Page 30 of Billion-Dollar Baby Shock

Niko gurgled in agreement.Tara watched, a little dumbfounded, as Dion found the wet wipes, cleaned Niko up and the surrounding area and then went back to arranging the nappy and putting it on the baby.Perfectly, ofcourse.Tara could appreciate that the man had become a billionaire because he was extremely ambitious and had an eye for detail that most didn’t.

She moved forward when he’d secured the nappy and said, ‘Not bad for a novice.’

He glanced at her and looked a little shamefaced before admitting, ‘I might have watched some videos on YouTube.’

Tara’s insides melted at that admission.Before he could see the softness she was feeling—especially after his revealing how he’d been treated after his mother had abandoned him—Tara said, ‘Why don’t you get changed and I’ll finish dressing him and get him downstairs?’

Dion was looking at Niko.‘Are all babies as clever as him?’

Tara’s insides melted even more.‘No way.He’s special.’She spoke the truth of biased parents everywhere.

Dion took a step back from the changing table and Tara started to deftly dress Niko in a cute romper suit.

Before Dion left, though, he said, ‘It’s Saturday today.’

Tara had completely lost all track of what day it was.Or how long she’d been here.Days?A week?This was her world now.

‘Do you have to work?’she asked.

‘Normally I would but maybe we could do something together.’

Tara shrugged.It wasn’t as if she had plans!And the more time Dion wanted to spend with his son, the better.

‘Sure.Did you have anything in mind?’

‘We could go to the island villa until tomorrow night.I have meetings in Paris next week.’

Tara’s heart thumped unevenly when she thought of thevilla.It felt like an age ago when she’d been there with her anonymous lover.Not so anonymous now.

She remembered the stark clean lines and the infinity pool.She frowned, ‘That sounds lovely but is it set up for Niko?’

Dion said nothing and she looked at him.He said, ‘It doesn’t need to be set up for Niko.It’ll just be us.’

Tara stopped halfway down buttoning Niko’s romper suit and looked at Dion.She shook her head.‘I don’t want to leave Niko behind.’

‘But Maria will be here.She’ll be well compensated for extra hours.’

So much for imagining those burgeoning moments of bonding between father and son.He still had Niko compartmentalised somewhere in his life but not in the centre of it.

‘No,’ she said.‘If you want me to come then Niko comes too.Maria can be there if you feel she’s required.’

Dion looked at her for a moment as if he couldn’t understand what she’d just said and she realised that Dion most likely never had anyone talk back to him or refuse him.Well, tough.

Niko started to crib, clearly hungry by now.Tara said, ‘I’m not going anywhere without Niko, take it or leave it.’She walked out of the room and avoided checking Dion’s expression, imagining it would be nuclear.

* * *

It took a minute for Dion to realise that Tara had just issued him an ultimatum and then walked away from him.With his son.

Her son too,reminded a little voice.

He also realised that it wasn’t altogether…as irritating as he might have found it if it had been anyone else.

Much like getting peed upon, by his son.He looked down at the almost perfectly symmetrical wet stain on his polo shirt.

Something had just shifted in this room.Something seismic.Dion wasn’t the sole authority over his son any more.And perhaps Tara was right.Would he have felt totally comfortable leaving Niko behind?He had before…but that had been when Niko was still very much an unknown quantity.More of an abstract idea than a flesh and blood little person with an emerging personality.

But could he take Tara to the island and do the things to her that he wanted to with Niko there too?