Page 99 of The Billionaire's Baby

Right.

I step back and Karina helps Grandmama to her feet. The older woman hooks her arm in the nook of Karina’s. "Come, my girl, walk with me to the dining room."

The two women move forward.

Karina shoots me a sideways glance and I nod at her.

"I won’t bite," Grandmama chuckles, "and your husband will be right behind us."

"Not my—"

I stiffen, and Karina flinches. "I mean, of course, I would only be too happy to accompany you."

Grandmama’s forehead furrows and she glances between us. "Not used to calling him your husband yet?" She laughs lightly. "It took me a little while after I married Francis to get used to my new status, too." She pats Karina’s hand, "Come dear, why don’t you tell me about yourself?"

The women walk ahead and I blow out a breath. I am sure Karina can handle herself. She is smart and can think on her feet, one of the qualities that had attracted me to her right away. So why am I so concerned about her right now? I take a step forward and Declan snickers, "Can’t let the woman out of your sight, eh?"

"Nothing of the sort," I mutter.

"You could have fooled me." He chuckles. "When did you get married anyway?"

"None of your business."

"Didn’t realize you were serious about anyone," he persists.

"Lots of things you don’t know about me," I snap back.

"Likewise, bro, likewise." He brushes past me and follows in the wake of the women.

I take a step forward when. "Arpad?" My father calls.

Oh, fuck. I know that tone of his voice. It normally means I am in trouble, only this time, he doesn’t know just how deep I am.

I slow my steps and he catches up with me. "Hold on a second, my boy, what’s the rush?"

I glance in the direction the women have gone.

"Can’t stay away from the wife, huh?"

"Something like that," I mutter.

"I don’t recall you being involved with anyone."

"It was sudden."

"Like all of your decisions in life, huh?"

"What’s that supposed to mean?" I turn to him. "If you want to tell me something, why don’t you come out and say it?"

He stares up at me, and his gaze intensifies. He draws in a breath then grips my shoulder, "All I’m saying, is that some advance notice, a phone call that you’d decided to get married, would not have been amiss."

"I’m here now, aren’t I?" I declare, my tone belligerent. Jesus, a few seconds back under the roof of my family; and I am already relapsing to my younger self. "Look," I drag my fingers through my hair, "everything happened quickly. It was one of those things where my instinct seemed to get away from me, and I followed. But I came as soon as I could."

"And I’m glad you did." He grips my shoulder. "I’m glad you’ve finally decided to settle down. If your mother were here... She’d have been thrilled to welcome your bride." He steps back, slides his hand into his pocket. "Not a day goes by when I don’t miss her." He glances somewhere beyond my shoulder. "Every day, I regret the opportunities I lost to tell her that I loved her. If I could only turn back the clock, I’d have never spent the time away from her that I did to grow my business."

I hunch my shoulders. It's another reason I'll never forgive those behind the incident. The shock of those few days when I’d been kidnapped and she’d feared I was dead, had brought on a heart attack. By the time I’d been rescued and returned home, it had been too late. I never got to see my mother again. The fucking bastards who were behind my kidnapping also took her from me. When I finally track them down, I am going to make sure they pay.

"You were a good husband," I mutter. "You have your faults, and while I wouldn’t say you were the best father, when it came to her, you did your best by her."