Capture Me: Alpha Billionaire Romance (Hollywood Dreams) (24 page)

“To be—” She adjusted herself in the chair as though she’d suddenly become uncomfortable. As she held a hand to her mouth, her cheeks puffed out. “Maybe I shouldn’t have had that sandwich.”

“Do you need a trash can?” I asked.

She put a finger up, swallowed, and worked to compose herself. “We need to think about what’s best for the baby.”

The words hit me like a gut punch.

There was no denying Paisley was right. The baby had to come first.

I opted to sit in one of the remaining chairs, unsure if I could continue to stand while talking to Paisley about marriage. It wasn’t the way I wanted to stay in the country.

Especially not with things going so well with Tessa. I kept my mind from wondering about how this would affect my relationship with her. Right now I had these two to focus on.

When Paisley elbowed John, he finally spoke up. “It appears that most of your substantial assets were derived from selling your father’s company shares. It also appears that you may have some money in offshore accounts. We would ask for full disclosure on those as well.” He cleared his throat to continue and I wanted to go back to Paisley cutting the guy off. “We’ll request for the judge to take your net worth into consideration due to the fact that your assets equate to over a billion and you don’t make adequate income from your hobby.”

“Hobby?” I leaned forward, unsure I’d heard the guy right.

Telling him just how successful I’d become in photography, especially over the past few years, seemed like a pointless exercise that would probably end with me wanting to punch the guy . . . more than I already did.

I now knew why Paisley kept interrupting him. Things clicked into place. “You’re looking for child support.”

“I have to be taken care of.”

“You mean, the baby does,” I corrected.

“Of course, the baby.” Paisley folded her arms. “That’s what I said.”

“Of course.” It became clear. She didn’t want to marry me; her only interest was to use me to support her expensive lifestyle.

“We are here to discuss
options
.” John twisted the handle of his briefcase, unsure what to do with himself without his papers.

“Options?” I repeated. “Looks to me as though you already know what you want.”

Paisley reached out and touched my arm. It took every bit of effort not to yank it away since that was pretty much how this whole mess started in the first place.

Instead, I eased back in my chair and crossed my arms. As my biceps stretched out the sleeves of my cotton shirt, I briefly became aware that I still had the undershirt and slacks on from last night’s dinner.

And they probably smelled like Tessa.

“Like I said, I want to make sure we are taken care of.” Paisley looked around as if she was scouting for real estate property. “This place doesn’t seem to be appropriate for a child. I think your home in Aspen would be much better suited.”

“Aspen? Isn’t that a little cold for you?” She did enjoy prancing around half-naked most of the time.

“That’s just for the summer months. We would want your place in LA for the rest of the year.”

I looked at her, trying to understand how she thought any of this made sense. Not that I cared all that much. It wasn’t like I’d be using those homes anytime soon, but that didn’t mean I wanted her to live in them.

As her hand went back to her stomach, I leaned in to look in her eyes, to somehow determine if the baby was indeed mine. Given everything she was asking for, I needed to know for sure.

I pressed my palms to the table. “Paisley . . .”

Her chin went up, as if reading my thoughts, knowing that I wanted some sort of proof.

But I couldn’t bring myself to ask.

I looked over to the lawyer, who had begun to rearrange his pens in his briefcase. She wouldn’t have brought him here if she wasn’t sure. I had to trust her on that one.

I closed my eyes. With a baby involved, there was probably some way for me to stay in the US now. This wasn’t how I’d planned to stay in the country, though. But it gave me another direction to research.

“I don’t believe you care about what’s best for the baby.”

“How dare—”

“If you did, you’d want me to be in the child’s life.”

Paisley pressed her lips together into a thin line. “I didn’t say you couldn’t ever see it.”

It?
Really?

I blew out a breath. “Aspen. LA. You both living across the country would make it difficult to see the little one.” She knew my studio was based in New York City. Sure, I had some good contacts in LA, and I’d be open to moving there, but something told me that wasn’t her plan. I could only imagine how much money she wanted, given her lawyer called my lucrative photography work a
hobby
.

She shrugged. “I wouldn’t want to bring it up in New York.”

“And I suppose you’d be looking for a relocating fee.”

John pulled out another stack of documents and held them out to me. “We have documented exactly what would be needed over the next year and going forward.”

Without giving the papers a glance, I sat back in my chair. “Again, I don’t think you have the baby’s best interests in mind. If you did, my money and property wouldn’t be your focus.” I expected her to get upset, but instead, a smirk crept over her face.

Her look gave me chills.

“If you really wanted me, then why the hell have you been fucking other models while I’m carrying your baby?”

“I’m not going around and ‘fucking models.’”

Paisley nodded at John, who pulled out a large envelope from his briefcase and handed it to her. I wondered just what else they had in store for me. As if all this wasn’t enough.

As she tipped the envelope over, a few dozen photos slid across the table.

You’ve got to be shitting me.

She had photos of last night’s rooftop dinner and of Tessa and me getting into my Rover to head to Greenwich.

Paisley pulled one from the stack showing Tessa opening the box I’d given her. “This one’s my favorite. That’s a very nice, very expensive, diamond bracelet.”

I ran a hand through my hair and I could feel the heat rise in my face. “Where the hell do you get off on invading my privacy.”

“That privacy became mine when you knocked me up.”

It didn’t matter that she had a point, but this wasn’t just about me. Paisley had taken it too far the moment she involved Tessa.

God, Tessa.

Things were going so well with her. I couldn’t just spring this on her.

But then, if I didn’t work with Paisley, she’d bring the news of the baby right to her. And then what?

How the hell did Paisley even know about Tessa?

I looked back at the photos and realized that I couldn’t put much past her. There was nothing I could do but work with her. I could be an asshole, but I’d never flee from my own child.

I rubbed my face, knowing this wasn’t going to be pretty. “Tell me what you want from me.”

CHAPTER 40

Tessa

I’d assumed that there would be at least a few people in the waiting room at the Greenwich police station. Except for the light streaming through the blinds, reminding the night shift that morning had arrived, this place looked exactly as I’d left it last night. Phil still sat behind the main desk, head down, thumbing his way through paperwork.

Just how many hours did this guy work in a week?

He flashed me a smile as I strolled up to the desk. “I was hoping I’d catch you before clocking out.” Rubbing his face, he leaned back in his chair. “Night shifts can be brutal.”

“Busy?”

“Just the opposite. Almost nothing ever happens here. Now and then we get some kid smoking weed in their car or something. If we’re really lucky we’ll catch a couple parking.” He smiled just a little too wide on that one, but for him, anything would be better than shuffling paperwork all night. Not everyone enjoyed working the numbers like I did. “Your sister raising hell kept things interesting enough.”

“I’m so glad that her getting arrested kept you entertained.”

He held up his hands. “Whoa. Wait. I didn’t mean it like that.”

Phil certainly had a way with words and it never seemed to be in his favor. I knew he didn’t mean anything by it, but I had to give him a little hell. “I’ll let you off this time if you’ll cut Dani’s bail in half.”

His face went pale. “I would. I wish I could, but they keep records of that kind of thing.”

It was worth a try. “Just teasing with you, Phil.” I unzipped my purse, still unsure why I’d turned down Liam’s offer to pay for Dani’s bail. I knew the guy had plenty of money, and for the first time, Dani and I understood what it was like to not be sure what would happen next week, next month.

Thank god I had modeling.

But working for Liam was one thing; taking money that I hadn’t earned was something completely different. Maybe if we’d been together for longer I would have considered it, but there was always time for that.

After exchanging pleasantries and bail money, Phil brought Dani out from holding. Her hair looked like she hadn’t washed it for days and her breath didn’t smell much better. If she’d had a little mud on her, I’d guess that she’d been camping, not spending a night in jail.

Phil hoisted a box out from the back room and set it down on the counter. “One water bottle, minus the water.” He looked up at me as though I’d asked the question I’d been wondering. “The airport doesn’t let them go through so we took on the same practice. One red backpack, minus the muffins and whiskey flask.”

Dani stuck out her lip and leaned against the counter. “That was my dad’s. I want it back.”

Phil looked from her to me. “I really can’t give it back to her.”

“Is there any way you could give it to me, then?” When Dani was about to cut me off, I turned to her and added, “And I’ll give it to you on her twenty-first birthday as long as this is the one and only time you get arrested.”

Phil pressed his lips together in a thin line as if trying to determine if that crossed some line.

“You know our parents just passed away and it’s really hard for us to let go of anything that meant something to them.” I thought about the estate and the real possibility of never being able to set foot in our home again. Maybe knowing that we might have to give it up had made us want to hold onto everything we could. “If you need me to sign something for it, I will.”

Phil nodded. “I think we can make that work.” He had me fill out an extra form, but in less than a minute, I tucked Dad’s flask into my purse.

Dani gave me a half-hearted smile. “If you’re done planning out my life, I’m ready to go,
Tessa
.”

She had to know how much I hated her saying my name in that sharp tone. It was probably why she did it.

I turned my attention to Phil as I slipped the flask into my purse. “Thanks for looking out for her.”

“I figure you’ve got your hands full and all.” His eyes shifted from me to Dani, then back. “You know, next time you’re in town, maybe we could get a coffee or something . . .” Seeing him swing back and forth in his chair reminded me of high school science. Phil wasn’t the best lab partner, but he’d always been a decent guy.

I gave him a small smile. “Thanks, that would be nice. I’d love to catch up. As friends,” I added, just to be clear.

Though disappointment clouded his face, he nodded. “So that guy . . . he really means something to you, doesn’t he?”

Liam.

For the last few weeks, everything seemed to circle back to him. I wasn’t sure how Phil figured that out, but he must have seen it on my face.

“He does.” And I really meant that. Nearly all of my time with Liam fell into two categories: leaning on his shoulder for support, or hot, steamy and so mind-blowing I couldn’t put more creative words to it.

If I were to analyze it, I’d say we were definitely going somewhere special.

“Come on, Tessa.” Dani elbowed me, probably harder than she’d intended. “Stop flirting already.”

“I wasn’t
flirting
.” But my face heated up just from being called out on talking to another man. It made me want to decline having coffee with Phil, even as a friend.

There was only room in my life for one man.

I twisted the bracelet Liam had given me. It felt good knowing we were just for each other. I really could see things working out with him over the next few years.

Dani slapped her palm against the counter, jolting me back to the present. “Well, I stayed here a night longer than I thought I would.”

“If you don’t clean things up, it could be much longer next time.”

“You said you’d come back for me.”

“And here I am.”

“Last night,” Dani said through gritted teeth as she clenched her fist. The only thing left to this little fit of hers would be a foot stomp.

I nodded my goodbye to Phil, then turned to walk out. “Hey, you’re the one who included under-age drinking in the mix.”