by Zoey Parker
Wait. Was this Andrei’s man? I never did tell Andrei my name, not even my first name. He never asked, and I hadn’t been thinking the clearest, not after that kiss, and not before it either. How had he tracked me down? Everything after the kiss was a giant blur in my mind, so maybe I had given him my name and address after all.
Or maybe his resources were that good. Somehow the thought of being watched or studied or being checked up on made me uneasy. Had he run a background check on me? While I had nothing to hide and his wanting to do a check made sense, it still made me angry. My private home life had nothing to do with our agreement. I needed space away from Andrei and his mob and his way of life.
The man opened his long, black coat and removed a large manila envelope. “This is for you.”
I accepted it. The contract. Wow. This really was all real. “Ah…thanks.” I moved to shut the door.
He slid his foot forward slightly to stop me. “I’m supposed to stay and answer any questions you may have, if you want to request any changes…”
This man had to stay and watch me sign, I realized. Great. Just what I wanted. An audience. This was embarrassing enough as it was.
Hoping Mom would stay asleep a little while longer, I quietly ushered him into my room, having nowhere else to hide him.
“You can sit…” I offered, pointing with the envelope to my bed.
He stood by my bedroom door, his arms clasped behind his back. “I am fine.” His legs were spread, and his stance reminded me a hired bodyguard.
Who knew? Maybe he was a hired bodyguard. Andrei needed an heir desperately if he was going to dole out two million to get one. Desperately and as quickly as possible, which suggested that he had a huge reason for needing an heir so fast.
Because he didn’t think he would be around for long, maybe? Was he in danger? Doubts were starting to creep in already, and I hadn’t even started to read the contract. Two million was a lot of money, and it would solve all of my financial problems, but that didn’t mean I had to be blinded by the dollar signs. I would check out the contract and make sure it suited me before I would sign.
The envelope was heavy in my hand, and since the bodyguard hadn’t taken up my offer to sit on my bed, I sat there myself. I ripped open the envelope and removed the pristine white papers, the black ink a sharp contrast.
My throat grew dry as I read each line. So these were the details and the negotiations from Andrei.
The surrogate, hereafter referred to by name as Kelly Greene, agrees to enter into this contract of her free will. She will be paid one million dollars as soon as the contract is signed by both parties, the other party being one Andrei Petrov.
Kelly agrees to have sex up to four times a week until she becomes pregnant, at which time she will be under the care of a doctor of Andrei’s choosing until she delivers.
The job will be considered successful once Kelly gives Andrei a male heir. If she should produce a female, Kelly will have two choices. She will either forfeit the second million dollars, or she will complete the job again.
There was a bit more too it, and a lot more technical jargon that sounded very stiff and formal and lawyer-y, but I got the gist of it.
Could I really do this? Yes, one million would be a godsend. It would keep Mom and I stable for years, decades. Two million and we would be set for life.
But could I have sex with Andrei in exchange for pay? And it was more than that. I wouldn’t be his hooker. I would be his surrogate. We would be having sex with the sole purpose of wanting to bring a child into the world. We would fuck and fuck and fuck until I got knocked up.
And at the end of those nine months, I would turn over the baby to him. To Andrei. To a mob boss.
This was way too crazy to even contemplate.
I glanced at my nightstand. At the stack of mounting bills. At my phone which had missed calls and voicemails from people I had to pay or else we’d be without electricity. Even before I lost my job, money had started to get super tight. Between increased cost of living prices and everything Mom needed for her treatment and having to pay for someone else to take her to and from the hospital when I had been working, it had all equaled to more money than I made. Even before I lost my job, I had already started to look for a second part-time gig. Hadn’t found anything in the three months I’d been looking, so what made me think I would find a full-time position somewhere any time soon? And I’d never be able to find one that paid so much either.
I reread the entire contract. He wanted me to stay at his place. Okay. Time for questions.
“I can come and go as I please from his house?” I asked the guard.
He nodded. “As long as you make arrangements with Andrei first. He would like for you to be near at hand obviously, so you can—”
“I get the picture. He’d be reasonable, do you think?” I had to be able to take Mom back and forth to her appointments, and since I wasn’t working set hours, I would love to sit with her through the entirety of at least some of her chemo treatments.
“He is a reasonable man.” The guard nodded, smiling slightly.
Good. So he wasn’t a robot. I was beginning to wonder if he had been programmed or brainwashed. That was good. I stared at the guard point blank. Would he tell me the truth? Did he even know? “Why is he willing to pay so much for an heir?”
“I’m not sure.”
I narrowed my eyes. “You have to have a guess, though.”
“My guess is only that you seem to need money, and Andrei is willing to pay you. The only question is whether or not you’ll let him. If you do what he wants, he will take care of you. I can assure you that.”
I still had misgivings, but the sound of Mom coughing, hacking up a lung, and the springs in her bed creaking, forced my hand. I grabbed a pen and signed the contract.
The guard jumped forward, gathered all of the papers for me, and eased them back into the envelope. “I will bring you a copy shortly,” he said. “Do you need anything else? Any last questions?”
Wordlessly, I shook my head. In a daze, I walked him out. After I closed the door, I shut my eyes and leaned against the wall, sliding down to sit on the carpet. I couldn’t help wondering if I had completely lost my mind.
Chapter 10
Andrei
The air was crisp and cool as I exited my sleek black car and made my way inside the secret entrance to my bar, the one that gave me direct access to the sub-ground level, where my gambling ring was set up. The room was smoky, and I walked through the haze, nodding to my men who greeted me, too amped up to talk. I had noticed a tail earlier that day and promptly lost him, but I had been on edge ever since. I felt jumpy in my own city. I felt angry, more full of rage than I had in a long time. I felt threatened, and I didn’t do well with threats.
I had to calm down. Too many emotions led to mistakes, and I was anything but careless. Through hard work I had built up the Petrov mob to be a dynasty, and I would not have it ruined now. It would not come crumbling down. I would stand and fight, and I would do it with a clear, calm, and level head.
As I accepted a cigar and puffed out a smoke ring, I reflected that I needed to smoke out Mikhail Vasilev himself. Only then, once I’ve had my revenge, will I feel peace.
Peace. That was something I hadn’t felt in a long time, if I ever had. Maybe once upon a dream, a dream I would twist into reality.
I walked over to the large round table to see who was playing tonight and to note who had the hot hand — I always kept tabs on the gambling ring since it was my most enterprising endeavor, and my most lucrative one — when I noticed a new guy there. He wore a hat low over his brow, which immediately made me suspicious. Why was he trying to hide his features? I maneuvered myself in such a way to be able to see his face without him noticing me and spied his large nose, beady eyes, and missing tooth.
Who could that be? I couldn’t help feeling suspicious, and of course my first guess was that he might be one of Vasilev’s guys trying to get intel o
n me. And if that were the case…
In the back corner, nursing a scotch, was Aleksey, surveying the place. I casually made my way over to him while maintaining a line of sight on the mysterious guy.
“What do you need?” Aleksey asked. He didn’t bother to look at me.
“You see that guy?” I asked.
“The newbie? Yeah.” He nodded, the movement slight.
“I want you to watch him like a hawk,” I ordered.
“Will do.”
“Do not fail me,” I said sharply.
Now Aleksey stared at me, surprise flashing in his eyes. “I won’t.”
“Ah, but you’re the one who spread word I was looking for a surrogate.”
His nostrils flared, but he nodded again.
“Why?” This was the worst possible time for this to happen. I needed to be able to trust my men, especially the two I sought council with the most.
“I was dating a girl, and her best friend knew I wasn’t good enough for her. But my girl kept talking to me about her friend, what a good girl she was, about her sick mom…I knew she needed the money, and that desperation would get her to agree and that she has zero ties with any mob. She’s clean. And you went with her so…”
“So that’s reason for me to just forgive you for deliberately disobeying me?”
Aleksey nodded slowly. “I’ll take whatever punishment you deem worthy.”
“Start being loyal and true to your word, and we’ll see. Start with that guy.”
He cracked his knuckles. “Can do, boss. For what it’s worth…”
“What?” I growled.
“I am glad you picked her.”
I snorted and walked away. Aleksey being the one behind Kelly finding me had surprised me, but it was what it was. Aleksey, in a way, had done me a solid, but he had also defied me. One of my closest men or not, he would have to be dealt with. At least I knew he would accept his punishment like a man.
I had some business to take care of, and I took an appointment in the back office. Drinks, cards, smokes, they all helped to loosen people’s tongues and their wallets. I could handle this part of the business and trust Aleksey to do what I didn’t have time to handle personally. Being focused helped to ensure I had stability in a world where everything could be sniffed out with a few properly placed slugs, but I couldn’t operate fully if I were distracted by the thought of Vasilev or one of spies.
It didn’t take long for me to set in place a deal that would prove quite profitable both for myself and my new business partner, and I was feeling rather good about myself when I heard a commotion out in the main gambling area. After sending my new partner off to enjoy a few drinks on me, I wasn’t at all surprised to see Aleksey come inside, dragging the large-nosed man.
“What’s going on?” I demanded, his gaze firmly on the man.
“I saw him trying to sneak off into the back. Wanted to see what he could see. A snoop.” Aleksey picked up the guy so he was standing and threw him against the wall, pinning him there.
“Who are you working for?” I asked, approaching them, getting in the man’s face, as much of it that wasn’t smashed against the wall.
He said nothing.
“Fine. Would you rather an easier question to start? What is your name?”
“Called himself Joe somethin’ when he checked in,” Aleksey offered.
An obviously phony name. I pursed my lips. I planned on having a few choice words with the bouncer when I was done here; how could he have allowed someone who was so shady to begin with? But this was far more important to deal with first.
“I would much rather get to know you. The real you,” I stressed. I smoked on my cigar and blew it out, directly into the man’s face. “Your real name. I would know it.”
Still, the man maintained his silence.
“Well, you know what they say, don’t you? That there are ways to make you talk?”
In the blink of an eye, Aleksey had the man strapped down and tied to the chair. I did the next part myself. I would question the man, tease him, give him a chance, and then when I would get nowhere, I would pull out his fingernails until eventually he cracked.
“Stop, stop, please!” he blurted out. Tears streamed down his face, and he was shaking as much as the restraints would allow. “Ask your questions. I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”
“Who do you work for?” I demanded.
“Mikhail.” The man shuddered and closed his eyes.
“Look at me,” I commanded. “What does Mikhail Vasilev want? Why did he send you here?”
“I was supposed to find out information about the gambling ring.”
“Why?” I growled.
“To use the info against you. To try to take you down. I’m sorry. I didn’t want to come. He made me. I had no choice. I swear I didn’t!”
A likely story. The man was basically pleading for his life, and honestly, I didn’t feel murderous — at least not yet. I would kill Vasilev myself, but this man, who I still did not know his real name, was not on my list.
“Let him go,” I told Aleksey.
Aleksey nodded and moved to comply, but I stepped in front of the man and waited until he looked up at me.
“I am sparing your life,” I started.
“Th-thank you. You are most kind. So good. So kind. So generous. I will do anything for you. Just say the word and—”
“I want you to deliver a message to your boss.”
The man had been nodding vigorously, but now he winced and wiggled his large nose. “Y-yes. Of…of course. Anything you like. What should I tell him?”
“Tell Mikhail Vasilev that I, Andrei Petrov, am not someone he wants to mess with.”
Chapter 11
Kelly
Not even ten minutes had passed since I signed the contract when there was another knock at the door. I was just settling in to start reading that romance novel of mine, but I guessed that would have to wait. Maybe it was Stacy. It would be like her to take an hour off work to come and visit. She was sweet like that.
Nope. The same man had returned.
I gaped at him. “N-now?” I squeaked. I hadn’t showered yet, hadn’t eaten. My mother needed food.
“The sooner, the better.”
No. I might have signed the dotted line, but I wasn’t going to be a sex slave. I wasn’t going to come the second Andrei snapped his fingers.
“I’ll come as soon as I’m ready.”
The bodyguard blinked a few times. Obviously, he hadn’t expected me to have a backbone.
“I won’t be too long,” I added, suddenly wondering if he was afraid he’d get in trouble if I dashed to the bathroom and took the quickest shower of her life. Then I made toast for myself and inhaled it as I made another batch of toast for my mother. I poured a glassful of green tea and put it on the tray next to the toast and carried it into my mom’s room and placed the tray on the nightstand.
“Oh, good. You’re awake.” I smiled at Mom. “How did you sleep?”
Please don’t tell me you’ve heard voices, that you didn’t hear me talk to the bodyguard either now or earlier.
“Like a rock. Didn’t dream, hardly moved. I actually feel a little better today.”
I exhaled a sigh of relief. Hearing this made leaving slightly better. Nothing would make it completely better, so I would take what I could get. I reached to help her sit up, but she waved me away and was able to sit up all by herself. I handed her the tray and waited for her mom to eat some of her food before clearing my throat. “Mom?”
“Yes?” My mom glanced up at me, and for the first time in a long while, I saw some of the strength she used to have, back before she got sick. She raised an eyebrow. “What do you have to tell me?”
I forced a laugh. “You act like I’m about to confess to sneaking out or something.”
“You did seem a little guilty. What is it?”
“It’s not guilt, Mom,” I said. Or maybe just a little bit. I sat beside h
er mom. “I got a new job.”
“You did? What’s the catch?”
“It’s in another city,” I lied. No way could I tell my mom the truth. Eventually, Mom would realize I was pregnant and then realize I didn’t have a baby, but I would work around that later. “I’ll be gone for days at a time, but don’t worry. I’ll be back to take you to all of your chemo appointments.”
It was so hard to say all of this, to hide the real reason for my going away, to leave my mom behind, but what choice did I have? She needed to focus on getting better. She didn’t need to worry about money. That was all on me. I would do whatever it took to ensure she didn’t miss a single chemo appointment.