The Billionaire's Secret Baby(22)

She was surprised that Denise wasn't more concerned with Roman, after all, she hadn't even looked at him since she had walked into the room, but Cami supposed that was because of the shock of learning that he had a child out of wedlock.



Cami looked at Denise. "I'll talk with you," she said softly. She walked around the bed and turned to look at Janine and Emma. "She's okay with you?" She checked to be sure.



Janine nodded and smiled at the baby girl. "Of course. Auntie Janine will take good care of her little Pip while mommy is gone."



Cami nodded and Denise narrowed her eyes at Janine, and then turned and walked out of the door with Cami following along behind her. They headed toward the small waiting room area and when they got there, Denise headed to a quiet corner and then turned and glared at Cami.



"Who the hell are you and what are you doing with my husband?" she demanded angrily.



Cami took a deep breath. "I'm really just a friend of his. We met through his work."



"A friend? A friend? You have a kid with him! It takes a lot more than friends to make a kid! You tell me right now what's going on!" Denise looked as if she was ready to strangle Cami.



Cami looked around them. "We should sit down," she said quietly.



"I don't want to sit, I want you to tell me what the hell is happening between you and my husband!" Denise demanded.



Cami sat and looked up at her. "We met on a business trip over a year ago, and we became friends. One night things got... um... a little heated, and we wound up with a baby nine months later, but it was a one time thing. It never happened again after that. We aren't having an affair. It was just once, and ironically, that one time was all it took. Now we have a daughter. I moved up here from Los Angeles so he could help me raise her and be a part of her life."



Denise was fuming. "He never bothered to even let me know? You two were going to keep this a secret from me? I'm his wife!"



Cami shook her head. "Don't be mad at him for that; he didn't even know about her until just recently. He had no idea. We never talked after that business trip. He didn't know about her until I came to him and told him when we moved up here."



Denise's voice grew louder. "You came up here to steal him away from me! You came up here to get rid of me and move in on my marriage with your bastard kid!"



In a flash, Cami was up out of her seat and standing nose to nose with Denise. "Don't you dare use that word when you're talking about my daughter! She has her dad's last name. He is in her life and he wants her. Furthermore, I didn't come up here to steal him from you, I came here so that he could have a chance at raising his own child and watching her grow!



“I'm not trying to break the two of you up. If he wants to be with you, he can stay with you, if he wants to leave you, then that's his business."



Denise's jaw fell open. "Is that what he told you? That he wants to leave me? After everything I have done for him, I make one little mistake, and I have one little affair and all of a sudden he's out having kids with other women and now he wants to leave me? Well it's not going to happen! He's mine and I'm not letting him go!"



Cami was shocked. "You had an affair?" she asked.



Denise realized that Cami hadn't already known that. She drew back from her a half a step and eyed her warily. "He didn't tell you that?"



Cami shook her head. "No, but somehow I'm not surprised."



"Well, why does he want to leave me then?" she whined angrily. "What did he tell you?" she demanded.



Cami sighed and let out a long breath. "He didn't tell me anything about you having an affair; you told me that just now. He didn't tell me that he was thinking of leaving you, you also told me that just now. I've already told you everything on my side of it. We met, we were together one night, we have a child. That's all I know. If your marriage has bigger problems than that, then it's news to me and it's not really my business.

“My business is that my baby's father is lying in that room in a medically induced coma because he was almost killed in a boating accident. That's my priority right now. If you have any other problems, they're going to have to wait. There are more important things going on right now."



She pushed past Denise who turned and stared at her, stunned. Cami walked back down the hall and into Roman's room where Janine was sitting in a chair with Emma.



She looked up at Cami when Cami came in the door. "Are you alright?" she asked curiously.



"I'm fine. Everything is fine. Let's focus on Roman." She walked over to the bed and took his hand in hers, just as Denise came rushing through the door.



She looked over at Roman lying there and her face distorted into disgust. "He looks terrible!" Then she saw that Cami was holding Roman's hand in hers.



"Let go of my husband!" she demanded in a loud angry whisper.



Cami didn't even look up at Denise. "I'm not letting go of him. I'm going to stay right here with him. He needs me, and that's all there is to it. He needs me, so I'm here and I'm staying. If you have a problem with it, you will have to work that out for yourself."



Denise gasped in a huff, looked at Janine, who just smiled back at her and shook her head. She started to scream but Cami flipped around and took a step toward her, startling her. "Be quiet and be supportive or leave. He doesn't need any ugliness in here right now."



Denise stared at Cami for a long moment, and Cami never blinked or even flinched.



After a few tense moments, Denise looked from Cami to Janine again and then turned on her heel and stalked out of the room.



Janine just chuckled to herself and played with Emma, and Cami turned back to Roman and took his hand in hers. She stayed there with him all through the night, and into the next day, before Janine insisted that she go home and try to get some sleep.



She finally relented and she and Janine took turns in shifts with him, staying beside him as he healed until the doctor decided it was time to wake him from his coma.





Chapter Six

Cami sat with Roman the day that his doctors were talking about waking him up. It was still early in the morning. She reached for her phone and saw a message from Cicely, so she called and her Mama picked up right away.



"How are you doing baby girl?" Mama asked.



Cami hadn't had a chance to talk to her mother, so she hadn't told her anything at that point because she didn't want to text it. As soon as her mother asked how she was doing, she felt her throat tighten and her stomach clench. She had held in so much emotion over the time she had been there with Roman in the hospital, and only when she heard her mother's voice did she feel as if she could let it all out and allow herself to release.



"Mama," she said quietly, "Roman's in the hospital. He was in a boat accident; his boat sank and he almost drowned, but he was rescued, and he's been at the hospital recovering ever since. The doctors have him in an induced coma so he can heal. It's been so hard. I've been here almost the whole time. His secretary Janine and I take turns being here with him so he's not alone."



Her Mama gasped and cooed to her. "Oh my Lord, honey, I'm so sorry to hear that. It's tragic news. What do the doctor's say about him recovering?"



Cami took a deep breath and let the stress out. "They say he is getting better. They're going to let him come out of his coma today. I'm so anxious for that. I can't wait for it to happen! It's been so hard sitting here watching him go through this."



Mama agreed with her. "I bet honey; that's the baby's father, and no matter how you two are getting on, it's always hard to deal with bad things that happen to the other parent of your child."



Cami decided to tell her Mama everything. "Well, that's not all, Mama. His wife came by the day he was brought in. Janine and I got here first and we were so worried about him, but she came in and she didn't even look at him at first. She found out about Emma and me and after that, all she wanted to do was yell at me and argue with me. She didn't even say anything about Roman. She admitted to me that she has been cheating on him and having an affair, and I guess she's worried that he's going to leave her.



"I'm only worried about him making it through this ordeal. She hasn't been back to see him, not even once since she left the first day he was here. I just can't believe her, Mama."



Her Mama made a disgusted sound on the other end of the phone. "What kind of woman is she?" Cicely wasn't asking, she was pondering it. "What have you been doing with the baby while you've been at the hospital? Has she been with you the whole time?"

"Yeah, she's been here with me and we've been looking after her daddy," Cami said softly. Emma was sleeping just then, nestled in her car seat. Cami smiled at her.



She heard her Mama hum thoughtfully. "I think you need some help, baby. I think I'll come down and give you a hand for a while. I can work from there for a couple of weeks. Are you moved into your condo yet or are you in the hotel still?"



Cami smiled wide. She was always glad to see her mother. "Oh Mama, really? I'd love that! I am still in the hotel. The condo is ready, but because we've been here at the hospital, I haven't had a chance to move in yet. That sort of got moved to the back burner. We're just focusing on Roman right now."