The Billionaire's Baby Mama [2.0]

y 9.0

ir had left before her whole

ing at the yellow notice nailed to her door. FINAL, it s

annigan came puffing up the stairs, keys jing

I just need a f

y from his clipboard and slammed it against her door for good meas

Somewhere a television laughe

nd sat on the edge of the mattress, doing the thing

by boy. 6lbs 2oz. Beneath it a blur of a gossip-site photograph. A man in a black

nd a body still aching from labor and she had laid that baby dow

s love. He deserves mo

waking at three in the morning with her a

phone buzzed

fiancée Vanessa Hartwell Hire for Baby Milo. Interviews tomorrow,

pped br

i

him baby and my love for the few hours he had stayed with h

d over the words

ly person on earth she would

notice in one hand and the

bout losing everythi

line. She had not

the marble steps were crowded with women. Twenty, maybe thirty. Designer bags in every shade of leather. Dresses tight enough that Ivy

murmured, checking her lipstick in

pered back. "Eight billion dollars, Tif

s," Tiffany sniffe

nd polished flats and her lip curled. "Sweetie. Ar

venly. "I thought t

m somewhere high above them, a thin,

xactly once, in a hospital room and s

s nearly

He's loud.

mbed th

is bigger than he

uth was set in a line that suggested disappointment was a family heirloom. Mrs. Cordelia Vanderbilt did

eeper carried in the baby

more than her shoes, fist jammed in his mouth and a scowl so fierce it was almost funny.

had h

lia said coolly. "

ies. Milo looked at her. Consider her. Then draw ba

sty!" she

ured with the patience of a wom

oudly a chandelier trembled. The third wore a necklace. On

artier," sh

ia said without

st down her silk blouse and shrieked loudly enough to wake the dead. Ivy bit the insid

broken, hiccuping sound, shoulders shaking, cheeks streak

m right. Someon

" the seventh woman hissed

lawed

pure terror and wit

emember deci

sliding across polished marble on her knees, arms outs

im an inch f

e bre

Ivy pulled him against her chest, palm cradling the back of his he

ed into his curls. "I've go

d out. She felt it g

ted, voice shaking. "It'

eck and a long, shuddering sigh left his tiny body, the sound of someone who h

a voice fro

expected rooms to rearra

harcoal suit cut like it had been tailored from his own shadow. He was taller than the pho

into the phone, not looking

one. Not for me. Not for Miss Hartwell. Not for

ssed around all morning. He needed some

s face. A muscle ticked in hi

admitted, before she could stop her

d left his eyes. Then

am

Sincl

erie

because it was the only lie she'd rehearsed. "I'

ooked away from her. "Choos

rose, and the room shrank

Tiffany

has not slept through the night in six weeks. This g

aw tightened. "One we

a second too long, and his hands closed over hers around the small, warm

. She saw

Miss Sinclair?" he

, Mr. Van

rmured. "Keep

Alexander looked down at his son's small fist curled in Ivy's sleeve, then at Ivy, and for one

the baby back

eps faded. Then she stepped clos

s bed. I did not hire you because you are different. I hired you because my grandson stopped screaming. You wi

, arms never loosen

perfectly, Mrs

oo

l palace, a rocking chair by the window, and a little brass

p trembling. His fingers stayed tangled in her

rs. Hale said qui

. He likes a

eeper's eyes were kind, and a great deal sharper than t

wer, and her eyes slid past

n and a spare apron hung

eath s

dropped it on the bus. And along the seam a line of crooked wh

t can

of Milo's blanket with a practiced hand. "It's been on that r

ice came out thin. "Wh

in this house has ever asked after it. Not once." She paused at the doo

icked shut

the window. Five months ago it had dripped rainwater all over a stran

swimming. Milo had gone slack with sle

sorry it took so long. I'm here,

board c

one, sleeves rolled to the elbow, tie loosened.

range promise for

abies like to hear a

th

t the edge of his jaw, the shadow under his eyes, the faint scent of ceda

ecialist. He screams for all of them. And you walk in off the street, a

you, Miss

who left him o

rtant," she

to her mouth, and Ivy felt it like a hand against her throat. Then it lifted agai

e met b

left t

touched. His hands, his mouth, his voice low against her

erbilt," Ivy

long, unreadable moment

he slow, unhurried click of heels, and a woman's v

e the new nanny alone. We

eels

aze as though weighing something he hadn't decided to say. Then h

sed. The hou

light, her pulse roaring in her ears,

edd