A Billionaire's Secret Baby - Chapter 16

It was the second time I’d chased Lola through the streets of Manhattan. And this time, I’d very nearly lost her.

I was standing on the corner of 54^th and 7^th, wondering where she’d got to, when I finally saw her, zigzagging on the pavement up towards Central Park.

I followed her at a distance into the Park. It wasn’t dark yet, so I knew she’d be safe. But I couldn’t just leave her like this. I knew that whatever my question had triggered, it was important. And if I didn’t explain to her now, there might not be another chance.

When I finally caught up to her, she was sitting on a park bench, under a crowd of apple trees, staring down the rolling fields and meadows of Central Park. It was a warm evening, and I could see pollen floating through the air.

“I think I need to explain myself,” I said, as I approached her and sat down.

“You’re damn right you do,” snapped Lola. “What do you think I am? A wife-for-hire?”

“No,” I said, quickly. “I told you. If anything happens to me, then I need someone I trust to keep the businesses intact.”

“I have a child, Alex,” she said. “And you know what? Somewhere down the line, I was kind of hoping to get married for real.”

“You can,” I said. “Like I said. Once we can prove what Luca’s up to, we can get the ceremony legally annulled.”

“How do you think it feels,” said Lola, “for someone to tell you that they’d like to marry you as a joke? As a prank?”

“It’s not a prank,” I said, bemused.

“No, it’s a lie,” said Lola. “A lie. I thought you were an honest guy. But now I see what they mean about billionaires and millionaires all being crooked. Nothing’s sacred to you, is it?”

“That’s not true,” I said.

“So what do you believe in? If getting married’s such a joke to you that you’d fake one to save your restaurant?”

“I believe in you, Lola.”

I really meant it. The trust I was placing in her, the confidence I had in her to carry this through. Couldn’t she see that?

She laughed in a dry, hollow sort of way. “You’re joking, right?”

“I mean it. For this to work, I need someone I completely trust. Someone who wouldn’t get nervous, or abuse the position they’re going to be in. As my legal spouse, you’d have more than a little control over my life if you wanted it.”

“What? So I could divorce you and take half your money if you pissed me off?”

“Yep,” I said, nodding. After all, it was true.

Lola looked at me.

“You’re really desperate, aren’t you?” she said.

“Really. I wouldn’t have asked you. Especially if I’d known it would upset you.”

“It’s not that you asked, Alex,” said Lola frustratedly, looking down at the green grass around her. Against the verdant scenery of Central Park, her hair stood out, streaked with the fading sunlight.

“Then what is it?” I said. And not for the first time since I’d met her again, that dark feeling of foreboding rose in the pit of my stomach. Was there something Lola wasn’t telling me? For some reason, I thought of that night in her apartment. The little girl with the striking blue eyes appearing at the door to the living room.

“I guess I’m still angry about you leaving me, all those years ago. When I needed you.”

“But why?” I said. “Why did you need my help?”

She looked at me, and for a moment, I thought she was about to say it, and somehow I already knew what it was even though she hadn’t told me.

But then, Lola looked away.

“Doesn’t matter,” she said. “It’s in the past.”

“Well,” I grunted. “Now’s the time for me to make it up to you?”

Lola turned her head, and for the first time since I’d sat down next to her, both of her green eyes were fixed on mine, and an electric thrill ran from the top of my neck down my spine, reaching into my chest, my groin.

I’d dated movie stars and models, but Lola was probably the most beautiful woman I’d ever met.

“What do you mean?” she said, curiously.

“I mean that, if you do this for me—” I said carefully, marking my words, “—then I’ll give you anything you want.”

“Anything?” said Lola, sarcastically.

“Anything,” I said. “You’d never have to work again if you want to. Or I could get you a house. Or a new car, or set you up in the stock market, or…anything.”

I held out both of my hands. I was offering her everything and anything I had in exchange for her help. But it was only as the words came tumbling out of my mouth, that I realized all I could offer this beautiful woman was money. And she had no use for it.

She had no use for me.

Lola shook her head. “I don’t want your money,” she said.

“Then what do you want?”

“Nothing,” said Lola.

“Then,” I said, trying to suppress my excitement, “you’ll do it?”

“Sure,” said Lola. “But not for anything. Because you’re my friend. And friends help each other when they need it.” She beamed at me, and for a moment, I thought about all the hard work it took for Lola to smile each day. Through all the frustrations of motherhood and working for me, and the mess we’d gotten into by getting so close to one another. And she was still smiling.

“Thank you,” I said.

“But, Alex,” said Lola. “There is something I need from you.”

“Anything,” I said.

“If we’re going to do this, then it can’t get…complicated. I couldn’t do that to Macy.”

“I understand.”

“We need to be friends from now on. Nothing more.”

“Okay,” I said, and felt a hopeless, rising tide of misery. I was getting what I wanted from Lola. But I also understood that, in some sense, I was losing her.

I was gaining a wife, but losing my lover.

“Okay,” she said. “Now, if you don’t mind, I need to go pick up Macy.”

“I’ll call for the car,” I said.

And that was how I got engaged to Lola Ryder.

***

“There’s a lot to do,” said Lola. We were in the car, by the bus terminal. “If you want to make this convincing, that is.”

“I know,” I said. “To be honest, I’m wondering how I’ll even pull it off.”

“Well, don’t shut me out this time,” said Lola to me, and I felt a curious resentment. How much more could she have shut me out than she already had?

I nodded. I hugged her, gently, the way you might hug a friend. And she got out of the car, and I saw her walk to the bus terminal. Part of me wanted to stay, to linger on the sight of her, the graceful, balletic way in which she walked, or how she tossed her hair confidently over her shoulder every time she crossed a street.

But I knew that if I stayed, the dream would be over, that I’d see her meet her kid, the one with the piercing blue eyes. And I’d see a glimpse of a life that could never be mine.

“Back to the apartment, please,” I said to my driver.

As we drove slowly away, and the towering city blocks rose up around me, I got a call on my phone.

“Hello?” I said, answering it.

“Mr. Lowe. This is Inspector O’Rourke. Russell O’Rourke. You remember me?”

How could I forget? “What can I do for you?” I said between gritted teeth.

“Not a lot. This is, how can I put it. A social call.”

What does he mean by that? “I’d appreciate it if we saved the social calls for after my name’s been cleared, Detective.”

“Well, maybe it’s not so social. Your accountant turned over the company’s expense accounts to me and my office, did you know that?”

“Of course.” I’d had everything given over to the NYPD. Showing full compliance with the investigation and proving I ran a clean house was going to help clear my name, after all.

“Now, you told me that you turned Luca DeSilva loose on the 15^th of the month, is that right?”

“That’s right. He retains his stake in the restaurants and bars, but he’s no longer a member of the company.”

“So could you tell me why, Alex, Luca made a trip to Philadelphia the week after he was fired from working at the company?”

“Philadelphia?” I said.

And then, it all clicked.

Luca had gone to Philadelphia. And something he’d done there had meant he’d be able to come back with the forgery of my birth certificate. I knew it.

“Don’t you realize what this means?” I said. “He must have got the birth certificate then! That’s how he did it!”

“There’s no evidence that Luca went anywhere your birth certificate might be. No hospitals, not city hall. I’ve already had my team check surveillance footage from the day.”

“So why did you call me?” I said, desperately.

“I just want you to know what I’m thinking,” said O’Rourke.

Of course, he hadn’t told me what he was thinking. But he didn’t have to. I realized that the detective, irksome though he was, was starting to believe me. The evidence didn’t add up.

“Well, I appreciate that, Detective,” I said.

“Be seeing you.”

Things were looking up now. I had a plan to save my businesses from Luca. And I also had a detective on my side, a fearsome man who believed me, who was going to uncover the truth about what had been done.

But my heart was heavy, and that night I slept in snatches, dreaming of Lola, and the little girl with blue eyes.