The Billionaire's Secret Baby(28)

“You make me sick to my stomach! She could have done so much better than you, and I've told her that, but she insisted on staying with you and now she's paying the price for it!" She turned and walked over to the table, sat down and lit a cigarette. "You're a bastard yourself, you are," she growled at him.



He shook his head and took his coffee out of the kitchen and into his office. He wasn't seated in the room five minutes when Denise came in all smiles and nerves and sat down across from him.



"I'm willing to forgive you for last night. You were awful to me, but I am still trying to work on fixing our marriage, and I think if you apologize to me, then we can move forward and forget the whole nasty business ever happened," she said sweetly, looking at him with a patient gaze.



Roman shook his head slightly. "Apologize to you? Are you serious?"



She slapped her hands down on her thighs. "Well alright fine, we were both fighting. I'll apologize if you will."



He just stared at her. He was sure she must have lost her mind. He didn't however, wish to deal with her if she was going to be nasty to him, so he took a deep breath and sighed. "Alright, I apologize for fighting with you last night."



"And for yelling at me," she added.



Roman closed his eyes and drew in a breath for patience. "Alright, and for yelling at you as well."



"Good. Now that's settled, we can move forward. See, it's much easier when you just admit that you were wrong and then let it go," she smiled smugly.



He sighed heavily and looked at her in all seriousness. "Listen. Emma is coming over today, and I don't want you to make anything difficult for her or me, and I want you to be polite to Cami. If I can be polite to your mother, you can do the same favor for me and be polite to Cami."



Denise lowered her eyes at him. "But my mother is family. Cami is just a whore who screwed you in a one night stand."



Roman stood straight up at his desk. "Get out of my office right now. Out!" he shouted, pointing to the door. "And I don't want you around when Emma and Cami get here."



Denise stood up slowly and straightened her dress and then waltzed out of the office without even a glance at Roman.



That afternoon, when Cami rang the doorbell, she was greeted by Denise who stepped through the door to the front porch.



"Well, hello," Denise said shortly. "You're welcome to stay out here, and we can just take the baby from you here. There's no need for you to come inside our family home."



Cami stared at her in shock. She couldn't believe that Denise could be so rude. Denise looked down at Emma in her car seat and her face clinched as if she was looking at a disgusting bug. "You can leave her there on the step. We'll take her in."



Cami looked at Denise with a warning glare. "I'm not leaving my daughter on your doorstep. Where's Roman?" she asked insistently.



Denise shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe he's out screwing some other whore to make another kid."



Cami was just about to turn around and leave when Roman appeared at the door and pushed past Denise. "I'm sorry, I was coming from the other end of the house." He smiled at Cami and she could see that he had been having a rough day. Her heart went out to him, and she wanted to hug him, but she knew with Denise standing right there, she shouldn't get close to Roman at all.



He walked straight toward her and wrapped his arms around her in a big hug. She paused a moment and then realizing that he probably needed the hug more than he showed it, she reached her arms around him and hugged him back for a long moment, and then let him go. She didn't want him to have trouble later.



"How are you doing?" she asked, hoping for a positive answer.



He shook his head and looked away from her. "I'm alright," he said, shrugging.



She knew he wasn't being honest with her, and she also knew that this was no place to try to talk to him.



"Well, someone is excited to see you!" she said, hoisting the car seat up and handing his daughter to him. Emma squealed and grinned, reaching for Roman, and an enormous smile spread over his face. "You are exactly what I needed today!" he told her, leaning in and kissing her cheek.



"What time will you be picking her up?" he asked, looking back at Cami.



She tilted her head, "Whatever works for you is fine." She smiled at him.



"Why don't I keep her until after dinner?" he asked, with a hopeful look.



Cami nodded. "That sounds great."



"Are you leaving that bastard child here with us? What the hell are you bringing it in here for? I don't want that kid in this house!" Agnes stood at the doorway screaming out at them.



Cami's jaw fell open and she stared at the bitter old woman in the doorway.



Roman closed his eyes and bit his tongue for a moment, and then looked at Cami.



"That's my mother-in-law. That's Agnes." He turned and looked at her over his shoulder and she flipped him off and then went back into the house, slamming the door behind her.



"Oh my God," Cami said quietly.



"Don't you say anything about my mother!" Denise demanded angrily.



Roman turned to look at her and shook his head. "You know what? That's it."



He turned and looked back at Cami. "What were you going to do with your afternoon?" he asked in a voice strained to stay calm.



Cami smiled a bit. "I was going to go shopping and then go to the beach. Would you like to come with me? We can make a family outing out of it?"



Roman nodded. "I'd like nothing better. Put Emma back in the car. I'll get my things and be right back out here."



Cami nodded and took the baby from him, and he turned and headed back up the stairs with Denise hot on his trail.



As soon as the door closed, she growled at him, "Just what do you think you're doing taking off with her like that? I told you I didn't want you doing that! I told you that you could spend time with that kid here at the house, not out with her mother!"



He wheeled on her swiftly and stopped her in her tracks, almost making her crash into his chest. "I'm spending time with my daughter in a positive environment rather than in a hostile one. Do you think I want my daughter in here with your hateful mother?



“No chance. It's bad enough she'd have to be around you, but your mother just drew the line. I'm going to visit my daughter and if her mother just so happens to be there, then so what! That's too bad. If you wanted her here, you should have made her feel welcome."



Denise gasped in anger. "I was making her feel welcome!"



"Save it, Denise." Roman snapped, not even looking at her as he turned and walked to his office. He picked up his wallet and phone and started for the door without another word or even a backward glance, and Denise watched him go with deeply angry eyes.



Roman walked out of the house and got into Cami's car. When he closed the door, she put her car in drive and pulled away from the house without saying anything. He rubbed his hand over his forehead and sighed.



"I'm so sorry about that,” he said, feeling miserable about it. "Neither of them had any right at all to speak to you the way they did. I'm not making excuses for either of them, but both of them went way beyond their limits -- or at least mine."



Cami just shook her head. "I understand that it's been a hard transition for all of you. They are probably still getting used to the idea. Maybe it won't be that bad next time, now that they know how serious you are about it."



Roman had his suspicions that it would be that way for a while, at least until they got used to the idea of Emma being a permanent part of his family. He shook his head. "Well, it better happen soon,” he said in annoyance.



Cami decided to change the subject. "Well, where are we going today?" She smiled at him and he paused a moment and then gave a little laugh.



"I will let go of the hard moments,” he said with a breath of relief. "Let's go to the park, as you said, and we can do some shopping and then walk along the pier if it's not too crowded. How would that be?" he asked.



She nodded. "That sounds like a nice day out to me."



She took them to Golden Gate Park and they strolled through the lush greenery, pushing Emma in her stroller, laughing and talking, and neither of them could remember a day when they had more fun. They stopped for ice cream and shared bites of the different flavors they chose, and then they were off to the store. Roman told Cami that they stopped for ice-cream first because it's never a good idea to go to the store on an empty stomach.



She laughed at him and he stood there and watched her, feeling her happiness warm and lighten his heart and his mood.



They picked out various groceries and small items for her home that she was just finishing up. She was just in the middle of choosing vegetables for a salad, when she looked up at him and asked, "Would you like to stay for dinner tonight? You were going to keep Emma that long, anyway. You're welcome to stay and have dinner with us if you like."



Roman didn't even have to think about it. "I'd love that! Yes, thank you so much. What shall we have?"



"I was thinking fish, pasta, salad, bread, and chocolate for dessert." She raised an eyebrow at him. "How does that sound?"