Claimed By My Billionaire Ex

Chapter 16

LUCAS

There was nothing that could have dampened my mood that Sunday. Never before had I experienced such lightness in my heart. As Olive and I sat on the park bench watching Claire play, there were no words to describe the happiness settling inside me.

Maybe it was the crisp blue skies, the orange leaves falling around us, the easy breeze...or maybe it was Claire's excitement in discovering I was her father. My hand was draped across Olive's shoulder, my hand twirling her hair, tickling the back of her neck. She sighed, leaning against me, and the sound warmed my heart.

Had I ever felt this comfortable with a woman before? I didn't think so. Silence in my previous relationships were always tense and awkward. It never felt this comfortable. I had never imagined I could feel like this before.

The happiness in my chest was vast and expansive, a warm hug I was falling into. Falling. I looked at Olive, smiling as I watched her eyes light up as they followed Claire across the park. Was it possible that I was falling for her?

My gaze lifted above her head, and a flash of sunlight reflected off the lens of a camera. But it wasn't the camera I was looking at. It was the man holding it. Mother fucker. I'd recognize that balding ginger from anywhere, his beady eyes bulging out of his round head.

I pretended to glance at my phone. "Ah, Jessie's calling. Probably about the press conference. I should take this."

She smiled, her chin resting in the palm of her hands. "Kay, baby."

I stood up and squeezed Olive's shoulder.

Kyle, the bodyguard I'd hired to protect Olive and Claire from hounding reporters, perked up. I nodded at him, giving him the signal to stay with Olive.

When I reached the gate to the park, Jake Hall was already outside, waiting for me. Of course, he'd seen me coming. He snapped three photos and grinned. "Lucas, how's it going?"

"You sleazy fuck. Don't you have anything better to do?" I stepped toward him, and he lifted his camera like a shield.

"Come any closer and that's assault. And I'll have photos to prove it."

I rolled my eyes. "Can you just give us some fucking privacy for once?"

"Lucas, you know this is my job. And I'm good at it since I'm the only one here."

"Or maybe real reporters have something better to do with their time?"

Jake snickered. "You don't think I'm a real reporter, huh?"

"The definition of a paparazzi is closer to stalker than reporter. We both know that."

"That's funny. Especially considering I happened to get a call from an anonymous source about some interesting stuff from your past."

I hesitated but didn't let my face break. "Right, I'm sure that's the case. That you're not just fishing for information."

Jake snickered. "We'll see." He snapped two more pictures. "Anything else you want to say before the article comes out?"

I really couldn't tell if he was bluffing, but I refused to give him any satisfaction. I slid my hands in my pocket. "Go fuck yourself, Jake."

The rest of the day unfolded in a bit of a haze. I did my best to keep up with Claire, to show Olive affection—those were effortless things I didn't have to think about doing—but other thoughts kept shoving themselves in my mind.

What did Jake Hall have on my past?

Probably nothing. I'd gotten threats from reporters and paparazzi in the past, but nothing had ever come of it. Coming from a family in the public eye and then building my own wealth had meant that I'd gone above and beyond to scrub my name clean. It wasn't like I'd been planning a career in the politics for the last decade, but it had been something that had crossed my mind.