by Katie Dowe
He stared at her for a moment and then nodded. “You are right, Aaliyah, and you may call me Ryan.”
“Really! I am so flattered,” she said looking anything but.
He looked at her narrowly. “Are you trying to piss me off?”
“No,” she said innocently. “Why would I do that?”
He stared at her for a moment, secretly admiring her bravery. No one talked to him like that because either they were afraid to offend him or they needed something from him and did not want to make him mad. “As I was saying before, I think you should take the money.”
“For you to refer to me as a gold digger? No thanks.”
She got to her feet and so did he. “Is that all?” she asked him coolly.
“No,” he had no idea what made him do it and later when he was alone he would question himself again but he reached out and pulled her into his arms. Aaliyah was startled and her hands went to his muscled chest to ward him off maybe but she did not resist as he lowered his head and claimed her lips with his! Aaliyah sagged against him as his tongue touched hers sending an explosion of feelings into her starving body! Her nipples stiffened painfully as he dragged her up against him. His mouth explored hers hungrily, his body hardening against hers and for a minute Ryan almost threw his reserve and contempt out of the window but then he heard her moan and it ricocheted through his foggy brain causing him to push her away and stumbled back. He stared down at her, the swollen lips and the slumberous eyes and he stepped back. He did not apologize because he was not sorry but he felt the tinge of regret for what might have been. He strode to the desk and made a call. “Lambert please have the car ready to take Ms. Cole back home.” He turned to her. “Please close the door on your way out.”
Aaliyah stared at him in stupefaction. They had exchanged a moment of passion so intense that it had threatened to blow the top of her head off and he was telling her to close the door on her way out! Who was he? And what was he made of? “Is that all you have to say to me? After kissing me like that?”
“You want me to give you a ring?” he asked her sardonically.
“Of course not!” she told him with a short laugh. “That would be expecting too much, wouldn’t it? Whatever she did to you Mr. Sullivan certainly left its mark and has apparently turned you into an unfeeling monster.” She dressed back at the savage look on his face and knew she had really passed her place.
“Good night, Ms. Cole!’ he said between his teeth. She did not wait or respond but hurried from the room and closed the door behind her.
Ryan glowered at the door before striding to pour himself a full glass of scotch. How dared her! He thought as he gulped the liquid down feeling the alcohol hit the lining of his stomach. How dared she talked to him like that! His hands trembled slightly and he closed them around the glass. His body shuddered as he remembered his mouth on hers. He had wanted to take her! He drank some more and groaned as he felt his erection that had not gone down by a long shot!
Chapter 4
It was during the eight month that the press got wind of it and the speculations started. He had been on his way out to a meeting when he got the call. “Mr. Sullivan, Society Rags are on the line for you.”
“What?” he looked at the woman coldly as he made his way past her desk. “You know better than that.”
“I think you need to take this sir,” she said slowly, trembling slightly as he glowered at her.
“Transfer it to my desk.” He turned back and went inside. “What is it?”
“Mr. Sullivan, rumors are going around that you are expecting a child. How true is that?” the sultry female voice asked him.
He stiffened and reigned in his temper. If they knew by what means he was doing so his reputation would take a beating. “That’s none of your business.” He said coldly.
“One has to wonder why the heir to the Sullivan’s wealth is being kept so hush hush and why have we not heard that you are in a relationship.”
He slammed down the phone. “Cancel my meeting and the ones for the rest of the evening. I need to take care of something.” He said as he strode past his secretary’s desk.
“Yes, of course.”
He called her when he was in his car looking around if he saw any blasted paparazzi! “Where are you?” he had noticed that it was almost five p.m.
“I am on my way home.”
“Meet me at the intersection of Olive and Main streets.” He said before hanging up.
Aaliyah fumed and swore as she bided her time waiting at the side of the road. He was impossible! He did not ask, he demanded and frankly it was getting on top of her nerves. Suddenly, she could not wait to not have to deal with him again! He pulled up next to her this time in a silver blue Mercedes Benz convertible. He got out and came to open her door. “Let’s talk in my vehicle,” he said brusquely as he helped her out. His eyes passed over her bulge and he felt a quickening in his heart.
She sat in the soft butter-like seat and waited for him to speak. He stared out into the approaching dusk and she waited for him to say something.
“Someone leaked the information about our arrangement.” He told her abruptly.
“It was not me if that’s what you are thinking.” She told him coolly.
“I was not thinking that.” He said with a slight smile. “I have put my P.I. team on it and will kill it before it gets published. What concerns me is that if one paper finds out it will not be too long before another one does and then my reputation and your life will take a hell of a beating.”
“Thanks for the reassurance.”
“I am just stating facts.” He turned to look at her. “I want you to stop working.”
“I am going on maternity leave in the next two weeks–”
“I meant now.” He interrupted her.
“You want me to leave my job before I am entitled to do so?” she looked at him incredulously. “I know you are powerful and all but after all this is over I still have my life to live.”
“I could offer you a job.”
“No.”
“I am afraid I am not negotiating, Aaliyah.” He told her calmly. “I am going to protect my privacy at all costs. I have a house up in the hills and it is quite secluded. I would like you to spend the rest of the pregnancy there.”
“Are you crazy?”
“Not that I am aware of.”
“I have my mother to think about. Do you think I can just up and leave her?”
“She may come with you.” He said smoothly. “It’s a very big place and you both can have your own suite.”
“She just had surgery a month ago and is recovering.”
“All the better for her to go.”
“She is not going to want to leave the house.”
“I can hire someone to care for her.” He turned to her “Look Aaliyah, I am protecting my interests as well as yours.”
“If only I could believe that.”
“Believe what you want, but you will do as I say.”
“Or?”
“You don’t want to test me,” he told her softly sending shivers down her spine. “Today is Thursday so you have tonight to convince your mother what needs to be done. I am sure your employer at the library will be sympathetic to the fact that you need to leave beforehand.”
“You cannot make me do anything.” She tried to take a stand.
“I can,” his tone was inflexible. “I will drive behind you and see that you reach home safe. I will expect you to call me in the morning and tell me that you are ready to leave in the evening.”
She got out and resisted the urge to slam the door behind her and made her way to her vehicle. She deliberately made him wait a little as she sat there in the car but then she started the engine and drove away, resisting the urge again to gun the engine and try to lose him. She had a feeling she would not win and her old car was no match for his!
*****
She did not have to do a lot of explaining to her mother. “He is right, ho
ney. If the press finds out, your life will be in tatters. I could get Mona from next door to come and stay with me.”
“What about her daughter?”
“She would not mind one bit.”
“Mom, are you sure?” she asked uncertainly still fuming at his highhanded manner.
“I am, honey. I am feeling so grateful for this second chance that I am afraid nothing will shake it.”
“I am glad.” She hugged her tightly. “I will call you every day.”
“Honey you don’t have to. I will be fine.”
Aaliyah walked over to the window and looked outside. The roses looked a little wilted and she felt guilty knowing that since her mother had been ill she had not tended it. “I am a little scared and it has been brought home to me how much power I am dealing with.”
“You never knew beforehand?” her mother asked her gently.
Aaliyah placed her hand over her belly and rubbed absently. “He does not ask Mom, he demands and expects you to do whatever he says.”
“He is a man in authority, so it comes naturally to him.”
Aaliyah turned to look at her mother. “I want this baby, Mom, and I have done something foolish like starting to have feelings from him.”
“I can see that,” her mother said with a slight smile at her daughter’s surprise. “You have a very big heart and there was no way you could just enter into something like that for the money.”
“What am I going to do?”
“You are going to do what I raised you to do. You are going to fight for the man and the child you are carrying.”
“He has been hurt pretty badly in the past. I can tell by the way he behaves around me. I don’t know where to begin.”
“You will.”
*****
The move was done discreetly. She packed her clothes from the night before and called Mrs. Pritchett in the morning and explained that she would not be coming back for her two weeks. The woman had been more than understanding and had wished her all the best. He had sent a car for her and she had secretly hoped that he would have come himself. The scenery changed after they had traveled around five miles and Aaliyah found herself staring in fascination at the brilliant foliage and the houses that dotted the area. The further on they went the more exclusive were the houses! Her eyes widened as the car swept into a long driveway leading up to a house settled on top of a slight rise. Her breath caught at the sheer beauty of the myriads of flowers and the gentle sweep of the lawn. The car came to a stop in front of a massive oak door. A uniformed maid came out immediately and hurried to take the bag from the driver’s hand. “My name is Loretta, Miss, and I will be attending to you while you are here,” she said with a polite smile. The driver nodded and went back to the car and moved it from the front. She followed the maid inside and gasped at the sweeping staircase, the glittering chandeliers and the elegant furnishings. Loretta led her up the stairs and into a massive creamy white suite complete with two bedrooms, a bathroom, a sitting room and a balcony. “Would you like me to unpack for you?”
“No, I can do it myself, thank you.”
“I will go down and get you something to eat,” she said and with a slight bob she left closing the door behind her. Aaliyah plopped down on the bed and stared around dazedly. People actually lived like this! The bed was a queen and was placed on a raised dais. She wandered into the bathroom and uttered a squeal of delight at the quaintness of the claw footed bath in the middle. The décor was of a soft lemon color and there was even a Jacuzzi in the corner. She jumped a little as she felt her phone ringing in the pocket of her jeans. She fished it out and answered the unfamiliar number. “I trust that everything is to your liking?” his deep voice caused a stirring inside her.
“And if I said no would you have me whisked away to some other mansion?” she could not resist saying.
Instead of being annoyed he responded in amusement. “Maybe. Have you eaten?”
“No, not yet.”
“I am hiring a nurse; she will be there tomorrow.”
“What for?”
“You are basically cut off from civilization in case you have not discovered that. I don’t think Loretta is qualified to deliver a baby.”
“Will you be coming by?”
He paused a little before responding. “No. I will check up on you and make sure everything is okay. You have two months left, Aaliyah, and hopefully everything will be fine and then we can move on.”
What if I can’t? She thought with a dull feeling inside her. “Okay.”
“I am going to text you my private number in case you need to get in touch with me.”
“Okay,” she said again feeling as if her entire world had fallen down around her.
“Well, I will talk to you in a little while.” He did not wait for her to respond before he hung up the phone.
Aaliyah went back into the bedroom and crawled into the bed, her emotions swamping her.
*****
Ryan stared at the computer screen broodingly after he had hung up from her. He should have allowed Mrs. Lambert to continue to be the liaison between them. It had been a mistake to get involved and now he was thinking about her in a whole different light. When she had asked him if he was coming by, he had wanted to say yes, but he knew what would happen and he could not afford to get involved with her. She was carrying his child and after she delivered the child she would be on her way. He would have to start interviewing nannies soon. He had planned his appointments that he would be around for the birth of his son. He figured he would have to tell his mother soon before she heard it otherwise.
He frowned as he looked at the image on the screen. The buildings in Jamaica and the Bahamas were going as planned but there had been complaints about the men not being paid. He called Bradley.
“Hey man, I have not seen or heard from you in a week. What’s up?”
“You heard about the hotels I am putting up in the islands?”
“I have heard. How is it going?”
“How would you and Garth like to take a trip with me to Jamaica?” I figured with your expertise you could have a look, see what’s going on and tell me. You have businesses in the Bahamas, right?”
“Yea, a housing project we started there is almost finished.”
“Can you detach yourself from Leesa long enough to take the ride with me?” he asked the man ironically.
“Maybe not, but I will try. I have been hearing rumors.”
“I thought I put an end to all that.”
“What’s going on Ryan?”
“I wanted to tell you from the other day but I did not know what to say. I am expecting a son.”
“Who is she?”
“You don’t know her. Look, it has to be confidential, so not even Leesa can know about it. She is a surrogate and she is due in June.”
There was silence for a spell and Ryan waited for Brad to speak. “Why?”
“Because I need an heir,” he said impatiently. “Look, I don’t need to explain myself to you or anyone else. I am just telling you because we are friends.”
“And as your friend I would have advised against it. Are you going to be able to walk away from the mother?”
“Of course,” Ryan said without hesitation. “We are in no way involved.”
“Where is she?”
“I had to stash her away at one of my houses until she has delivered because somehow the press got wind of it.”
“When the child comes what then?”
“I am hiring a nanny and I will be cutting back on my hours.”
“Is the mother going to be able to give up the child?”
“You sound like a freaking lawyer!” Ryan said in exasperation. “She will walk away because we signed a legal document.”
“I see.” Bradley said enigmatically. “How soon do you want to make the trip?”
“As soon as possible. I will get in touch with Garth.”
Bradley sat inside his office several miles away and lo
oked at the framed photo of his beloved family. He smiled in spite of himself at his wife’s pose. She had been wearing a Romano’s original dress ,the color of liquid gold which suited her to perfection. He had been sitting on the arm of the chair in dark blue tuxedo and the twins looked on with bored looks in their faces as well as their youngest. They had grown now and each of them had their own thing going on. Leesa had been diagnosed with breast cancer and he remembered how shattered he had been when he heard. His finger passed over her exquisite face and he felt the jolt of tenderness inside him. He would never exchange a moment with her for anything in the world! She had given him so much and even though he was wealthy beyond imagination it was nothing compared to what she gave him. Suddenly he reached for his phone and called her. It was a little past twelve and he suspected she was outside supervising the yard work in time for spring.
“Darling, you read my mind. I was just about to call you. I was thinking that this spring we could go sailing instead of having the usual party. How big is the yacht? Can it hold about a hundred people?”
He laughed in spite of himself. “We are not having a party on the yacht. We are going sailing just us two and spend some time together.”
“Our friends will be looking forward to being with us.”
“Tough! It will be just you and me.”
“If you insist,” there was laughter in her voice. “How are you, my man?”
“Your man is here thinking how much he loves you.”
“What a coincidence! I was thinking the same thing.”
“I love you, Leesa, so much that I cannot begin to tell you.” He said soberly.
“I know darling and I cannot express how much I love you.”
“See you later, my sweet.” He said and hung up. He took one last look at the picture and then went to do some work.
*****
He told his mother and stepfather that evening as he left the office. He had called her and told her that he was stopping by. “Darling, you sounded so serious over the phone,” she said as she took his jacket.
“It’s not that serious, Mother. It’s just something I have to say.” He glanced at Evan sitting in the living room with his head buried in a newspaper. The man looked up and got to his feet. “Good to see you, Ryan.”