Page 13 of Driving the Billionaire Wild

‘Answer it.’ He sat back against the window ledge. ‘I won’t announce myself to him over a phone screen, if that’s what you’re thinking.’

‘I don’t know what I’m thinking,’ she confessed, letting out a breathless sound. ‘After today, I don’t think I know about anything any more.’

He nodded in understanding, feeling a small moment of solidarity with her in the sea of uncertainty they’d found themselves in. She tapped the screen to answer the call, a small voice with a British accent sounding out loudly in the room.

‘Mummy!’

Astrid shifted seamlessly into a soft, loving tone, complimenting something being shown to her on the screen. ‘You’ve tidied your toys up so well, darling. I’m proud of you.’

He was struck by how easily she calmed the child when he became upset, even without him saying any words. She was patient, comforting him with just her voice. Admiration and anger warred within him that she’d had to do all of this alone. She’d raised their son for almost seven years whilst also building a career and a home.

He listened to her gently explain why Luca needed to let the nanny put him to bed, how their plans for their trip tomorrow had changed and she knew that was uncomfortable for him. Apollo moved closer as he heard the small voice repeat her words every few moments and fought the urge to intrude, to demand to speak to his son.

Another voice came onto the phone, a young woman who Astrid greeted as Jem. The girl asked if they could chat about an issue she was having with what sounded like a university application and Astrid’s face changed. She gestured to him in apology and quickly excused herself from the room as she switched the phone off speaker mode and listened.

Engulfed in the sudden silence, he found himself filled with nervous energy. Opening his phone, he searched for her name and clicked into social media accounts he’d never seen. He didn’t manage his own online presence or spend a lot of time on the Internet, as he hated the waste of time and didn’t enjoy the chaotic mix of scrutiny and adoration for his public persona.

There was one website that showed an interview withAstrid about motherhood and business; a few photographs were included and he took a seat in a wingback chair as he zoomed into each one: Astrid with a rounded bump on the race track; Astrid holding a newborn bundle. He didn’t know how long he sat there, scouring through every photo and interview like a starving man, trying to piece together how on earth this had happened.

There were very few photos of Luca on the Internet, and he found himself grateful to Astrid for that, as he realised how important his son’s safety was to him. But even the few images of the boy’s side profile he’d found on Elite One websites made his chest tighten painfully. His son liked the cars. He could see it in the eager stretch of his small hands over the barriers, and in the official team t-shirts and caps he wore—Accardi caps. A sense of pride filled him, seeing the familiar lettering above the boy’s face: his family’s name. His son was an Accardi by blood. He should have been the one holding him as they watched the racing, just as his grandfather had done with him when he’d been a boy.

Adrenaline thrummed through him, as if he wanted to run. But for once it was not to run away, but towards this new dimension of his world that had just been presented to him. He never wanted to let them out of his sight. But, with the press already on his heels, he’d created an even worse mess. He had not planned the damned party yesterday, but he hadn’t stopped his father either. He’d known it looked terrible and would draw media attention, but he hadn’t cared then. He’d only had himself to worry about, his own image.

Now…he didn’t quite know how these things worked but he knew he had a right to see his son. He knew thatwas what he wanted. He knew he wouldn’t hide his son’s existence either; he wouldn’t miss another moment more as Luca’s father than he already had.

He waited another half hour before allowing his impatience to win out and going in search of Astrid, only to find she’d fallen asleep on top of the four-poster bed in his guest room. She was still fully dressed, her phone clutched in her hand. She looked tired, her hair mussed and unpinned in a fashion that reminded him of the kisses they’d shared. Of how quickly she’d come undone in his arms, disproving her claims of being unaffected by the desire between them.

She wasn’t physically unaffected, but he knew she’d been serious when she’d said she would never risk her professional reputation for a driver. But he wasn’t her driver now…he was her son’s father.

He was the man who, unknowingly, had walked away and left a woman pregnant and alone to raise their child for almost seven damned years. He hadn’t noticed the condom fail, hadn’t run after her and insisted they exchange numbers. He’d been out in the world, racing, building his own brand and travelling, living his life as a carefree bachelor. Meanwhile, she had borne the entire responsibility of the consequences of their actions.

He pulled the blanket up from the bottom of the bed, covering her. He paused for a long moment, his mind poring over the events of the day. She let out a small sound, her face turning away from him, as though even while sleeping she could sense the dangerous nature of his thoughts. He had told her he wouldn’t give her the chance to run from him again. He believed her when she said shewouldn’t try to keep him from his child, but still he felt a strange sense of possession as he looked down at her.

He inhaled a deep breath and closed the door softly behind him on Astrid’s seductively slumbering form. Growing up as he had, the child of acrimoniously divorced parents, he’d long ago made peace with his choice to remain single and child-free. But life had a way of changing the best laid plans.

One thing was certain—his son would not grow up the way he had, torn between two homes. He knew Astrid would fight him, he would expect nothing less, but he had no intention of letting go of a perfectly good chance to make this right.

Chapter Seven

ASTRID AWOKE DISORIENTATED, her mind taking a moment to process the sound of birds chirping and the smell of coffee. Her last memory was of sleepily clutching her phone to her ear as she’d finished guiding Jem through her upcoming university interview, then saying goodnight to Luca. The phone was now thrown on the opposite side of the bed and the covers were tied around her legs as though she had tossed and turned for the entire night. That would explain the panicked dreams she’d had of being pursued in the dark, she thought as she rose from the bed and felt her muscles ache in response.

She hadn’t meant to fall asleep, but she supposed the adrenaline of the day was bound to find her eventually. The very idea that twenty-four hours ago she’d been focused on a simple job and entirely unaware of how starkly her life was about to change was an uncomfortable one. Much like her small son, she wasn’t fond of change but, where Luca railed against it and felt the effects acutely, Astrid usually found a way to re-centre herself and find control.

Control was not just something she enjoyed, it was something she required. And it was something she’d had the full privilege of with regard to her son since he’d beenborn. The memory of the look in Apollo’s eyes the night before when he had asked her if Luca had ever asked about his father sent a shiver down her spine as she rose and walked into the bathroom, taking in her sleep-worn expression in the bathroom mirror.

Would he be fair in their approach to co-parenting? Would he want more than she was prepared to give? Worries and ‘what if?’s swarmed her thoughts as she stripped off and took a quick shower. Not even the hottest temperature and a shelf of luxury products could assuage the tension in her spine as she absent-mindedly towel dried her short brown locks before twisting them into a sleek chignon.

By the time she’d dressed in her preferred uniform of stretchy pencil skirt and lilac blouse, she’d talked herself through every potential scenario and decided she was being ridiculous to worry so much. Sure, Apollo was insanely wealthy and came from a powerful family, but he was not a villain. With his lifestyle, she highly doubted that he had any intention of fighting her for full custody or anything of the sort. Likely, the best-case scenario that she could hope for was that he wanted a relationship with Luca. That he would want to catch up on the time he’d lost, plan some visits and find a way to see him occasionally.

As for Luca, she only hoped that her son would accept the news that he had a father easily. He loved all things Elite One and his favourite team had always been Accardi. She hoped that shared interest would provide a meeting ground of sorts for father and son. Only time would tell. No matter what Apollo was prepared to offer, she already knew she would do her best to make it work.

How many nights had she lain awake with her infant son wondering what she could have done differently? How many times had she cried in the past year since Luca had started to speak and had begun to ask questions about his father, questions that she’d had absolutely no idea how to answer?

The guilt over her actions in the lift that night and the decision she’d made to keep things anonymous had torn at her, and now here she was with the very man she’d hoped to find. Apollo lived his life in the public eye, so they wouldn’t be able to keep this a secret for long. But there was no need to make a public statement just yet. Perhaps once things had settled into a rhythm between them all. She hadn’t even begun to think of what Grayson and Izzy would say, finding out that Luca was an Accardi. Or what Tristan and Nina would say, especially in the face of losing their star driver and the media storm that would accompany that news breaking.

But she was a professional, and she had never found a situation she couldn’t spin…even if this scandal was her own. Still, she couldn’t quite shake the sensation that she stood on a precipice of sorts between her old life and a new one.

She held her shoulders high as she exited the guest room in search of the origin of that delicious coffee scent, following it to a modern kitchen. Apollo stood at the worktop, cradling an espresso cup in his hands when she entered.