Chapter 1 How much

“Get in.”

Danika looked at the opened door of the Bentley and at the darkness inside the car. She scoffed.

“As if.” She answered and tried to get around the vehicle, in order to walk away.

“Miss, please.” A tall, slender, light haired man got out and he had a very neutral face.

“Who are you?” She asked and he raised an eyebrow.

“You don’t know who I am?” He seemed incredulous.

“If I knew, I wouldn’t be asking now, would I?” Normally, Danika was not rude, but after what happened that night, she was in no mood for being nice to idiots. Especially men.

He, dressed all in black, pushed his glasses back to further his nose and sighed.

“I am Cassius Banks, Miss Sinclair.” She swallowed hard. He knew her surname. He knew her.

“Ok, Mister Banks, I have no idea how or why you know my name, but I want nothing to do with you.” She said, backing away. “Got to go.”

“Miss, please, I have something very important to discuss with you. It is something you’ll like to hear about, I assure you.” Cassius started to approach her and Danika’s eyes widened in fear. “No need to fear me.”

“Back away!” She said, harsher this time. She was not going to wait until he got too close. She reached clumsy into her bag and hurriedly looked for the vial. Sensing her fingers were touching the right thing, she grabbed it, and without pity, she aimed at the man's face and squeezed the top bottom.

The scream he gave when the pepper spray hit his eyes was heartbreaking. He wore glasses, but apparently, the accessory was often slipping onto the bridge of his nose, which made his eyes more vulnerable to Danika's attack.

“I told you to back away!” She screamed and tried to pass by him, but someone else grabbed her by the waist. She was about to scream, but nothing more than a muffled sound came out of her mouth after it was covered with a huge hand. At that moment, she started to pray to whichever forces existed. She couldn’t die, yet. She had to take care of her mother and grandmother!

“Good lord, Miss!” Cassius said, his eyes totally swollen and red. “There was no need for it.”

He made a move with his head for the other man to put her inside the car. She kicked, but there was no chance for her to free herself from the man's iron grip.

Once inside the car, Cassius entered by the other door and soon, the car was moving. She stayed as close to the door as possible.

She then noticed that she was not alone with Cassius Banks, for someone else was sitting in the shadows.

“What do you want from me?” Her voice trembled. She was scared, feeling her heart racing. Was she going to be killed?

“Miss Sinclair… I just wanted to offer you a job.”

That voice.. he was.. he was the client from the V.I.P room! She took a deep breath before speaking.

“A job?” She asked, trying to keep her cool. “You practically kidnapped me and now you say it is to offer me a job? Are you insane?”

“No, Miss Sinclair, I am many things, but not insane.” The mystery man answered her. “Cassius, give her the envelope, please.”

Danika accepted with shaking hands the envelope that the assistante was handing her. She opened it and frowned after reading the beginning of its content.

“Surrogacy?” She asked, confused.

“That’s right, Miss.” Cassius answered again and Danika was annoyed by that. The most interested part in this was the so-called boss, and the man neither showed his face, nor explained things!

“You said no physical contact, but then… how would we have a… child?” She asked, and then she frowned at her own question, as if she was considering that madness.

“Good question!” Cassius said, jolly. “Artificial insemination is the answer. Simple, no contact, more chances of succeeding.”

“I see…” Danika stammered and the mystery man was watching her. “Why me?”

“Because I have my eyes on you for a while. You have good genetics, you’re healthy, you’re quite smart and that is enough for me. You are not into men for money, but it doesn’t mean you don’t need it. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be working in a restaurant where here and there a few clients demand more of your.. attention and you have to restrain yourself not to punch them.” He answered her question with a very bounty tone.

When he said that, Danika blushed. Of course he knew about the situation with the Russian client.

*FLASHBACK*

“You don’t have to work here, baby. With a body like that, you can get rich in a blink of an eye.” The man insisted and talked as if she had not left him for a while there.

“Sorry, sir, I am not an object you can buy. I don’t want to accept your offer.. And I won’t. Now, excuse me.” She said and tried to pass by, but he blocked her way.

They were near the V.I.P. session, so the other clients were not really around. And she remembered the man inside could hear and ask for help, if needed.

“Just a night. Be mine and I’ll cover you with gold.”

The man was not ugly, on the contrary. But he was a disgusting man. And Danika hated that type.

He tried to touch her arm, but she retreated.

“Don’t touch me.” She warned him, but he thought she was just playing hard to get.

“Stop the game now. “ Again, he tried to put his hands on her, this time, on her waist.

Next thing, Danika’s knuckles were hurting, because she had just punched the man right on the nose.

He scrambled to the wall, since he was not expecting that move.

“What the HELL?” He asked, his voice sounding weird. Danika knew what that meant, combined with the bleeding aspect of it: she broke his nose.

“I warned you!”

“What is going o-” The manager asked and looked at the man bleeding. “Mr. Sokolov!”

The manager ran to the manager, Mr. Dupont said, horrified. He cast an angry look at Danika.

“She punched me!” Mr. Sokolov said, indignantly. “I want her out, now! That girl must be fired! Is that the kind of animal you hire here?” He asked and looked at Danika as if he could kill her.

“Pardon, pardon, Monsieur!”

“Don’t ‘pardon’ me!” He spat the words. “Fire her. Now!”

Danika was their best waitress, despite being in the house for a little bit more than six months. She was hard working and was always up to more work. She had never had any kind of problem with no customer.

Orson Dupont looked at Danika with pitiful eyes and she knew he would comply with that man’s orders.

“Danika, you’re fired, girl! “He said in his very french accent. She could see he was saying ‘sorry’ with his eyes, since Mr. Sokolov couldn’t see it.

“Fine!” She said and turned around to leave, but first… “He tried to harass me. Was I supposed to let him touch me? He offered me money!”

Mr. Dupont looked at Mr. Sokolov, who had a dangerous gleam in his eyes.

“I did not do such a thing!” He said. “And on top of everything, this ‘сука’ (slut/bitch in Russian) is trying to blame me! I am Igor Sokolov! I have no need to pay for sex!”

Danika held her tongue, because she wanted to retort with something on the lines of ‘was I supposed to know who you are?’ with her most annoying and scornful tone and stare. But she didn’t. She was at least going to leave with a bit of dignity.

“Come by tomorrow to sign your labor termination.” Mr. Dupont said in a low voice and made a move with his head, meaning for Danika to leave.

Hernan Allaband, who was inside the V.I.P room one dark and very discreet room), which Danika had just attended to, smiled. He had asked Cassius to use psychology to make the man gather the courage to talk to Danika and, so there, test her.

“Cassius? She is the one.” He had his eyes on her for a while.

*END OF FLASHBACK*

“Look, thank you, but.. no.” She said and Hernan, who had a smirk on his face, had his smile taken away.

“Why not?” He asked.

“What do you mean? You wanted an answer, I gave it to you. Now, stop the car!”

“I want to know why the negative answer!” He said, losing his temper.

“None of your business. Now, stop the damn car!”

Hernan sucked the air inside his lungs before speaking.

“Stop the damn car!” He said and Danika raised an eyebrow, opening the door and getting out.

She took a few breaths and looked around. She was not far from home.

‘At least that!’ She thanked the heavens for not having to walk a long distance. Her life was a damn mess at the moment. What more could happen?

She looked up at her building and smiled. Finally, she would be able to have peace for a few hours.

“Ah, there you are!” Danika pouted at the sound of that voice.