Barbara Dunlop - Billionaire Baby Dilemma

Could Lucas use it against her?

She realized he could. And she realized he would. And she couldn’t risk compromising her case.

An overwhelming sense of helplessness engulfed her. “The judge said I had stay at the Demarco mansion.”

Lexi’s hands went to her hips. “Well, that’s not going to work.”

“I can’t kidnap her. It would completely compromise my case.”

They both blinked at each other. There was no solution. There was absolutely no solution.

“What if we could get them to hold the hearing right away?” Lexi asked.

“I don’t think it’s like a hair appointment.” Devin doubted they could call up and see if there’d been a cancellation.

Lexi clicked her tongue for a few moments. Then she snapped her fingers.

“What?” Devin didn’t dare hope.

“There’s one other person on this planet who wants the hearing to happen fast.”

Devin didn’t follow.

“And I'll just bet he’s got the contacts and the clout to do it,” Lexi explained.

As the truth set in, Devin felt her stomach congeal to wet cement. “Steve.”

Lexi gave a slow, deliberate nod. And Devin knew it was their only choice.

The next night, in the mansion’s great room, Lucas could barely contain his frustration with Devin as he faced three members of the Pacific Robotics Board of Directors. All three were loyal to him, and all three were obviously both angry and worried.

“I thought you said you had it under control,” Craig Grenville opened, a hard edge to his voice. His snifter of brandy sat untouched on the table beside him.

“I did have it under control.” Lucas had been blindsided by Devin’s disappearance.

“But, she’s gone,” Peter Huntley stated in a flat tone. He’d drained his brandy glass and was glancing around for more.

“I can’t even begin to guess why she took off.” At first, Lucas had thought they’d been kidnapped.

But when it seemed certain she’d left of her own free will, he started searching for reasons. “There was no evidence that Steve made contact with her,” he confirmed for the Board members. “And none of the reporters found us in Texas.”

“We need a plan B,” Ivan Rusk spoke up. He pushed his glasses up on the bridge of his nose, crossing and uncrossing his lanky legs as he spoke. “If Steve gets control, you know we’re all fired the next day.”

Lucas scoffed, “What plan B, where plan B?” His lawyers had already contacted him with an early court date for the guardianship trial. It had been reset for next week at Devin’s lawyer’s insistence. So it was obviously going to happen before Steve’s petition to appeal the will.

Lucas couldn’t begin to guess what Devin would say on the stand. Or maybe he could. The fact that she’d snuck away from Byron’s ranch in the middle of the night told him a lot. Nothing she said in the guardianship hearing would help either Lucas or Amelia’s case when it came time to hear the appeal of the will.

What the hell was she thinking?

Byron set the bottle of brandy down on the bar and pivoted to face the men. “Well, I’ve got myself a plan B.”

They waited while he took a step closer to the grouping of couches and overstuffed armchairs.

He drew a deep breath. “We get Bob, my ranch vet, to geld Steve.”

There was a moment of stunned silence, before Peter burst out laughing.

Both Ivan and Craig stared at him as if he’d lost his mind.

“And then,” Peter sputtered. “Lucas can take his sweet time having as many children as he wants. I like it.”

Craig frowned in disgust. “If amateur hour is over at The Improv, can we get back to the problem at hand?”

Lucas hid his smile behind a swallow of brandy. He knew Byron’s suggestion was ridiculous, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t like it. Lucas realized he’d want to have those children with Devin, which was obviously impossible. He had to forcibly tamp down a wave of despair.

“What’s she going to say in court?” Ivan asked him point blank.

Lucas admitted to himself that Devin was a wild card, never more so than now. “She knows the stakes for Amelia,” he answered evasively.

“Could she have found something out?” asked Ivan.

“Yeah,” Craig added. “Like the truth about her sister’s marriage?”

“There’s no truth for her to find out,” Lucas all but shouted. “Konrad loved Monica.”

“You’re protesting a little too much,” said Craig.

Lucas pinned him with an angry glare. “I’m protesting exactly the correct amount. Konrad’s not here to defend himself-”

“Understand our positions,” said Ivan. Sweat had popped out on his forehead. “Steve knows we’ve been loyal to you.”

Byron moved ever so subtly to position himself behind Lucas. “I’d hoped y’all were loyal to honor and integrity. And that was something you had in common with Lucas.”

Peter lifted his glass in a toast to Lucas. “If Steve takes over, I’m walkin’.”

Lucas gave Peter a nod of appreciation, admiring the man’s reliability.

Craig sat forward. “It’s not that simple.”

“It’s exactly that simple,” said Peter, all traces of humor gone. “Either you’re with us or against us.”

“Code of the West,” said Byron.

“This isn’t some classic movie. Good guys against the bad guys,” said Craig. “It’s complicated. And we have to think strategically. There might still be time to come to a deal with Steve.”

“Nobody’s making any deal,” Lucas stated with conviction.

“Speak for yourself.” Craig came to his feet. And after a moment’s hesitation, Ivan came to his also.

Lucas slowly rose to face them. “You two have obviously made your choice.”

“The writing’s on the wall,” said Craig. “Steve’s star witness is going to support him.”

Ivan tugged at his collar.

“Then good luck to you, boys,” Byron offered in a falsely hearty tone. “I hope Steve welcomes you both with open arms.”

There was a minute of uncomfortable silence before the two men left.

As the door banged shut, Peter leaned back and stretched his legs out on the rug in front of him. “Well, good to have the rats off the ship, I guess.”

Lucas grunted. “The ship’s still sinking.”

Peter swirled the golden brandy in the bottom of his glass and gave a shrug. “I can swim.”

Byron ambled over to an armchair and eased down into the thick cushions. “At least those two won’t be in the water to steal our life preservers.”

Lucas couldn’t help but chuckle. “I don’t think we have life preservers. I think Devin is going to hold our heads under until we stop struggling.”

“You must have really ticked her off,” Byron ventured.

Lucas wished he knew what he’d done. If he had a clue, he could at least try to fight back.

The ocean waves bubbled up on the rocky beach of the secluded San Juan Islands resort where Devin was holed-up with Amelia and Lexi.

Her lawyer Hannah Snow had taken the ferry from Seattle and now joined them on the wooden deck in front of the cottage, shaded by massive cedar trees that blocked the hot, noonday sun.

“Your only job is to tell the truth,” said Hannah, crossing her tanned legs beneath a simple, sleeveless, white linen dress. “The decision is up to the judge.”

Devin hated the thought of playing into Steve’s hand. But she wouldn’t lie to protect Lucas. She could live with any outcome, except for one where she lost Amelia.

“The judge understands why I left?”

Hannah nodded. “I only get to tell the truth, too. But I gave the judge a written brief. She’ll know you didn’t maliciously kidnap Amelia.”