New Beginnings (The Billionaire’s Baby #4)(7)
Author: Helen Cooper

Chapter 5

Ella

Jacob cooed up at Ella and she felt her heart melting. She knew that she shouldn’t be so happy to see him but something about Jacob set a fire in her belly. She knew that she loved this little baby already. There was something so precious and innocent about him. This was a baby that would one day grow up to be one of very few men she trusted and believed in. The only other two men that she believed in right now were her father and Max and even then she didn’t know how much she would trust Max if he weren’t her brother. Something about holding the baby reminded her of all the times she had thought about getting pregnant to keep one of her boyfriends when she first started dating. She didn’t understand why she felt so starved for love but holding Jacob made her feel whole and warm inside.

She sat down on the couch with Jacob in her arms and turned on the TV. She was worried about Sophie. She had looked so distraught and upset, she could only imagine the sort of pain she must be going through. It didn’t seem quite fair; they’d only just seemed to have gotten it together but already Sophie and Max were going through another crisis. Ella sighed. She really didn’t know if they were going to make it. Max had really screwed up this time. It took a pretty amazing woman to take care of someone else’s child. For a second Ella wondered if she should ask to take Jacob off their hands—but she knew that she couldn’t manage to take care of him by herself. She knew less than nothing about babies. And she knew that she was too young to take on that responsibility. She was twenty-two; she had the world to conquer first. She jumped as she heard someone banging on the door.

“Sophie, Sophie, let me in.” Max’s voice rang out as he continued thumping the door.

“Gosh dangit, Max.” Ella jumped up and walked as quickly as she could to the door without waking Jacob. “Shut up, Max.” She glared at her brother as she opened the door. He looked a wreck and she felt her heart go out for him. It seemed like neither of them could get it together in love.

“Where’s Sophie?”

“She left.” Ella’s voice was cold. She was still mad at Max for having never told her that he loved Sophie.

“Oh my God.” He fell back against the wall, his voice anguished and his face contorted in pain.

“Don’t you want to see your son, Max?” Ella held Jacob to him and he stared in her eyes and laughed bitterly.

“Way to turn the knife, Ella.” He stared down at the baby in her arms but felt nothing but numbness. “He looks like a Van Harkel.” He laughed uncontrollably and Ella looked at him in concern. “Or a Phillips.”

“Oh Max.” She touched his arm. “I’m so sorry.”

He looked at her bleakly and smiled. “No sis, I’m sorry. How are you?”

Ella hung her head and stared at Jacob. “I’m getting better thanks.”

“I could kill Joseph,” Max muttered.

“It wasn’t all his fault.” She sighed. “I was a fool.”

“He took advantage of you, he was older and knew better.” Max grimaced. “I should have noticed.” He sighed.

“It’s not your fault, Max.” She looked at her brother lovingly. “You know that right. You can only protect me so much.”

“I’ll protect you your whole life, Ella.” He smiled down at her lovingly. “You will always be my younger sister.”

Ella rolled her eyes. “And you’ll keep scaring the guys away.” She laughed.

“That’s the idea.” He paused. “I guess I should look at my son.” He took Jacob from her arms and held him gingerly. “So Sophie left as soon as you arrived?”

“I don’t think she’s gone forever, Max.” She studied her brother’s face and spoke carefully. “It’s a lot to take on, Max. She’s had a rough few months. You’ve really put her through the wringer.” She paused. “And she didn’t have a brother to beat you up for playing with her emotions either.”

“Because I was the one who was meant to play that role.” He sighed.

“Well you can’t be her brother and boyfriend.” Ella grinned at him. “That’d be gross.”

He laughed at her and shook his head. “I’m going to pretend you didn’t just say that.” He walked over to the couch and sat down carefully, making sure that he held the back of Jacob’s head for support.

“So you really didn’t know Alexis was pregnant?” Ella questioned him curiously.

He sighed and looked at her with pained eyes. “I had no clue, Ella. But I wasn’t really with it when we were together. I wasn’t with it for a lot of things.”

“Oh.” She knew he was talking about the drugs. She had heard her parents whispering about it, anxious and worried.

“Those were dark days, Ella.” He paused. “I’m a different man now.”

“I know.” She smiled weakly, hoping that it was true. “Why did you turn to drugs, Max?”

He looked up at her and she saw the lost look in his eyes, turning them from a sky blue, to a thunderous purple. “It was a mix of things. I was lost. I was rich. I was in love with someone who I felt I was forbidden from loving. I wanted to get lost in another life, another place. Alexis provided me with an escape and we dragged each other down a deep, dark and dirty hole.”

“Why Alexis?”

“She was beautiful, she was there, and she was willing.” He sighed. “And she let me do whatever I wanted to do.”

Ella stared at him with wide eyes. She wanted to know exactly what he was talking about but felt weird asking her brother about his intimate life. “So did you love her?” she asked him anxiously, she knew that would be the one thing Sophie would never be able to get over.

“No.” He laughed bitterly. “There’s never been anyone for me but Sophie.”

“Good.” She stood up. “Let me try calling her to see if she will come home.”

“Please.” Max’s eyes lit up.

Ella sighed as the phone went straight to voicemail. “No answer.”

“That should make me feel better, that she isn’t answering your calls but it doesn’t.” He shook his head. “God, I hope she is okay.”

“Look at that, a billionaire asking God for something.” Ella laughed.

Max rolled his eyes at his sister. “Help me put Jacob down, please.”