THE BADASS BILLIONAIRE'S SURROGATE

CHAPTER 49

The next morning, Evan woke up late. She continued to sleep until the late hours of the morning. Tired, she stretched then tensed as her body ached. Smiling, she reached over to the other side of the bed. If it had been once warm, the warmth wasn't there anymore. It was cold. Her eyes opened in apprehension as she looked everywhere for the man she had just spent the night with. Managing to drag herself off the bed, she went to the bathroom, then the kitchen and finally the living room.... he wasn't there. Jason Valdez had once again left her. Searing pain tore at her heart. She wouldn't let that bother her. She needed to leave his apartment early. There was no point staying where she wasn't wanted. Why did he always do this?

Feeling dirty, she went to the bathroom to draw herself a warm bath. As she washed thoroughly in the tub, memories of last night flooded her. She couldn't remember the last time sex had felt this good. Angry at herself for thinking such, she sponged herself until her pale skin reddened. Then she came out and dressed up hurriedly. Her gaze fell on the bedspread that had witnessed so much of their lovemaking. A sad tune started to play in her head. Annoyed, she packed the spread and dumped them in the laundry machine. She added the detergent and timed the machine. While waiting for the device to clean the stains, she went about packing her things.

Suddenly feeling the urge to eat and craving some fruits, she opened the fridge. Instead, the fruit salad Jason had brought in last night stared at her. Still upset, she ignored it but then reached for it. She took a reluctant bite and closed her eyes in ecstasy. "Hmmmmm." Loving the taste, she sat down to eat.

The meal made her heavy, and she strolled to the dishwasher. The clothes were already washed so she aired the them in the laundry machine. Once back, she looked everywhere. Sure there was nothing more to do, she took her bag and began to head out. At the door, she stumbled by a rigid body. Though shocked, she knew before looking up who it was as she found herself staring into cold blue eyes.

"Where do you think you're going?" Jason asked.

Exhausted, emotionally drained, heavy, with hormones running wild, Evangeline burst into tears. Jason did all he could to calm her down. But even then, she continued to cry in heavy sobs. When she quietened a little, she smiled through swollen eyes at him.

Apologizing, she smiled at him again. "I'm sorry, it must be the hormones."

He didn't even know how to respond to that. Should he ask why she was leaving? What if that makes her cry again? "You were leaving." He decided to pry, stilling himself for whatever she would say to him.

"I thought you'd left again."

Oh! "I just went to sort some things out in the office. I did promise you a nice weekend and I intend to make it worth it" he assured. "Even though you cancelled on me."

She forced herself to look at him. He looked like he was in a good mood. Perhaps it was time they talked about this thing growing between them. She held his hand and stood up, pulling him gently with her. She made them sit down on the couch facing each other, still holding hands, "Do you feel guilty about what's going on between us?"

He looked surprised, though he knew he hadn't handled their relationship well too, "No." He replied."Do you?"

"But you looked guilty and wouldn't even talk to me after the vehicle trailing me. Then we made love and I don't even know what to think anymore."

Looking at her, he could see that she did look confused, "I'm sorry. This is going to hurt but I'll be honest with you, okay?" She nodded and he sighed heavily, "Yes, I did feel guilty when we first kissed." She pulled away but he held on, "Really?" He asked her, looking straight into her lovely eyes, "If it were you, wouldn't you have done the same? My wife is lying barely cold in her casket. I felt guilty as charged."

She nodded, it probably was too soon. Things were going too fast. "True."

"But then again, I can't help how I feel around you" he smiled, "I like you. Like a lot and I don't know what this is. But I'm willing to see where it goes. Do you?" when she said nothing, he said "I mean it's a lot to take in. first you have my baby. Now this. I won't want to impose. And I'm sure Ellen would have wanted this. She wants me happy. She's have done this for me if it were in her powers." He looked at her dreamily and Evan knew he was thinking about his late wife at that moment. "She is just that kind of woman. Selfless." He sighed, the dreamy look was gone. "I'm guessing it was the realization that she would have wanted this that helped me find peace with what we have going on"

"Okay." Evangeline replied, "I'm happy you made your peace with it. Though, it's fast, I must say."

"Tell me about it." He murmured, trailing kisses on her arm. "There's also Logan too. I kept withdrawing, hoping not to butt into your relationship. We never did say anything about him."

"Forget Logan." She squirmed as he kissed her palm, "We're done."

"You sure about that?"

The way he asked made her force him to look at her. He knew something, "What is it?"

"With the way he drove here like a maniac when he saw us kissing at your place?" He smirked

"You saw him!"

"Yes, I did." He confessed, "I just figured you two needed space to talk. That's why I didn't come back." Then he murmured, "Even though it almost killed me not to."

She smiled, "Well, we're over. We have been for a while now."

He looked at her cheerfully, "How that makes me happy." He said in a sing song voice. Evan laughed happily as he pulled her in for a kiss. Her phone started ringing. She pulled away and almost screamed as she picked, "Seriously, Adriana you have the worst timing for calling." She said to her sister. Listening, she stared wide-eyed. When she ended the call, she turned to Jason.

He took the words right out of her mouth, "Your visit has been extended." He said, "You are staying with me."

"You knew?"

"It's part of the reason I left you in bed this morning. It appears we need to tighten security. Don't panic." He added as she looked frail, "My men are right outside. We are in this together."

"Okay, tell me everything. Everyone's been holding out on me."

CHAPTER 50

When Logan Thames walked into the office that day, he had no idea such news awaited him. As he stepped out of the house that morning, he stopped by his favourite café for a cup of cappuccino. His driver drove him to his office quickly. On his way to his desk, he stopped by his accountant's office to speak with him first before settling down at his desk. The man scurried to his feet as he saw his boss walk in. "Did you get the transfer scheduled for today by MONASK?" He asked the man, who nodded.

"Alright. But the next time you want to go AWOL, be kind enough to leave a number I can reach."

"I'm sorry, sir." He apologised humbly. "It was unexpected at that time of the day."

"As I said, leave a number. If I didn't have the banker's contact, what would have happened to my client? You don't suppose I should cancel the deal or delay them so they can pick someone else to do their bidding next time, which by the way always fetch me millions."

"I'm sorry, sir." He apologised again, this time looking sober

"Send me the file later." Logan told him as he walked out of the man's office and went to his. He was barely seated five minutes when his security head came in. "Hello, Anderson." He replied to the gentleman's greeting, "Anything?" He asked then offered him the seat opposite him.

Smiling, the man stated his mission, "Remember that account we planted a bug in years ago?"

Logan smiled at the man seated across his table. It wasn't a good smile. Anderson had been with him far longer than any of his staff. He had been with him since he started his business. The man was a nerd from day one. He was one of the smartest computer hacker. Plant a bug on a system and Anders will fish it out. And if there's any virus on the system, trust Anders to work around it. There was no information he couldn't get out of the computer, even when the system is burnt or it crashes. He was that good. However, there was just one thing he had failed at, in all the years they walked together. Somehow, now he was referring to that singular fail.

"You mean the account you couldn't track?" He asked intentionally being harsh. That account had swallowed his millions of dollars. There was nothing sweet about the memory. He wasn't about to relive it.

"Yes." Anderson answered hoping his boss would be a bit optimistic, he added, "That very one."

Logan closed his laptop and looked at him pointedly, his polite smile was replaced by a menacing gaze "What about it?" Then he adjusted himself. "And before you tell me sad tales, you would do yourself a whole world of good to know that my broken heart can't take another sad tale."

Anderson adjusted himself too, making sure to move his seat back, "It's active again." He announced.

"Okay?" He asked, waiting for him to elaborate.

"Okay, it appears the account wasn't closed like we assumed. We couldn't trace it because we thought the money there was drained and the account, gone or closed. But from what happened early hours of this morning, the account is very much functioning." He explained.

"Go on." Logan urged, looking at Anders with interest.

"So whoever owns the account runs it in seconds as a dormant account once it's inactive..." The look on Logan's face was anything but clear. He didn't understand a thing he had just heard, "Here's what I mean. When money is sent into the account, it's active for the few minutes the transaction takes place. After the transaction, the account goes blind again. Whoever is tracking it down after that cannot find it. It's kind of like..."

"Like you auto set the account so it auto-wipes whatever information you want deleted?"

"Yes." Anders jumped excitedly.

"Who moved money in there?"

"I couldn't track that." He said sadly, "But it was done this morning and a huge amount of money was involved, I'm talking millions of dollars."

Logan paused to think. Could that be Jason Valdez? "That son of a bitch." He hissed

Shaking his head, Anders stopped his boss. "No, sir." He sat down properly, knowing his boss wasn't ready for this. They had both assumed Mr. Valdez had swindled them. But from what he saw this morning, they were wrong. "I couldn't track who runs the account but I could track Mr. Valdez. He is as much a victim as you are, sir." He said blandly, "He didn't do it" he pushed the file to him and stood up to show him the IPO address the money came from. "From this information, the money was wired from a laptop at China. Mr. Valdez would have to be in China to pull this off. Unless of course his men did it. but trust me, neither he nor his men did this. It's far bigger. Plus, the money was moved from an offshore account. The owner is smart too. Leaving no traces to himself. But it's not the Valdez either."

"How are you so sure?"

"I happen to know the pattern his techs guy uses. Don't ask me how." He added.

"I won't even bother."

"I worked with him too, remember?" they had all executed the projects back then together. As a nerd, they had both appreciated each other's work and learned a thing or two from each other. Now, their working for bosses who no longer see eye to eye had forced them apart. Though, once or twice, they've shred vital information.

"I know his tricks as he knows mine. Even if the account was for the Valdez and it can't be traced, I would have seen his programs and know who..." He paused looking for the right word, something his boss would get. "Lace it." He smiled at his own choice of words, "I would have noticed it had it been him."

Logan leaned back on his chair pondering over what he just heard. If Jason hadn't seen the money, why did he have him released back then? He looked at Anderson, who nodded in affirmative that the information was legit. He didn't know if he could trust his nerd on this one. "Damn." He hit the table. "So, the account is dormant again now?"

"It is. But the next time it's active, we will have solid information. We're in on them, quietly."

Something bothered him, "But why now? After all these years, why now?" He asked no one in particular.

"I'm not sure, but I think the money moved into the account was too large to be left untouched for long. It will be moved again. Soon."

"Brilliant. That's good." Then he told Anders, "Guess we need to talk with that son of a bitch."

"Yes. He could have a better insight." Agreed Anders, hoping he could swipe notes with Valdez computer analyst too.

"Okay. Leave this with me. But still, you should double-check. I wouldn't want to go to him uncertain."

"Sure, boss." He replied and took his leave.

CHAPTER 51

Adriana tiptoed out of the room, thinking her kids were asleep. It had been a very exhausting day, one without Noah in the picture. She had hoped he would reach out, call, or something, but it's been silent for three days now. Having tucked the kids in bed, she yawned and started to leave but was barely out when they sat up. Not that she saw them. Her back was turned to the twins.

"I can't sleep mom." Ethan called, rubbing his eyes.

Their mother stood rigidly in the middle of the room, trying desperately not to sigh out loud. She turned back to see both kids seated on their bed and the first thought that crossed her mind was, 'Noah could have handled this better'

"Kids?" She questioned walking back into the room, also putting on an act. She hopped like a frog back to them. They kids smiled at her.

"I can't sleep, mom." Ethan repeated himself when she got to his bed, "Neither can I" Elizabeth said too.

'Not tonight' she muttered under her breath. Elizabeth immediately left her bed and joined her twin and her mother on Ethan's, her eyes were wide with expectations. Adriana's eyes grew wide at what they wanted, "No, no. not tonight." She said shaking her head, trying to dissuaded them but they didn't look like they would budge.

"Please" Ethan pleaded. "Mom, it's been a while." Elizabeth pleaded too.

"It's way past your bed time. I can't tell any story." She was adamant.

The kids looked at her with sad eyes, "Just one." Ethan pleaded again.

She couldn't do this to them, she thought. Moreover, the earlier they have this done, the better for everyone. Thankfully, they didn't ask about their father yet. She could at least do this and they wouldn't be asking questions she had no answer to "Okay, okay."

"Thank you, mom." Chorused both kids.

Like their father, she sat in between them. That was the best way to avoid them throwing punches at each other every slight chance they got. "So, which story are we interested in tonight?" she asked, rubbing their heads.

Both of them pondered over it for a while. "The lion and the elephant?" Elizabeth suggested. "No. why would you listen to that. She's told us this story over a hundred times." Ethan cautioned, "How about the dancing monkey?"

"Well, you've heard that a hundred times too. So, no" Elizabeth threw back at her brother.

Their mother watched them argue back and forth before coming in. "How about we listen to one you both haven't heard before?"

They nodded in agreement. "Yes. Like the one dad was telling us that night before she slept off." Ethan added. "We both slept off" Elizabeth said refusing to let him bully her again, "You slept off first."

"You were dozing, snoring like a cow. Moo, moo." Ethan teased. "And you like an elephant. Boo, boo." Elizabeth shrieked loudly.

"Kids." Adriana cautioned before they go into another bout of arguing contest. "What's the story anyway?"

"The owl." Ethan said. "The owl that sleeps at night." Elizabeth corrected proudly. Ethan gave her the evil eye.

Something about their constant fights made their mother worried, so she asked "If someone slaps your brother, what do you do?" she turned to Elizabeth.

"I'd slap the person hard." She was so serious about it that Adriana had no doubt she meant it. "He always does the slapping though." She smiled at Ethan who grinned happily

"I do that only when they disturb her, mom." He quickly chip in.

Their mother was happy to hear that. She was going to ask their teacher in school tomorrow to be sure. The way they were at each other's throat at home was ridiculous. She would hate that they do this outside. "Always have each other's back, okay?" she said and they both nodded then said, "Okay, mom"

She pulled them for a group hug. When they all let go, she smiled at them. "Now, do you remember where dad stopped?"

"Yes" they chorused. Ethan then said, "The owl fell sick and he slept all night. Then he woke up during the day when all his other owls were asleep."

"Yes. And he was bored. So he stepped out to find something to do. That was when he discovered the new world that was brighter and more colorful at daytime."

That was exactly where Noah had stopped the other night. She didn't let them know she heard the tale too. "I'll just pick it up from there." She said, "Well, when the owl stepped out and saw the world different, he fell in love with the new world. He wanted to share the details with the other owls, but they were asleep. Lost as to what to do, he tried waking them up. But they continued to sleep, pleading with him to let them play when they awake later."

"Sad." Elizabeth murmured.

"Yes. Finally, the owl got out to tour the world. He wanted to see as many things as he could so he could tell the others about it. So he went round the stream, noticed the difference in color of almost everything. He saw humans playing and talking. The humans never talked so loudly at night. He had never seen them talk. All they do was whisper. The owls had assumed, humans whisper."

The kids laughed.

"The owl saw the trees that they climbed at night. They were so tall, big and scary. Had they seen them these scary at night, he was sure they wouldn't climb them. But generally, the brighter world was better. You could see and hear everyone. It was safer. There was no danger of falling into trap like they do most nights. He had lost countless friends to human traps. He had a feeling that doesn't happen during the day when you could see everything clearly. There was also plenty to eat; fruits and food. He ate to the full."

"Wow!" Ethan smiled, "I'd prefer a brighter world any day over countless nights."

"Me too." Elizabeth said.

"Then it started getting dark and the other owls began to wake up. The owl who had witness daytime kept telling them how bright the world was. He told them stories of his adventure, which they found insane. The leader concluded his sickness had messed with his brain especially when he fell asleep while telling them his adventure"

The kids chuckled, "He must have been exhausted." Elizabeth said

"He was. But the owls didn't see it that way. They assumed he was still sick. They let him sleep while they went about their nightly duties. By the time they were done, it was almost day time and they started dozing off one after the other. Again the sick owl woke up. Since they were asleep, he began another tour of the world. He was quite sad that he couldn't make the others believe him. There was really no way to make them see this brighter world. So, he sat down by the stream watching the flowing water. And that night, while the others wake, he slept."

The kids yawned.

"This continued until one day, the owl saw some kids playing with a phone. He moved closer and saw the solution to his problem. He quickly made friends with a 'mini human' like he called them. His friend was an eight-year-old boy."

"Like us?" Ethan asked

"Yes, like you both. The boy helped him take pictures of the world as proof for his sleeping fellows. When they woke up, the owl presented them with a proof of the world. The other owls were amazed at how bright everywhere was. They decided to see things for themselves. That day, they chose not to sleep. And they stepped out in twos and threes to see the bright world. It was as they had seen on the phone. They were amazed."

When the kids yawned again, Adriana decided to let them go to bed. "We should stop here. But you should know the story just began from here."

"Really?" Elizabeth asked sleepily

"The owl had a proposal for the others," Their mother said, "But that is a story for another night."

"Okay, mom." Ethan said, "Thank you, mom." Elizabeth said. Their mother kissed them both on their heads and lifted Elizabeth out of bed. She placed her gently on her bed and covered her up. The young girl murmured her thanks and was soon asleep. Adriana turned to check on Ethan too. The little boy had slept. She pulled the duvet higher to cover his chest and neck then quietly walked out of the room.

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