ns' belly and by now her bump was becoming pronounced. It was at this point in her life that she was glad that she was an orphan a

loor office somewhere in Texas, New York. He was dressed tightly in his suit, so when he sat right he adjusted his tie and reclined in his chair to watch Arie with s

ffered to be a surrogate. How hard could it be that the famous Damien Roeg was willing to pay her half a million dollars just to have his sperm copulate secondarily wi

dollars to her name at age twenty-nine felt rewarding enough to trump whatever cons might come with the job. So she drew the

ow?" she ask

ed it in the piles on the desk. "No

led wryly.

d be transferred to you after you leave here. Another hundred tho

les?" she chuckled, then. "I don't re

you'd have understood what this arrangement requires. A

e knew that he was showing off his legal prowess, so she wasn't going to give him the benefit of taking her for a fool. She sucked in a breath as

She loved her comfort zone and the fact that her life never required too muc

lips. Arie didn't care if he thought she could be bought at a mouth-watering price--she wasn't going

fty thousand dollars would be

t do I have to go

suppose Mr. Roeg would let you h

during deliv

t properly. "M

e, pl

e said again, lookin

her shoulders

nything you can do about it now since you've signed. But it is pertinent that

tching Atlantis and how Medusa's hair turned to a jumble of snakes when she sneaked into Pandor

emphasiz

ther people shouldn't know about your pregnancy. You'd a

. "That's if

ed. "That's where you got it wrong, Miss.

ckening as the rush of adrenaline flushed her veins, but she closed her eyes gently

your tone of add

rights after being paid hal

r. Roeg a favor by carrying his child, I

"You think you're doi

else will you interpret

. Higg

d maybe we can pick up

speak to m

indings about me, ergo your condescending manners. Unlike rich pricks like yourself, I have a humble upbringing as an orphan which made me stronger than you'd dream of becoming.

is wide-opened mouth. He closed his mouth an

rie

r, Mr.

derstand that Mr. Roeg requires his

l records already tell you everything

, it

at's the

. Roeg wants his child t

urse, h

Miss.

Arie, p

with effectiveness but now the tables had turned and he was finding it difficult to grab

o think that she could be pushed around based on her upbringing and rather unqualified personality as the surrogate for Mr. Roeg. She only has a high school education and

ible with Mr. Roeg's sperm, Arie's gene was the only match--not

r almost a minute and Arie ha

y. "Yes, nothing e

do I

surprised brow. "Yo

belief. "Isn't that w

of co

's the pro

surprised you agre

how effective being nice to peopl

ursd

ust two days from now? How am I

the baby, the rest of the arrangements for your stay have been made according to your likes

to humility. What kind of girl wouldn't fantasize about a man like that? Of course, Arie was no exception. She'd only been able to afford one of the collections of the magazine about three years ago and she made a treasure of it. Since then the handsome billionaire has been her possible subject of fantasy, though she was well aware of how high his standard was and how

mile appeared at the side of her lips she t

d and stood. Her legs felt stiff and sick but sh

y...A

r. Panos. You don't have to

leared his throat wh

d. "Of cours

again. "Have a nice trip to Los Ange

r. Panos. It's b

away from becoming different from what she imagined as a homeless child, but wheth

d, would Damien R