The Baby Contract
By
Shelli Quinn
Chapter One
Pierce Fabrizio sat quietly observing from a corner of the quaint little dining area in Landry’s Landing Inn. He watched as the petite African-American woman raced around the dining room serving guest. She was quite attractive. Her dark brown, wavy hair was pulled into a messy ponytail, at the back of her head. Her light maple skin looked silky smooth. And even though she had
to be bone tired, she wore a bright smile that made her face glow.
Her honey colored, almond shaped eyes sparkled as she interacted with each guest. The petite beauty made her way over to his table. Her smile made her features more breathtaking up close.
“I'm sorry to keep you waiting we're a bit shorthanded, there's just three of us tonight.” She said with dazzling smile.
“No need to apologize, I see how busy you are.” He replied with a smile.
“Thank you for your patience, now what can I get for you tonight?”
Pierce wasn't sure if this was the time to bring up the subject of what had brought him here, but he needed to talk to her. He was pretty sure she was the woman he was looking for. She looked like the woman in the photo that his brother Giovanni had given him. Gio was a great private investigator and his best friend.
“Well Ms. Landry I'm actually her to talk to you, when you have a free moment to sit with me.”
Her eyes hardened as she responded to his words. “Look if you're here for the reason I think you are, you can forget it I told the last guy that was here, this Inn is not for sale at any price. Now if that's all you can leave.” She said the last few words through clenched teeth.
She turned to walk away but he stopped her with his next statement. “No it isn't about the Inn, it's more of a personal matter, and we should probably talk in private.”
Egypt Landry turned around and gazed at the man sitting in front of her through narrowed eyes. She didn't remember seeing him before. He was extremely handsome. His dark hair brushed the collar of his jacket. His light gray eyes were a shocking contrast against his olive complexion. His cleft chin added to his gorgeous features.
The little she could see of his body with him sitting at the table was quite nice. His wide shoulders were accented nicely by the expensively, elegant charcoal suit he wore. The light gray dress shirt was open at the neck, revealing more of his sun kissed skin.
Not to mention that killer smile of his, that caused butterflies in her stomach. At least she thought it was butterflies, it could be the baby she was carrying. Now seven months along the baby had become extremely active, making his or her presences known.
She was going to be a mother. She had no business lusting after some strange man she didn't even know. Well Gigi girl you’re pregnant not dead, you can look just don't touch.
If someone like him had been around seven months ago then maybe artificial insemination
wouldn’t have been necessary.
“It may be awhile before I can take a break, Mr... Uh, I'm sorry I didn't catch your name.” He extended one of his large hands.
“Pierce Fabrizio.”
She glanced at his hands before accepting it in a handshake. It was like grabbing a live wire.
Electrifying.
The current traveled from her hand all the way up her arm and spread through her entire body.
“I understand that you’re very busy so I'll order and then whenever you have a free moment we
can talk if that's alright with you Ms. Landry?”
She found herself mesmerized by the slight accent in his sexy voice. Blinking rapidly she slipped her hand from his as she replied. “Please call me Gigi and that will be fine things should quiet down in a bit.”
He smiled. “I thought your name was Egypt?” She returned his smile with one of her own.
“It is but everyone calls me Gigi, because that’s all my little sister Asia could manage when we were kids so it just kind of stuck.” She answered laughing softly.
His breath hitched at the sound of her soft laughter he again noticed how breathtaking her smile was. She was beautiful. The glow she wore must be due to her being pregnant. She was the sexiest pregnant woman he'd ever seen. Mercy, could he get struck down for lusting after a pregnant woman.
“Well Gigi, I'll have a large iced tea.”
“You got it I'll be right back with your iced tea.”
As she walked away he couldn't take his eyes off the gentle sway of her hips. He was going to burn in hell for the thoughts running through his head. He was imaging all kinds of things he wanted to do to her.
When Gigi brought him his drink, he noticed that she looked a little flushed. After placing the glass on the table she placed a hand on her protruding stomach and began to rub. She swayed slightly as she grabbed the back of the empty chair in front of him with her free hand. Pierce was on his feet and at her side in an instant.
“Are you alright, Gigi?” He asked with a concerned frown.
She gazed up at him as she answered. “Yes I'm just tired and oh my goodness you're tall.” She finished wide eyed. He laughed at her comment as he helped her into the chair in front of her.
“It just seems that way because you’re so petite.” Gigi smiled at him again.
“Thank you for not calling me short, at five feet five, I get a lot of short jokes, but I like petite better.”
“Well you are very welcome, anything to put a smile on your beautiful face.”
She looked away, before replying. “If you keep that up I may not let you leave, you’re good for my ego. By the way just how tall are you?”
Before he could respond one of the other members of the staff came over to see if she was alright. After assuring them that she was just a bit tired, they suggested that she call it quits because they could handle things for the rest of the night.
Pierce agreed with that suggestion and said he'd make sure she took it easy for the rest of the night. When she began to protest, saying that she could take care of herself he simple replied.
“Save your breath I intend to make sure you rest.”
“Why do you care, you don't even know me? And you haven’t answered my question?”
“I’m six, three and I may not know you yet, but I intend to get to know you!”
Egypt looked at him like he had lost his mind. Was this man crazy did he not realize that she was seven months pregnant? Maybe he had a thing for pregnant women.
“Wow! That’s pretty tall and uh, Mr. Fabrizio, you do realize that this is a baby in my belly, right?”
He flashed one of those killer smiles. “That's why I'm here.”
Oh Lord he is crazy! Was she going to have to kill him and get her sisters to help her hide his body?
Man what a waste of good looks.
He may be fine as hell, but obviously he was crazy as hell too.
“So you’re telling me that you’re here because of my baby, why?”
Pierce took the seat across from hers before answering her question.
“I had hoped to find a better way to have this conversation, but here goes. There was a mix up at the clinic where you had the insemination procedure done.”
“What do you mean there was a mix up? And how do you know about it and I don't? Who are you?”
He took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “The clinic contacted me because; the sperm they used was mine.”
Gigi started to hyperventilate, trying desperately to catch her breath. She lifted his glass of iced tea to her lips and drank,
consuming half the glass at once. Placing the half empty glass back on the table she stared at him with a look of confusion on her face.
“You mean....you're...I mean...you’re saying that you're...the...the...” As she let her voice trail off he finished her sentence for her.
“I'm the father of your baby, Gigi.”
Chapter Two
Gigi wanted to just dissolve into the floor. This stranger that she'd been lusting after only moments ago claimed to be the father of the baby that she was carrying. How could this be happening? When she'd gone to the fertility clinic over seven months ago, she had been assured that the sperm donors were anonymous and everything would be kept confidential.
Now she had a strange man here telling her that he was the father of her baby. Well too bad because she certainly couldn't return his sperm to him, now could she?
Gigi looked into his handsome face. “Well Mr. Fabrizio I'm not sure how you could possibly know that the child I'm carrying is yours but I'm going to need more than just your word for it.”
Mercy! He was one fine looking man.
Pierce reached into the inside pocket of his jacket and withdraw a bundle of folded papers. Anticipating that she would want proof of what he'd said, he had the clinic provide him with the appropriate documentation.
On the day that her procedure was performed his sperm was to be destroyed. He'd donated the sperm years ago when he'd thought about having a vasectomy. A decision that he'd seriously contemplated. Being a billionaire bachelor was not always easy.
At times woman just went out with you for a chance to trap someone like him into a loveless marriage.
Just the thought of the things women would do to get there claws in an eligible billionaire made him shudder. His ex-girlfriend was a prime example of how devious some women could be.
If it hadn't been for his brother Giovanni he could have been doomed, being married to a cold, heartless, gold digger whose only concern was for herself and his money.
Realizing that Gigi was patiently waiting for the documents he held in his hands. He unfolded the papers and handed them to her. After she'd read the first few pages she looked up at him with a shocked and dazed expression on her lovely face. She silently reached for his iced tea again and quickly drained the glass before placing it back on the table.
When she looked up, the look on her face was that of a woman who'd lost something precious and valuable. He could kick himself for the things that must be going through her mind right now. Before he could say anything she asked.
“So what is it that you want? I don't have any money if that's what this is about? I mean yes I have this Inn but it belongs to me and my sisters, it's also mortgaged to the max and if you think that you’re taking this baby when it's born then you'd better think again.”
This time it was his turn to look stunned.
“I have no intention of taking this baby away from you nor do I want your Inn, there's only one thing I want from you and I hope you'll hear me out before you say no.”
She gazed at him through narrowed eyes.
“Well Mr. Fabrizio, what is it that you want from me, if you don't mind me asking?”
Pierce flashed her one of his brilliant smiles hoping that would soften her to the suggestion he was about to make.
“When the clinic contacted me about this situation I was a bit shocked, after the shock wore off, I wanted to know how something like this could happen, and I didn't know if it was really a mistake or if it was planned.”
The look that crossed her face was that of a person who'd been insulted in the worst way.
“I realize that you don't know me, so I'll forgive that last comment and for your information Mr. Fabrizio, I don't play games I say what I mean and mean what I say, so you can be assured that if your sperm was used it was not my plan.”
Saying the last few words through clenched teeth as a deep frown covered her face.
Pierce noticed that even wearing a frown she was still an attractive woman. He knew the kind of person she was, his brother the private investigator checked her out thoroughly and he knew everything there was to know about her.
He knew she had three sisters that she was very close with. Two of them were by blood and one was her adopted sister. They'd lost both their parent in an accident when they were just teenagers. Their grandparents had been left to raise them. While they weren't rich, all four girls had graduated from college, thanks to the hard work of their grandparents.
Pierce knew that Egypt was the middle sister. He also knew she was a woman of integrity. She was honorable and honest. She was everything he wanted in a wife and mother of his children. Now if he could convince her to take a chance on a man like him.
Pierce was a cutthroat businessman and wasn't always honest to get what he wanted, a trait he'd learned from his father.
But he could give her and their child a good life. He couldn't promise her, his undying love but he could promise to make her happy.
Well as happy as one could be in a loveless marriage.
“I didn't mean to accuse you of anything I know the mix up wasn't of your doing, I'm here because I wanted you to know that I plan to be a part of our baby's life.”
Gigi's smile returned now as she replied. “I appreciate the fact that you want to be a father to my baby, and I'm sure we can make arrangements that will satisfy us both.”
Pierce sat up a bit straighter in his chair and returned her smile with one of his own.
“That's very kind of you, but I don't think you understand what I'm saying.”
Gigi raised one of her perfectly arched brows in a expression that would probably scare a
lesser man right out of his shoes, but whether she knew it or not he didn't intimidate easily.
“Then why don't you explain to me what you mean, Mr. Fabrizio?” She had a way of saying Mr. Fabrizio that made it sound more like an insult instead of just a name.
“I will and would you stop calling me Mr. Fabrizio like that, just call me Pierce.”
Gigi flattened her palms on the table.
“Why should I? That's your name isn't it? Look! Just tell me what you expect from me, while I still have an ounce of patience left.”
He was pretty certain she wasn't going to like what he said next. Taking a deep breath he exhaled slowly, as he ran a hand through his inky black hair.
“I plan for us to raise this baby, our baby together, under the same roof as husband and wife.”
Egypt almost fell off her chair in a fit of laughter. She laughed so hard she had tears rolling down her cheeks. People glanced over at the two of them to see what was going on. He must be out of his mind. He was a stranger it didn't matter that he was the baby's father; she'd just met him a few minutes ago.
She was final convinced that he really was crazy, either that or she was being punk'd. She glanced in his direction and saw that he was frowning and looking very annoyed. She stopped laughing.
“Are you done now?” Pierce bellowed through clenched teeth.
She covered her mouth with one of her hands to contain another fit of laughter that threaten to break free. She waved her free hand in front of herself to surrender.
“I'm sorry, you... you just caught me off guard with that under the same roof as husband and wife thing.” She said in a mocking voice, before continuing. She was trying hard not to laugh. “Really that was good, for a minute I thought you were serious.”
Pierce could not believe that she was still laughing. She thought he was joking with her.
“I am serious; I want us to get married.”
Her mouth gaped open from the serious look on his face. She recovered quickly.
“Are you crazy, we just met, how can we possibly get married? We're strangers, I mean you're a bit stranger than I am but that's beside the point.”
“Excuse me I'm strange, you’re the one that decided to have a stranger's baby, if it hadn’t been for the choices that you made, we wouldn't even be having th
is conversation now would we?”
He had her there. This was, because of the choices that she'd made. Now what? She hadn't planned to marry not after her last creep of a boyfriend, but she did want to be a mother that's why she'd decided on artificial insemination. Thinking that this was the only way, she wouldn't have to deal with a man's lying, conveying, sneaky habits. If she could’ve found a man that wasn't underhanded and was just a little bit trustworthy she would have happily chosen to marry him and have the baby she so desperately wanted.
Seeing as to how a good man was definitely hard to find. Now she was supposed to believe that this gorgeously, handsome man had dropped in her lap as the father of her child and he was offering marriage.
Yeah there has to be a catch somewhere. This didn't happen to woman like her.
“Okay what's the catch what do you get out of this marriage of convenience, I told you I don't have any money and this place won't pay for itself for years. Unless, are you gay?”
“What! No I'm not gay, and I don't remember saying anything about us having a marriage convenience, I said under the same roof as husband and wife.” He gazed at her through slightly hooded eyes as he licked his lips.
She gulped down a breath of air as her throat suddenly felt dry.
Chapter Three
Egypt could only stare at him, as she let his words sink into her brain.
This had to be a dream.
A man this hot couldn't really be here in her Inn trying to convince her to marry him. I mean sure the papers in her hand said that she was carrying his baby. Egypt imaged a baby with light gray eyes and silky black hair. A baby with his features would be beautiful.
When she'd chosen a donor or who she thought was the donor, her main request had been for a well educated, highly intelligent man at least six feet in height and attractive features. Race had not been a concern because these days most children were of mixed race, her father had been of mixed race and besides it's not like the father would be a part of her and the baby's life.
The Baby Contract ((The women of Landry's Landing and the Fabrizio men)) Page 1
