My Stepbrother's Secret Baby: A Billionaire Stepbrother Romance by Addison Albaugh Read Free Book Online Page B

voice hopeful.
     
    “To be honest, Trenton,” she said, “I haven’t thought about it at all. I’ve had too much going on to even think about it.”
     
    “I understand,” I replied. “Sounds like you have your hands full. Tell you what. I’ll be here, waiting, and you take all the time you need. If you need anything, let me know. If you would like to continue getting to know me and considering my plan once the dust settles and your life gets back to normal, please contact me.”
     
    Closing the book like that was like a punch to the gut, but if there was one thing I knew well it was women. Stop chasing them for a while and eventually they’ll come after you.
     
    “O-oh,” she stammered. “Okay.”
     
    She paused as if there was more she wanted to say.
     
    “Take care, Brenna,” I said. “I hope your grandmother recovers.”
     
    I meant what I said. About her grandmother. I had no intentions, however, of giving up what I wanted: Brenna and a baby.
     
     
     

ELEVEN
 
     
     
    BRENNA
     
     
     
    “Grandmother,” I said as I perched by her hospital bed. Her eyes began to flutter and she looked around.
     
    “Brenna?” she said, her voice raspy. She cleared her throat. “Baby, is that you?”
     
    “Yes,” I said, reaching over to grab her hand.
     
    “You came,” she said, trying to smile. The left side of her face drooped a bit. I hated seeing her so weak.
     
    “Of course I did,” I said. I stood up to give her a hug and kissed the thin skin of her wrinkled forehead.
     
    Just then, my Aunt Clara barged in the room with a cup of coffee in hand. She was my grandmother’s only remaining child, and while she may have had a difficult personality, she still loved her mother more than anything. She hadn’t left her side once.
     
    “So you said earlier that she’d been feeling funny all week,” I said to my aunt. “Why on earth didn’t she go see a doctor?!”
     
    Clara bit her lip. “She lost her job last month. She didn’t want to tell you.”
     
    My jaw dropped. She’d been sending me a couple hundred dollars here and there, even as recently as last week.
     
    “She doesn’t have insurance,” Clara continued. “She thought she could take some vitamins or something. I really don’t know what was going through her head.”
     
    I turned back to look at my grandmother whose eyes were fluttering as she was falling back asleep. Her poor body had been through so much that day. I sat back in my seat as I realized she was going to leave that place needing physical therapy and with a mountain of hospital bills she’d never be able to pay on her own.
     
    “Clara,” I sighed, shaking my head. “What are we going to do?”
     
    “I don’t know,” Clara said, looking worried.  Clara had no money. Never had. I couldn’t expect her to help out. She was always there to lend an ear but never more than that. She lived a very humble existence, and I was quite sure she could hardly pay her own bills most months.
     
    I thought about Trenton and the money, and suddenly my decision was becoming crystal clear. I didn’t have a choice. I knew what I had to do.
     
    ***
     
    “Brenna,” Trenton said a week later as I walked into his office. “You’re back.”
     
    He stood up as I entered his office, looking pleasantly surprised.
     
    “You didn’t think I’d come back did you?” I asked, putting on my best game face. I was going to try to make this work. Not for me. Not for my personal gain. But for my grandmother.
     
    “What changed your mind?” he asked, smoothing his tie, his blue eyes piercing mine.
     
    “It doesn’t matter,” I said. “Where’s the contract? I’d like to read it.”
     
    He reached into a desk drawer and pulled out a stack of papers clipped together with a binder clip.
     
    “Here you are,” he said, handing me a gold pen.
     
    “I’m not signing these yet,” I said. “I’m taking them home. To my new little apartment. I’ll read everything