Surrogating for the Billionaire

"Henrique... " She started, but the bald, thick-set, small man desceding the stairs was looking at her with a face that denoted nothing more than discontentment.

"No, missy, I want my money. Now!" he said. Danika had not paid him last week, or the week before. As much as she gained nice tips at the restaurant, she had to use the money for another meaning.

"Look, my grandma got sick and I had to.."

"Don't try that with me, honey. My heart won't melt." He said, then, he got closer to her and looked her up and down. "Unless you have changed your mind and decided to pay me with something else."

She made a disgusted face. Why would men always offer that?

"No..."

His smirk vanished and was substituted by a scowl.

"You pay me tomorrow first thing, or you're out."

He passed by her and almost bumped into her shoulder.

Drenched of energy, Danika climbed the stairs to her apartment and only when she got her purse to put on the table, did she realize the envelope the weird client gave her was still in her hands. She looked at the trash can and threw those papers there.

After going to the bathroom and finding out there was no water, she went to bed and felt as if her life couldn't get any worse than that. Thinking about it, she slept and had nightmares.

By morning, she left pretty early. Henrique had already sent her a message, but she didn't have the heart to open and read it. He was probably asking for the rent money. She had to get her money from the restaurant before she met Henrique or she would be screwed.

Arriving at the restaurant, she entered through the back door and saw Moira. The night before, she didn't have time to talk to the woman, but now she could at least exchange a few words.

"Good Lord, Dan!" Moira said and threw her arms around Danika's neck. Then, she held her by the shoulders and looked at the redhead. "What did that imbecile do to you? And Dupont fired you? What an ass!"

"I'm ok. I just need to get my payment and that is it."

"But.. how are you going to get by, love?"

Moira was a hottie with bright blue eyes and black hair. At that moment, she was clearly worried. Since Danika arrived in that city and got the job, Moira embraced her and took care of her, helping every time Danika needed.

"I'll get by, as always. Don't worry."

"If you need anything, call me And don't vanish, ok? We are friends."

"I won't." She promised and went after Dupont.

She got her payment, tried to find another job but, interestingly, nobody wanted to hire her!

'How on earth? I am a great worker, and just because I punched Igor Sokolov? He asked for that!', she whined and decided to go back home. She had to pay Henrique and the next day, look again for a job. But then, she was not fast enough. When she arrived, most of her things were already outside.

"What the heck?" She exclaimed and tried to stop one of the men, carrying her pillows.

"Sorry, ma'am. We are just following rules." The dark skinned guy said and kept working. She knew he was saying the truth and couldn't blame them.

"Where's Henrique?"

"I don't know... maybe inside."

She entered the building, holding back her tears. The man in his office, counting money. When she entered the room, he raised his eyes and smiled.

"Hello, kitten."

"Don't even try, Henrique!" She took the money from her purse and put it on the table. "Here, now... I want my things back inside."

He got the money, counted it and smiled at her. Then, he made a fake pout.

"Sorry, baby, no can do. The apartment is already rented."

"What?" She asked, incredulous. "But I just paid you!"

"Somebody else paid me the whole year. Can't help it." He sniffed the scent of the dollar bills.

Danika was on the verge of passing out.

"Fine, then give me my money back."

He frowned and looked funny at her.

"Your money?" He asked. "I don't have your money."

"I just put it on this table, you got it. Now, give it back!"

"No, kitten, that was my money. You owned me. You paid me what you owed. With interest."

"But..."

"Not my problem. Get out. Unless you decided to use that smart mouth of your to please me, fuck off!"

Danika left the building, sitting on the stairs and crying.

Her phone started to buzz and when she saw her mother's name on the screen, she dried her tears, cleared her throat and accepted the call.

"Hey, mom!"

"Hey, darling!" Thalia's voice sounded on the other side of the line. The woman sniffed and Danika frowned at the sound of that.

"Have you been crying? What happened? Did anything happen to grandma Olene?" Danika could feel something was wrong.

"Danika, baby, I'm so sorry for asking this out of you again. Your grandma... We need more money. Her meds are over." Talia said. "I'm sorry we are a burden to you. I should be the one helping you..." Talia started to cry again.

Danika had been abandoned by her father when she was so young she couldn't even remember his face. Since then, her mother and grandmother did everything to help her, until the day her grandmother fell ill and Thalia had to resign in order to take care of Olena. But.. Why not Danika? Because since Danika said 'no' to a guy, who happened to be the son of a wealthy family from the country, she could find no job, nor her mother.

They talked a bit more and when the call was over, Danika sighed. Yeah, how would she help her grandma? She just lost all her money to Henrique and she had no job, no nothing. Then, she saw the trash can. First, she didn't give a damn about it, but she remembered something... The envelope.

*TWO HOURS EARLIER*

Hernan was in a foul mood. Foul. After receiving the news that the perfect candidate refused to be his surrogate, he couldn't concentrate on the important meeting he had in the morning.

Why couldn't she just accept the damn deal? He was not going to make her live with him. He was going to touch her, as much as he could admit she was pretty outstanding. Hernan just needed her to sit on a chair, inside a medical office and receive his sperm, artificially. Not so difficult. Not painful.

"Sir, maybe she'll still change her mind", Cassius said in a low voice, trying to reassure the boss. Hernan glared at him and Cassius almost cried.

"Oh, she'll change her mind. Make sure of this." Hernan said, his face was a scowl and his tone, like a bucket of cold water. Cassius looked confused at Hernan, who looked back at him. "What are you still doing there?"

"Do you want me to...make it happen, sir?" Cassius questioned and Hernan nodded in agreement. "You want me to prepare a trap, don't you?"

"Yes, Cassius, any problem with that?" Hernan asked.

Hernan Allaband was a man with strong will and would do everything to have what he wanted, but not play dirty like that. It made Cassius think if his boss was not overreacting.

"But sir, there are plenty of other girls out there. And I am sure they will be willing to..."

"She is the perfect candidate!" Hernan said a bit louder than he would normally. "Cassius, I have waited, researched and finally found her. The fact that she is not into it, jumping as a hungry wolf on me, is enough for me to know she is the right choice. I don't want a child with a gold digger!"

"But..."

"I won't lose my chair, Cassius. I'm the CEO of this Group and I'm not leaving here so that damn Xandros can take my place. Not him!" The anger in Hernan's voice was a warning to Cassius that he'd better get the girl to accept the deal.

"Yes, sir, I'll tend to it. Excuse me."

Hernan could get another woman since he would use artificial insemination and none of them would need to sleep with him. No, he wasn't an ugly man, but he was in a wheelchair due to an accident. That was even the reason his fiancée left him to be with... with his half brother, Xandros.

Lazlo Allaband was the founder and previous CEO of the company. He worked hard and one thing he had always treasured was family. To him, a man who cannot take care of his own family, cannot take care of a company. His son, Brennon, was not very inclined to those matters, not only family, but also, business. When Hernan, the elder kid, was old enough to learn the family's traits, Lazlo didn't waste time. Being the son of a woman who was not Mrs. Allaband, Hernan had to work double hard to show everybody his value. And he did.

By the age of twenty eight, he was a great CEO, but he had a defect: no family of his own. And, as much as Lazlo loved him, he could not turn a blind eye to that fact. That was why he gave Hernan a deadline and that one was coming closer by the second. When Hernan saw Danika, after months of trying to find a candidate, he knew she was different.

Cassius walked out of the office, going to his own. He has called many companies, prohibiting them from contracting Danika. Cruel? yes, but necessary. He then received a message and grinned. His boss was one lucky bastard. Sitting on his chair, he dialed the number of the person who had just informed him about Danika's situation. "Yes... take the apartment. Pay for the whole year."

It didn't take too long until his phone was buzzing. When he read the ID caller's name, he smiled, but kept his cool face.

"Cassius Banks talking." He answered, as if he didn't know who it was. "Oh, Miss Sinclair!"

"Hmm, Mr. Banks, I would like to ask a few questions about this document you gave me."

"Of course, I'll answer everything with pleasure! And that document is a prenup."

After hearing all her doubts and answering each one, he ended the call and went back to Hernan's office, with a canty expression. He knocked only once and heard Herna's voice allowing his entrance.

"What is it?" Hernan asked without even raising his head up, and kept on signing the papers. When Cassius remained silent, Hernan put the pen down and looked up, seeing a smile on Cassius's face. Soon, he grinned "Did she..?"

"Yes, sir! I'm going to get your fiancé right now. Congratulations! She just asked you one thing..." Cassius knew how much Hernan hated to be asked or contradicted. That made Cassius anxious.

'Think positive, man!', he told himself.

Hernan sucked the air. He offered her a great amount of money. A million and a half, for someone who had nothing and needed money desperately, ws more than enough. Already annoyed, he sighed.

"What is it?" Hernan asked, expecting to hear how much more the woman wanted to let him use her womb for nine months.

"She wants to see the kid after the 'divorce'. In her words, it is unfair to make the child grow up feeling abandoned by one of her parents. Traumatizing."

Hernan took a few moments to ponder. He could see Danika was not a good person, otherwise he would never even ask for her services as a surrogate. But, even so, he didn't believe she would want to keep contact with the child for too long. He smiled, for what she was requesting was not so bad. He would make a few rules and that would be a problem less in his life.

"Then, Cassius led her to the apartment I had prepared for her!"