Page 11 of Billion-Dollar Baby Shock

Tara’s eyes widened . ‘No, it wasn’t like that. My eggs were there for my future use, not to be used as donor eggs for someone else.’

The man opposite her frowned, drawing his gorgeous dark features into an expression of incomprehension. ‘Then…how did they end up being used to make an embryo? That’s if what you’re saying is true.’

Tara had to stop herself from saying something she might regret.

She’d lambasted him for leaving his, her , son alone and he’d taken the fire out of her anger by revealing his truly awful experience at the hands of his parents.

His decision to have a child alone wasn’t so easy to judge now.

She hadn’t been able to help her soft heart from aching at the thought of him as a small child, bewildered and neglected.

Dumped like an unwanted dog. She couldn’t get her head around how a mother could do that to her own child.

Dion arched a brow. Waiting.

‘Do you have issues with your fertility?’ he asked before she could figure out how to formulate her response.

She shook her head. ‘No, I don’t have any issues…or at least, not that I know of.’

‘So…why?’

Now she was under the spotlight. She felt defensive. ‘Lots of women freeze their eggs now. It gives us choice and options for the future. Unlike men, we don’t have an unlimited amount of time to procreate.’

His jaw tightened, a muscle twitched. Tara wanted to put her mouth there. She focused on his eyes, which weren’t any less provocative. He had incredibly long lashes and yet they did nothing to detract from his sizzling masculinity. He said tautly, ‘I am aware of that.’

Tara sighed. If she was going to be embarking on some kind of long-term arrangement with this man to have a relationship with her son, then she’d be wise not to completely alienate him.

Or give him the impression that you’re a total sl —

‘My parents both died when I was sixteen,’ she blurted out, before any more intrusive thoughts could throw her off. ‘In a car crash. A drunk driver on the wrong side of the road.’

Dion responded, ‘That’s…very rough. I’m sorry.’

‘It was the worst thing. But…after they died, as the eldest, I had to step into their roles.’

He frowned. ‘Was that allowed?’

‘Technically, no, but my mother’s sister and her husband became our guardians. They lived really close by and so we continued living in our own house and I took care of the day-to-day stuff while they supervised us and made sure we had enough money for everything.’

‘While you were still at school?’

Tara nodded. ‘Yes, I had two years left. But that’s why it took me so long to get my degree. I took a couple of years out after school to stay at home while working part-time so I could be there for my brothers and sisters who were still in school.’

He looked at her and Tara could see that he didn’t quite know what to make of this information. Eventually he said, ‘That was admirable.’

She could almost hear the unspoken words, If you’re telling the truth . He was so cynical. ‘I had no choice, but that didn’t matter. Even if I had had a choice, I would do it again. I love my brothers and sisters and they needed consistency and our routine to stay the same.’

He made a sound. ‘Believe me, you had a choice but you chose not to shirk your responsibility.’

‘I guess so.’ It had never occurred to Tara that she would do anything else. They’d all been in pain and grieving. She’d needed her brothers and sisters as much as they’d needed her.

She said, ‘That’s why I froze my eggs. My sister was working in the clinic and she put the idea in my head.

I liked knowing that if I froze them, I’d have options if I wanted to delay having children.

I’d been mother and father to my siblings since I was sixteen.

I never intended on having children young.

I know how hard it is. I wanted to study and have my career. ’

Dion’s mouth had thinned into a line of disapproval. ‘Your sister works at this clinic?’

Tara nodded, wondering where he was going with this.

‘Was it her fault the wrong eggs were used?’

Tara sat up straight. ‘No, not at all. She just noticed that my eggs had been disturbed.’

‘But, if what you’re saying is true, then this clinic has made a massive error.’

Tara’s insides clenched. ‘Well, yes, but there’s not much we can do about it now.’

‘I could sue them.’

Tara’s blood drained south. She put a hand on the counter to hold onto something. ‘You can’t. My sister would lose her job. They help hundreds of couples.’

‘They’ve been negligent. How many more errors have they made? They can’t be allowed to stay open.’

Panic gripped Tara. She put out a hand in a pleading gesture.

‘Until we do a DNA test and establish that Niko is my son, we don’t know for sure that there was any negligence.

’ She put her hand down and looked him dead in the eye.

‘And now that I’ve met him, I’m not leaving Athens until you agree to a DNA test. Surely you want to know for certain too? ’

That muscle was twitching in his jaw again. She could tell that he would love to say no , that he couldn’t care less. But could he live with the doubt of not knowing?

At that moment there was a snuffle on the baby monitor. Tara held her breath but it went quiet again. But Niko would be waking soon. She looked at Dion. ‘I can stay here with Niko and take care of him today. If you want.’

He looked as if he wanted anything but that, but clearly he was not in a position to negotiate. ‘Fine. Where are your things? Where are you staying?’

She named the hotel and his eyes widened marginally, no doubt because it wasn’t exactly a salubrious area.

He said, ‘I have my assistant lining up a search for a new day nanny, until Elena can come back, but it probably makes sense for you to have your things brought here. There is plenty of space for you to stay and if you’re going to be taking care of the baby in the meantime then it’ll be more practical. ’

Tara felt a jolt of relief that he wasn’t sending her away. Even if it was only because he needed her.

She got off the stool. ‘I can call a taxi to take me into town to pick up my things?’

He shook his head. ‘No, you need to stay here for Niko. I’ll have someone go to the hotel and collect your things if you give me your room number.’

‘But I’m booked in for a few days. I didn’t know how long I’d be here.’

He waved a hand. ‘I’ll take care of it.’

Pride stiffened Tara’s spine. ‘There’s no need. I have money.’

‘Call it payment for helping me with Niko.’

Tara couldn’t argue with that. ‘And the DNA test?’

‘Your presence has created enough of a doubt for me to require it now for myself, if not just to prove that you’re on the make. I’ll arrange to have someone from my doctor’s office come to do the test.’

Even as she was relieved to hear he would allow a test, Tara’s hands clenched to fists.

‘I am not on the make. I have better things to be doing, like looking for a job. I did not intend on becoming a mother so soon after seeing my youngest sibling settled into university. This is the last thing I wanted.’

Dion looked insultingly relieved. ‘So you’ll leave even if Niko is your son?’

Tara shook her head, frustrated at the way he was so quick to jump to conclusions. ‘No, that’s not what I meant. If he is my son, then there is no way I will be turning my back on him.’ Especially not now she knew that his father barely knew how to hold him and had palmed him off on nannies.

Tara’s conscience pricked. He had his reasons for having a child and it must be hard to bond with a baby with no natural bonding hormones to help. Still, she wouldn’t be abandoning her child.

Dion made a scoffing sound and said, ‘I’ll believe that when I see it.’

Tara forced out the sympathy she felt when she thought of his experiences and just said, ‘I have no intention of leaving my son.’

He just looked at her but then he was asking for her hotel details and at the same time a cry came from the baby monitor. Niko was waking up. Tara gave him the details and said, ‘I’ll go and tend to Niko.’

Dion said, with a warning tone that Tara really didn’t appreciate, ‘I’ll be here, working from the home office. Needless to say I won’t be leaving you alone with my son.’

Tara curbed the urge to say something in response, but in truth she wasn’t sure what she would say because in that moment she was also realising the full extent of just how much her life was about to change, if Niko was hers.

And so she lifted her chin and walked out with as much dignity as she could muster in her bare feet.

* * *

A couple of hours later, after Dion had made some calls and had a couple of online meetings with his team, he went looking for Tara and Niko. He’d alerted Security to make sure that she didn’t try to escape or do anything foolish with the baby.

That conversation with her, earlier, hadn’t been what he’d expected at all. Of course, he couldn’t trust a word out of her mouth, but, even if she’d made it all up, it was a compelling story.

He had to concede that he could see her stepping in to take responsibility for her family. She gave off an air of practical capability, as evidenced by her reaction earlier and initiative in taking the baby to settle him.

He stopped in his tracks when he heard the sound of the baby laughing. He walked to the door of the baby’s suite of rooms and stopped again at the sight in front of him.

Tara had pulled up her hair into a loose knot that sat slightly askew on top of her head with tendrils falling down around her face.

She sat on the floor with legs spread out and Niko was in between them and she was bending down and blowing raspberries on his belly and then playing with his legs, pumping them up and down, before blowing more raspberries.

He was ecstatic, laughing and gurgling, a big grin on his face.

Pudgy arms flailing about, eyes glued to Tara.