The Billionaire Baby Bombshell by Paula Roe Read Free Book Online

defiance in the teenager’s eyes was hard to miss. “What about it?”
    Pam began awkwardly, “I thought you were focusing on the Perth trials next year?”
    Chelsea glared at the tabletop, muttering something under her breath.
    “What?” Alex said with a frown.
    “I said, ‘I doubt I’d get in, anyway.’”
    “So you want to just drop it? Is—” Alex paused thenleaned forward in his chair, irritation evident “—is that what you want? After you’ve spent so much time and effort on training?”
    Chelsea’s expression turned sullen. “Why don’t you start yelling about how you’ve spent thousands on my tennis career? Then you’d really sound like Dad.”
    If Chelsea had picked up her soda spoon and stabbed him with it, Alex couldn’t have looked more hurt.
    “Sweetheart…” Pam said slowly before Chelsea cut her off with a venomous look.
    Wow. Anger like that didn’t come from just a little family disagreement. Fascinated yet discomfited, Yelena watched the scenario play out before her, unable to look away.
    “If you want something that badly—” Pam began.
    Chelsea leaped to her feet, face flushed. “Don’t you dare quote Dad to me, not now, not after—”
    “Chelsea!” Alex said roughly.
    She scowled at him. “And you shouldn’t be defending him! This whole thing sucks! Everything sucks!”
    And with that, she stormed across the café and out the glass doors.
    Alex scraped his chair back but Pam put a hand on his arm, shaking her head. He sat, his face turbulent, as an awkward silence fell.
    Yelena looked over to Pam, who was making short work of the napkin in her lap, eyes staring at her half-empty coffee. And Alex, well, that gaze would end up burning a hole in the table pretty soon.
    “You know what?” Yelena said firmly, turning to Pam. “I’d love to see your greenhouse if you have the time.”
    The older woman glanced up, blinking rapidly. “Now?”
    “Sure.” She tempered her request with a smile. “Work can wait. And I love plants even though I have a black thumb.”
    “Black thumb?”
    “They always end up withering away, despite my best efforts.”
    Pam’s shaky smile told Yelena she was grateful for the attention shift, yet Alex’s expression remained closed.
    Yelena stood and casually linked her arm through the older woman’s. But then, suddenly, she paused with a confused blink. Had Pamela Rush flinched? Her eyes sought Pam’s but their crystal-blue depths reflected nothing but gentle politeness.
    She shook herself, dismissing the moment.
    “I’ll see you for dinner, darling?” Pam said, glancing back to Alex.
    Yelena didn’t want to look at him but she managed to force her gaze to where he still sat, silent and thoughtful.
    When he looked first at his mother, then her, she could see the wheels of his mind working overtime. With one raised eyebrow, she met his eyes steadily.
    He glanced back to Pam. “I’ll probably be working. I’ll let you know.” Slowly he added, “What about Chelsea?”
    Pam shook her head. “She’s been angry for the last two weeks. I’ve been giving her some space, so please don’t chase her down. She needs to—” she paused, as if rethinking the words “—figure out who she is and what she wants. You know what it’s like at that age.”
    “Yeah.”
    Yelena couldn’t fail to notice Alex’s parting scowl, dark with something she couldn’t quite put her finger on. It lingered in her mind long after Pam led her from the café, across the foyer and towards the private suites.
     
    Alex was neck-deep in numbers with only half his mind on the task when Yelena breezed into his office an hour later. “You have to tell your mother.”
    He slowly placed his Montblanc pen on the sheaf ofnotes and leaned back. The leather chair gently groaned in protest.
    “What have you said to her?”
    “Nothing.” She put her hands on her hips, obviously unaware how that emphasized the generous flare of her curves. “But I’ve never worked