The Billionaire Baby Bombshell Read Free

discretion. At this moment, you are the team.”
    Of all the—! She shot to her feet. “I can’t do everything myself! I need an assistant, an event planner…”
    He waved away her protest with a regal hand. “I have ample staff for that. And once we have a firm schedule, you can delegate.”
    She stared at him. “I have a life, a—”
    “I thought your work was your life.” His chilly appraisal brushed over her almost insultingly.
    She crossed her arms. “You don’t know anything about me anymore.”
    “That’s true.”
    The sudden drop in temperature did nothing to cool the slow burn creeping up her neck. Yet before she could forma retort, he reached into his jacket and removed his mobile phone. “Pack for a week. I’ll see you at the airport.”
    Then he was gone, the only evidence of his presence the very male notes of a lingering aftershave.
    Yelena was left staring at her open door, stuck in a deep frown that sent tiny aching shards into her temples.
    Stop scowling, Yelena. You’ll give yourself wrinkles .
    Her mother’s familiar command cut into her thoughts like diamonds on glass and she automatically smoothed out her features.
    How on earth could she leave the past behind and concentrate on her job when this was the result of their proximity?
    She’d packed a lifetime of living into the last year. She’d lost a sister and Alex. Even Carlos had drifted away; he’d become so publicity conscious, and the only time they talked these days was to argue. She’d disappointed her family, her life had shattered then been fused back together in irregular mismatched pieces. Like an expensive vase outwardly displaying a flawless façade, only to reveal the hairline cracks on the inside.
    Yet Yelena had finally gained control. And she’d become a mother. Through it all, Bella had been worth everything she’d suffered.
    She had to do this for Bella.
    As she tidied her desk, grabbed her iPhone and locked up, she remained focused on that one honest truth.
    Alex Rush was the Holy Grail of clients. His campaign would cement her career and her promotion. And despite his unspoken yet obvious falling out with Carlos, despite their torrid history, he’d chosen her. If he could make this just about business, then so could she. She wasn’t about to blow her future on the mistakes of her past.

Two
    “I ’m just about to feed Bella,” Melanie, her neighbor and babysitter, announced from the kitchen as Yelena walked in her front door. “You want?”
    Yelena dropped her bag on the counter then took the warm formula from her neighbor with a smile. “Of course. Did my mum call in?”
    “She phoned just after you left this morning…” Mel trailed off as she followed Yelena down the quiet hallway and into Bella’s room.
    “And? Hello, gorgeous girl—how’s my bella Bella today?” Yelena reached into the crib, scooping up the gurgling five-month-old baby with a theatrical gasp. “You are so big! How did you get to be so big? What did she say, Mel?”
    The woman pulled a thread from her tank top’s hem, giving the task entirely too much attention. “She said she was coming down with a cold and didn’t want to give it to Bella.”
    “I see.” Despite knowing exactly what her mother was like, Yelena’s heart still squeezed painfully. Maria Valero playedtennis and had a personal fitness trainer. She’d been a three-step-skin-care woman since her teens, she took vitamins, ate just enough to stay healthy, eschewed caffeine, chocolate and other skin-destroying addictions. The woman was going to outlive everyone including, she suspected, Bella.
    The lie still had the power to hurt, which meant it still mattered.
    “Better to be on the safe side,” Melanie added diplomatically as she handed Yelena a cotton towel. “Babies can pick up things so easily.”
    “That’s true.” Yelena settled in the huge rocker, gently placing the squirming baby on the nursing pillow that Mel arranged under her arm. When