Read Online Expecting The CEO's Baby - The Complete Series: BWWM Interracial Billionaire Pregnancy Romance by Mia Caldwell - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Mia Caldwell
Ads: Link
I’d parked when I came to meet Andrew the first time. After maneuvering into a space, I pulled out my phone and called Andrew on his direct line.
I’d never called him at work before. His voice expressed as much surprise to be hearing from me as I was to be getting in touch with him. “Ryanna, sweetheart! Is something wrong?”
“I need to talk to you right away,” I said, hearing the panic in my voice.
“Um. . .okay.” I heard him say something indistinguishable before the unmistakable sound of a door being closed followed. “Okay, I have some privacy now. What is it?”
“I think something really bad has happened. Can you come outside? I’m in the visitor’s parking lot.”
“If you’re that close, it would be better if you went ahead and came in here to see me. I have a meeting with my CFO in fifteen minutes.”
“Fine.” I got out of the car and made the long trek to the main building. Andrew must have told his personal assistant, Colleen, to expect me because she was there waiting at the security guard’s desk.
Unlike last time when I had to take the time to receive a visitor’s badge, Colleen escorted me straight to Andrew’s office. Within minutes, I stood before him. Although he had an impatient expression on his face when I first walked in, it quickly faded and worried concern took its place.
“What’s happened?” he asked in an urgent tone.
“Just now, I was coming out of the drugstore when a man took my picture and started asking me questions. Andrew, he knew my full name and that you’re paying me three million dollars to have your baby. He even knew I’d already received one million.”
Andrew’s eyes widened and he staggered backwards away from me, like I’d delivered a physical blow to him. “Ryanna, no! Did he tell you his name or say what paper or tabloid he was with?”
I shook my head. “As soon as he asked those questions, and called me a gold-digging whore, I got away from him as fast as I could. I came here straight to you. I knew you’d want to know this as soon as possible.”
“You did the right thing, Ryanna.” He turned away from me and stared out of the floor-to-ceiling window that overlooked his company’s expansive campus. “Damn it, why did this have to happen now?”
I wanted to go to Andrew and comfort him, but he seemed lost in his own world. “I only needed another couple of months, and then the acquisition of Bullen Microsystems would be complete. It wouldn’t matter if the board knew about Ryanna and the baby because by then I’d have new board members who could outvote the ones who’ve been giving me the most trouble. A couple more months, all I needed was a couple more months!”
“Andrew,” I said in a soft voice, but he continued to rant, oblivious to my presence.
“This acquisition has been months in the making, and it’s all about to fall apart because of someone’s big mouth. Bohane and Stolliccio are going to live it when this makes the headlines. They’ll get other board members to vote me out as CEO, citing my lack of judgment. That will give them the perfect excuse to scuttle the Bullen acquisition, which they never wanted anyway despite its potential to make Rutledge Electronics the number one tech company in the world!”
By now, he was practically shouting and I’d begun to feel afraid. This was a side to Andrew I hadn’t seen before and I didn’t like it one bit.
I watched him continue to rant and rave when a brief knock sounded on the door. Colleen entered and said, “Andrew, your meeting with ─”
She stopped short when she saw he wasn’t paying attention to anything except his own meltdown. “He’s been like this for the last ten minutes,” I told her.
Colleen nodded like she’d seen it all before. “It’s his process. He thinks out loud sometimes, especially in stressful situations.”
Thinking out loud? That’s what she wanted to call this outburst? “What are we supposed to do? Let him
I’d never called him at work before. His voice expressed as much surprise to be hearing from me as I was to be getting in touch with him. “Ryanna, sweetheart! Is something wrong?”
“I need to talk to you right away,” I said, hearing the panic in my voice.
“Um. . .okay.” I heard him say something indistinguishable before the unmistakable sound of a door being closed followed. “Okay, I have some privacy now. What is it?”
“I think something really bad has happened. Can you come outside? I’m in the visitor’s parking lot.”
“If you’re that close, it would be better if you went ahead and came in here to see me. I have a meeting with my CFO in fifteen minutes.”
“Fine.” I got out of the car and made the long trek to the main building. Andrew must have told his personal assistant, Colleen, to expect me because she was there waiting at the security guard’s desk.
Unlike last time when I had to take the time to receive a visitor’s badge, Colleen escorted me straight to Andrew’s office. Within minutes, I stood before him. Although he had an impatient expression on his face when I first walked in, it quickly faded and worried concern took its place.
“What’s happened?” he asked in an urgent tone.
“Just now, I was coming out of the drugstore when a man took my picture and started asking me questions. Andrew, he knew my full name and that you’re paying me three million dollars to have your baby. He even knew I’d already received one million.”
Andrew’s eyes widened and he staggered backwards away from me, like I’d delivered a physical blow to him. “Ryanna, no! Did he tell you his name or say what paper or tabloid he was with?”
I shook my head. “As soon as he asked those questions, and called me a gold-digging whore, I got away from him as fast as I could. I came here straight to you. I knew you’d want to know this as soon as possible.”
“You did the right thing, Ryanna.” He turned away from me and stared out of the floor-to-ceiling window that overlooked his company’s expansive campus. “Damn it, why did this have to happen now?”
I wanted to go to Andrew and comfort him, but he seemed lost in his own world. “I only needed another couple of months, and then the acquisition of Bullen Microsystems would be complete. It wouldn’t matter if the board knew about Ryanna and the baby because by then I’d have new board members who could outvote the ones who’ve been giving me the most trouble. A couple more months, all I needed was a couple more months!”
“Andrew,” I said in a soft voice, but he continued to rant, oblivious to my presence.
“This acquisition has been months in the making, and it’s all about to fall apart because of someone’s big mouth. Bohane and Stolliccio are going to live it when this makes the headlines. They’ll get other board members to vote me out as CEO, citing my lack of judgment. That will give them the perfect excuse to scuttle the Bullen acquisition, which they never wanted anyway despite its potential to make Rutledge Electronics the number one tech company in the world!”
By now, he was practically shouting and I’d begun to feel afraid. This was a side to Andrew I hadn’t seen before and I didn’t like it one bit.
I watched him continue to rant and rave when a brief knock sounded on the door. Colleen entered and said, “Andrew, your meeting with ─”
She stopped short when she saw he wasn’t paying attention to anything except his own meltdown. “He’s been like this for the last ten minutes,” I told her.
Colleen nodded like she’d seen it all before. “It’s his process. He thinks out loud sometimes, especially in stressful situations.”
Thinking out loud? That’s what she wanted to call this outburst? “What are we supposed to do? Let him
Similar Books
