Page 64 of The Billionaire's Baby

This is Karina, the woman I have been attracted to from the moment I saw her… It's the reason I am here with her, after all. Hell, I'd give her anything she wants.

Including a child? Shit. I drag my fingers through my hair… Now, that is something I had not factored in. A kid? A family? The kind of life I know I am not meant for. And yet, when she’d asked me to impregnate her… No way, could I have refused her. If she is going to carry anyone’s child, it will be mine. As for walking away from her… Well, if…when she gets pregnant... We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.

I pull on my socks and boots. I grab additional ropes and head out of the chalet. The wind buffets me and I lean into the breeze as I walk down toward the jetty. I check on the yacht, making sure the dock lines are secure.

Once I am satisfied, I walk uphill, turning away from the chalet toward the building at the edge of the slope.

I shut the door and the wind instantly cuts out. Wiping my boots on the mat inside the door, I pull the satellite phone from my pocket and dial.

"Mr. Beauchamp?" Edward comes on the line, "Where are you?"

"In a chalet, on an island, somewhere between the UK and France."

"Ah, your favorite place to go when you want to run away from the world."

"What makes you say that?" I frown.

"Because that’s where you went the last time the memories got too much for you."

"Fucking memories." I roll my shoulders. "You’d think as time passes, it would get easier, but it doesn’t."

"Not all hurt fades with time," Edward replies. "Some of them burrow under your skin and make themselves at home, and then they become a part of you, something you don’t want to let go anymore, because you’re dependent on them. In a way, your identity is linked with the story and if you let go of it, you don’t know who you are anymore."

"Is that your personal experience?"

"It’s my…observation."

"Is that how it is for you?" I push the point.

Edward blows out a breath. "It hasn’t been easy to move on from what happened. In some ways, I never will. After all, it’s an experience that’s shaped what I’ve become. But," he pauses, considering, "but I’ve come to realize that freedom is what you do with what’s been done to you. Know what I mean?"

"Is that what you’re doing, Ed? Finding yourself in what you have now become?"

Silence, a beat, then he says, "Maybe I didn’t have a choice."

"What do you mean?" I frown. "All of us had choices… Maybe not in what happened to us, but whatever we did afterwards. We each took our lives in our own hands, remember? The one thing we swore to each other was that we’d never hesitate in going after what we wanted."

"Maybe this is what I wanted." He lowers his tone, "And what about you, Arpad. Is this what you want?"

"What are you talking about?"

"There’s a reason you planned it this way."

"Planned it?" I frown.

"Having Karina on the boat when the storm hit so you could have time alone with her, away from the world. In fact, the way I see it," Edward continues, "you created your own liminal space."

"Sorry, you’ll have to explain that to me, Father."

"You know what it is, Beauchamp." Edward’s voice is impatient. "I’m talking about a space that is on a threshold of many possibilities. You ensured that the two of you are in a position to let go of the past for a period of time. You freed up all notions of space and time, allowing yourself the eventuality of a future together."

"You drunk, Father?"

"Now, now." He clicks his tongue, "Clearly, I touched a nerve, which is why you are resorting to personal insults."

"You’re right." I begin to pace. "I honestly had no idea what I was getting into when I asked her to get on the boat and fix the security cameras. Maybe my subconscious had hoped she’d stay on for the duration of my trip… But hell, if I planned all of this… Well, not fully…"

"Aha," Edward snorts, "so you do admit that you wanted time with her."