The Baby Pact (Babies and Billions #5) - Holly Rayner Page 0,37

they would react, given the fact that her father had fired his father all those years ago. He hadn’t wanted that to become an issue between him and Rhea so early in their relationship.

But now… he wondered. Why had she been so determined to keep him a secret?

She must have known her father didn’t like me. Even if she never knew the reason why, she must have known there were bad feelings there.

Zach had thought, when he had met Mr. Wilson at dinner that time, that the man seemed nice. He should have known better. Of course Mr. Wilson had been polite, but he had probably been deciding even then that Zach wasn’t good enough for his only daughter.

Maybe he fired my father as a way of keeping me away from Rhea.

Maybe that was the reason for this story about Zach’s father having stolen something. Maybe the whole thing had been concocted to get between Zach and Rhea.

But then again…

Zach couldn’t quite dismiss what Rhea was telling him, as badly as he wanted to. He hated to think that his father could have been capable of such a thing. But that lottery story had never quite sat right with him. There had always been something suspicious about it, even though he hadn’t wanted to question it.

Maybe Dad did do something he shouldn’t have.

But he wasn’t just going to take Rhea’s word for it.

“If you expect me to believe this, I’m going to need proof,” he said roughly.

Her eyes widened. “Proof?”

“You’re accusing my father of stealing,” he said. “Obviously there was never a trial. That makes me think you don’t have any evidence.”

“We do have evidence,” Rhea said.

“What evidence? Have you seen it?”

“I mean, not personally—”

“Then how do you know it exists?”

“Because my brother told me it did,” Rhea said. “I trust Stephen, Zach.”

“That’s fine,” Zach said. “But he isn’t my brother. And until I see proof of what you’re saying, I believe in my father’s innocence.”

“Fine,” Rhea stood up. “I guess we’re done here, then.”

“Not quite,” Zach said.

“What else?”

“I need to see proof that that baby is mine, too.”

She stared at him. “Excuse me?”

“I don’t think that’s an unreasonable thing to ask,” he said. “After all, how can I be sure?”

“You can take my word for it,” she snapped. “There hasn’t been anyone else since or before you.”

“I don’t know if I can trust you,” he said.

“Well, I don’t know what you want me to do about that.”

“Get a paternity test,” he suggested.

She gave him such a withering look that he actually shrank back in his chair.

“Go to hell,” she said. Then she turned on her heel and stalked toward the front door.

Zach remained in his seat, listening to her go. The door slammed shut behind her. A moment later, he heard the sound of a car starting up and pulling away.

He slumped backward in his chair, reeling.

She’s pregnant.

Now that she wasn’t sitting in front of him, accusing his deceased father of a serious crime—now that he was beginning to let go of the anger that had been boiling within him—Zach could see that he had spoken to her much too harshly. He had been very unfair.

She didn’t come here asking me for anything. What did I think, that she was after my money? Rhea has her own money. Besides, she’s not that kind of girl.

No, there was no reason for her to lie to him about her pregnancy. He did believe her. There was a baby, and if she said he was the only possible father, then that was the truth.

I’m going to be a father.

It was a difficult thing to process. He wished now that he had gotten himself a drink when he had offered her one. He got up and headed toward the kitchen to see what he could find.

There was a beer in the fridge—the last one in the pack. Zach popped the cap and took a long swallow. When he put the bottle down, his thoughts were just as unsettled as they had been before.

Only one thing was absolutely clear—he had treated Rhea badly.

I’m going to have to make it up to her.

He had no idea how he was going to do that, though, especially when he still couldn’t bring himself to believe what she had told him about his father. It wasn’t as though he could go back to her and apologize for not taking that part of her story seriously.

He didn’t think she was lying to him, exactly. But she was mistaken.

Because it