Skylar's first instinct was to lie, but it quickly occured to her that if she tells Alex that Austin is someone else's child, it would only go on to confirm what Luca said about her jumping form man to man.Picking up her glass of wine, she took a sip to stall for time, but she knew that she would eventually have to pay the piper. "Yes. Austin is Luca's son."Alex just stared at her for several unnerving seconds, until his jaw suddenly clenched, a muscle ticking furiously in it. For the first time tonight, Skylar saw something like an accusation shimmering in his sea blue orbs."You told me Austin's father was not in the picture. You lied to me." He said cooly, and she could see he was keeping himself from saying something he might regret.She hated the look of disappointment in his eyes, but before she could say anything, the tension eased from his expression morphing into a look of realization."Unless... Does he know Austin's his son?"Almost instantly, Skylar felt her defences flar

“So what you're saying is that, you only found out Miss Simpson was five months pregnant after she'd worked for three months in the company?” Creasing his brows, Luca glared at the HR director like she was the reason for the dilemma he found himself in.“Exactly, Sir.” The blonde woman nodded enthusiastically. “She didn't take her leave, though, until she was in the last month of her pregnancy. After she gave birth, she kept on working from home and returned six months after her child was born. A few months later, she was promoted to CFO.”“I see.” Luca pursed his lips, wondering how to bring his next question out without sounding like he had a personal interest in it. “Did she receive visits regularly from males while she was pregnant or afterwards? The father of her child maybe?”Biting her lip, the HR director shook her head, but he eyes looked intrigued. “Not that I'm aware of, sir. I don't think so either. Dare I say, but the subject regarding the father of her son has always been

Two hours later, Luca was pacing the floor like a caged animal in front of sixteen board of directors who were regarding him with varying degrees of curiosity, impatience, and outright annoyance. The meeting should've began fifteen minutes ago, but Skylar wasn't here yet. Even though one of the men had suggested that they could go on with the meeting and update Skylar later, Luca had insisted that they wait for her. She would be here soon. She had to be.“With all due respect, Mr. Knight,” One of the executives began to say, impatience dripping from his tone. “It doesn't appear like Miss Simpson is going to be here any time soon. She's not even picking up her phone. I believe we should begin the meeting already because...”“We'll wait!” Luca insisted sternly, silencing the man and making a hush fall on the room.Back to pacing, he dialed her number for the seventh time, and like the first six times, it dialed until it went to voicemail, and his head raced with thoughts. Why wasn't she

“Ugh! You're killing me!” Skylar groaned as Ella's brush continued fluttering across her face non-stop. She must've been sitting stiff like a statue for twenty minutes straight, and still Ella wasn't done. By now, she had no doubt that her best friend had gone way beyond the light make-up they'd bargained for.Tonight was the inauguration of Lancaster Innovations into the Knight Corporations and a business function was being thrown. Skylar would've preferred to sit out of it, but there were going to be prospective clients and investors, and as the CFO, she knew her presence would be important.“There! Done! Are you dead yet?” Ella huffed rolling her eyes. Grabbing the backrest of Skylar's chair, she rotated it until Skylar was facing the mirror of the vanity table. “See how gorgeous you look!”Looking at her reflection in the mirror, Skylar had to admit that she looked stunning if not too dolled up like she was going for a beauty pageant or something. She would've preferred the make-

The whole room suddenly seemed to be deserted, because Skylar suddenly felt like it was only her and Luca in the hall, and she thought she would drown in the depths of his cyan eyes.The words he said reverberated in her head, turning her brain hazy in an eclectic blend of shock, disbelief, and anger. Words she would've given anything to hear from his mouth three years ago, yet now only turned her into a conflicted mess.“Skylar, did you hear me? I love you... Vanilla.”The throbbing pain that squeezed at her heart on hearing the endearment he'd used for her years ago was like a wake-up call and a reminder of how much hurt he'd caused. That wasn't love.Bracing her hands against his chest, she glared at him, praying the tears that were burning the back of her throat wouldn't fall and betray her.“Let go of me, Luca.”“Skylar...”“Let go of me if you don't want me to scream.” She bit out through her gritted teeth.A glint of misery dimmed his eyes as he finally unwrapped his arms from a