Claimed by the Billionaire: Rescue #3 (3 page)

We walked into his
living room. My jaw dropped at the view. He had floor to ceiling windows that
overlooked the city, like his office but all along the wall. The couch was
massive and looked as plush as could be with a state of the art entertainment
center in the middle of the room. There was a step up which led to the dining
room, more of the same rustic feel with a solid oak dining room table. I
couldn’t see the kitchen yet but Bradley nodded to the dining room table.

“You can work there if
you want, Greg.” Bradley said.

Greg walked over to the
table, putting his backpack up on it and settling down to work.

“Do you want anything
to drink?” Bradley asked him.

Greg asked for orange
juice which is when I knew he was on his best behavior. Usually he wanted a
soda that was bad for him and we’d start bickering about it. I followed Bradley
to the kitchen. The counters opened out to the dining room but I couldn’t get
over the size of the kitchen.

“Do you actually cook
in here?” I asked, eying the state of the art cookware and appliances.

“Not really.” He said
with a shrug.

As he went to go get
Greg his orange juice, I whispered a thank you to him. Bradley just smiled and,
with the fridge door opened and blocking us from Greg’s site, he trailed his
thumb down my cheek.

“Absolutely, Serena.”
He whispered, looking in my eyes, which made my heart pound.

He went back to the
dining room to give Greg his orange juice.

It was a little past
ten before I could get Greg to settle down in one of the extra guest rooms to
sleep. He had been playing that video game and was excited, yammering about how
he didn’t think he felt well enough for school and would have to stay here
tomorrow to get better. Soon, he was fast asleep, his chest rising and falling
slowly with each breath.

I wandered back out
into the hallway. Bradley was waiting.

“He settle in okay?” He
asked me.

I wrapped my arms
around myself, “Yeah, it was a long night. Sensory overload for him, I think.”

“I knew they’d find
your place eventually. I hope you’re okay with staying here.”

I smiled wanly at him,
“I’m okay,” I admitted, “I feel kind of sick actually but I think it’s just
stress.”

Bradley started leading
me down the hallway, pausing in front of another oak door, “This is the other
guest room.”

I tried not to let the
fact I was surprised show on my face. I didn’t want to stay in a guest room. I
wanted to stay with Bradley. 

“Okay.” Was all I said
in reply and he eyed me closely.

“Serena, I didn’t want
to assume you’d stay with me,” How had he guessed so easily? “But you’re more
than welcome to share my bed. I’d love it, in fact.”

Bradley took my hand
and we slowly walked down the hall. The hall ended with another oak door and he
turned the handle and I stepped into his room.

It had the same rustic
feel as the rest of the house with a giant California king sized bed in the
middle. There was another sleek flat screen TV on the other side with an
aquarium near the bathroom door — I could see the marble flooring from here.
The carpet was plush and my feet sunk into it. The windows opened up into a
patio, I noticed, that overlooked the city. There was a hot tub out there too.

“Wow,” I breathed,
“This is gorgeous.”

“It’s nice knowing its
here when I’m halfway across the world in some business trip.” Bradley replied.

I stepped farther
inside and he wrapped his arms around me from behind, “You can stay here as
long as you need.”

“Just the week.” I
said, not wanting to end up over staying my welcome.

Bradley was kissing
along my neck now, trailing kisses down to my shoulders. The feeling came over
me — the same one he could always make in me — the shivering, the goose bumps
and the warmth below. He moved his hands to my breasts, squeezing them through
the shirt.

“How about we don’t go
in tomorrow?” He whispered in my ear.

“We can’t; we have
too,” I said, trying to sound stern, “People will talk.”

He pinched one of my
nipples through the fabric, “But people are already talking, Serena.”

He had a point. Plus he
was the owner. He could do whatever he pleased. If he wanted to run off to
Mexico for a month, he didn’t have to answer to anybody. His hand was slinking
down to my skirt, bunching it up, rubbing my panties.

“Just us, Serena, us
and this big apartment. I’ll make you breakfast.”

I scoffed, trying not
to shudder at his touch, “Do you even know how to make breakfast?”

“You’d be surprised at
what I know.”

He pulled his hands
away and I instantly wished they were back. Bradley led me to the bed,
undressing me, taking me all in. His eyes seemed to linger on my breasts and my
hips as he undressed himself. He pushed me gently back on the bed and looked me
over again.

“Serena…” He mumbled as
he kissed me, his manhood pressing against my thigh, hard and warm.

Our limbs entwined, his
fingers in my hair as he gently bit my bottom lip, teasing me. I arched my
hips, wanting him to enter me. He was teasing me again, I thought, he so
enjoyed doing that.

Then he slid in me,
slowly. I loved feeling every inch of him enter me until he was fully inside.
The warmth seemed to radiate through me as he began to move inside me. I clung
to him, trying to match his movements, to get him as deep as I could inside me.

“Please,” I moaned
softly, “Don’t stop.”

He bit my neck, tugging
on my hair a little as he thrust in me. Bradley held me, his arms wrapped
around me as if he was protecting me. I wrapped my legs around his waist,
drawing him in deeper as he moved inside me. One of his hands were squeezing my
breasts, pinching and playing with the nipple as he thrust in me. Our breathing
grew heavy as we moved against each other, in the glow of the city lights.
Bradley was all mine, I thought passionately, this man was all mine.

I could feel the heat
rising in my face as my body started to shudder. I rocked my hips as he moaned
in my ear, telling me I was his and that I was going to finish for him. I
arched my back, bit my bottom lip to keep quiet as I rode the orgasm out. My
body fell back against the bed as Bradley groaned too, thrusting deep in me,
murmuring my name as he finished inside me. He collapsed next to me, our
fingers touching lightly and both of us out of breath. 

“You’re right,” I
murmured to him, “Let’s not go in tomorrow.”

Bradley smiled and he
moved me under the bed sheets that were so soft they felt unreal and I was soon
dozing off in his arms.

The driver took Greg to
school. I sat in the limo with him because it didn’t feel right just to send
him off by himself. He had tried to get out of school earlier. Greg had sworn
up and down he had caught a cold. I knew he just wanted to stay at Bradley’s
and play video games. As the limo pulled up in front of the school, Greg
coughed again, looking at me hopefully, with puppy dog eyes.

“Listen, be good today,
okay?” I kissed his forehead, “And…” I paused briefly, “If the kids say
anything to you, ignore it the best you can, okay?”

Greg nodded, looking
slightly confused and he slid out of the limo, rushing up to the front of the
building. As the limo pulled away, I suddenly felt sick again, like I was going
to throw up. Not here, I thought to myself, trying to hold back the feeling.
Every morning I had been feeling like this —

My body went cold all
over, as though I took a dive into a pool full of ice water. Every morning I
had been sick. My heart pounded. It couldn’t be…I had tried and been so
careful. I leaned forward to the driver.

“Can we stop a
pharmacy? I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, ma’am.” He
replied, nodding his head.

I leaned back against
the seat with my eyes closed, picturing all the times Bradley and I had had
sex. It couldn’t be. I had taken my pill every day. It’s not always 100
percent. And weren’t you late taking it a couple of times? The voice in my head
said, refusing to shut up.

The driver pulled into
a pharmacy and I pulled a hat I had grabbed over my head tightly and slid on
sunglasses. I walked into the pharmacy, hoping against hope that I wouldn’t be
discovered. The rows of pregnancy tests floated in front of my eyes, seemingly
blurring together. I grabbed one, paid for it and hopped back in the limo. Fall
was ending and the air had a bite to it as winter was coming in. I should have
brought a jacket. I slid into the limo, shoving the test into my purse.

When I stepped back
into Bradley’s foyer, I hoped against hope he was still asleep. He mentioned he
was planning on sleeping in for once. I stepped inside the living room but no
one was there. Sunlight flooded into the living room, illuminating it better than
I had seen last night. There were some magazines thrown about and a book or
two, both with bookmarks shoved in them, as if he had forgotten to finish them.
I peeked down the hallway but the door was still shut and I could hear Bradley
faintly snoring.

I shut the bathroom
door behind me. It was the one in the hallway and looked as though it hadn’t
been touched in forever. It was clean, looking utterly spotless but impersonal
as well. I opened up the pregnancy kit, sitting down on the toilet, hoping that
maybe I just felt sick due to stress.

Then I waited, pacing
back and forth across the marble flooring in the bathroom, which made it
freezing. I ended up pacing the bath mat instead, avoiding the cold floor.
Sunlight made its way through the frosted window.

I tried to think
through what I was going to do if it came back that I was pregnant. I’d have to
tell Bradley. How would he take it? Winter had said that he hadn’t wanted kids.
What if he thought I had done it on purpose? Maybe I shouldn’t tell him at all.
I should leave. I’d have to find another job to raise two kids but I could do
it. I could do it on my own. I’d get my real estate license, I thought wildly,
that’ll do it. I can go back to selling houses, figure it out on my own.

I thought of Bradley’s
face when I uttered the words “I’m pregnant”. I could imagine his face falling
and him offering to pay child support but I would have to leave.

What did it say about
me that I thought he would do that? Did I truly know him if I was sitting here
thinking like this? If I truly thought that he would leave like that and want
no part of me? I felt a headache coming on.

Gathering my breath, I
walked over to the counter and peered over the stick.

It was positive. I was
pregnant.

I sat in the bathroom a
long time, just staring at the stick, unsure of what my next move would be.
There was no way around the fact that I was pregnant. It was funny how this
stick changed my life so completely. I had to re-think everything now. What I was
going to do next.

I decided I had to tell
Bradley. That was my first major decision, sitting on the rim of the tub,
staring at the stick. There was no way around that. I had tossed around not
telling him anything but I decided if his reaction was not what I wanted it to
be — if he blamed me or shunned me — than he was not a man that should be in my
life. It took two to do the dance we had done multiple times. Not just me.

After I made that
choice, I calmed down just a little. His reaction would pave the way for what I
would do next. If it was a poor reaction, I’d have to go back to my apartment
and figure out what to do from there. If it was a positive one, then Bradley
and I would have to sit down and think about what to do next.

“Serena?” I heard
Bradley down the hall, looking for me.

I wished he had slept
in longer. But there was no getting around it. My heart thumped in my chest as
if it was going to pop. My palms were sweaty, I realized as I stood up and
tried to wipe them off on my shirt. I heard him call for my name again and I
opened the bathroom door, stepping out into the hallway.

“Hey, you okay?” He
asked.

The stick was clutched
in my hand. My pee covered stick, I thought. Bradley’s hair was messy and his
clothes had been thrown on by the ruffled look of them. He looked concerned.

“There’s a bathroom in
my room, Serena.” He said to me.

My throat felt dry.
This morning had all gone much too quickly and I found myself wishing I could
go back and start over. I just didn’t know where I would start over. I wanted
to say something but no words came. Bradley walked over to me and looked at me
curiously.

“Serena?” He asked.

I just shook my head.

“What?” He looked
puzzled and his gaze went down to my hand, gripping the stick.

Slowly, he leaned
forward and took my hand in his, gently prying my first open. The stick rested
on my palm, out in the open now. Half of me expected it to glow or some booming
music to kick up. Something to break the silence. Bradley lifted the stick up and
looked at it. He looked at it for a long time. Then he raised his gaze and met
my eyes.

“That stick has my pee
on it.” I blurted out, breaking the silence.

What an asinine thing
to say, I thought but Bradley’s serious face cracked and he started laughing.
He just kept laughing.

“What?” I said,
confused and worried.

“Serena,” He replied,
trying to look serious again, “You’re pregnant. We’re past the point of
worrying about if I’m holding a stick with your pee on it.”

“We are?” I said
dumbly.

He looked at the stick
again and back up at me, “Serena, you’re pregnant.”

“Yes…” I said slowly,
not wanting to scare him off but hoping against hope his reaction kept going
the way it was going.

“This is amazing.”

“But I thought you
didn’t want kids.” There I went again, blurting things out, not even pausing to
think about how they sounded.

“With Winter,” Bradley
replied, “Serena, I didn’t want children with Winter. Can you imagine?”

The weight in my chest
lessened a little but I still felt nervous, “Are you sure?”

He took my hands in
his, the stick now pressed against our hands, “Serena, of course I’m sure.”

“But…isn’t this too
soon? We just…I didn’t mean for this to happen.”

“I know that.” His gaze
softened.

“I don’t want you to
think I did this on purpose, Bradley.”

He looked at me closely
and pushed back a lock of my hair that had fallen in front of my face, “Do you
really think I would think that?”

“I…I didn’t mean that,
I just…”

“I don’t think that,
Serena. Yes, it is fast and we are still trying to figure this all out. But we
can do it. I told you that I want to be with you. It isn’t as though I can’t
afford a kid.”

“Yeah,” I pressed on,
“But do you want one?”

His brow furrowed, “I
told you, Serena, I do. I just didn’t with Winter. Are you feeling okay?”

I felt that feeling
again, that sick feeling all over like I was going to throw up or something. I
felt like a cold sweat was breaking out over my body.

“You need to lay down,
Serena, come on. We can discuss this in bed.”

He took me by my hand
and gently led me down the hallway. I couldn’t tell if I was sick from too much
too fast from the last twenty four hours — the paparazzi finding my home, us
escaping to Bradley’s, making sure Greg was okay and now the pregnancy. Maybe
the last few weeks were all catching up to me, I thought dully as Bradley had
me lay down. His bed was comfortable and I sunk into it.

“Can I get you
anything?” He asked me.

“No, I just…I’m sorry.
A lot has happened the last twenty four hours, you know?”

I felt weak and hoped
that I wouldn’t be one of those girls who was incredibly frail her entire
pregnancy. I hadn’t been with Greg. But I had been almost eleven years younger
as well.

“Serena, I think you
should rest,” I felt him gently detangle the stick from my fingers, “We can
talk about the baby once you wake up, okay?”

I mumbled something. I
was suddenly exhausted. I wanted to stay up and talk about what we were going
to do — there was suddenly so much to plan when before I had just been trying
to get through the day and figure things out for Greg and I. But…

I couldn’t stay awake.
The cold, clammy feeling stayed with me and swooped over me in one tidal wave
and I felt myself fall asleep.

I dreamt. I was at my
wedding with my first husband. It was at the beach and was a beautiful,
cloudless day with a breeze. It had been perfect. Was I dreaming or had I just
gone back in time? What if everything else had been a dream? My belly swelled
with Greg — but then I saw Greg in the chair up front, peering at me curiously.
I felt confused — how could Greg be up there when he should be in my belly
still? Then there was someone next to me. My dad…to walk me down the aisle. I
turned my head but it was Bradley instead. My head felt confused and muddled.

“Are you going to tell
your husband you’re having my child?” He asked me.

Suddenly my eyes
opened. I was staring up at the ceiling and didn’t know where I was. This
didn’t look like the ceiling of my bedroom. My head was pounding and my throat
felt dry. I had been dreaming. But the dream was slipping through my fingers
like water and I couldn’t recall any of it. I let out a sigh.

“You’re awake.”

I turned my head to see
Bradley on the other side of the bed, a book in his lap, looking at me, “Yeah.”
I mumbled.

“How are you feeling?”

“Shitty.” I admitted.

“Do you want me to get
you some water?”

I nodded and as he slid
off the bed to get me something to drink, I managed to prop myself up against
the pillows. Bradley came back and I started guzzling the water. I finished it
quickly and Bradley got me more. This one I drank a little slower.

“Sorry,” I said, “I
feel a little bit better now.  I just…Busy day, you know?”

He nodded, “It really
is.” He ran his fingers through his hair.

“So,” I said, “You’re
okay with the fact we’re having a child,” He nodded and I took a deep breath,
“My husband passed away not too long ago.”

He went still for a
moment. We hadn’t discussed my husband who had passed away recently from a heart
attack. Losing the money had been too much of a shock for him.

“I’m aware.” Was all he
said back.

I went on, as I started
remembering my dream, “This is a big deal for me, you know? It feels like we
just…we’re moving very quickly,” I felt as though I was botching up my words,
“Not that I regret it, Bradley, I don’t. I just…I am worried. About what others
will think of me once they find out I am pregnant so soon after he passed
away.”

“Do you think your
family will be upset?”

“I don’t know,” I
admitted, “I know my dad really loved my husband. He hasn’t contacted me since
the news of us leaked but he doesn’t really check those types of magazines and
is terrible with a computer so he might not know. That could be even worse. I
am just going to be like hey, I’m pregnant with this guy you don’t really
know.”

“He sold me a house
forever ago.” Bradley reminded me.

I smiled lightly, “That
makes it all better.”

Bradley took my hand,
“It isn’t like we can do anything about it now, you know? This is how it is.
How it is going to be. They’ll come around. We’ll figure things out, Serena.
Even if you have to move in with me right away…I have plenty of room.”

“You ready for a
family?”

“No,” My heart dropped,
“I’m ready for a family with you.”

He leaned over and
kissed me, deeply and for the first time in twenty four hours, I felt as though
everything would be okay.