Chapter 12 #2
“You know what… fuck all that,” I cut in sharply, dragging my attention back to the woman standing beside her. “Who the fuck are you? That’s what’s important.”
Her lips curved into a small smile.
“Well…” she said, glancing briefly toward Zonnique before locking eyes with me again. “I guess I’m the woman carrying your child.”
As she said it, her hand drifted down to her stomach, rubbing lightly across it like the idea alone already meant something to her.
For one long second, I didn’t move or blink. Hell, I probably didn’t even breathe.
Then something inside me snapped.
“The fuck you just say?” The words cracked like a whip.
Inside, anger burned slowly and brutally, like fire crawling through oil.
I faced Zonnique. “Zonnique,” I said quietly, which was always worse than yelling, “if this is some kinda game, I swear to God—”
“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about!” she interrupted quickly, voice trembling. “Can we please go somewhere private and talk?”
I pointed toward the staircase without taking my eyes off her.
“Oh, we’re definitely about to talk,” I assured in an urgent tone. “Don’t worry about that.”
Then my attention shifted back to the Talia chick.
“You,” I said, pointing directly at her. “Stay right here. And don’t touch a damn thing.”
My attention shifted toward the security guards stationed near the entrance.
“I want eyes on her constantly… hawk eyes. If she blinks suspiciously, scratches her arm weirdly, coughs too many times, or starts looking around too hard, report it immediately.”
“Yes, sir!” They all nodded.
My eyes cut to ol’ girl. “Don’t feel offended or singled out by my harshness.
Anybody who shows up here without clearance gets treated like a federal threat.
Hell, if dropped off a package I wasn’t expecting, I’d probably interrogate the driver too.
Unannounced visitors and trust just don’t belong in the same sentence around me. ”
The corners of her mouth twitched as if she was trying not to laugh.
I pointed directly at Zonnique afterward. “Follow me.”
I started walking, then paused long enough to glance back at her.
“But not too damn close. I’m already irritated.”
Once we reached my office, my hands were already turned into fists.
The second she stepped inside I slammed the door hard enough to rattle the glass.
“Start talking… and make it good, because right now, the only thing standing between you and the sidewalk is my curiosity.”
“Listen, Merge,” Zonnique began, “I know how ridiculous this looks. But if this works, it secures your position. It secures everything for you.”
I tilted my head slightly, squinting at Zonnique like she’d just offered me poison in a wine glass wrapped in gold.
“If what works? You know what… let’s back all the way up, because right now you’re talking like I joined a conversation halfway through.
I don’t know the how, the when, the where, the why, or which one of y’all sat down and said, ‘You know what sounds like a great idea? Secret babies and surprise women in Merge’s foyer.
’ So, let’s start from the beginning… and make it quick and real convincing.
Because if whatever comes out your mouth in the next few minutes ain’t enough to stop me from cutting you completely out my life, then today will be the last day you ever stand this close to me again. ”
Zonnique straightened her posture, then proceeded with, “Okay. So, after my failed implantation, I panicked,” she admitted shakily.
“I knew how much pressure you were under dealing with your father, the council, the timeline… all of it. So instead of telling you the truth immediately…” she continued carefully, “I tried to fix it first.”
Zonnique rushed ahead before I could interrupt.
“There was still viable material remaining from your samples,” she explained quickly. “Enough to proceed one more time through the clinic.”
The vein near my temple pulsed.
“So, you really used my sperm without my consent.”
Zonnique’s voice dropped. “I was trying to protect your future.”
“My future?” I repeated dangerously. “That’s funny, because usually when people are involved in my future, they ask me before making arrangements. But nah, continue. I’m fascinated now. Tell me more about this life-changing setup I somehow got invited into last.”
Zonnique sighed deeply. “I started privately interviewing surrogate candidates… off the books… quietly. I screened them myself, arranged evaluations, medical reviews, psychological clearances… everything. Everything was discreet and secure. All her screenings came back clean. She was fertile, she’s healthy, stable… honestly the perfect candidate.”
“Was,” I corrected coldly. “She was a candidate. If she’s pregnant, there is no other competition now. And what was that engagement shit you was talkin’ out there?”
Zonnique’s face flushed slightly. “I had to make the arrangement sound legitimate,” she admitted.
“Most women wouldn’t feel comfortable carrying a child for a man they believed had no structure or serious intentions behind the process.
Saying we were engaged made things appear more stable and committed. ”
I kept staring at Zonnique while a thousand disrespectful responses fought for first place in my head.
“How are you sure that she’s even pregnant?”
“The ultrasound confirmed implantation,” Zonnique answered quickly. “Viable embryo. She’s a little over four weeks.”
I let out a laugh… and not because shit was funny. I really couldn’t believe what the fuck I was hearing.
“I’ll be damned,” I muttered, rubbing my jaw.
“But answer this, though. How exactly did you even find these candidates? Like, how the hell did you come across her? Or any of the other women for that matter?” I eyed Zonnique suspiciously.
“Surely you weren’t just roaming around asking random fine ass women, ‘Excuse me, you look fertile and emotionally stable. Wanna help save a mafia’s bloodline? ’”
“I did ask around,” Zonnique sassed. “I vetted her. She came highly recommended. Actually… one of the highest.”
Sounds like bullshit.
I inhaled slowly through my nose. “And you trust recommendations because why? Because somebody vouched for her? Because somebody called her ‘sweet’? Because she spoke professionally, smiled pretty, folded her hands politely, maintained eye contact, and knew how to say all the right things?”
Zonnique looked away briefly, which told me enough already.
“Yeah,” I muttered darkly. “And now, because she didn’t sweat under pressure, you’ve convinced yourself that she’s trustworthy enough to carry my heir.”
I shook my head.
“Zonnique, people lie during regular job interviews. You’d be surprised how many dangerous people fake stability every single day… especially when money is involved. Hell, serial killers even know how to sound polite.”
Zonnique hesitated. “If I’m being honest, after her interview, I really didn’t want to hire her.”
“Then why the fuck did you?” I snarled, my words precise and cold. “You don’t know to trust your first instinct by now?”
“Yeah, but…” Her words started slowing. “Something happened with the other candidates. Every single one dropped out because of… strange circumstances.”
I cocked my head. “You don’t say?”
“I’m serious, Merge. One had a medical emergency, one pulled out at the last minute because she decided to move away all of a sudden, and the other I just never heard from again. It felt… providential.”
“That’s convenient… or suspicious,” I pointed out.
“I’ll admit, it was weird.”
I leaned in until my face was just inches from hers, voice low and sharp.
“You do realize that you put a stranger in possession of my seed. What if she’s dangerous, Zonnique?
What if she’s not who she claims to be? What if she’s some ex-con with a fake smile and a clean wig?
Or worse, some certified lunatic fresh out a mental hospital who figured getting pregnant by a rich nigga was the fastest route to housing, security, and a check?
Hell, what if she’s the damn Feds? You ever stopped to think about that?
What if you just walked an undercover agent straight into my life carrying my child like this some kind of twisted government operation? ”
“I told you she passed every screen we ran!” Zonnique argued quickly, fear creeping higher into her voice. “Everything came back normal. No criminal record, no psychiatric history, no prior issues—”
“Background checks only tell you what people got caught doing. You’re putting entirely too much faith in paperwork.”
I laughed, short and humorless, as I pointed at her. “I’ve heard of desperate, but this? This is…” I shook my head.
“Merge—”
I held up a hand, cutting her off the second something crucial finally clicked in my head.
Slowly, I looked at her.
“Zonnique, you do realize that if she’s pregnant with my child, that I’d I have to marry her… that’s the bylaw.”
“Oh, shit,” she whispered. “I honestly forgot about that part.”
I stared at her in disbelief.
“So, you were so busy trying to save your position that you forgot the part where another woman could end up getting everything you wanted? The title… the house… the lifestyle. Hell, me too.” I laughed tauntingly.
“I mean, let’s be real, ol’ girl downstairs is fine as hell.
I wouldn’t mind dropping off some of this dick in her.
Still… you had to know what came attached to all this. ”
“Again, I wasn’t thinking about that!” Zonnique snapped back defensively, “Damn, Merge, what did you want me to do?! At least I tried to fix the situation!”
I looked at her sharply. “What you trying to say? I didn’t?”
Zonnique exhaled shakily and reached toward me instinctively.
I pulled away before she could touch me.
She held both palms up quickly. “I’m not saying that, Merge. Look, if you want, I can try to find someone else. But what would you do about the baby she’s already carrying?”
I laughed, low and ugly. “Find somebody else? I didn’t even ask for the first one.”