Billionaire's Betrayal a contracted revenge (Aurelia) novel Chapter 144

Chp 144: After The Baby Is Born.

Dawson hadn’t touched her all morning.

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Charlotte noticed things like that. She had built an entire life out of noticing what men did with their hands, and today her man’s hands stayed in his pockets, at his sides, anywhere at all but on her, even when the doctor turned the screen so they could both see, and there their son was, curled and perfect in the grey.

“Strong heartbeat,” the doctor said warmly. “Right on track. You must be thrilled, Mr. Valerius.”

“Delighted,” Dawson said flatly.

“And the timing,” he went on. “You are sure of the dates. When she conceived. To the week.”

The doctor smiled, used to nervous fathers. “As sure as we ever are, Mr. Valerius. Everything is measuring right where it should. Perfectly consistent.”

“Consistent.” He repeated the word as though he were tasting it, and finding it strange. “How reassuring.”

Charlotte laughed lightly to cover the odd turn of it. “He worries about everything these days. It is sweet.”

But when she looked at him, he was still looking at the screen, looking at the small curled shape of the baby with an expression she had never once seen on him before, and it made her very uneasy.

Then it was gone, smoothed over, and he was reaching for his coat.

He was quiet in the car. Quiet in the elevator. He answered her in single words and stared out of windows, and by the time they reached the apartment she couldn’t stand it one second longer.

“All right.” She set down her bag. “What’s going on with you?”

“Nothing.”

“Dawson. You have barely looked at me in two days. Just now, at the scan, you looked at our baby like he was a bill you didn’t want to pay.” She gentled her voice, laid a hand on his arm. “Talk to me. Is it the company? Is it Rieck?”

For a moment something moved behind those grey eyes. Then he smiled, and it was almost the old smile, the one that had made her fall in the first place.

“It’s work,” he said. “Only work. A deal going sideways. Nothing for you to trouble that pretty head over.” He kissed her forehead, and his lips were cold against her skin. “Rest. You are carrying precious cargo.”

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She let it go for two days. Then she couldn’t let it go anymore.

She waited until after dinner, until he had a scotch in his hand and the hard edges of the day had worn down, and she curled up against him on the white couch and put her head on his shoulder the way she knew he liked.

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16:51 Mon, Aug 31

Billionaire’s Betrayal, a contracted revenge

“I have been thinking,” she said.

“Dangerous.”

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“About us. About the wedding we keep almost planning and never quite plan.” She kept it light, playful, though her heart had started to race. “I am tired of being your girlfriend, Dawson. I have been your girlfriend for a year and a half. I am about to give you a son.” She raised her head to look at him. “I want to be your wife.”

He didn’t answer at once. He turned the glass slowly in his hand.

“After the baby is born,” he said.

She blinked. “After?”

“After.” He took a sip. “It’s not the time. A wedding now, with you the size of a house, the press asking questions, my uncle circling for weakness. No. We do it properly. After the baby comes, when everything is settled, we do it right.”

“We could do it small,” she pressed. “Quiet. A judge, two witnesses, no press at all. It doesn’t have to be a spectacle, Dawson. It only has to be real. I want it to be real.”

“It will be.” He didn’t look at her. “After.”

“Why do you keep saying it like that?”

“Like what?”

“Like a man setting a table.” She tried to laugh and it came out thin. “After the baby, after the baby. You say it the way other men say next quarter.”

He looked at her then, and the smile didn’t reach his eyes at all. “You have waited this long. What is a few more months to a patient woman.”

“Dawson…”

“Charlotte.” Soft. Final. “After the baby is born.”

She made herself smile and say of course, of course, that made perfect sense, and she tucked her head back against his shoulder so he couldn’t see her face.

Because it didn’t make sense. Not really.

Dawson Valerius did exactly what Dawson Valerius wanted, the moment he wanted it. He didn’t wait for good timing. He didn’t fret over the press or the size of her.

If he had wanted to marry her, she would already be wearing his ring and planning where to seat his enemies.

He was stalling. And she didn’t know why.

A year ago she would have pushed until she got her way. She had always gotten her way with him. But the man beside her tonight wasn’t quite the man she had spent eighteen months learning to steer, and a part of

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16:51 Mon, Aug 31

Billionaire’s Betrayal, a contracted revenge

her told her to stop pushing before he decided to push back.

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