Billionaire’s Missing Baby Read online

“You two have a really weird relationship,” Maggie commented dryly. “I sure hope you learn to actually talk to Annie.”

  “No worries there,” Adam assured her as he took the baby and proceeded to spew a bunch of baby words at her.

  “Ew, in English, preferably,” added Theresa, wincing.

  “Here, Momma, you take our little bundle of joy while I go find that thing.”

  ***

  It felt strange to be standing in the house of a man she didn’t know, but knowing that she wouldn’t be welcome either way. Theresa bit at her bottom lip worriedly as she waited downstairs with Maggie and the baby while Adam went up to see how his father was doing. They could only agree with the notion that they should make sure he wouldn’t have a heart attack just seeing them there before they could tell him anything at all.

  “So, you’ve met him, Maggie. Is he really that bad?”

  “However bad you may be thinking he is,” Maggie said, “he’s worse. He didn’t even want me to touch him or handle his medications. That’s why they didn’t keep him there.”

  “He seems to have been holding on for an awfully long time since that diagnosis,” Theresa pointed out.

  “Probably because he’s too stubborn to die,” Maggie chuckled.

  One of the butlers came to speak to them. “Ladies? If you’ll follow me?”

  Theresa gulped hard as they headed up the stairs, down a long hallway, and on through a pair of double doors at the end. The first thing Theresa saw was a huge four-poster bed. An older, sicklier version of Adam laid in the center and watched them enter with barely concealed contempt.

  “I really don’t need to see any of you, just so you know,” he said in a surprisingly strong voice for a man who seemed so feeble. “Word of your adventures in Nevada has preceded you, thanks to Adam’s investigator.”

  Theresa nodded, unable to meet the man’s eyes. Annie let out a little wail and she held her closer to her heart.

  “So, that’s the manufactured baby, then?” he groused. “She sounds normal enough to me. Phelps? Dixon?”

  Two men entered the room within moments to answer his summons. “Yes, sir?”

  “Why don’t you two go down to the basement?” he instructed. “To the secret rooms. I believe it’s time for my younger son to stop pretending he’s not at home, and time for me to stop acting like I don’t know.”

  “Wait, what?” Theresa gasped, then clammed up again as he raised one imperious brow.

  “Adam tells me that you’ve decided to keep this baby yourself, is that right?” he asked her with a heavy frown.

  “Well, I am her mother,” Theresa pointed out.

  “And what is that woman doing here, anyway?” he added, glaring at Maggie. “I hoped never to lay eyes on her again after what she put me through.”

  “Maggie is going to be our babysitter while Theresa’s at work, Dad,” Adam added from across the room. “It seemed logical, since Annie already knows her so well.”

  “I can’t tell you how disgusted I am by those words, Adam,” he said with a dramatic sigh.

  James arrived, escorted bodily by the two men. He straightened out his sleeves and his tie, and when he saw Theresa and the baby his look grew smug.

  “I see he’s brought the little family to meet you at last,” he commented snidely. “You see, Dad, it’s just like I said. Completely disgusting. But I must say, Maggie, I certainly didn’t expect to see you here. I would have thought you’d have kept the money and run.”

  “James, I may be a racist man, and I’m proud of it, but there’s one thing I hate more than a n—”

  “Dad!” Adam shouted, staring over at his guests apologetically.

  “One of those people,” he amended. “Do you know what that is?”

  James’ face fell as he stared at the old man. “N-no, sir. What might that be?”

  “A low down, despicable, lying little schemer like you,” he seethed. “I’ve tried, you see. Tried real hard to forget your bad qualities. The fact that you’re always sucking up to me. The fact that you have no profession, no morals, and no backbone. But to sink to something like this—to actually play upon that bleeding heart brother or yours’ sympathies to get a sample of—well, that, just so you could create this baby? That is the worst sort of thing that I have ever heard. And all so that you could cut your brother out of my will, is it? Of all the greedy, despicable ideas. Well, son, I’ll tell you something here and now. One, and only one, of my sons will be inheriting my money… and it sure as hell won’t be you. Now get out of my sight.”

  John had become so enraged that his face was purple. He finished his tirade with a spate of coughs and wheezes as he gasped desperately for air.

  “Dad, please!” Adam said worriedly as he rushed to the old man’s side. “Phelps, go grab a nurse, will you?”

  “Got two perfectly good nurses right here,” Maggie reminded him with a tsk as she stepped forward to read the old man’s chart. She stepped over to a cart where all the medical supplies were obviously kept and drew a sedative into a syringe. Without asking for permission, she jabbed it directly into the man’s backside. He quickly subsided again.

  “Who told you to medicate me?” he groused, his eyes beginning to shut.

  “See that? Sedative worked same way even though it was me administering it to you,” she scolded him smugly. “I’m going now, John. You have a nice day.”

  John gaped after her as he watched her leave, then his hooded eyes shifted to Theresa and the baby. “Well, aren’t you just as disgusted with me? Aren’t you going to leave, too?”

  “No, sir,” she replied. “I’m even more disgusted than she was, but I’m not about to leave. I’m going to stand right here and get used to you, and you are going to get used to me.”

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Six months later, a slightly tearful Theresa finally sold her house. Adam had brought in a few contractors who actually knew what they were doing, and they had done a truly fantastic job with the restorations. The new buyer would be surely be proud of their home.

  “That’s the last of the furniture,” one of the movers said with a friendly smile after he and his partner hauled her old sofa out to the truck. “The donation station’s really going to enjoy receiving all of this.”

  “Yeah, no doubt,” she agreed. “I tried to keep all my stuff in pretty good shape.”

  “Here’s the receipt, ma’am,” he said, handing it to her with a grin. “And by the way, she really is a cute baby,” he added, glancing at Annie. After a slight pause he nodded at her belly and asked, “Any idea what you’re having this time?”

  “Oh,” Theresa replied, her hands moving down to the slight swell. “No, we don’t know yet. We can find out in another week if the baby will turn the right way during the ultrasound, though.”

  “Great! Good luck with everything,” he replied with sincere enthusiasm. “Well, you folks have a nice day.”

  “It sure is sad to let this place go,” Theresa sighed to Adam as she looked around the empty house. “If it wasn’t for this house, Annie never would have been born.”

  Adam came up to her from behind, wrapping his arms around her waist with a smile. “And we also wouldn’t have been on that road trip.”

  “No, but I also would have said yes when you asked for that date,” Theresa chuckled. “Which means we still would have been together right now.”

  “Hmm, I might have had you in my bed even sooner,” he joked, kissing her neck. “I like the sound of that.”

  Theresa laughed and turned to face him, placing her hands on his hips and playing with his belt loops. “I need to get back to work. Marie only gave me a couple of hours to wrap this up. Oh, and Iris wants us to come over later so she can say goodbye. Okay?”

  “Sure thing,” he agreed. “But it’s not goodbye. She’s coming to the wedding, right?”

  “Oh, you know how she is,” she replied, rolling her eyes. “Melodrama is her middle name.”

  “I sup
pose so,” Adam said, then gave a heavy sigh.

  “You thinking about your dad or your brother this time?” Theresa asked, moving her hands up to his chest.

  “Both, actually,” Adam admitted. “I knew I would miss him when he was gone, but I never realized it would be quite so much. How can two men who are so different make such good peas in a pod anyway?”

  “I’ll tell you why,” Theresa laughed. “Because you and your dad weren’t quite as different as you believe. Sure, he was a racist and you’re not, but that’s hardly the thing that defines you the most.”

  “Well, what is, then?”

  “You both feel things strongly. Both the good things and the bad,” Theresa pointed out. “You both have a great work ethic, and you throw yourself into that work wholeheartedly. And both of you have a great capacity to love.”

  “If you would have told me my dad would ever have come to love Annie like he did, and even you to some extent, I would never have believed it,” Adam replied, shaking his head.

  “It’s just that he’d never really interacted with a whole lot of non-whites before,” Theresa explained. “His daddy, and his daddy before him, wouldn’t allow any colored folks to be around. The only black man he really even knew was the one he thought stole his wife. Which brings me to one more trait you both have…”

  “Yeah, what’s that?” Adam wanted to know.

  “A stubborn streak a mile wide,” she replied, jabbing him in the ribs playfully.

  “Oh, man, are you going to start in about that again?” he laughed.

  “You know I am,” Theresa answered. “Your brother’s getting out of the hospital next week. It sure would be nice of you to make sure he’s really okay.”

  “Pretty sure he had to have learned his lesson this time,” Adam said with a frown. “He doesn’t need me to show up at the rehab center and rub it in.”

  “Adam, come on,” Theresa cajoled. “The man’s paid for what he did, big time. Those thugs got out of jail and tracked him down almost immediately, and he didn’t have their money. He’s lucky to even be alive. Don’t you think he deserves to have a brother now that his father is gone?”

  “What he deserves is a good, swift kick in the ass,” Adam growled stubbornly.

  “And an invitation to attend our wedding,” Theresa added insistently.

  “Now who’s being stubborn?” Adam complained. “Fine. I’ll go and see him tomorrow. I’ll tell him you want him there for posterity.”

  “Well, at least that’s something,” Theresa smiled.

  ***

  The Long-Awaited Costanza Wedding

  The bridal gown was long and pale pink. It matched perfectly with the diamond and ruby jewels, most especially the tiara, which made this seem almost like a royal wedding rather than one between a local rich guy and his bride. It’s been a little over a year since this pair first hit the headlines, billed as a tragic pair of lovers gone awry. Through the retelling of the tale—where we learned that little brother James was being naughty—and on through the stunning tale of his disinheritance because of it, we’ve followed the story to this final conclusion.

  Theresa Plummer, who endured a childhood in the foster care system, managed to work her way through college and become a nurse, but that wasn’t the end of her tale. Fate decided it was time to deal her a better hand, in the form of Adam Costanza. In fact, Theresa was unaware it was Adam’s child she carried when he first asked her out, and the surrogate mother felt that she should tell him no! If only they knew then what they know now.

  The couple, who celebrated their nuptials today in a grand cathedral, will soon be having a second child. And, as Adam is fond of saying, this one was conceived the right way. We hope everyone in the city of L.A. will join The Inside Scoop in wishing these two a very happy honeymoon.

  “Adam? Have you read this?” Theresa asked as she held the newspaper up for him to see.

  “Of course I have. They gave us a complimentary copy,” he answered, then changed the subject with, “The suitcases are packed and Annie is dressed. You about ready?”

  “Yeah,” Theresa grinned. “I can’t wait.”

  “You sure you want a road trip for your honeymoon?” he asked for about the fiftieth time. “I mean, we could be headed to Rome, Paris, Milan—”

  “We can go there after I have this baby,” she scoffed, cutting him off. “Right now, this whole thing we’re doing?” She pointed back and forth between them. “This is about family. We should be spending it with Annie, too.”

  “Well, alright, then,” Adam shrugged. “Maggie is waiting to meet us at the first hotel.”

  “I hope she isn’t bored,” Theresa worried. “It’s going to take us at least a day.”

  “Are you kidding? She’s at a five-star resort, babe. Luxury all the way,” Adam laughed. “She’s probably sitting by the pool with a nice, cool drink, talking away. Ever since the reporters got a shot of her in the background when it all went down, she’s had people asking for her side of the story almost every single day.”

  “Good thing she hasn’t let all that celebrity go to her head,” Theresa chuckled dryly.

  “Neither have you,” he grinned, kissing the side of her head.

  “What did you and your brother talk about today?” she asked shrewdly.

  “Oh, you know… things,” Adam answered, trying not to smile. “He told me he wants to start working toward a nursing degree.”

  “James? Oh, now I’ve heard everything.”

  “No, really,” Adam laughed. “I guess all the time he spent at hospitals over the past year, and watching our dad die, has finally caught up with him. Now that he’s not busy using the drugs on himself he’s realized that, with as much knowledge as he has already, he should be a shoe-in.”

  “Yeah?” she scoffed. “Well, I sure don’t want that guy at my bedside.”

  “Hey, you’re the one who wanted me to talk to him in the first place,” Adam reminded her.

  “He’s your brother,” Theresa pointed out. “And if there’s one thing I’ve learned in all of this, it’s that family is important.

  “Which reminds me,” Adam began with a smile. “Chris gave me some news this morning I think you’re going to want to know about.”

  “Chris?” she asked with a bewildered look. “What about?”

  “I know you told me to leave it alone, sweetheart, but this whole thing with your brother has been tearing you up inside,” Adam replied guiltily. “I asked Chris to look for him and he thinks he’s found the right guy. As a matter of fact, Louis Adams works as a waiter at the first hotel.”

  “What?” Theresa gasped. “Did you just say Adams?”

  “Yeah, what are the odds?”

  “And you only found this out today?” she continued with a shake of her head. “But we booked that hotel weeks in advance.”

  “Yeah, that’s true too,” he grinned.

  Theresa moved away and hugged herself nervously. “God, is it really true? Am I really going to see my baby brother again? I can’t believe this is really happening.”

  Adam beamed at her with adoring eyes. “Well, it’s what you deserve, you know. You deserved this whole fairy tale.”

  She turned to scoff at him.

  “No, Theresa, it’s true,” he insisted. “It’s just like Marie said: after all the crap you’ve had to endure, it’s about time fate was kind to you.”

  Epilogue

  “Happy Birthday, Annie,” James smiled as he bent down to give his niece a kiss. She beamed up at him, making him laugh.

  “Unky James!” she managed to say, holding up her hands hopefully. After pinching one of her cherubic cheeks, James lifted the child up into his arms, his eyes growing just a bit misty.

  “Now that’s good to see,” Maggie said as she came up behind them and wrapped him into a hug. “I’m so glad that we’re a family now.”

  Blushing slightly, James turned and set his hand onto the small mound of her belly, which had not quite b
egun to form a bump. “Yeah, and how is Annie’s cousin doing today?”

  “I’ve been sick all morning,” she complained. “You might not want to kiss me.”

  “I would kiss you even if you were a rattlesnake, baby,” he told her affectionately, doing just that. She giggled when he winced away. “However, let me just get you something to drink.”

  Maggie took the little glass of punch and sipped away, watching Annie crawl across the grass and stain her brand new birthday gown. “James, you let her get away!”

  “Oh, let her play,” he complained. “She’s not some kind of a porcelain doll, she’s a little girl.”

  “Maggie? Where’s my brother, and what have you done with him?” Adam jokingly asked as he watched this exchange from a few feet away.

  “Can I help it if just one taste of the good thing turned this sinner into a saint?” she teased.

  “Oh, no, I’m no saint,” protested James. “I’ve just decided to change my vice. Too bad I didn’t realize sooner how much better it could be with the right lady. I think I wasted a whole lot of time on the wrong things.”

  “Oh, stop it,” Maggie shushed him.

  “Look, everyone, Theresa’s coming out with the baby!” Marie chimed in happily. “I can’t wait to see!”

  “Calm down, you guys, and remember: preemies can catch your bugs way too easily, so no touching,” Adam told them, firmly in protective father mode.

  “Who do you think you’re talking to, Mister Daddy?” Marie scoffed. “Almost every person at this party is a nurse already. She glanced at James and added, “Well, except for the understudy.”

  “Point taken,” Adam replied with a chuckle as he stepped over and scooped up Annie. “Come on, scamp. Your brother is asleep, and you’re filthy, but I’ll still at least let you see.”

  “My mommy!” Annie complained.

  “Sorry, kiddo, you’re just going to have to share,” Adam said unrepentantly.

  “Have the two of you finally picked a name?” James wanted to know.

  Adam grinned. “Well, yeah, we did… but it was only under duress on my part.”