Brother's Best Friend's Package

by Cassandra Bloom

  Marcus eyed the laptop. “You won't need that. Just listen to me for a second while I explain what I want you to do.”

  Mila blinked. “Don't you want me to take notes?”

  “No, I don't. I want you to close your laptop, put it away, and listen.”

  Mila closed the laptop and set it on the next chair. She folded her hands and looked across the desk to the billionaire she worked for these last three years. He didn't want an assistant like every other corporate assistant on the block. That's why he hired Mila. He called her in every three weeks, gave her a raft of assignments, and sent her on her way to carry them out.

  He gave her assignments running companies, buying cars, investigating property to acquire—anything he could think of. Every three-week contract carried its own independent pay package, and in three years, Mila learned to expect anything from Marcus—absolutely anything.

  Mila prided herself on being able to tackle anything—the more challenging the project the better. At twenty-seven years old, she carried her weight in confident curves around her hips and bust. She knew how to throw the right green-eyed glance at an office boy to get exactly what she wanted. She never backed down from a job until she got it done, and Marcus knew it as well as everybody else.

  Now that he had her undivided attention, though, he hesitated. He hesitated even to look her in the eye. He shifted in his chair. He fidgeted right and left. He adjusted his suit jacket around his shoulders and tugged the sleeves down over his cuff links. He did everything except plunge into the next assignment the way he usually did.

  Marcus Conroy seethed with testosterone, not just in his business dealings, but in ever facet of his life. His pores oozed power and magnetic attraction. He spotted an opportunity and seized it with both hands. That's how he got so rich at the ripe old age of thirty-two.

  He lifted heavy weights three times a week in the office building's basement gym, so his shoulders stood out hulking and massive under his jacket. He faced every day of work the same way he faced a huge lift. He balled his meaty hands into fists, his gleaming eyes swept the room for any sign of weakness, and his blood boiled in his veins.

  Now he shrank down in his leather chair and hesitated. Mila's blood ran cold at the sight of him. Nothing intimidated this man—nothing—but whatever assignment he wanted to give her obviously worried him. She could only sit still and wait to hear what it was.

  He picked up a folded newspaper from the desk and held it in front of his eyes. “There's an add in this paper for egg donors. Did you know that, Mila?”

  “Sure. That add has been running for years. Infertile couples are always looking for egg donors.”

  “Yeah.” He tossed the paper on the desk. “You see Mila. I don't have any family or any children. I don't have an heir. If I kick off next week, my whole company and everything I worked so hard to build will go up in smoke.”

  Mila frowned. “I don't understand what you're asking me to do. Are you asking me to run a risk assessment on your company in the event of your death?”

  “No, I don't need that. I have something a little more....sensitive in mind. I have decided I need an heir. I need someone to inherit everything I've earned and worked for.”

  Mila brightened up. “Are you saying you want to adopt a child?” Her eyes flew open. “Oh, I get it. You want me to find you an egg donor, or maybe a surrogate. That makes sense. I can do that. No problem.” She started to stand up.

  Marcus held out his hand. “Hold it, hold it, hold it. I don't want to adopt a child, and I don't want you to find me an egg donor—at least, not that way.”

  She sat back down. “You don't? Then what do you want me to do?”

  He went back to fidgeting and clearing his throat and shrugging his jacket left and right. Mila stared at him in confusion. What on earth could make a guy like Marcus so jittery? He made her nervous just watching him.

  “Listen, Mila. You've been a great assistant. I couldn't ask for anything better. This independent contract work you do works well for both of us, but it doesn't pay you near enough. You're worth your weight in gold, for the value you bring to my company. I want to pay you a lot more for this next contract.”

  “Well, why didn't you just come right out and say so? What's the big deal about that?”

  “Don't say it's no big deal until you hear what the job is. I want to increase your contract pay rate to $50,000 for the first three months, and another $100,000 on delivery.”

  Mila's jaw dropped. “Are you crazy? Why so much?”

  He held out both hands. “Like I said, just wait until you hear what the job is before you decide it's too much. Once I tell you, you might decide it's not enough.”

  “You know I'm game for whatever job you want to throw at me. You don't have to buy me out to get good value from me.”

  “I know I'll get good value from you. That's exactly why I chose you for this job, and it's exactly because I do want to buy you out that I chose to set the pay rate so high.”

  She shook her head in confusion. “What in the world are you talking about? I wish you'd just cut to the chase and get it over with.”

  “You see Mila. I don't want you to find me an egg donor or a surrogate. I want you to be the egg donor.”

  She waved her hands in the air and stood up, but she couldn't stop herself from laughing. “No, no, no, no, no. I could never do anything like that. If you want to pay that kind of money, I'm sure you won't have any trouble finding another donor.”

  “I don't want you to just be the donor, Mila. I want you to undergo artificial insemination with my sperm and carry the baby to term. You'll get $50,000 at the twenty-week mark when we know the pregnancy is successfully advanced, and $100,000 after the baby is born. That's the contract. Take it or leave it.”

  Mila stared across at him in wonder. Now that he got his cards out on the table, his old commanding air came back to him. He fixed her with those piercing eyes of his. He threw down the gauntlet. He challenged her to take on this project and prove herself worthy of that kind of money.

  Her mind whirled. A thousand questions fought to be first out of her mouth. “But why me?”

  He held up the paper. “This ad says the ideal candidate is between twenty-three and thirty years of age, is healthy and doesn't smoke, and has never had children. You fit all those criteria, and I've watched you in action for three years. You're smart, successful, astute, educated—you're everything I want my child to inherit from the other side. You're a perfect match for this.”

  “But those ads don't offer more than $6,000 for egg donation.”

  “You won't only be donating. I told you. I want you to carry the child to term. I'll put you up in a luxury condo apartment. I'll pay all your expenses and give you $10,000 spending money every month until the baby is born, on condition that you don't engage in any behavior that puts your health or the baby's health at risk. You'll have the use of my private car to go anywhere you want to go as long as you stay in the greater New York City area.”

  Mila gasped out loud, and her hand flew to heart. “You can't be serious about this!”

  He slid open a drawer in his desk and pulled out a stapled stack of paper. He tossed it on the desk in front of her. “It's all there in the contract. Take a look and tell me what you think.”

  Mila straightened up. “I can tell you right now what I think. I'm not doing it. I'm not a baby factory, for you or anybody else. I have no plans to get pregnant any time soon, and $250,000 won't change that. Find yourself another assistant to carry out this contract.” She snorted with laughter. “Some contract!”

  Her answer didn't phase him at all. He leaned back in his chair and swiveled it sideways. He swept his eyes left the way he did when he set to work on a difficult negotiation. “I had the whole thing checked out by a team of lawyers before I presented it to you. It's all legit and water-tight. I wouldn't offer you this contract to if it wasn't.”

  She stared down at him. She saw him for the first time,
with his big shoulders and his chest rising with his slow breath, his chocolate-brown hair tussled over his forehead, and his green eyes flashing. “You want to inseminate me with your sperm and keep me in the lap of luxury for the next nine months? What does the contract say will happen to me at the end of nine months? I suppose if you don't pay, I'll be stuck with a kid I don't want.” She dissolved into hysterical giggles.

  “You'll have no rights whatever to the child after the term expires. You will have no right to alimony, nor will you bear any responsibility for paying child support. All rights and responsibilities will expire with the contract. I will retain sole custody, and you'll ride off into the sunset with the money.”

  Mila became suddenly serious. “You're crazy. You know that, don't you?”

  He waved his hand. “Why don't you take the contract and read it over? You can let me know if there's anything you want to change.”

  “I won't read it over. I already gave you my answer, and the answer is no. I'm your assistant—at least, I was up until today. I don't sell myself to anyone, and if this is the way you treat me, I won't work for you again.”

  She started again to turn away, but his voice caught her and held her. “It's because I respect you so much that I offered you this contract, Mila. I respect you more than anyone I've ever worked for. I know you'll take care of yourself in the nine months until the baby is born. I know you won't run around the town, blowing my money on nonsense. You're the perfect choice for this. So you don't sell yourself for anyone? What do you think you've been doing all these years? I bought your time and your energy and your intelligence. That's what I'm doing now.”

  She glanced back over her shoulder, and his penetrating eyes mesmerized her with their unstoppable power.

  “You'll come with me to the fertility clinic on Monday morning. You'll get a routine medical exam. I'll go in another room and deposit the sperm. You'll never see me in any compromising position. After that, the clinic will track your cycle with blood tests. When they determine you're ovulating, they'll inseminate you. Besides monthly exams, you'll have nothing else to do for the next nine months. I'm sure you can handle that.”

  “So what am I supposed to do with myself during that time?”

  “I don't know. Work on your Master's Thesis, for all I care.”

  She gave him one last incredulous stare before she shook her head. “I'm sorry, Marcus. I really enjoyed working for you, but this is taking the whole independent contractor meme a little too far. I won't take this contract. Good luck finding someone else.”

  Chapter 2

  Mila sat on a park bench outside Conroy Limited. Her rolling suitcase sat on the grass nearby with her laptop case on top. She crossed her legs and folded her arms over her chest. She gazed out at the ducks gliding over the lake.

  This was just flippin' great. This was the absolute capper to three years of lucrative contract work with one of New York's most powerful billionaires, and it had to go and end like this.

  What was he thinking? How could he propose she have his baby, just like that, just like any other contact? What did he think she was—some high-priced hooker he could snap his fingers and get on her knees at his feet?

  Sure, he was drop dead gorgeous. Sure, his wealth and power and magnetic personality made him mind-blowingly attractive. He knew better than anybody how many women would cave at his beck and call. They would do anything for him. They would jump at the offer of $250,000 to have his baby. They would probably do it for free.

  So why did he have to go picking on her? Why did he have to pick the one woman in his life who wouldn't cave at his feet whenever he snapped his fingers? She didn't have to ask. He picked her because she wouldn't cave. He couldn't respect those women. He could respect her. She did her work. She never let his attractiveness or his power or his magnetic personality distract her from getting the job done. She conducted her affairs as a professional. He didn't want some high-priced hooker, and she wasn't one.

  Still, he didn't have to go and blow her whole employment situation out of the water with this lunatic scheme of his. He could have given her some other decent contract and sent her on her way. Now what was she going to do? She would have to spend God knows how long finding another stupid frickin' job.

  Just then, her phone twinkled. She flipped it on. “Hello, Mom. How are ya?”

  The familiar voice rose to a metallic screech on the other end of the line. “I'm so sorry, honey. I know you must be very busy right now. I know you're always busy at this time of the day.”

  “Don't worry, Mom. Actually, I'm not busy at all right now.”

  “You have to come home, darling. You have to come home right away.”

  “What's going on, Mom? What's wrong?”

  “It's your father. He's in the hospital.”

  Mila froze. “What happened?”

  “He had a massive heart attack. He was out mowing the lawn yesterday and he collapsed. I was at the Ladies' Service meeting in Hayworth. I didn't get home and find him until this morning. He's in ICU, and he's hooked up to every machine you can imagine. They don't expect him to last long. You have to come home right away. I don't even know if he'll last until you get here.”

  Mila already moved the phone away from her mouth. “I'm on my way, Mom. I'll be there as soon as I can.”

  Mila hung up. She snatched her suitcase handle and slung her laptop case over her shoulder. She set off at a fast clip through the park with her mind whirring in a dozen directions. With one quick glance, she scanned the surrounding neighborhood. She flagged a taxi. “Take me to the nearest car rental shop.”

  A few minutes later, she slapped her credit card down on the counter. “Give me a car fast. I don't care what it is. I have to get on the road pronto.”

  The young man behind the counter raised his eyebrows. “Okay. You can have that Lexus out there, but it will cost you.”

  “I don't care what it costs. My father is dying. I have to get on the road now. Ring it up and give me the keys.”

  The guy flew into action. In five minutes, he handed the keys across the counter. “Just bring it back with the gas tank full.”

  Mila waved over her shoulder. “No problem. See you soon. Thanks a million.”

  She skidded out of the parking lot and hit the highway. She cruised at ten points above the speed limit all the way down the Jersey turnpike until she came to the hospital. She threw the car into park and jogged up the stairs to her tearful mother.

  Once she got into the hospital, all the rushing stopped on a dime. She held her mother, then her sister, and finally her aunt. They sat around the waiting room, waiting, waiting, and waiting some more. Nothing happened. Her father's health didn't improve and he didn't die. He just lingered.

  After ten hours of waiting, Mila took a walk. She strolled down to the parking lot to buy another parking ticket. She took as long as she could before she went back to the room. She couldn't look at her father lying in the bed with tubes coming out of every orifice. He wouldn't come out of this, and everybody knew it. He might as well be dead.

  She got back to find her mother sitting alone outside the room. The old lady stared down at the phone in her hand. She didn't notice Mila sit down next to her. Mila laid a hand on her mother's shoulder. “Are you okay, Mom? Why don't you let me take you home? You need some sleep and a hot meal.”

  Her mother didn't look up. “That was your brother Charlie.”

  “Yeah? When is he getting in?”

  “He's not getting in. He's already here. He's been here all along. He's down at the house.”

  “What's he doing there? He should be here with us.”

  “He was here this morning before you came. He went to the house to find your father's will. Your father kept his will and mine in a special file folder in his filing cabinet.”

  “Did Charlie find it?”

  “He found it. He also found a lot of other papers. That's what he just called about.”

  “Did he say so
mething that bothered you? Did he find something in Dad's papers that shouldn't be there?”

  Mila's mother turned her damp old eyes up to Mila's face. “That's what he just called to tell me. Your father prospected in real estate, but he never told me about it. We owned that house you grew up in for forty years. We worked our tails off to pay it off so we would never have to worry about losing it in our old age.”

  “That's good, then. You've got that security if Dad dies.”

  “Don't you see, Mila? Your father mortgaged the house to stake an investment in a real estate development. The development went bust. He used his pension to make the mortgage payments so I would never find out. We don't own more than $10,000 dollars equity on the house. I thought I would grow old and die in that house, but if your father dies now, I've got nothing. I'll be out on the streets.”

  Mila jumped out of her chair. She paced back and forth in front of her father's hospital room. “How much do you owe on it?”

  “$200,000. There's no way on God's green earth I can come up with that kind of money, and my retirement doesn't cover the mortgage payments. Charlie just found out everything going through your father's filing cabinet. He just told me. I'm finished, Mila. I'm penniless.”

  Mila spotted her aunt and sister coming down the hall. She had to think fast. She dropped into the chair next to her mother. “There must be a way to make those payments.”

  “I couldn't make the payments. I couldn't even afford to pay rent on a tiny apartment if I had to move out of the house. My retirement pays me $700 a month. That's not enough to survive on.”

  Mila's aunt and sister stopped in front of the waiting area chairs. “What's going on?”

  A piercing siren interrupted them. Mila leaped out of her chair. Everyone crowded around the room where doctors and nurses and orderlies rushed hither and thither. Even as Mila and her family watched, they all noticed the hospital staff moving slower and slower until everyone kept still. They stared down at the lifeless form in the bed. The EKG line flattened to nothing until a nurse turned it off. They turned away to the window with a shake of their heads. Mila's father was dead.