Illegitimate Tycoon by Janette Kenny Read Free Book Online Page B

long to have. A home. A normal family that he’d
always been denied.
                 He
wanted Leila back in his life now, not off somewhere on a shoot dragging their
children along. Leaving him behind. Lonely. Forgotten. Rejected.
                 “And
what about children, Leila? I thought we’d agreed that when we started a
family, you would be a full-time mother. You’d place our children above
everything, and most certainly above your career. Are you telling me now that
has changed? “
     

  CHAPTER THREE

 
                 RAFAEL
held on to his emotions as silence roared between them, obliterating the
soothing sounds of the surf washing over the sands and the excited beat of
music pulsing in the warm night air.
                 He’d
asked a simple question, one they’d agreed upon before they’d gotten married.
The answer should be instant, in keeping with her promise.
                 “Many
mothers work as well as look after their children, Rafael,” she said, which
sounded like she was building up to an admission that she’d had a change of
heart.
                 He
bit off a curse and jammed his hands into his trouser pockets when every cell
in his body goaded him to shake sense into his wife. The last thing he needed
to do was lose his temper. He had to remain calm. Rational. Or as rational as
he could be when his dreams of a family were teetering on the edge.
                 “Most
women with children hold down a job because they have to. You most certainly do
not need to work.”
                 “I
disagree with you,” she fired back. “Many women work because it gives them
purpose.”
                 “You
think being a mother won’t do that?”
                 He
wished he could see her face, but the velvet night swallowed up the details.
The tension he felt rocketing through her though was very real, and very
telling.
                 “I
can’t think of anything on earth that would be as soul-satisfying as having a
child,” she said at last, her voice breaking a bit with genuine emotion. “But
that doesn’t mean I couldn’t work in moderation. I love my career, Rafael.
Through it, I’ve been able to help other young girls who suffer with eating
disorders. I’ve made a difference in their lives.”
                 He
was well aware of the clinic she’d established in Rio and he was proud of all
she’d achieved. He was aware, too, that of late she’d suffered a financial
setback there. A setback that he could have easily funded for her. But when he’d
offered to secure her clinic under his business umbrella in March, she’d
thanked him before she’d flatly refused his help.
                 He’d
not brought the subject up again, but now he had to know. “What about your
business manager? Doesn’t he oversee those issues for you?”
                 “Yes,
but I have final say. Especially with the clinic. It’s important to me that I
keep a close watch over it,” she said.
                 Leila
had as much pride as he. She was also clearly set on having control over her
career as well as her charity.
                 He
understood that, for he was the same. But of late he suspected that her drive
to make crucial decisions in her life had edged to the extreme. It wasn’t just
the little things she needed to evaluate. She was micromanaging everything .
                 Their
marriage and future family as well?
                 She
couldn’t give up her career, and she wouldn’t put the management of her charity
into anyone else’s hands. She insisted she could keep a finger in her work and
still be a mother—which she was obviously again trying to put off starting.
                 He
sucked in a breath, then another, but his nerves were still snapping like
ribbons in the wind. He knew full well how part-time