Billionaire Baby Dilemma Read Online Free PDF Page A

she’s finally home.”
    â€œBut so is that mama bear Devin Hartley,” Byron pointed out.
    â€œShe is a problem,” Lucas admitted. He’d won today, but then so had Devin.
    Byron puffed out his broad chest. “We shoot intruders back in Texas.”
    â€œIf we shot intruders here in Seattle, you’d have been dead years ago.”
    â€œYou know I loved your mama.” Byron’s words weren’t defensive, he was simply stating fact.
    It had taken Lucas a few years, but he’d come to respect that the rough Texas cattle baron made his mother—Crystal—happy.
    â€œBack then, everyone called you an intruder,” Lucas pointed out.
    â€œAre you defending Devin?”
    â€œNo.” Lucas hadn’t meant to take up Devin’s side. She was a very big problem for him. She obviously wasn’t going to disappear easily, and now she had Steve to bankroll her efforts.
    Lucas glanced at Byron’s crystal glass and decided a drink was a good idea. He started toward the great room, which wasaccessed by a wood-panel and portrait-lined hallway. Byron fell into step.
    â€œWhat’s your next move?” asked Byron.
    Lucas had been thinking about that. “Since she just matched my biggest advantage over her—legal resources—I suppose I’ll have to match her biggest advantage over me.”
    â€œYou going to put on a wig and an apron?”
    â€œFunny.”
    The big man grinned. “I thought so.”
    â€œAmelia adores her.” Lucas knew he had to make certain Amelia was comfortable with him, too.
    The amused grin grew on Byron’s face as they entered the softly lit room. “Lucas Demarco, Uncle of the Year?”
    â€œHow hard can it be?” Lucas paused. “I mean, I’ll hire a nanny for the sticky stuff. But I can read her a book, build her a castle or play catch or something.”
    â€œThat little gal can’t even walk yet.”
    â€œYou know what I mean.”
    Byron turned thoughtful. “You do know that Bernard and Botlow have had past dealings with Pacific Robotics, right?”
    â€œI’m aware,” said Lucas, his gaze going to the bank of picture windows that looked out over the concrete terrace, the sloping lawn of the estate and the lights of the ships on Puget Sound below.
    â€œIf you were to ask, the court might just declare that a conflict of interest.”
    â€œOr they might consider me an obstructionist for trying to block Devin’s legal support.”
    â€œAnd give little ol’ Devin the sympathy vote,” Byron concluded.
    â€œSweet young aunt,” Lucas mused out loud, a picture of Devin’s fresh, girl-next-door beauty flashing in his mind as he poured himself two fingers of Macallan. “Self-employed and making ends meet at a lakeshore cottage in a bucolic little community with pets and picnic tables. I’m sure she attends town hall meetings and bakes cookies for good causes. Ameliaclearly adores her. I tell you, the last thing we want to do is turn her into even more of a sympathetic underdog.”
    â€œA sympathetic underdog?” It was Devin’s surprisingly sharp voice.
    Lucas set down the Scotch bottle and turned.
    She started across the room, stride confident, shoulders squared. She wore a baggy T-shirt and some kind of clingy slacks topping white running shoes.
    â€œAt least you didn’t call me pathetic,” she challenged.
    Byron recovered first and stepped forward, extending his hand. “Byron Phoenix. Pleased to meet you, ma’am.”
    â€œLawyer?” asked Devin, eyes narrowing as she gave him a brief handshake.
    Byron scoffed out a laugh. “Extended family.”
    Devin raised her brows in an obvious question.
    â€œHe was married to my mother,” Lucas explained.
    â€œYou have a stepfather?” Devin was clearly surprised.
    Byron chuckled heartily at that one.
    â€œI was twenty-two when they got