Reunited...with Child / One Month with the Magnate: Reunited...with Child

“Of course I do. But this has never happened to me before, so don’t be snarky,” Cam said, getting to his feet. He was the determined businessman she’d first met two years ago. A man used to getting answers. A man used to getting his way.

“I wasn’t trying to be sarcastic. I just have been struggling to tell you about Ty and it never occurred to me that you’d doubt he was yours.”

“That’s where you made your mistake. I’ve had another woman accuse me of being the father of her child.”

Becca put her hands up in the air. “I’m not going to argue with you about this.”

“Of course you aren’t,” he said. “I’m not sure I can believe that I have son, but I see the resemblance and I suspected …”

“You do have one. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about him sooner but I never had any idea that you would care.”

He turned back toward her, and she’d never seen anyone look angrier than he did. She took a step away from him, but he didn’t walk toward her.

“How would you know that?” he asked.

“We weren’t in a relationship, Cam. Don’t you remember—my boss didn’t even know we’d slept together.” She’d been so overwhelmed by Cam that she’d hardly been able to think of what to do. Two years ago … she’d been twenty-five, and no matter how adult and mature she’d thought she was, well, she wasn’t. And Cam had made her feel … just feel. She’d had one other lover before him and it had been little more than a rushed coupling in a college dorm room. But Cam was a real man and he’d swept her away.

“Did you tell Russell?”

Becca felt horrified at the thought of her boss knowing she’d slept with one of his friends. She had kept that knowledge very close.

“No. Of course not. I didn’t tell anyone. I don’t think that Russell even knows I have a son. I told him I was leaving to start my own company. And he was my boss, not my confidant.”

Each question was tearing at her confidence. She briefly wondered if she should have just kept quiet after all, then dismissed the thought.

“I got really sick a month after I left Miami and at first I figured it was just the malaise of a broken heart. I didn’t realize I was pregnant until a few weeks after I got back home.”

Cam ran his fingers through his hair. He was still sorting out the logistics of how things happened. Answering his questions brought back all those feelings she’d had when she’d learned she was pregnant.

“I almost called you. I didn’t have any numbers for you but Russell’s secretary had your office number. Do you remember her? Lani?”

“Yes, I remember her,” Cam said.

“Then you will probably also recall that you were dating her cousin about that time,” Becca said. “And I wasn’t about to call you up and give you the news that you didn’t want. At that point I wouldn’t have been able to handle another rejection. It had seemed to me you had moved on.”

“I guess it would. I still deserved to know I had a son.”

“I know. I’m so sorry that I didn’t tell you but I was in a pretty vulnerable state and you didn’t seem like a viable option for someone to lean on,” she said.

She crossed her arms around her waist and took a deep breath. “To be fair, back then we weren’t anything but lovers. We didn’t know about each other’s lives or really even care. We just met up each night and had hot sex.”

He looked over at her, his large blue eyes unreadable. He seemed so distant and so cold and she really didn’t know what he wanted from her. She had no idea what she should say to smooth over this moment.

“That is a fair assessment of who we were.”

“Yes, it is.”

“Why did you decide to tell me now?” he asked.

She bit her lower lip and fought to find the right thing to say. “When I saw you last night, I realized I owe you the truth.”

She was in an indefensible position. She knew what she’d done was wrong and there was no way to spin this. No way to turn it into anything other than the painful truth.

“Now I’m not sure what I believe. But I’m going to take your word that Ty is my son because I can’t figure out why you’d make that up. Unless you thought you could get money from me?”

“Why would I need money from you?” she asked. Granted, she wasn’t a millionaire like Cam, but she owned her own home and her business was doing very well.

“Everyone always needs more money,” he said.

“I’m seeing a side of you I don’t particularly like,” she said.

“I could say the same. What kind of woman waits until her son is almost two years old to tell the father about him?” he asked.

“I just explained that to you,” she said.

“I’m not buying it, Becca,” he said. “I’m not buying into any of your act anymore.”

“Stop talking to me like that,” she said. “You are angry and you have a right to be, but you are just saying mean things right now.”

“You’re damned right I am. And I have a lot more that I’m trying to hold back. Nothing about this morning has done anything but make me doubt every word you’ve ever said.”

“That’s fine with me, Cam. Why don’t you leave and we’ll never have to see each other again?” she said. She marched over to the door and opened it.

But Cam shook his head. “I’m not leaving yet.”

“Oh, I think you are,” she said. “I don’t care if we ever see you again.”

“Sit down, Becca. We’re about to come to an understanding and I’m not leaving here without my son.”

Cam had never expected to hear anything like the news Becca had just delivered. He let anger roil through him because if he had a chance to think, he was going to be hurt and upset. Two emotions he wasn’t about to let her know she’d caused.

“The first thing we will do tomorrow is to find a doctor who can do a paternity test.”

“Why? I just told you that Ty was your son.”

“I want an official document saying he is and then we will modify the birth certificate so that my name is on there,” he said. Now that he was pushing aside the anger, there were a lot of housekeeping items that had to be tended to if they were going to sort out an arrangement for Ty that would ensure his welfare.

“Okay, I can see why you’d want that,” she said.

“Good,” he said, but he didn’t care if she agreed or not. He had rights, and since she’d hidden his son from him since his birth, Cam intended to make up for lost time.

“Next up we will see my attorney and he will draw up papers for us to have joint custody. There will also be an agreement that states that none of my holdings or fortune will fall to you.”

“Fine,” she said. “This isn’t about me, Cam.”

He nodded. “That just leaves the matter of Ty moving down to Miami. I can’t live in New York and I want my son with me.”

“Wait a minute. I’m not ready to move,” she said.