The Scandalous Billionaires Collection (66 page)

"Why do you want to get into his apartment
anyway?" Her voice was shaking.

"No questions. I'll be over later. Get him
out of there. Make sure security is expecting me, I don't want any
screw ups. Call me when you have it set up. If I don’t hear from
you by 9pm Stacy will have another doctor's appointment
tonight."

Bella shuddered. It didn’t matter why he
wanted access. She had to do it.

"And make sure lover boy isn't around."

"How the hell can I--", the call ended before
she could finish her sentence.

She put her phone down and held onto the edge
of the sink; her head felt dizzy and she felt the nausea coming
again. The ground began to slip from under her and the ceiling
started to spin. She stumbled backwards, her fingers slipping from
the wet hand basin as a scream left her throat, but in an instant
she was horizontal and looking up at Harrison's dark eyes, filled
with disapproving concern.

"Bella! Why didn’t you call me." He said as
he carried her from the bathroom. It was a moment before she
realized that she was only wearing her underwear and her naked
flesh pressed against the hard muscle of his body, millimeters
beneath his smart clothes. Images and sensations of his powerfully
developed physique filled her consciousness; memories of the two
times they had been together as lovers flooding back into her
mind.

He laid her down on the bed and then scanned
her thoroughly for injuries.

"I'm okay." she said meekly; there was
nowhere to hide from his gaze or from his hands as he ran them down
her legs to inspect for bumps or contusions.

"You're not okay. The medical team will be
here in minutes. You need to stay in bed until they arrive. I don’t
know what's the matter with you but we need to find out."

"Harrison, really I'm--"

"No excuses. Now get under the covers and
stay put. I'll get you some water."

He returned in moments with a glass of spring
water and sat next to her on the bed. He watched intently as she
sipped it slowly.

"Who were you talking to?" He said.

"What do you mean?" Her heart beat faster.
She had to arrange to have Steve come to the house without Harrison
at home. Steve wouldn't care that she wasn't well. She had to think
fast.

"What I mean is that you turned on the shower
and then you turned it off to take a call. That means it was
someone important. You spoke with them, heatedly and then you went
silent. You didn't answer me when I called out to you so I had to
go in to the bathroom where I found you swaying and ready to pass
out. I'm asking about
that
person."

"It was no-one."

"Do you want me to go check your phone? Or do
you want to tell me who it was?"

She was half naked, feeling weak and dizzy
and Harrison was between her and the doorway of the bedroom. He
would easily get to her phone before she did.

"It was Steve." She said. Harrison looked
furious for an instant but then reverted to his habitual,
unreadable calm.

"What did he want?"

"He wants to visit me and see how I am. Stacy
is worried about me."

"Forget about it. You're not going to see
anyone until a doctor has thoroughly examined you."

"Can he come over later? I mean, him and
Stacy?"

Harrison stared at her, making her feel worse
than ever. She prayed he would say yes. She prayed he would say no.
Neither outcome was good.

"Let's see what the doctor says. They should
be in the building already. Stay here. I'll go let them in."

The doorbell went and Harrison left to admit
the medical team. She heard his angry greeting all the way down the
long hallway.

"What the hell took you so long? She nearly
passed out again."

"Apologies Mr. Demovic. Where is the
patient?"

There was no answer but in short moments a
face appeared at her door. It was middle-aged doctor, tall,
handsome, with a kind but serious face and accompanied by a pretty
young nurse. Bella wanted to shrink into the massive bed. All this
just because she had eaten a bad tuna and jelly sandwich. She was
wasting all these people's time, especially Harrison's.

"You must be Bella?" The doctor said.

"This is her," Harrison said abruptly, "now
please conduct your examination."

The doctor turned to Harrison and indicated
the door with his eyes. Harrison looked back, uncomprehending.

"Some privacy please Mr. Demovic."

"No way. I'm staying right here."

"Then there's no examination. This patient
has a right to privacy as much as anyone else."

"And I have a right to expect that the
service I pay for--"

"Harrison. Please, just for a moment." Bella
said. She wanted him near but she didn't feel like going into any
embarrassing details in front of him. If this was all just down to
her stupid sandwich how dumb would that look? Harrison took a deep
breath, nodded to the doctor and then left. The nurse watched him
go, much to Bella's annoyance.

" Nurse Smith, come here please." The doctor
said. "Let's get the patient's blood pressure first."

The nurse snapped back into action and the
medical examination began in earnest, but after just a few
questions Dr. Goldman seemed to slow down.

"Uh, yes I am. Sort of."

He smiled.

"What does sort of mean? Either you are or
you aren't?"

"Well does one night a few weeks ago count as
sexually active?"

"How many weeks ago exactly was that?"

It seemed like an age and it seemed like last
night. Bella counted up in her head.

"About five weeks ago."

Dr. Goldman nodded his head. He wasn't
smiling anymore.

"How regular is your cycle?"

"Not that regular." Bella's mouth dropped
open. "That can't be." She said. "It was only once."

"Once is all it takes."

Events had been so crazy recently and her
cycle tended to be irregular anyway that a period of five or even
six weeks could easily have gone unnoticed.

"That can’t be."

"Now it may not be, but don't you think we
had better check it out just to make sure?"

Nurse Smith produced a pregnancy kit and
handed it to Bella with a studious lack of emotion.

She thinks I'm sleeping with Harrison.
Bella stared into the woman's eyes.
She thinks I've tricked him
into getting me pregnant.

"Do you know how to use this?" The nurse
asked coldly. "You just need to pee--"

"I know." Bella said and snatched it from
her. She stood up slowly from the bed, pushed Dr. Goldman's hands
away as he tried to support her and headed to the bathroom. Sitting
down on the bowl she took aim as well as she could onto the stick
and then waited.

When the results showed up she was so
disoriented she couldn't figure out if it was positive or negative
or what either of those would mean. She had torn the package to
pieces and thrown the shredded pieces including the instructions
into the waste basket.

"God damn it." She hissed and then returned
to the bedroom where the Dr. Goldman and Nurse Smith waited with
rigid, professional decorum.

"I… I…" She held up the stick. "I don't know
what this means?"

Nurse Smith pulled on a latex glove and took
the stick from between Bella's fingers. She squinted at the result
and then held it out for Dr. Goldman. He gave it a quick glance and
then looked at Bella.

"You had better sit down." He said. "Because
I have some very important news for you."

Bella denied the possibility but after insisting on
obtaining and testing with another stick from the reluctant Nurse
Smith, she finally began to accept that she was going to be
somebody's mom.

Dr. Goldman was right; she definitely needed
to sit down. She watched in daze as he and Nurse Smith begin to
pack up their equipment and just as they were about to leave she
felt a feeling of panic come over her.

"Where are you going?" She asked them
frantically.

"We're going back to the medical center
Bella. Your symptoms are consistent with morning sickness although
the term is a misnomer as you can be sick at any time of day.
You're completely healthy so there's really nothing else for us to
do here."

"But I'm pregnant."

"Yes, but you are not unwell."

"What do I do next? I've never been pregnant
before. I don't know what to do?"

Dr. Goldman put his bag down and returned to
the bed. He sat next to her and took one of her hands between his
own.

"Bella, this is the beginning of a huge
adventure for you and believe me, I know what a lot this is to take
in." His eyes were so kind, so different from the burning intensity
of Harrison. She didn't want him to leave her.

"Do you know who the father is?" He said
quietly. She nodded her head. "Are you absolutely sure?"

She nodded again.

"Well that might be your first step." He
said. Bella shook her head from side to side now. How could she
ever tell him? How could she not tell him? And then there was Stacy
and Steve. This was going to break her. She had always wanted to be
a mother, but not like this.

Dr. Goldman put his arm around her.

"Is there anyone you can tell about this?" He
asked gently.

She thought hard. Who could she tell about
anything these days? Her life was a mess of painful, unbearable
secrets.

"You need to go to your regular doctor first,
okay?" Dr. Goldman said. "They can tell you where to go to start
getting your check ups and scans done. In the meantime, here's
another number for you to call." He took out a notepad, scribbled a
number down and handed it to Bella. "They can help with everything
else." He gave her one last hug and then stood up to go. Nurse
Smith looked on coldly throughout.

"Goodbye Bella." He said. "I hope everything
works out and this little baby will bring joy into your world that
you can’t even imagine right now."

The lump in Bella's throat wouldn't leave and
as soon as the door closed she began to shake in long, silent sobs.
Within seconds Harrison was there by her side and gathered her into
his arms.

"It's okay." He said. "Everything's going to
be okay." She wondered if on some level the tiny inkling of a baby
inside her could already feel the presence of its father and feel
comforted.

"Bella, tell me what to do." He whispered.
"I've never felt more helpless in my entire life than at this
moment. Just tell me how to help you."

She pulled herself upright and pushed away
from him.

"I need to have Stacy here tonight."

Harrison looked at her intently and made her
feel more of a fraud than ever. She dropped her gaze for a moment,
grasped desperately at her resolve and then lifted her head.

"I need her with me tonight."

Harrison nodded.

"I'll send a car for her."

"No. You'll have to get her yourself."

He nodded again.

Bella breathed a sigh of relief, but then
realized she had no idea where her friend lived. Steve had made
sure never to tell her where he and Stacy lived.

"I'll go now." Harrison said.

"Wait. How will you find her?"

"Don’t worry. I'll find her."

"You have her address?"

"Of course I do. She's your friend. Ever
since Steve contacted me we've been keeping a close eye on both of
them. Should I bring him too?" Harrison sounded very calm as he
asked her.

"No. Just her. Alone, please. I need another…
another woman with me tonight. Don’t ask me anything else. And
Harrison? Don’t take no for an answer."

He smiled, just barely. "I never do."

He leaned in close and put a tender kiss on
her lips that sent a quake of desire through her. Even with all
that was happening he still had the power to rock her with a single
kiss.

If only you knew.
She thought.

********************

Harrison banged loudly on the front door of
the dilapidated tenement apartment and then moved to the side, away
from the spy hole. There was no answer although his surveillance
people had assured him that both Stacy and Steve were inside.

He was in no mood for games.

He banged again, more forcefully this time,
more loudly, causing other neighbors to voice foul mouthed
complaints through the walls of their apartments, but then he heard
a shuffle of feet behind the thin wooden door.

"You better have a good goddamn reason." He
heard Steve mutter as he continued hammering the door. When it
opened at last he stepped in front of the squat, stocky man and
watched his surprise, his fear and then his forced smile.

"Mr. Demovic. What are you doing in this neck
of the woods?"

"Where is she?" He put his hand to Steve's
thick chest and pushed him aside.

"Now hold on a minute Demovic, you can't just
come in here like that."

"I just did. Where's Stacy? I'm here to pick
her up. Bella needs her."

"Is that so? Well I ain't heard nothing about
that."

"You didn't need to. Stacy? Stacy where are
you?"

"Listen Demovic, I'm asking you one more
time--"

"It's okay Steve." Stacy's voice came from
the bedroom. Harrison and Steve stopped moving and waited as Stacy
stepped into the shabby kitchen and living room area. "What is it
Mr. Demovic?"

"Bella needs you." He said with some derisive
emphasis on the word
needs
.

"Where is she?"

"She's at my apartment."

Stacy and Steve looked at each other.

"Okay Harrison." Stacy said. "Give me a
minute. I'll go with you. If little Bella needs me then I won’t let
her down."

Steve pushed Harrison's hand away from his
chest.

"Sorry about that Mr. Demovic." He said. "But
Stacy ain't been so good this past while. She don’t always like
people being in the house."