The Billionaire's Triplets (A Steamy Contemporary Romance Novel) by Mia Caldwell Page B

proprietary. He didn’t care for that change. “Obviously.”
    “Who are you meeting?”
    “Lissa Edwards.”
    “What?”
    He enjoyed her look of astonishment. “She found out I was in town and called. It was amazingly amicable.”
    “You can’t meet with her.”
    “I can’t? I intend to, Willa.”
    “But after all she’s done…”
    Willa’s intense look of distress was totally out of character, and from what he could see, out of proportion to him meeting the woman. “She wants to tell me some things. I assume we will talk about the children. If she’s willing to talk to me, maybe we can avoid any kind of legal wrangling. You know I hate how readily Americans turn to those bastards. It’s a waste of money, and drags things out in public.”
    “I have to object to you meeting her.”
    “No you don’t. And I can’t see that any harm can come from talking to her.”
    “After she cut you off, broke your heart, the first time she crooks her finger to beckon you to approach, you go to her like a lovesick schoolboy.”
    “Perhaps. But it isn’t like I’ve never acted foolishly before. I’m willing to embarrass myself if it clears the air.” It was more than that. Having heard her voice, he ached to see her.
    “And then there is our relationship. Doesn’t that give me some right to object?”
    Julio stared at her. She spoke calmly, but he saw her anger. She seethed, holding it in. It surprised him, seeing this side of her. He couldn’t imagine what had her in such a fury. It couldn’t simply be jealousy, or she’d want him to resolve things with Lissa. Then he’d be free. No, he’d missed something. It had probably been going on for some time. Whatever she was after was threatened by Lissa.
    He wondered if she consciously knew what it was herself.
    “Emotional blackmail doesn’t become you, Willa. And although you have the look of a jealous woman, I don’t think that’s why you are upset. As for our relationship, we’ve been a good business team, and we let that become intimate. I think that might have been a mistake.”
    “She is trying to ruin things.”
    “Ruin things? What things? Unless you mean I’m suddenly aware of how possessive you feel about me, your concerns sound hysterical.”
    “Hysterical? Because I’ve been at your side through all this and now feel betrayed?”
    “You were well paid to be by my side. And what is it I’ve betrayed? Clearly you have some expectations about our relationship that you’ve never mentioned.”
    “Please don’t go see her.”
    “I am going, Willa. Tonight.”
    Suddenly her face changed. The anger left her eyes. “I apologize,” she said calmly. “Because of what that woman has done to you, I’ve grown to hate her.” She drew herself up. “I’m sorry that I seem to be acting irrationally. I think I’d better retire to my room. I’ll have a long soak in the tub and get room service.”
    And she left.
    “Women.”

CHAPTER SEVEN
    Willa wanted to scream.
    This turn of events was disastrous. It was unbelievable that things had gone bad so suddenly. She had been surprised and messed things up, made them worse. She should never have tried to insist he not go to the dinner. Now he was suspicious of her. He was right. She had no good reason she could tell him so that he shouldn’t meet with Lissa. Everything she said had made her sound like a jealous madwoman. Worse, it had pissed him off. Showing her anger and frustration did nothing but tip her hand. Now he even suspected her motives for fucking him. That wasn’t good.
    At the end she’d caught herself. If she couldn’t stop him, she had to carry on, act as if it wasn’t as important as she’d first thought, and give him space.
    But it did make her want to scream. She’d cultivated him for years, gaining his confidence and carefully nudging things along in the right direction, in her direction. And now this! She’d known the risk in coming to New York—that Lissa Edwards would