Billionaire Flawed 1(23)

We continued to stare at each other for what seemed like hours. Once the silence became too much for me, I spoke. “Alex, I’m so sorry.”

My apology was met with a scowl of pure disgust. It was the very look I had dreaded since the moment I found out Amelia was pregnant.

“How long have you known?” he asked, his tone dry and cold.

“About three months.”

The anger and disgust gave room to just a little bit of hurt. “So you knew when she was at the hospital and chose to let her face me alone?”

I looked down at the ground, but I knew there was no hiding my shame. “I was afraid to be a father, and I didn’t react well when she told me.” I closed my eyes and saw Amelia’s face telling me everything would be okay. That image gave me the strength to look up and face her father once more. “I wasn’t involved back then, but I am now.”

“Is that supposed to make me feel better?” Alex muttered, standing up. “I never thought you to be a coward until now. You’re a real piece of shit, Kellan, and I feel sorry for my grandson.”

I watched in shock as he walked around his desk. I half expected him to come and knock a few teeth out of my mouth. We both knew I deserved it, and somehow I knew that being punched would make me feel better. To my surprise, he didn’t. Instead, Alex walked past me and out of the office without another word. I knew Amelia would be heartbroken if I allowed her father to go without the whole story, so I turned on my heels and ran after him.

“Alex, wait,” I called after him, unfazed by the attention I was drawing to us. He didn’t stop moving until he reached the elevator. I was almost there when the doors opened and he walked in. I ran faster and slipped inside just as the doors were closing.

My breath was heavy as I turned to look at him. I had never noticed before, but his eyes were the exact shade of green as Amelia’s, and that similarity gave me a boost of encouragement.

“Alex, I know I’m shit. You don’t have to tell me that.” Pacing my breaths so as not to give him room to interrupt, I continued. “I’m also selfish, stupid, child-like, and about a hundred different names your daughter has already pointed out to me. However, I am also the father of your grandson. Now, I won’t argue that conceiving him was a mistake, because it was, but he is not a mistake. He’s probably the best thing that has ever happened to me.”

Alex’s silence was louder than the apathy on his face. Despite my words, he was still pissed, and I didn’t blame him. He knew me better than anyone and therefore was blatantly aware that, if I wanted to, I could sell salt water to the ocean, which made him naturally wary of my words. However, what he didn’t know was that I had changed. His daughter and my unborn son had changed me.

All I had to do was show him that.

“For some reason I’ll never understand, Amelia has forgiven me and is giving me the chance to have a real family, and I’m not going to give that up. You’re my best friend, Alex, and this company is my life, but I’ll walk away from both of you in a heartbeat to be with her.”

I wanted to laugh once those words were out of my mouth. I had dreaded them for months, but now that it was all said and done, I realized I had worried for nothing. The worst-case scenario was losing my friend and my job, but the importance of either those things paled in comparison to having Amelia and our son in my life.

Alex looked at the relief on my face skeptically and asked, “What are you saying, Kellan?”

I reached into my pocket and pulled out a blue velvet box. It was something I had impulsively chosen on my way back to the office the previous afternoon. At first I hadn’t been sure if I was actually going to use it, but the longer I carried it around, the surer I became about it. I opened the box and showed Alex the diamond ring inside.

“I’m saying that I want to marry your daughter and raise my son with her. Please, let me show you that I can be the man she deserves.”

He looked at me like I had grown several heads and he wanted to punch each and every one of them. Then, as the elevator came to a stop and I continued to stand between him and the only exit, Alex closed his hand into a fist and settled for punching the only head I had.

The punch was strong enough to send me thumping down the building’s elegant foyer. I could feel my skin heating and swelling, and I could only imagine the massive bruise I would have by this time tomorrow. Still, I didn’t blame Alex. If it had been my daughter, I would have done the exact same thing.

“Are you all right? Do you want me to call the cops?” a young guard asked me, but my eyes stayed focused on the man I still considered my best friend.