The Arrangement (unenhanced Edition) by AnnaRCase (books to read now .txt) 📖

                It tool Leo seventeen minutes to arrive and he cut a car off to get as close to the curb as he could. As soon as Amberleigh saw him, she sprinted over and jumped into his Porsche.  A man in a Mercedes behind them laid on the horn and gave Leo the middle finger. She knew she looked like hell as Leo’s eyes no doubt took in her smeared eyeliner and mascara and red rimmed eyes.  The sweater also worked well as a tissue she’d come to discover.

                 She could smell the lingering scent of perfume in the car. Leo had had female company recently. Why did that thought eat at her? When she took a closer look at him, she realized he was dressed to the nines, freshly shaven, and smelling like he’d dabbed himself in the type of cologne most men in the Fringe could only get by rubbing off those sample pages in magazines.

                Leo ignored the traffic behind him as he placed a hand on her arm.

                “Amber what the fuck happened?” he demanded.

                “Grayson said he had a business meeting at Giorgio’s tonight. But I overheard him tell Mr. Duvall it got fucking cancelled. Then he left the penthouse with a bouquet of flowers and I assumed he was going to fuck someone.”

                “Okay. So that’s what you’re upset about? I warned you Amber that he-”

                “I wish it was just him fucking someone else Leo! It’s much worse. I followed him to his brother’s grave. And I overheard him Leo. I know I had no fucking business being there, I know, but I heard him talking to his dead brother. And I know that he has a disease which will kill him. And that he fucking lied to me!”

                Leo exhaled sharply, “Fuck. I’m sorry you had to find out that way Amber. But it wasn’t my place to tell you. Did you talk to him in the graveyard?”

                It was getting hard to hear over the honking of horns from pissed off motorists forced to weave around Leo sitting idle in the lane.  He cursed again and waited for the flow of traffic to die down so he could merge back in.

                “No. Because right now Leo, I’m so fucking mad at him, I don’t trust myself not to scratch his fucking eyes out.”

                “That’s not fair Amber.  Grayson has more shit to deal with than you or I can imagine. Unless some major medical breakthrough happens soon, he won’t live to be an old man.  He’s going to get pretty fuckin bad off .It kills me that I have to watch him go through this. I would trade places with him if I could.”

                “That’s not why I’m angry at him Leo! It’s breaking my fucking heart that Grayson is dyi,” she couldn’t bring herself to say it out loud, “But what I can’t move past is the fact he knows his disease is hereditary and he hired me to have his kid regardless. What kind of bastard does something like that?”

                Leo pulled the Porsche over into the first empty spot he found. He was finding it hard to concentrate on the road and this conversation.  When the Porsche came to a stop, she felt something bounce off her heel. She reached down and picked up a tube of lipstick from the floorboard.

                “I told him I thought it was a shitty idea, but I had no control over it Amber. I’m sorry. I’ve known him my whole fucking life pretty much. We played T-ball altogether, got caught vaping together in seventh grade, wrecked his Dad’s car on joyride in the waffle house parking lot when we were like fifteen. I was there ten years ago when his Dad started getting sick and when both of them wound up being diagnosed.  I was there when Adam died a couple years after. And I won’t abandon him now. I may not always like the shit his does, or agree with him, but I love him like a brother and I’ll stick with him till the end.”

                Well she felt like a bitch, but she was still justified in her anger at the billionaire. He shouldn’t have lied. He should have done this surrogacy shit legit. He could have gone overseas or something, paid off the medical personnel to keep it quiet. He didn’t need to resort to deceit and lies. She would have agreed to this arrangement even knowing what she did now, if only he’d gone the right way about it. For even if Grayson didn’t live long enough to see the child grow up, no doubt Viola Godwin would raise her grandchild. She’d still have a piece of the son she adored that way. She wouldn’t be alone.

                She shook her head at the thought and felt fresh tears welling in her eyes. Grayson had fucked up everything! Whatever had been forming between them was now dead. She couldn’t trust him after this. And she sure as hell wouldn’t take that risk of having his child.

                “I’m sorry if I interrupted something Leo,” she said handing him the lipstick.

                “It’s not important. Just a one-time thing probably. I doubt I’ll even see her again.”

                “You don’t have to explain it to me Leo. But I would appreciate if you would be so kind as to take me back to the penthouse. I need to pack my shit.”

                Leo looked gutted, “I wish you would at least hear Grayson out first Amber. And I don’t want you to go…”

                Fuck. This was already hard and she hadn’t even started fucking packing yet. She didn’t want to leave Leo.  The thought of never seeing the chef again tore her up inside. Leo had been there for her from the start. But he’d also lied to her. She couldn’t really trust either of them.

                “Unless you are agreeing to help me break the contract, I don’t think we have much else to talk about Leo.”

                He shook his head slowly, “You know I can’t sleep with you, Amber. Even though God knows I want to, I won’t betray Grayson like that.”

                “That’s what I’d thought you’d say Leo. You’re a good friend.”