Page 25 of Playboy Billionaire's Secret Baby

My eyes travel and I take a look at the boy who’s grinning right back at his mother. I would have had to have, a heart of stone not to melt. He’s cute and looks a lot like his mother. I can see now why she’s so protective. Not that it makes it any easier for me to deal with everything that happened the other night after our date.

I’m hurt. My pride is hurt because she treated me like a one night stand whose opinion, she doesn’t give a shit about. There isn’t anything I can do about that. I have to accept that, and I’m also not used to the way she reacted when I tried to challenge her. She didn’t immediately back down and pander to me like most people do. She was stubborn and difficult; she stood up for herself and basically told me where to go. But that doesn’t make her right for me, does it? However much I want her.

“Okay, everyone, dinner is served!” Allegra calls out. “Let’s sit down.”

Oh God, this is the part of the party that I’m not looking forward to. I’ll be forced to participate. The best thing I can do for the moment is to make sure I’m not sitting anywhere near Lexi or her family. I don’t think either of us wants to talk to one another. Not when we’ve had such a bitter row.

Unfortunately, I can’t get as far away as I want to. Most of the seats are already taken by the time I arrive. Luckily, I’m not directly opposite any of them. I’m at a horizontal angle, but it means I can’t stop looking their way. Lexi is doing her best not to look at me at all. She’s so focused on her child that everyone else might as well not exist.

She really does love him,I think to myself as I watch them interact. I know it’s obvious, but after the way we yelled at each other, her son became a point of contention, more than anything else.

But now, watching them, I can see how much she truly loves him. I feel bad about everything I had said in the middle of the argument. I was an asshole, and I might actually need to apologize to at some point…if I can get Lexi to talk to me.

I sigh and try to focus on the food on my plate. Not that I have an appetite at all. It’s hard to eat when I sense Adam looking my way curiously. I shouldn’t have confessed everything at the bar. I was foolish and said too much. Now he’s going to have an endless amount of questions that I really don’t want to answer, especially since I’m upset with him for not telling me about Lexi’s child. As my friend, he owed me that. Should I bring it up?

“Can you pass me the sauce, please?” the woman beside Lexi asks me. Her mother, I assume. Lexi flinches but the woman continues.

She has no idea. That’s the only conclusion I can come to. Lexi hasn’t shared anything with her mother. I don’t know how to feel about any of this. It’s all so strange. I know the date didn’t exactly end well, but I don’t know how to handle this particular situation. I mean, we’re adults and should be able to be around one another without it being tense.

“I’m Frederico.” God, this is the most awkward conversation I have ever had in my life. “It’s very nice to meet you, Tamara. There are a lot of great people here.”

Tamara nods and smiles. “Frederico, that’s a nice name. What do you do?”

I launch into a subject that I can talk about forever: my business with my brothers. It is something I have a lot of passion for and don’t get to talk about as much as I would like. Tamara is a great audience and genuinely seems interested. If it wasn’t for Lexi and the uncomfortable bubble surrounding her, this would be a very pleasant conversation. It might even be the thing to bring me into the party because I definitely still feel like I’m on the outside looking in.

“That is very interesting,” Tamara declares with a playful smirk. “You must be a very busy man. Is that why you’re here alone? A handsome and successful guy like you… I’m shocked that you don’t have a wife or girlfriend on your arm.”

Oh God. Lexi looks up; she senses the same thing that I feel coming. Her mother might be about to introduce us. She thinks we’re going to meet for the first time. Now, I’m certain she knows nothing.

“Mom, can you give me a hand feeding James,” Lexi jumps in quickly, trying to save the day before things get even weirder than they already are. It would be funny if it wasn’t so awkward. “I can’t get him to eat these vegetables.”

Tamara understandably turns her attention away from me and focuses on the boy. I find myself watching them again for a while, admiring the family bond between them. But mostly, I’m focusing on Lexi and her beautiful face. Those eyes… what I wouldn’t give to have those eyes looking at me once more - staring at me with intense desire.

I know I fucked things up the way I reacted to the news that she has a child, but everything seems to be an obstacle getting in our way. The child is just another issue. But if she would give me a moment to take back what I said, then I will. I want to…

“I need to go to the bathroom.” I think the way I’m staring at Lexi is making her uncomfortable. She bolts from her seat like she’s been electrocuted. I’m not the only person who notices this odd behavior. Everyone turns to look. “I’ll be right back,” she announces.

Seeing how awkward I have made Lexi, I make an excuse to follow her. I don’t know how to make it discrete, but I don’t get a chance to find out. Allegra goes first. I give up and turn my attention back to Tamara and the boy, James.

I wish I could speak to Lexi’s mom, to get some advice. I’m sure she would have something wise to offer. I get that impression from her. She obviously loves her daughter a lot and would do anything for her, including uprooting her life to Italy. But it isn’t my place to say anything. There’s nothing I can do but sit and wait.

“I would like to make a speech,” Adam declares the moment Lexi and Allegra reappear, zapping the wind out of my sails. I can’t say anything now. “About my beautiful wife and how she has made me the happiest man alive. We don’t get much time to celebrate our love with all the amazing people in our lives, so I want to make the best of it…”

Adam continues to talk, but I tune him out. I focus only on Lexi and the way her expression seems to have faltered completely. I don’t know how this is my fault, but I know it is. I guess she’s still angry after our date and the disastrous way it ended.

Lexi said that I couldn’t see things from her point of view as she was walking, but I don’t think she tried to see my opinion either. I felt lied to and betrayed. I’d been pining after her since the wedding, which isn’t like me at all, and she went on to have another romantic life. I know I sounded like an asshole, but I felt that Lexi had a lot of time to tell me about her son, and she didn’t. That hurt me a lot.

Watching her now, all that anger has long gone. It has subsided because I feel guilty. I guess she just didn’t think that I should know, and there isn’t anything I can do about it. If I want to keep getting close to her, I need to find a way to express that I understand and won’t be a fool again.

Or at least I will try my hardest. I guess I can’t make that promise…

Chapter 17

Lexi

Idon’tknowwhatI’m doing here, seriously; my head is all over the place. I knew coming to this party wasn’t going to be the wisest choice, but what excuse could I give to Mom who was desperate to come? She loves Allegra and wants to see her life here in Italy. I didn’t want her to miss this chance. She’s given up a lot to look after me and my son as it is, and she’s also come to Italy with me… so if she wants to attend a dinner party, then so be it. Plus, I know Allegra wouldn’t let me refuse, anyway.

But it’s challenging being this close to Frederico, feeling his energy racing across the room the whole time, yet not being able to touch him. We both want to have our hands all over each other because we simply can’t get enough, but I had cut it off, ending things sharply, and we haven’t spoken since.I made the right decision, I tell myself.I thought it through, of course. I know I did the right thing. I just need to survive this…I have to…

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