

“No, I wanted to talk aboutus. There’s a lot I should have said to you while I was in Italy, but I didn’t get the chance. I had a lot to process and didn’t quite realize how much until you were already gone. I didn’t want it to be too late.”

Lexi nods along, but I can definitely see the pain in her eyes. I hate that my indecision has put it there. “I shouldn’t have run off like that. I know it was wrong; I just didn’t know what to do. I found myself stuck in a situation I didn’t know how to handle. Now, that’s not to say that I handled it right… I know that now.”

“Is this about James? I really do need to know the truth about him…”

She swallows hard before answering. “I know, and I also understand that I have a lot of explaining to do. I hope you know that being dishonest was never my intention. It was just very difficult for me. When I found out that I was pregnant, I’d only really known you for a few hours, and we live in different countries, so I didn’t know how to react…”

Holy shit. So he really is mine. I know Lexi hasn’t expressed that yet, but she doesn’t need to. This says enough, and I can’t stop myself from smiling.

“I don’t blame you, Lexi. You also had my reputation to think about, I’m sure.”

“But… James is yours. I don’t feel right keeping that from you any longer. You have just as much right to be a parent as I do. I hope that’s something you want to do.”

I nod and grin at Lexi, so happy it makes my chest hurt. Now it’s time to say what I really need to say. I haven’t come here without a plan in my head.

“Lexi, I can’t help myself from falling in love with you. The whole time we’ve been intertwined, I’ve been falling.” I watch as Lexi sucks in a sharp breath. “I didn’t know I could fall in love, but I have. Head over heels. You crashed into my life and swept me off my feet completely.” I let out a wry laugh, but she doesn’t join in. I think she’s still too shocked. “I fell for you hard and fast, and losing you made that completely obvious. I don’t know how to live without you.”

“Really?” Tears fill her eyes, but she doesn’t let them fall. Lexi is trying my confession. “Because I feel the same way,” she admits. “I’ve been struggling to survive without you in my life as well. More than I thought I would.”

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