CHAPTER 3

LEO COULD NOT SLEEP. His mind was too pre-occupied to do so. He kept tossing and turning on his well-made, vast bed. The minute the bedside clock showed 7 a.m., he tossed the cover cloth off and sauntered nude to the bathroom. After a few minutes, he was out. Leo decided on a gray suit, and knew he was looking dapper in it. He preferred driving himself, despite the protest that came from the palace chauffeurs. Driving helped him think, the same way painting relaxed him. Besides he was taking his Maserati out, and he was only one that drove it. The drive to the hotel where Claire was staying was a ten-minute drive from the palace. It was an upscale hotel.

It was a good thing that his father told him ahead that she had no idea that the hotel belonged to the family. Leo was the one managing the hotels and the estates the family owned, something he would have preferred not to be burdened with, but his father would never hear of it. All Gbadegesin sons had family responsibility bequeathed on them, in addition to having our own projects. Liam being the eldest was in charge of the oil refinery, and he had his own shipping business as well. The second brother, Henry was in charge of anything security related, since he retired from the military as a lieutenant. He also had his own tech firm.

Leo took in a deep breath, reigning in his nerves the moment he pulled the Maserati into the private parking spot allocated for him.

"Good morning, your highness," the chorus of greetings reached him the moment he stepped out of the elevator. He did not miss the appreciative glances being thrown at him from the ladies, as he sauntered to his office. It was not often they saw him; he only came when he had an important meeting with clients. He received adequate reports on how the hotel was run through the managers.

The minute he stepped into his office, he placed a call to the front desk asking them about Claire. He asked for a breakfast table for two to be set up in the restaurant for them. Armed with information on Claire's room, he headed there. He wondered how she would look now that she'd had a child. He imagined Claire would be more beautiful. Leo may have imagined it, but he was not prepared for the reality.

"Give me a minute, I'm coming!" Claire called from inside. Leo waited for her to open the door.

"Hello Claire," Leo drawled, his left hand deep in his pocket while the other rested on the door post. This time his face missed his signature charming boyish smile, but his eyes did not miss the way she looked —sexier. It was obvious she had just woken up. The nightgown she wore was not in any way revealing but it did not stop his body from getting stirred up.

I'm not here for that, he silently chastised himself.

He noticed her surprise when she saw him and her discomfort as well in being caught in her night wear. His penetrating gaze raked down her body—her breasts, her waist, her legs—his eyes did not miss anything. A part of him felt satisfied to have caught her like this because it made her vulnerable to him.

"Hello Leo,” she muttered. To her dismay, her body reacted to his blatant sexual assessment of her as if he was touching her. Her skin tingled all over and heat flooded her cheeks. Claire fought the intense pull that was drawing her to him by straightening her back and sticking her chin out. “I’ve been expecting you, but not early like this."

"I'm sure you have been. Can I come in?" Not waiting for her to invite him in, he saunters inside into the middle of the room. He stopped in his track as he caught sight of a little angel sound asleep on the bed. The first thing that came into his mind was that she was real, and she was here. He found himself moving towards her. The girl was very beautiful. Leo could not believe that this child could be his. He stepped back, not wanting to wake her up. He wanted to have that conversation with Claire first, before meeting her properly. He turned with a questioning glance at Claire.

Claire closed the door silently, joining him. She did not miss the questions written on his face, but this was neither the right time nor place to talk about things. She needed to have her bath and get dressed. She felt at a disadvantage the way she was dressed right now. This Leo in front of her looked totally different from the man she met years ago—more intense, powerful, and dangerous. He still had a boyish aura around him, but one shouldn't mistake that for weakness or anything.

"Like I said earlier, I was not expecting to see you this early nor did I know you would show up today—"

"I don't think any of that is relevant now. You should have known I would show up sooner than later, seeing as you went to my father. Now I have made plans for us for breakfast. I didn't know you were not alone. But we will have breakfast so that we can talk properly," he said firmly, not waiting for any objection from her.

"Fine. I will be ready in thirty minutes."

"Good. I will be waiting,” he said, turning on his heels.

***

CLAIRE BRAITHWAITE released a quick breath the moment Leo left. It was like he sucked in the air when he was around her, relinquishing it the minute he left. Was it just her or had he gotten a tad bit arrogant, and finer? She hated to admit it, but he still had a strong effect on her senses. Her traitorous body betrayed her even after the five years apart.

She knew it was going to be weird telling him he had a grown child, but she knew it was the right thing to do. She did not want or need his money; her flower shop was doing well. One of her late mother's wishes before she died four months ago was for her to make sure Tonya met her father, and to get to know her African roots as well. Tonya wanted to know her father too. Claire never lied to her daughter about who her father was. Tonya could not wait to tell her friends in school that her father was a real-life prince.

Claire did not set out to get pregnant the night she slept with Leo, but life happens, and she had no regrets whatsoever about it. Her visit to London that year was at her mother’s insistence, since it had been a while since she had visited. Claire was supposed to have dinner with her mother that night, but her mother cancelled because of a so-called hot date she had. Later she found out that her mother lied about the date.

She finally decided to take a well-deserved vacation from work and made plans to come to Nigeria the day her daughter came back from school crying that a girl in her school said she was a liar, that her father was no prince, nor did she know him.

It saddened Claire to see her playful daughter like that, and so a decision was reached. She did her research about Ijomo. Thank God, he told her a little about where he came from that night. It was enough information to know where she needed to go, and the rest was history.

Now Leo was here with a lot of questions on his mind, no doubt. She needed to be prepared for his questions, but in the meantime, she needed to freshen up.

Leo straightened in his seat as Claire made her way towards him, looking exotic in her blue dress that fell around her knees, twirling. Her curves did wonders to him. He noticed that her lustrous ebony hair had been pinned up in a way that left just a wisp of tendrils around her face. Claire did not look a day over thirty to him. The years has been kind to her. His gaze dropped to the girl clutching Claire's hand as they walked up to him.

"Hello ladies," he said, flashing his signature smile at them.

"Hello, Sir," Tonya muttered, her questioning gaze locking with his.

Leo could not deny that he was father. The girl sure had his eyes. She even took after his skin tone. She brown hair full of curls. If he was shaken, he hid it well.

"Hello angel, what's your name?" he asked, bending to her level.

"My name is Tonya Braithwaite," she said with confidence in her American accent, "Who are you?"

"I'm Leonard Gbadegesin. It's nice to meet you, Tonya.” He held out his hand for a shake.

"It's nice to meet you too. Are you my mom's friend?"

"Tonya, what did I tell you about asking too many questions," Claire chastised her as she watched the two.

"It's alright Claire, I like that she's inquisitive," he said, turning to Claire, before he turned his gaze back to Tonya with a gentle smile, "I promise to tell you all about my relationship with your mother soon, but first we need to eat. Then your mom and I will have an adult talk. After that we can chat."

"Fine. I'm hungry."

"Tonya!" Claire groaned.

Leo only chuckled good naturedly. It was obvious Tonya took after Claire—she was outspoken like her.

The trio had breakfast together with Tonya filling in the tense silence between the two with her inquisitive questions, oblivious of the importance of the situation.

The moment breakfast finished, Leo signaled to one of the waiters, passing an instruction to him quietly. He left and came back again, but this time with a beautiful lady in a black skirt suit in tow, who bowed to him. Leo instructed her to show Tonya around the hotel. Claire reluctantly agreed that they couldn’t have the conversation in front of Tonya. Tonya, on the other hand, was just excited to go on a tour.

"Mummy can I go?" she pleaded with a look.

"Yes, but please behave yourself."

"I will," she squealed with excitement.