MR. MORENO'S SURROGATE ✔️

18 - Leilah

I walk into the house in shock. He kissed me. Actually kissed me. One second he was yelling my head off and the next, his lips were on mine. His warm, soft, impeccable lips were against mine. And he was kissing me. I walk through the threshold of the front door and Elijah closes it behind me. I walk to the kitchen to grab a package of blueberries from the refrigerator as he walks upstairs. Cayson walks downstairs, eyeing Elijah as he comes down. He walks to the kitchen as I open a bottle of water and he leans over the counter, looking me over carefully.

"What did he do?" he asks.

"Nothing," I say. He narrows his eyes at me as if not believing me. "I'm serious," I insist. "He didn't do anything."

He nods his head. "Are you okay?" he asks.

"Yeah. I'm good," I answer.

"Okay, this is awkward. Really, what did he do? You're kind of.. off."

"Cayson, he didn't do anything to me. Let it go." I say a little loudly. I sigh. "I'm sorry."

"It's... fine." he says, turning away to walk to the refrigerator. "Anyway. Did he tell you?"

"Tell me what?" I say, eating a blueberry.

"There's a gala tonight."

"Uh, no. He didn't," I respond, starting to walk from the kitchen and upstairs.

I know he said I wasn't allowed in his office, but I need to talk to him about this. I knock on his door and I open it to see him talking on the phone. When he sees me standing in the doorway, he gives me a stern, angry look.

"Alright. We'll talk about details later. Get Ryser to the office. He'll take over for me." He slams the phone down and rises from his chair, standing behind his desk as he looks at me. "What did I tell you?" he asks, seemingly angry.

"I know I'm not supposed to be in here, but-"

"But what?" he interrupts.

"Well, if you'd let me finish," I say, giving him a glare. He raises his eyebrow. "You weren't going to tell me about the gala tonight?"

He narrows his eyes at me, his eyebrows furrowed now. "How did you know about that?" he asks.

"Cayson told me."

He sighs a sigh of relief. "No. I didn't plan on telling you anything."

"Why not?" I say, walking in and touching things, picking them up and looking them over.

"Because I don't care whether or not you want to go. You're coming either way - put that down." he says, rushing over to me and grabbing the gun from my hands.

"Why do you have that?" I ask as he puts the gun away.

"I have enemies. I'm a wealthy and very successful man. People are gonna want to kill me and I can't let that - put it down, Leilah."

I laugh as I look at the baby picture in my hand. I spot a beautiful looking woman on the left side in the picture and I look at it as he walks over to me, snatching it from me.

"Is that your mom?" I ask.

"No. Now please stop touching things. If you break that vase, I'll tie you to a tree and leave you there."

"Are you gonna give me a backstory?" I ask, sitting in a chair across from his desk and looking attentively at him.

He sighs and rubs his forehead. "That's my aunt. She took care of me when I was about four weeks old. My mom committed suicide due to postpartum depression. It's a serious issue and it's more common than you think." he says, looking down at my stomach.

My stomach turns and I grip my shirt in my hand as I look at the worried expression plastered on his face. "I.. I wouldn't," I say to him.

He looks up at me, uncertain. "You don't know that," he says.

"Maybe. But I know you couldn't... nevermind," I say, standing to my feet. "Sorry for snooping around. That was probably hard to talk about."

"I've gotten used to it," he says. He sits down and sighs as he picks up a pen and begins to sign documents and write things on paper. "We're going as a couple so you'll need to look the part. I'll get you a hair stylist and a makeup artist so you won't have to lift a finger. Well, not until I give you the ring. I forgot last time."

"Ring? For what?"

"You'll be my wife. Like last time. Problem?"

"N-no." I say, shocked.

"Good. Now could you step out? I need to handle some business."

"Yeah." I walk out of his office and I close the door softly before turning to go to my room. When I get to my room, I hear my phone ringing in my bed. I pick it up and I answer it. "Hello?" I answer.

"Leilah. How did the appointment go?"

"Tyler, hey. It went well. Me and the baby are perfectly healthy."

"That's good. When are you coming back to visit? I miss you." Those three words send a chill down my spine. I don't notice I'm smiling until my face begins to hurt.

"I.. miss you too." I say back to him. "I'll have to ask Elijah about seeing you though."

"What? 'Ask' him? Who does he think he is? He can't just keep you there if you don't want to be there." he says angrily.

"I mean.... I get why. He's coming from a good place. He just wants to protect me."

" 'Protect you'? Are you seriously defending this guy?" he says, laughing. "First off, he's not coming from a 'good place'. He doesn't want to protect you, he wants to control you."

"Tyler, that's not true-"

"I'll call you back later. I can't listen to this right now," he says angrily.

"Tyler-"

He hangs up and I scoff, looking at my phone. "That was fucking rude," I say to myself. I lie on my pillow and I decide to take a nap before I have to go and get my dress.

Why would Tyler react that way? I know he has some sort of.. something against Elijah, but I thought it wouldn't matter as long as I was content with the situation. I mean, I'm the one carrying the kid here. Not him. With a sigh, I shake my thoughts away as I drift off to sleep.