The Billionaire Wins the Game (19 page)

If he didn’t return her feelings then
she would let him go and get on with her life. She knew he’d want
to be a part of her child’s life and that would have to work out,
but she couldn’t live like roommates any longer.

She knew he still had the power to take
her child away, but as she’d gotten to know him, she didn’t think
he could ever remove a child from her mother. Besides, there was no
way Joseph and Katherine would ever support it. They had too much
love and respect for family.

Amy was feeling nervous on her drive
into the office. She hadn’t been there in a while and she was
scared he wouldn’t be happy with the interruption. She planned her
visit when she knew he’d be alone and she could just slip in. She
didn’t want to run into Tom. She hadn’t told him about what was
going on – feeling as if it was a betrayal to Lucas to say anything
negative about their marriage.

She was hoping he could
love her.
Please
,
she prayed,
let him love me as much as he
loves our unborn child.

She walked into her old office, which
was empty, and pulled her coat a little tighter. It was long and
covered her well, but she knew all she had on underneath was skimpy
black lingerie. It had been hard to find something sexy, when her
stomach was protruding out about a foot from the rest of her body,
but unbelievably she’d hit the jackpot, and felt somewhat sexy for
the first time in a very long while.

She wasn’t really self-conscious of her
body, as her husband would spend a lot of time rubbing her belly
and speaking to his unborn child. He seemed as excited as her to be
having a baby. Some things unplanned turned out pretty
great.

She cracked the connecting door quietly
and then stopped where she stood, her heart shattering. Lucas
wasn’t alone in his office. There was some skinny red-headed woman
wrapped around him and they were locked in a passionate
embrace.

Her hair was a mess as if they’d
already been making love for hours. Her shirt was hanging open,
with her skirt hiked up, showing her garter. She was stunning in a
way Amy could never hope to be, she thought in agony.

This was the reason he wasn’t coming
home to her much anymore. He was having an affair. She’d doubted he
could love her, but there had been growth in their relationship, or
so she’d thought. No matter what else, though, she didn’t figure he
was the type of man to cheat.

They made love all the time. She
thought he was satisfied, more than satisfied even, as their love
making always seemed so frenzied, as if they couldn’t get enough of
each other. He was always ready to sink deep inside her and that
was something a man couldn’t fake.

She was horrified to think that maybe
he was picturing his mistress as he made love to her. Maybe that
was how he was always so ready. She knew she could never compete
with someone like the stunning redhead and Amy’s heart was
broken.

She only stood there for a couple
seconds, but it seemed like an eternity. Her whole world began to
crumble and she didn’t know how she was still standing.

Amy closed the door and ran back to the
elevator. She could feel hot tears streaming down her face as she
quickly escaped to her car and sped home. She had her answer. She’d
never stay with a man who cheated on her. She couldn’t do
it.

Chapter Ten

“What do you think you’re doing,
Laura?” Lucas spat to the redhead, who he’d dated months before he
and Amy had become involved.

She’d walked into his office moments
before, with her famous pouting expression, stating they needed to
have a talk. He’d told her there was nothing to talk about, but
she’d come around his desk and sat in front of him, spreading her
legs open, so he had no choice but to notice she was wearing
nothing underneath her far too short skirt.

He couldn’t believe at one time he’d
desired her. She was as fake as Amy was real and he wanted her out
of his office immediately.

“You need to get out. There’s nothing
left between us,” he said between clenched teeth as he backed his
chair away from her. “You also know I’m a married man and no longer
on the market.”

She’d just smiled at him with what she
thought was a seductive stare and ripped open her shirt to show her
ample breasts spilling from her bra.

He’d stood up to physically escort her
from the room, when she wrapped herself around him and locked her
lips to his. He was so shocked; he stood there for a few seconds
before his hands came up to her waist and pushed her from
him.

“Baby, you know you want me,” she said,
sounding falsely hurt. He was done with her games. He marched over
to his desk and pushed a single button. “Security, I need you in my
office, immediately,” he growled.

Within a minute, two large men came
into the room to see the still half naked woman trying to wrap
herself around their boss. “Please escort this woman to the outside
of the building and never let her in again,” he said tightly,
barely able to control his rage.

“Yes, Mr. Anderson, right away,” they
replied professionally, while each of them took one of her arms and
led her away.

Lucas sat back in his chair and rested
his hands on his head. All he could think was thank God his wife
wasn’t there to have witnessed that situation. He was sure she
would’ve thought he’d invited the woman.

She had good reason to be insecure in
their marriage, as he’d been shutting her out lately. He’d pushed
her further away with their intimacy reaching such a high level. He
sat there as the realization he was in love with Amy washed over
him.

It didn’t feel like a burden, not at
all.

He loved his wife.

She loved him.

They were going to have a child
together.

So why was he still sitting
there?

Suddenly, all he wanted to do was to go
home and wrap her in his arms and tell her repeatedly how much she
meant to him. He was done pushing her out of his life. He started
to get up to head for the door, but remembered he had to finish
what he was working on. The contract was due that evening, and he
was almost finished.

One more hour would make no difference,
even though it felt like a lifetime. He quickly got back to work so
he could be on his way home. He couldn’t keep the smile from his
face. He would stop for roses on the way. He realized he had yet to
purchase any for her.

Amy couldn’t keep the tears from
falling as she drove from the office to her beautiful home. She sat
in the car, gazing at the place with a deep sadness, knowing she’d
never sleep there again, in the arms of her husband. How could he
have cheated on her? She’d given him her body freely and her love,
as well.

She pulled herself together enough to
walk inside. She slowly climbed the stairs leading to their bedroom
and once again a few tears slipped from her eyes. It wouldn’t take
her long to pack; as she wouldn’t take anything she didn’t consider
hers exclusively.

She packed some clothes and baby items
and then took the case back to her room. She looked around with one
last glance and then took off her wedding ring. She sat at the
vanity and wrote her husband a note.

She set her ring on top of the letter,
grabbed her suitcases, and walked out the door without allowing
herself to look back again.

She had no idea where she was heading
or what she was going to do when she got there. She just knew she
had to get away. She was so afraid if he came through those doors
and wrapped his arms around her, she’d melt and beg him to love her
and to not run to the arms of another woman. She’d already given
him her heart; she had nothing left to offer. She had nothing he
wanted.

Amy drove onto the freeway and started
driving south. After a few hours she passed through Salem and it
didn’t feel far enough. She was starting to feel a little sore,
though, and pulled over at a rest stop to stretch. She wanted to
call up Tom and talk to him, but he was at work and she was too
afraid Lucas would overhear the conversation. She’d have to call
him later because she really needed a friend right then.

She got on the road again and continued
driving further south. After a couple more hours, she was in
Springfield, next to Eugene. She’d always wanted to visit there, so
she took the next exit that would take her downtown.

She pulled off the freeway, into the
business district, and started to look around for a cheap hotel.
She passed the Hilton and shook her head. That was beyond her price
range at the moment. Finally, she found a little dive of a place
and pulled in.

She walked inside, so tired she could
barely hold her head up. The man behind the counter was leering at
her in a way that really frightened her, especially with the smell
of alcohol seeping from him.

“I’d like a room for the night,
please,” she asked quietly.

“Do you have a credit card,” he hacked
at her.

“No, I have cash,” she responded, not
wanting to use her credit card, and not trusting the man to have
her information.

“Well, we normally require a credit
card, in case you steal anything...” He leered again.

“Oh, then I guess I’ll have to find
another place,” she stated calmly, even though she felt as if she
was going to fall over at any moment.

“I guess we can do it on cash this
time,” he said a bit desperately. She wasn’t going to stay in the
place if there wasn’t a double lock on the door. She didn’t trust
the guy.

“Thank you,” Amy responded and filled
out the small card he handed her, then received her key. She
grabbed her car and drove to the parking spot in front of her
door.

She wearily got out of the rig, grabbed
her suitcase and opened the motel room door. She gasped at the
horrid smell of cigarettes and stale beer – feeling her stomach
turn. She sighed and stepped inside. She was too scared to even
open a window, as the neighborhood she was in didn’t seem the
safest. She wasn’t going to be Mrs. Anderson anymore and would have
to get used to life like it had been before her
marriage.

She didn’t really care about the room;
she was just so empty from the betrayal of her husband cheating.
She’d been in his arms the night before, and then he was in the
arms of another just a few short hours later. Thank goodness for
her exhaustion because she fell into a restless sleep almost
immediately.

“Then where the hell did she go,” Lucas
shouted to his cook, Rosa. He knew it wasn’t her fault Amy was
gone, but he had no one else to take his fear and anger out
on.

He’d come home, anticipating holding
his wife and telling her how he felt. The roses were clutched to
his chest. He’d opened the door and called out to her. When there
was no answer, he hadn’t felt panic, just headed up the stairs,
where he figured she was taking a nap.

She’d been far more tired lately and
he’d been worried about her health, as well as that of his son or
daughter.

He quietly stepped into their bedroom
and looked around. He frowned slightly when she wasn’t there, but
figured she was in the bathroom. He walked over to the door and she
wasn’t there either.

He was turning to walk back out and ask
Rosa where she was, when he happened to glance over and saw her
ring sitting on the table, atop a piece of paper. Instantly, he was
furious. She’d left him. He felt it. She’d told him she loved him,
and still she walked out on him. He’d drag her back no matter where
she’d gone.

She wasn’t going to make him into a
fool and leave him standing alone and vulnerable. She’d lied to
him. She told him she loved him and then she walked out on him. He
was sure she had taken all she could get her greedy hands on, in
the process. The whole time she’d just played him.

He slowly walked over to the paper and
looked down at it, not wanting to know what she’d written, but
unable to stop himself.

Lucas,

I’m sorry you weren’t able to love me.
I can’t help how much I have fallen in love with you, even though
that was never the arrangement between us. I can no longer live
here with you, while you’re leaving me to be in the arms of another
woman. I know you love our child and I won’t try to keep her from
you, but I have to get away for the sake of my own health. I’ll
contact you after the baby is born and we can arrange something
then. I’ll return the car to you just as soon as I can get things
worked out. I’m not trying to take it; I just had no other way to
leave.

Amy

He read the note about ten times, not
understanding what was going on. He wasn’t cheating on her. Why
would she think he was? He went from anger to confusion in the
space of a heartbeat.

He calmed down and re-read the note
once more. He needed to find out what was going on and not just
jump to conclusions.

He slowly walked down the stairs,
almost as if he was in a trance. He walked into the kitchen where
Rosa was cooking. “Hello, Mr. Anderson, you’re home early,” she
said as if nothing was wrong. This attitude made his temper come to
the front again.