Theodore (Members From Money Book 25)

by Katie Dowe

  "Why are you so mean?"

  "Me, mean?" Joanna pretended to look hurt. "I'm the nicest person you'll ever meet."

  "I've heard that before." Arlie muttered.

  "If you've got something to say, bitch, say it to my face."

  At that Arlie couldn't help but laugh.

  "You sound more ghetto than either of us has ever been." She glared at Joanna, squaring up to her. "Michelle is Matt's surrogate and that is not a lie. Matt wanted a baby and Michelle was happy to carry one for him. There was no penetration of any kind and no feelings involved. If you have a problem with that, bring it up with Matt. Don't spew insults at my sister in the street like a piece of trash."

  Joanna looked startled. Clearly she had not been expecting to be put in her place. Her surprise disappeared quickly and she sneered at Arlie.

  "I'm trash with a lot of weight behind me, monkey."

  Arlie rolled her eyes. It had been a long time since she had been called a monkey but it wasn't new to her.

  "If you were a nice person you wouldn't need to tell me you've got influential friends." She snapped. "I'm not going to bow down to you because you've got people in high places. Take up whatever problems you have with Matt." She adjusted her grip on her bags. "Now walk away and leave Michelle alone."

  "Who's going to make me walk away?" Joanna drawled. She tapped her sunglasses to her chin thoughtfully, her eyes full of challenge. "Two black whores? It's a public place. People will see a white girl getting beaten up by two black bitches."

  "No, they'll see two black girls walking away from a white bitch who thinks she deserves preferential treatment because she's 'famous'." Arlie stepped back, urging Michelle to walk towards the bistro. "Bye-bye, honey. Have a nice life."

  Taking Michelle's arm, they began to walk away. What Arlie wanted to do was to go back and lay into the woman for her disgusting behavior. How dare she?

  But there was her sister to think about. She was pregnant and didn't need to see her big sister get arrested for getting in a fight.

  Michelle looked over her shoulder.

  "She's still watching us." She whispered.

  "Just keep walking." Arlie muttered back.

  If they stopped she would be getting into trouble.

  *****

  Matt was engrossed in a report his finance director had emailed him when his intercom went off. He slapped at it with a growl.

  "What is it, Jemma? I thought I said I didn't want any interruptions."

  "Sorry, Mr Prentice, but Miss O'Toole has just turned up. She's making a scene and wants to see you."

  Matt groaned. That was the last thing he needed today. While he had decided last year that he and Joanna were never going to be forever and had cut off intimate ties with her completely, Joanna had never seemed to understand the message. She kept calling and texting him whenever she was in the city asking for a hook-up. Matt kept turning her down and the last text he had sent her was a warning to have her charged with stalking and harassment if she continued.

  The texts had stopped shortly before he decided to go ahead with the surrogacy. But evidently Joanna had forgotten that she was not a welcome visitor in his office.

  "Tell her I'm busy." He grunted.

  "She won't go away. Sir, she's threatening to barge in."

  Matt sighed. It was going to be one of those days. When he wasn't focusing on his work he was plagued by the sight of Arlie sitting at the breakfast table, dressed in that sky blue strappy dress that actually showed some curve on her body. She had looked good and Matt had struggled to keep his eyes off her.

  Dealing with work and images of Arlie was enough for one day. Throwing Joanna into the mix was simply asking for trouble. But she wouldn't go away until she had seen him so he glanced at his watch and sighed.

  "Okay, send her in and call security in one minute. I don't want to be stuck with her longer than I have to if I can't avoid it."

  "Yes, sir."

  Chapter 4

  Matt was putting his jacket on when Joanna barged through the door and strode up to his desk. Her normally sultry disposition was radiating anger and she glared at him with dark, flashing eyes.

  "What the hell is going on, Matt?"

  "Hello to you, too, Jo." Matt drawled.

  Joanna waved a hand dismissively.

  "Spare me all that crap. What the hell were you thinking making a black whore a surrogate?"

  So that was the reason she was there. She had heard about his plans. And, not surprisingly, she was pissed as hell.

  "Don't talk about Michelle like that." Matt sat, keeping the desk between them. He fixed a dark glare in Joanna's direction. "She doesn't deserve it."

  Joanna snorted rudely.

  "Spare me all that shit. Have you lost your mind, Matt?"

  "No. I wanted a child and Michelle offered to carry the baby for me."

  Joanna still looked incredulous. She began to pace in front of his desk, gesturing wildly. Matt knew she was passionate but had never seen her like this before.

  "Why did you have to go to a complete stranger? Why didn't you ask me? I would've carried your baby happily."

  That was the problem. Matt did know. Joanna had made it known that she would carry Matt's baby one day and had let everyone in the world know it. But even if he had been fond of her at one point he would never have let her get pregnant with his seed.

  And there were several reasons why.

  "Jo, you've aborted three pregnancies so you could pursue your modeling career."

  "I wouldn't abort your child." Joanna protested. She turned to him, hands clasped against her chest. "I would love the child growing in my belly."

  "That's the problem. The emotional ties to the child." Matt knew he sounded callous but he wanted to get the point across. He sat forward. "Michelle is happy to carry the child for me but afterwards she will walk away. If you gave birth you'd use the baby to control me and my money. I'm not having that."

  "What?"

  Joanna's expression twisted into what she thought was shock and pain but Matt saw the calculating look behind it. It was all a game to her and she knew exactly what she was doing.

  "Matt, I'd never do that to you. And what's to say this Michelle bitch won't do it herself?"

  Matt was glad he wasn't Jay, otherwise he would have launched himself at Joanna and hit her. The damn woman needed someone to knock some sense into her. But it wouldn't be from him; that was just crossing the line.

  But he could wish.

  "I know she won't. Michelle and I have spoken at great length about it. She doesn't want kids but she's happy to carry for others."

  "Are you fucking her as well?"

  Matt growled, making Joanna jump.

  "Of course not." He stood as the door opened and two beefy men entered. They were right on time. "Now, are you going to get out of my office before you're thrown out?"

  Joanna looked at the security guards, both of whom were topping six-five and huge all over. Muscles bulged, stretching the suits to the maximum, they looked menacing. A look of fear briefly passed across her face. Then she looked back at Matt, the sneer and anger back on. She jabbed a finger at him.

  "You need to see reason." She growled. "Those two whores will suck you dry. You will have no money left after they've fleeced you."

  Matt had had enough. The woman could spit vile things at him all she wanted; she wouldn't get her own way, which was to have Matt to herself and leave Michelle and Arlie out in the cold. He nodded at his security guards.

  "Get this woman out of the building. She is not allowed to come back in under any circumstances. If she tries to get back inside, call the police."

  "Sir."

  One of the guards approached Joanna and took her arm, Joanna shaking his hand off violently. She glared at Matt and snarled.

  "You'll regret that." She hissed.

  Matt rolled his eyes and sat back at his desk, turning toward his laptop and bringing back up the report. He didn't watch Joa
nna leave but he could hear her kicking and screaming.

  *****

  The rest of the day seemed to go incredibly slowly for Matt. After his confrontation with Joanna, his energy seemed to be completely zapped from him. Jemma sensed that he was not in the right mood for meeting anyone and canceled all his appointments. After knowing Matt since he started up the company, his thirty-nine-year-old secretary was a godsend when he needed her.

  He attempted to work, focusing on a business deal he was closing the next day and needed to complete the paperwork. But it took a long time to get into it and by the time he finished it everyone had gone home and it was dark outside. A glance at his watch said it was after eight.

  Matt dragged himself out to the car and drove home, his mind still on Joanna's visit. She was like a blood-sucking leech, sucking all the life out of the room. How he had never noticed that since he met her, he had no idea. Joanna was a beautiful woman and she could charm a room but once she got her claws into someone she didn't let go. Matt knew he'd had a lucky escape before he completely fell for her.

  The damn woman was persistent. Even after ending it completely she kept coming back thinking she had a claim on him. This was the last straw; Joanna had to see that she had no chance at all with Matt and there was no way in hell Matt was letting her anywhere near his child or even become a stepmother. Joanna was vindictive and he wouldn't put it past her to hurt the baby.

  The house was quiet when he pulled up in the drive and Matt was glad of that. He wasn't interested in making small talk with anyone; he just wanted to lock himself in his study and have a drink.

  Or several of them.

  Nodding at Bates as he went into the house, Matt made his way to his office, thinking about the bottle of whiskey he had in his bottom drawer unopened. It wouldn't be unopened for long. Joanna O'Toole was enough to drive anyone to drink.

  He was so wrapped up in his own thoughts that he didn't notice the woman sitting on his couch when he entered until he had to step over her legs. Catching himself mid-step, he looked down in surprise at Arlie, who was staring up at him with a blank expression.

  "Arlie. What are you doing here?"

  "I wanted to talk to you."

  "Sure." Matt realized he was virtually straddling her legs and climbed over, hurrying to his desk to hide the blush. Damn, those legs of hers were long. He put his briefcase on the desk. "Sorry I'm late, we have a deal to close tomorrow and I wanted to make sure everything was in order."

  Why was he justifying his lateness to Arlie? They weren't in a relationship. Why was he making excuses?

  He really was tired if he was doing that.

  "Was that code for something?"

  Matt looked up and saw a faint smile on Arlie's mouth. A mouth that looked very tempting right now. His cock twitched and started to take notice.

  "Like I was sleeping with someone during office hours? No. I just struggled to get going after an unpleasant conversation at lunch." He sat and settled back, lacing his fingers across his stomach. "What's up?"

  Arlie sighed and shifted on the couch, curling her legs up under her and propping her head on her hand. She looked worn out. Matt wanted to reach out and rub the worry lines away.

  "Michelle and I were approached by an ex-girlfriend of yours today. To put it lightly, she was mean."

  Matt didn't need three guesses.

  "Joanna O'Toole."

  Arlie raised her eyebrows.

  "Did Evans tell you? I didn't think he saw it."

  "She came to the office. The unpleasant conversation I mentioned. She was furious that I had used a black woman as a surrogate." Matt remembered the dreaded notification from his security chief after they had removed Joanna from the building. "I didn't even know she was that racist, given the racial epithets she kept shouting."

  "What did you tell her?"

  "Basically I told her to fuck off. I wasn't going to deal with her. She's a money hungry bitch who wants to have everything I own."

  From Arlie's expression she could believe that. Her features were a lot softer than they had been. Now she was looking just as pretty as her sister. Matt wondered, not for the first time, what had happened to harden her expression.

  "She wants your kids as well, I take it."

  "You got it." Matt rested his head back and closed his eyes. Joanna was exhausting to think about, never mind talk about. "I have no idea why I kept dating Joanna off and on for years. I thought she was a lot of fun and to begin with she was. But after the last time, when I found out she had three of us on the go, I ended it for good."

  "She saw a gravy train leaving."

  "That's about right." Matt grunted. "I'm glad I figured out in time."

  He heard Arlie move and opened his eyes. She was now resting her chin on her arms, looking at him with her dark eyes. Damn, she was getting prettier by the minute. Either he was extremely tired or he was softening more to her.

  "What set all of this paranoia about women using your children against you?" Arlie asked. "What happened, Matt?"

  Matt didn't want to say. He had not spoken about it for ten years. His family knew not to broach the subject and none of his colleagues, acquaintances and friends he had acquired since moving to New York seven years ago knew about what had happened in Virginia, despite it being headline news because of his family's place in the community.

  But there was something about Arlie that he couldn't lie to. She was looking at him with no judgment in her eyes, just curiosity. She wanted to know what made him tick. It could be a trick to gather evidence to use against him but Matt knew Arlie wasn't like that. She was a good person.

  He didn't meet many of those nowadays.

  Matt reached into the bottom drawer and took out the bottle of whiskey and a tumbler he kept with it. Placing the tumbler on the desk, he opened the bottle and poured out a generous amount. He held it up to Arlie but she shook her head. Matt put the bottle back and picked up his glass, taking a large gulp before he started.

  "There was a girl at university. Her name was Lucy. She was from Seattle and the sweetest girl you could ever meet. It wasn't difficult to fall for her." The memories of Lucy were strong, even though he was now struggling to remember what she looked like. "Soon she was pregnant. Little Charlie was born healthy and we both doted on him. But our relationship deteriorated and we broke up. We agreed an agreement on who would have him when but then Lucy began changing things around. She said I could see Charlie at a certain time and then change it at the last minute. She refused visits if she thought the child support wasn't enough and did everything she could to stop me from seeing him without a fight."

  "She used the boy as a weapon."

  Matt nodded miserably.

  "It was worse when she got a new boyfriend. The last time I saw my son he was there, watching me the whole time I was in the house. When I left he told me if I came to see Charlie again he would kill me." Tears threatened to choke Matt and he downed the rest of his whiskey. The burn down his throat pushed them back. "A week later Charlie and Lucy were dead."

  There was silence for a moment and Matt braved looking at Arlie. Her expression hadn't changed but her eyes were shimmering with tears. He was touched but he wanted more. He wanted Arlie to come to him and hold him. Then he might be able to grieve properly for the first time in ten years.

  "What happened?" Arlie asked.

  This was the hardest part. Matt still had nightmares after what the police had told him.

  "The boyfriend had a history of domestic violence. I never understood why Lucy got with him; she was careful about who she knew. They got into an argument and he beat her to death with a baseball bat. Charlie was crying and he..." Matt closed his eyes but couldn't stop the tears, "He threw him against the wall before beating him with the bat. The little boy was only eleven months."

  He pressed the glass to his head and took a shuddering breath as the memories of seeing his son's killer in court grinning like it was nothing.

  "The ba
stard didn't even own up to his crimes. Claimed it was self-defense. In what way is beating a little baby self-defense?"

  *****

  Arlie was stunned. She had wondered about Matt's aversion to having a baby the normal way when there was nothing functionally wrong with him and had put it down to poor little rich boy being spoiled. She hadn't expected to have experienced it first-hand.

  Knowing he had been a father before made her heart ache. She knew how it felt to lose a child to violent circumstances. It made her want to get up and hold him.

  Deciding to throw caution to the wind, she stood up and went around to Matt's side of the desk. She leaned against it and put a hand on Matt's shoulder, not trusting herself to do more. Matt was shaking and the trembling eased under her touch. Arlie swallowed back the lump in her throat.

  He had opened up his heart to her. It was only fair she did the same.

  "Last year I was in a relationship with a wealthy man. He was charming and I fell for it. Even though we used protection I ended up pregnant." The memory of finding out had Arlie's stomach fluttering. Knowing that she was finally going to become a mother had been the best moment of her life at that point. "While I was prepared to take it in my stride and become a mother, my boyfriend had a different idea. He didn't want children at all, thought they cramped his style." Arlie swallowed. "He told me to get an abortion but I refused. I'm against abortions. But he wasn't going to take no for an answer."

  She took a moment to compose herself. It was only six months ago that it had happened and it was still fresh in her mind.

  "He attacked me. Kicked me and punched me in the stomach. Somehow I got away but a few hours later I was bleeding. Michelle took me to the hospital and they told me there was no sign of a baby's heartbeat."

  Jason had made her have a miscarriage. And the bastard had come around a few days later saying he was sorry and could they carry on as they were. Arlie had thrown him out and warned him not to come near her again.

  She should have gone to the police but Jason knew a lot of the cops. They wouldn't have believed her. Despite being the 21st century racism was still strong.