The Billionaire's Seed_A Secret Baby Romance

by Natasha Spencer

  “I just wanted to let you know that you can’t go very far with him, if you know what I mean.”

  Mina was slightly sure she did, but she didn’t think Greta would’ve assumed such a thing happening.

  “I’m sorry,” she played coy, “I don’t get you.”

  “Tsk, well, all right,” Greta murmured, “Just make sure you keep your guard up. Aaron can be very difficult to get through to. He’s very reserved.”

  Mina had absolutely no clue what Greta was going on about, “Look, if there is anything at all, Aaron can tell me himself. He’d keeping you at a distance so please respect that and let him be at peace, maybe? You’ve already done him and I enough damage with your antics so don’t ever call me again.”

  “I– what?”

  “You sent men to her house to hurt me,” Mina breathed almost despairingly, “How stupid do you take people to be, Greta? I know it was you behind it. Good bye now.”

  And she hung up. Chest ached with frustration and guilt, though she knew she wasn’t to blame one bit. She felt bad because Aaron had to deal with it on her behalf. But who would be better than him to do so? He knew these people, had history with them, and knew their weak spots.

  Her phone buzzed again, flashing Aaron’s name. She quickly answered it, “Hello?”

  “Hi. You doing okay?”

  “Yeah, I guess so,” she sighed, “When will you be back?”

  “I’m meeting up with Greta in a bit,” he informed her, “We need to clear up a few things. Won’t take long, I guess about an hour or so.”

  “Okay then, should I make anything for us?”

  “I kind of feel like take-out tonight. I’ll get some on the way, okay?” he said cheerfully, “You sit back and relax. Anyway, I gotta go. See you.”

  “Sure,” Mina chirped, “Bye.”

  Usually it helped ease her mood when talking to Aaron, but it wasn’t the case this time. Greta’s phone call had left her extremely curious, insecure, and concerned. She didn’t want to commit to someone who wasn’t willing to in the first place, but did she really know if Aaron was like that? And with all that had happened between them, what were they really?

  But whatever there was to happen in the near future, would it be worth the danger to come? Mina felt it in her bones that what they were dealing with wasn’t some pesky case of jealousy. There was more to Greta, Tyler, and Aaron. There was a lot she didn’t know, and she hated not knowing.

  Mina did not stay easily. Mina found no difficulty in leaving all that was unhealthy to her. No matter how she felt about it.

  Her life had been nothing but an escapade from bad people. Bad men like her father who hit her repeatedly because he had nothing else to do. Bad guys like those in her high school who harassed her for kicks and threatened her with spreading photo-shopped images of her if she didn’t sleep with them. Bad men like those in her university who tried to deliberately rape her simply because she was ahead of everyone else, and the bad women who supported them behind her back because they were just as envious. Bad people like her neighbors where married men tried to force her onto their laps and push her hands against their crotches.

  She’d suffered a lot. And she’d suffered enough.

  After her mother, her own self was her first priority. And nothing could change that.

  Aaron asked for nothing but water. He wanted space in his stomach for the take-away he promised to have with Mina. Not that anything from here could satisfy his fill, anyway. Like any other high-end restaurant, it charged more and served ridiculously less.

  Greta felt too awkward to order anything other than wine. No one liked eating alone like this. So alone. There was nobody but them, the restaurant staff, and Aaron’s own security. It was very obvious when sitting smack in the center of it all.

  The large room was lit golden through a crystal chandelier that shone right above them. Two adjacent walls were made of glass overlooking the city while the other two were pasted with elegant wallpaper. The white epoxy floor gleamed under the chandelier’s glow as soft music echoed through the walls.

  “You should get yourself something,” Aaron broke the silence, “This will probably be the last time I ever take you out like this.”

  “No, thank you.”

  “Now tell me – and be honest, please – why are you being this way?” he inquired carefully, “Sending people to attack Mina? What good will that do?”

  “You know how I feel about you, Aaron,” she started firmly, “and if I can’t have you, then no one else can.”

  “And what will that do for any of us?” he tried reasoning with her, “I’ll be unhappy, you’ll be without me, your brother will probably end up in jail-”

  “What does she have that I don’t?” Greta cut through viciously.

  “She’s an amazing person, Greta.”

  “Is there really something between you and Mina?”

  He pursed his lips and shrugged, “We make a great team when it comes to Xbox. We’re both good cooks, artists, and love to read. I could go on. We have a lot of things common between us.”

  “You know what I mean.”

  “And does it matter either way?” he shot, “You and I are over. I can be with whoever I want.”

  “You broke up with me for no good reason.”

  “I broke up with you because you didn’t trust me, Greta,” he stated with a drop in his voice, “I left you because you didn’t respect me in the slightest, nor do you have any for others. I dumped you because I couldn’t see a future with you. I never could, since the beginning.”

  Greta sat still, silent. Aaron knew she was hurting, her eyes were turning red as tears pooled in them. Her knuckles were white from her grip on her glass, and he was surprised it hadn’t crushed in her hold yet.

  “I’m so sorry I gave you any hope when there was none to begin with,” he spoke softly, reaching out to her. But she moved away and downed her drink.

  “We really are over, huh?” she muttered audibly under her breath. Aaron sighed. A crying Greta was not something he had the energy to deal with.

  “I’m leaving,” she announced, but security moved in to cage her from walking away.

  “Sit down,” Aaron ordered as he leaned back in his chair, “we’re not done yet.”

  “What else do you want from me?” her voice trembled, “You’ve taken enough, more than you should have.”

  “I have taken nothing I came here for,” he stated coolly, indifferent to her emotions, “Take a seat.”

  Greta huffed indignantly and plopped onto the chair. Aaron placed his ankle over his knee and started to interrogate her.

  “I thought you hated your brother.”

  “Not enough to not ask for help.”

  “What did you tell him about us all?”

  “I only sent him pictures and said I wanted Mina gone.”

  “Who is he working with at the moment?”

  “I can’t tell you.”

  “Then you’ll never leave,” he mentioned pointedly, and Greta gritted her teeth.

  “The Cannes.”

  “And?”

  “Rodriguez”

  “Go on.”

  “That’s all. They’re both second largest in the underworld.”

  “And what is Tyler’s plan for us? I know Mina isn’t the only one he’s after.”

  Silence.

  His hidden ear piece clicked awake, “Rodriguez often sends their people to break into banks. He’s after your money.”

  He’s taking his revenge, it dawned upon Aaron. Revenge for what? Probably for him not stopping Tyler from falling into his inconveniences. But he had tried. He’d talked to him all he could. And when he tried to pull Aaron into it and almost endanger his life and future, he had no option but to walk away alone.

  He remembers the night well, when they sneaked off the campus and away in a truck for the weekend. Tyler had told him they’d be camping. It took a while to get there. They got to a site and started to hike uphill
, and for a very long time. Aaron kept asking for breaks, finding good spots to set up camp.

  “We can’t see the stars from here, Ronnie boy,” Tyler’s chuckle came out sinister. It had really thrown Aaron off the edge and his gut instincts screamed at him to turn back. Leave him there. Run away.

  But he’d never listened to himself anyway, and so followed Tyler to the top. And it felt like forever. It wasn’t until they came across a strange cabin did they stop to rest, and Aaron had been grateful but something screamed danger all across the area. Something in the air didn’t smell right. Burning, but not of wood. He remembered it all too well. It resembled the scent of weed Tyler had given him a week ago. And suddenly he really didn’t want to be here.

  “Come on in, Aaron,” Tyler called from the door, “The party hasn’t even started yet.”

  He wasn’t sure if it was really a party, but he could tell something of the sort was definitely happening in there through the windows and cracks in the wood spilling out lights that changed colors. He ran after Tyler and made sure he didn’t lose him. Aaron wasn’t the most social person and hardly knew anybody personally.

  “Aye, Colby!” Tyler called out to someone on the far end, and a mop of red hair on a pale skeleton of a person bounded towards them. Aaron was concerned his head would fall off. Tyler chatted away, so he took to observing his surroundings. Dusty, spider webs, animal rugs and mounted animal heads and skulls. A few girls he recognized from his university were present there, dressed scantily in leather and fur, paired with too high heels and colorful make up, some smoking joints on the laps of seemingly older men who were doing the same. Those men were either in suits, leather jackets, or topless.

  And it wasn’t long until more and more people arrived, and music started to pulse through the air and into the floor, travelling up into chests and making hearts thump to the beat. But Aaron didn’t like this beat. It was slow and uncomfortable. He could see people starting to rub against each other and a weird sense of claustrophobia he never had before acted up. And he decided he had had it and turned to leave, until a familiar hand dragged him by the elbow and into the crowd. Soon he was thrown into a room relatively quieter than the party outside.

  “Boys, say hello to Aaron,” Tyler introduced him to a bunch of men. They were the same older men smoking and being entertained by his university’s girls. They sat at a long table, and the others were filled with two of his own university fellows. There were three more seats left, and Tyler dragged Aaron to one and plopped right beside him.

  “We’re all here, now let’s get to business.”

  Tyler and the other two boys pulled out cases and slid it over. Aaron didn’t understand what was going on but it was clearly a negotiation of sorts. They talked with authority, respect, and wisdom. But they knew they were still committing a crime. Names of drugs thrown about, prices, amount, deals made, dealers paid. And finally came the nightmare of a lifetime.

  “Aaron here wants to work with us,” Tyler said. Aaron went pale. Absolutely still. Silence, as he looked around. They all looked back at him waiting for an answer, “don’t you, Ronnie boy?” Tyler nudged him in the ribs.

  Aaron didn’t know what he was thinking or how he managed to even move, but he was on his feet and running. Pushing past bodies and jumping over them, flying out the door and just running downhill, not once looking back. His legs burned, his chest burned crying for air, and all he could hear was blood rushing in his ears as the adrenaline poured into his system. He did not stop. He couldn’t.

  He reached the truck, grateful that Tyler always handed him the keys for the way back, knowing he would come out drunk or stoned, incapable of driving. Aaron always took care of him after, but not this time. This time, he was done with Tyler for good.

  He’d driven back to university and demanded for a helicopter to fly back home. Packed his bags with all that was important and rushed to the rooftop. No one questioned him because they knew he never used his privilege or resources unless it was an emergency. And this was the most dire one he’d ever been in.

  Upon reaching home, his dad was the first one he rushed to. It wasn’t long before Tyler’s parents were contacted and he was dragged back home by Dave McCarthy’s security. And it was all a mess after, but he’d still managed to escape with the help of the syndicate’s branch in New York.

  Ever since then, Aaron’s life was surviving one accident after the other. It took a lot of work to get it to stop.

  He knew the war had started again.

  Chapter Eleven

  Rolling around on the carpet was doing her no good, but she didn’t feel like doing anything else. A horror movie played on the large TV screen embedded into the wall, but it wasn’t as funny as she’d have liked it to be. Just plain boring. There was no one screaming, no jump scares, no element of surprise. Nothing to laugh at.

  She ended up against the base of the couch, upside down and legs thrown over the seat.

  She was bored.

  Actually, she was just waiting for Aaron. There was plenty she could do and have fun but she didn’t want anything but Aaron at the moment. She missed him. It was an empty tug at her heartstrings pulling her body to him so far away.

  Sighing, she ended up on her side, daydreaming. About cute dates, the memories, replaying the day she first met him, the cuddles from last night. A smile crept onto her face.

  Then invaded the feel of his mouth and fingers against her body and she abruptly opened her eyes, making it all go poof into thin air.

  Not now, she thought. She would start dripping wet just at the thought of Aaron’s magical lips and hands on her body. Sometimes she wondered if he ever expected her to do anything for him, but the image of the possibilities made her uncomfortable. She didn’t know if she was ready to give him that yet and it made her feel that it was unfair for Aaron to be doing this to her if she couldn’t return it.

  She groaned and started rolling around again, remembering that she didn’t even want to go any further with him until she got answers to the things Greta had said about him. The curiosity was driving her insane, and pair that with her hormones begging to be quenched of their thirst, it did not bode well when it came to balancing her mind and body to work together.

  The door creaked open and she immediately rolled onto her knees and stood up. Aaron walked in with paper bags of take-away. He looked absolutely exhausted. Mina felt bad for him, but that feeling aside she had the urge to walk up and take care of him. And so she did, holding his jacket as he shrugged it off and turning him around to loosen his tie.

  “Thank you, Mina,” he breathed, genuinely grateful. But he looked tired and disheveled, and she wondered just what exactly had happened when he was out with Greta. An awful feeling of doubt settled onto her chest, fearing that he’d given in to her enticing form and he had been claimed.

  “You won’t believe how crazy Greta can get,” he sighed in exasperation as a knife fell on Mina’s heart, “Like, I was driving and she was pissed off because I made it clear I dumped her ass for good, and she literally put me in a choke hold and pulled her hair off!”

  “W-what?!”

  “Yeah! See?” and he lifted his sleeves to show fresh red scratches running down his forearms, moving his face closer to show a few marks at his jaw. Mina had never been more appalled, and so…angry. She was angry beyond words and knew she would explode, destroying all in her path to get to Greta and let her have her signature body flip and forehead jab that had knocked every one of her opponents out cold.

  Her hands trembled, but she realized Aaron needed someone to tend to him.

  “God, she’s insane,” she breathed out the redness in her cheeks and dragged him into the kitchen where he guided her to where the first aid kit was. She grabbed it from within a cabinet under the sink and hopped onto the stool next to his, popping the lid open and getting to work.

  “How’d you get her off of you?”

  “Well,” he started as she reached up with a cotton ba
ll soaked in alcohol, “I – ow – got out of the car and dragged her out from her side and carried her over to her porch and dumped her there. Ran back to the car and made a run for it. Never am I dealing with her ever again. She can forget me offering her any form of protection or assistance from now on.”

  “She needs help, Aaron,” Mina said softly, an odd wave of sympathy overtaking her anger, “She needs to see a therapist or something. Serious anger issues.”

  “Her whole family is that way,” he said, “and she’s already tried for therapy. This is still a lot better than before, but it doesn’t seem like she wants to go further beyond it.”

  “I just hope things go right for all of us,” she finished, and dabbed away at his forearm.

  “You seem a little down today,” he noted, “is everything okay?”

  “Hmm?” her head shot up to meet his gaze, “Yeah! All’s good,” she went back to work, “I caught up with her work and set it aside earlier than I thought I would have. Gale showed me the studio you had cleaned up for me at the back and I’ve gotten everything in order there. It’s wonderful, really. You should see the little hammock I made there. I also strung up the place with fairy lights and it’s really relaxing to be there once it’s dark. Also, I-”

  “Mina,” he said softly, lifting her face to meet his chin, “you’re rambling.”

  “Oh, am I? I thought I was usually very talkative so this is kinda new to hear from y-”

  “What happened?” he prodded gently, “Is everything okay?”

  She nodded vigorously enough for him to let go of her face, and she started packing up the kit. She moved to put it away, “I’ll heat up the food for us.”

  “It’s warm enough,” he claimed as his hand shot out to grab her from passing by him. He pulled her back and held her cheek, forcing her to look at him, “Now tell me what’s wrong.”

  She stared into each of his eyes, trying to come up with anything to get away. She didn’t want to put him through this just yet. It had been a tiring day.

  “Tell me,” he ordered. She sighed and settled her cheek into his palm, face contorting in disdain.