“Are you ready?” Gerrick interrupted her thoughts.She nodded, picked up her bag, and walked toward the private jet that was parked near the runway.“Gabriel’s inside, I won’t be coming with you today … I’ll fly over there when everything is done over here,” he added.Gerrick had been Gabriel’s most trusted lawyer for 15 years. He was the one who was taking care of all his private dealings including Jamie’s divorce.“Okay … I’ll see you then,” she said and climbed the stairs up to board the plane.He waved at her from the bottom and got into a car right after.Gabriel was sitting in his chair, reading a book. She hadn’t said anything to him about the pregnancy, she didn’t know how to. She was starting to have second thoughts again. Maybe she didn’t have to tell him after all, maybe she’ll just raise the baby with Perry and tell the world she was surrogating for her gay friend. That would save a lot of drama.“Are you okay?” his deep voice seeped into her mind, he wasn’t even looking a

The morning sickness was occurring more frequently. She had lost her appetite almost completely. She couldn’t eat much of the food variation in the breakfast buffet. She went to the hotel pharmacy to buy some spearmint to keep her nausea down.She was in her short pants and tank top ready for a whole day at the beach. Soon she won’t fit into any of the clothes that she brought to the island. She couldn’t occupy her mind with that yet because the more pressing issue was to find a good OBGYN and figured out how she was going to let Gabriel know that she was pregnant. She couldn’t even let herself think how he would respond to it.“Focus,” she said to herself chewing on her bubble gum, she took a bottle of water and started the day. Gabriel was nowhere to be seen, the crew said he was there very early in the morning to check out the facility and then he left. She didn’t see him the whole day that day and it gave her a weird feeling like something was missing. She didn’t realize she was a

He looked like he had been deprived of sleep, like when he had been in his office for days when business was bad.“I need to talk to you in private,” his tone was demanding.“Is this not private enough for you?” she pointed around her.He took a deep breath, “No. It’s urgent that we speak in a private room.”“If you’re going to lash out at me about something, I’d rather not.”Eddie pinched the bridge of his nose, “Jamie, please … I don’t have time for your juvenile delinquency.”She threw her napkin on the table with a frustrated exhale, “Fine … we can talk in my room.” She stood up and walked out of the restaurant, and Eddie followed.“Ms. Knox, is there anything we can help you with?” Peter greeted her at the front of the restaurant, the staff had called him out of his office.She smiled, “No, I’m going to my room with my guest now, Peter, everything’s fine.”Peter glanced at Eddie, “And who may I ask your guest is? Mr. Love specifically instructed there’s no guest allowed in the Pr

She dried her hair and put on her robe. There was a subtle knock on the door. Room service? Then she remembered she hadn’t ordered anything, although she should have. She hadn’t eaten anything since her interrupted lunch. She walked to the door and opened it.He stood by the door with both arms stretched against the frame. Those light brown eyes were looking straight at her. She breathed his scent, he smelled the way he did that morning.“Gabriel? I thought you were in Lancaster?”“I turned around,” he said.He walked into the room and she closed the door behind him.“Are you alright?” he asked.“Yeah … I’m fine,” she tidied up her wet hair.“I saw him force himself on you,” he told her.She stood silent, not knowing how to respond.“Are you alright?” he made sure.She nodded, “I’m alright.”He stepped forward and stood only an inch away from her, “Are you sure?” his eyes darkened. What he saw that day scared him.She felt his fear. Fear of her being harmed right in front of his eyes,

“And then he stormed out of the room, he said he was going to take care of it … God! What the fuck do you think he means by that?” she was immediately on the phone with Perry. Perry thought for a moment, “I really don’t know … although, I didn’t expect him to actually think of marrying you, it seemed like a stand-up thing to do that he wants to take responsibility for it.” “He wants to take control of it, don’t get any ideas just yet, the way he threatened me … he wants the baby at all cost, he’s more worried of what trouble he might get into if he has an illegitimate child, he’s worried that I would extort him because of it, the easiest way to handle the problem is to marry me … and God knows what would happen to me after that?” she was skeptical. Perry was silent again, “You get that vibe out of him, and yet you slept with him just last night?” “Well … no … he wasn’t like that before … I don’t know, he’s unpredictable … I can’t read him, you know? One day he seemed so nice and w