Sebastian: A BWWM Surrogate Romance (Members From Money Book 42) by Katie Dowe, BWWM Club (6)

Chapter 6

Mia stood just in the doorway and looked at him. He was propped up against the pillows and had his eyes closed. The doctors had told her that she need to keep the meeting to a minimum time and it was up to her to enforce it because Sebastian wasn't listening to them. She'd smiled at that. She should have told them that Sebastian didn't listen to anyone. He opened his eyes suddenly and turned to look at her.

“How long have you been standing there?” His deep voice, with its touch of authority, caused her to tremble a little.

“Just now,” she walked in and closed the doors behind her. “I was wondering if I should disturb you.”
“I called you, remember?” His piercing grey eyes wandered over her and Mia felt the uncomfortable feeling that he was looking for something. She was wearing a pin-striped jacket suit and a white blouse so she was sure she was well covered. Her generous breasts were made more so because of the pregnancy.

“You did.” She pulled up a chair and looked at him. “You don’t look bad for a guy who just came out of coma.”

He laughed at that and she felt her breath catch at the whiteness of his teeth against his tanned skin. “I just realized how much I missed your forthrightness. How are you?”
“I'm fine. How are you?”

“Good, considering that I just came out of a six-month-long sleep. I feel like I've missed out on a lot.”
“Not much,” she told him briskly as she fished out her laptop and booted it up. She'd also brought his iPod as well and handed it to him. She'd sent everything she had to his email. “Except that the board has been making some noises and you already know that. This one is new.”
He frowned as he looked at the email. “A competitor is taking us to court?”
“Claiming that we stole their idea for the software we came out with in December.”
“That’s a damn lie! I worked on that software myself.”

“Yes I know that, but the similarities between ours and theirs are uncanny. So either they stole ours or—”
“Someone in the R&D department is in their pockets,” he concluded grimly. “Get me everything—”
“Already there. Everyone who worked on the development and everything about the competitor. We hired a new hotshot several months ago. He's worth looking into.”

He looked up and stared at her. “You should get a raise.”
“I've already given myself a fifteen percent raise,” she told him without batting an eye.

His lips curled in amusement. “The standard amount is ten percent.”
“I'm anything but standard,” she told him matter-of-factly.

“You're right.” He nodded as his grey eyes swept over her face. “You look different.”

Mia’s heart jumped at that. “You just came out of a coma so everything looks different.”
He stared at her for a moment longer and nodded. “Maybe you're right.” He looked back down at his device. “I'm going to need Simon.”

*****

“You were right.” Mia walked into Sandra’s large and impressive office the moment she got back. “He noticed something.”
Sandra gestured for Mia to take a seat but she remained standing. She'd left the hospital just as Simon was going in. The lawyer had given her a telling glance, which she'd ignored.

“What did he say?” she asked urgently.

“He kept telling me how different I looked.”
“And what did you say?”
“I told him it was the coma.” Mia released the single button of her jacket and took it off. “Do I look different?”

Sandra stared at the beautiful woman in front of her carefully. “They say that a pregnant woman carries a glow around them. Your complexion has always been flawless but now it's like it's gotten paler. Your breasts are certainly bigger, which I hate you for by the way. I look like a boy.”
“Concentrate on the matter at hand Sandra,” she said impatiently. “We have to tell him before he finds out some other way.”

She took a deep breath and leaned back against her chair. “He's coming home tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow is a good time.”
“I can't tell him by myself Mia.”

“What? You are afraid that he's going to strangle you?” Mia asked impatiently. “You're the one who's going to have to break the news to him. He's blood. I'm nothing to him other than an excellent assistant. I'm replaceable. You're not.”
“You're the woman carrying his child so I don’t think you're replaceable anymore,” Sandra sighed heavily. “We can tell him all the reasons why we did it.”
“And none of them will matter when he thinks that we manipulated the circumstances.” Mia finally sat. “He isn't going to take too kindly to what we did, Sandra.”

“Stop trying to scare me more,” Sandra told her as she pressed her hands together on top of the desk. “He's going to kill us.”
“Not exactly, but it will feel like murder when he's done.” Mia said a little grimly. “Tell him, Sandra.”

*****

But she didn't get a chance to tell him.

“Will you please sit?” Sandra pleaded with him the night she brought him home to the manor. He'd gotten home two hours earlier and she'd called to check on him and had been told that he was sleeping. She'd left the office early so that she could see how he was doing and talk to him about what they'd done. He'd eaten before she came and had been sitting in the living room with the laptop open before him. He'd been running things from his hospital bed and now that he was home it was even worse. He had Mia on her feet the entire time and Simon almost tied to his side as they tried to sort out the legal matter.

“Go to bed Sandra.” His voice was autocratic and he barely looked at her. She'd finished her meal and had come into his sitting room where he'd been on the phone and pacing as he spoke. “I'm on the line with Japan.”
“We need to talk.”
“We'll talk tomorrow,” he told her briefly as he returned to the call. “Close the doors behind you.” Without looking if she did he switched the conversation into Japanese. She walked out and closed the doors behind her, standing there for a moment before heading to her suite of rooms. She went into her bedroom and jumped as she saw Simon seated on her sofa.

“Simon what are you doing here?” she asked in surprise. “What if Sebastian finds out you've been coming here?’

“Maybe it's time he does,” Simon told her mildly. He'd taken off his jacket and tie and had helped himself to some of her scotch. “He's going to find out sooner or later Sandra, and it's better he hears it from one of us.”

“Too many secrets.” She sat next to him and took the glass, gulping down the liquid before handing it back to him.
“You're going to have to figure out a way to tell him about the pregnancy. He's going to find out eventually. It's not something you can hide for long,” he told her.

“I know,” she sighed. “But he's so busy all the time and refuses to sit for a moment so I can talk to him. He's on full charge for a man who's been asleep for the past six months.”

“You know Sebastian.”

“I have to find a way to tell him, Simon. He's going to be so mad at me, at us. I'm afraid of losing him.”
“You won't lose him.” Simon put aside his glass and turned to face her. “He's going to be mad for a while and then he'll warm up to the idea of having a child.”
“But how long will he be mad for? Sebastian has a way of freezing people out when they do something wrong. I love my brother, but he isn't the most forgiving person.”
“No, he isn't, and I'm afraid I'm going to be caught in the cross hairs. He's going to ask me if I knew and I'm going to have to be honest with him,” he said grimly as he took put the glass to his lips. “Tell him soon Sandra, before he finds out from someone else.”

She nodded and stared down at her clasped hands. “I'll find a way to tell him tomorrow.”

*****

“Michael, I'll be with you in a second. Have a seat.” Sebastian waved the man over to one of the chairs as he finished the call he was making. It was late afternoon and even though he wasn't back in the office, he'd been working from his home office and making endless calls, most of them to Mia. He hung up the phone and turned to look at his friend. “You look tense.”

“I'm a doctor after all. It comes with the territory,” he said with a smile. “How are you?”
“Good as new.” Sebastian leaned back in his chair and studied the older man. “You look nervous.”
Michael laughed a little. “You get into people’s head man.”
“I'm an acute business man who has a penchant for reading people. What’s going on?” They both looked over at the knock on the door. Sebastian gestured for the maid to put the refreshments on the table. “Care to join me?”

Michael shook his head. “I just had a heavy lunch.”
“You don’t mind if I eat?” Sebastian asked him.

“Of course not.”
He watched as Sebastian made his way to the tray and poured coffee before taking it back to his desk. “I thought you were going to eat?”

“Later. First I want to know what has you so twitchy.”

Michael took a deep breath. “I tried to stop them from doing it.”
“Who are you talking about?” Sebastian asked with a frown.
“Oh, Jesus!” Michael got to his feet in agitation. “They haven't told you? I thought that was why you called me.”

“Never mind why I called you.” Sebastian put his cup down. “What are you talking about?”

Michael looked like he wished to God that he was anywhere else but there at that moment. He sat back down and told Sebastian what he'd done.

The silence in the large office had Michael sweating profusely. “I was forced to,” he murmured desperately.

“You weren't forced to do a damned thing,” Sebastian told him coldly.

“I just want to know that you won't hold me liable.”
Sebastian gave him a cool look. “You're afraid of being sued.”
“We're friends—”
“I'm not going to sue you, man. Thanks for telling me.”

“What are you going to do?” Michael asked, getting to his feet.

“I'll deal with it my own way.”
“They really thought you wouldn't make it.”
He nodded. “Anything else?”

“No.” he said nervously.

“See yourself out.”
Sebastian leaned back against the chair and closed his eyes wearily. His first thought was to call both Sandra and Mia and confront them with what he knew, but he was going to play it another way. He was going to see how long it was going to take for them to come to him. He'd noticed the difference in Mia's appearance whens she went to the hospital. There had been something different about her and he couldn't put his finger on it. And his sister had been behaving strangely, as if something was weighing on her mind. His mouth tightened grimly. He reached for his phone. “Michael? Please don’t let them know that you told me.”

*****

He avoided her. The entire weekend he pretended that he was too busy to talk to her and he avoided her. There was a function he had to be at on Friday night and at first he thought he wasn't going but then decided to at the last minute. He had a press conference to assure the public that he was okay and had all his faculties were working and on Saturday he had every intention of going to the club to spend the day and night. They had something planned for him: a 'return from the dead party’ as they called it.

“Hey, Bell!” A group of members shouted as he came walking into the elegant and spacious front room of the Elite Club. “Good to have you back in one piece, man,” a friend called out to him.

“It’s good to be here.” He looked around and his grey eyes sized up the crowd. He'd left early that morning after coming in late from the function, where he'd been the center of attention. Sandra had been there as well but he'd managed not to be alone with her. He'd seen the woman he'd had the last relationship with and had avoided her as well. He was in a situation where he didn't know where he stood and what to do about it. He had spoken to Mia several times during the day and had no idea how to talk to her. She was carrying his child inside her and he felt strange about it. It put a whole new spin on things. He was still figuring out what to do.

“How about starting with drinks?” Jeremy asked as he wandered over to clap him on his back. “It’s really good to see you, man.”

“Thanks. I see you got a crowd of guys to show up,” Sebastian murmured.

“They all wanted to see the miracle firsthand,” Jeremy said with a grin as they went over to one of the bars. “We're heading outdoors for a tournament as soon as you finish drinking.”
All throughout the time he sat at the bar he was busy chatting with the different members who came to talk about him being in a coma. It was during a lull that he noticed the tall dark-haired man walking towards him.

“Sebastian,” Gabriel Bryant gave a cool nod as he took a seat next to him. “You beat the odds.”

“It seems that way.” Sebastian sipped his drink and stared at the man. He'd been caught up with what had been going on and he'd also seen the pictures that had been taken of him with Mia only a week earlier. He'd looked at them with mild interest at first and had admired the woman that was his right hand for so many years now. But now that he knew what was happening he felt a tiny twinge of something else.

“How's Mia?” the man asked him with a slight smile.

Sebastian stiffened and willed the flash of anger away. “Why don’t you tell me? You seem to be friends, or is it a little more than that?”

“I want it to be more than that but she's hesitant.” He smiled a little insolently as he toasted Sebastian. “But I'm very persistent.”
“Come on, Gabriel,” Sebastian scoffed. “A man like you knows how to get a woman to change her mind. Don’t tell me that you're slipping?”

Gabriel stared at him for a moment and then smiled. “You're right. I think maybe I haven't allowed her to see the real charm that makes me irresistible. I think I should try harder and not ease back.”

Sebastian tossed back the drink. “Do whatever you want, man. She's just an employee.”

“Is she?” Gabriel’s voice arrested him as he got to his feet. “She's a beautiful woman; as a matter-of-fact she's one of the sexiest women I've ever seen. I just wonder how on earth you never saw that. Are you blind, man?”

Sebastian felt his fingers curl into fists as he looked at the insolent man sitting there. “As long as her personal life doesn't affect what she does at the office then I have no problem with what she does. And as I said, before I don’t get involved with my employees.”

“So I'm free to pursue her?” Gabriel persisted.

Sebastian felt irrational anger and something else sweep through his body as he stared at Gabriel. He wanted to shout to him that she was carrying his child inside her and that Gabriel had better not touch her. But he restrained himself. “You're free to do whatever you want,” he told him coldly before he strode away.

*****

“Have you told him yet?” Beres asked her as soon as they sat down to eat the dinner she'd prepared. She'd expected Sandra to tell him and had been on tenterhooks waiting, but so far the woman hadn't found the courage to do so. And Sebastian was going back to the office tomorrow. She was all nerves.

Mia passed him the plate with the crispy chicken wings. She was now able to tolerate chicken but was still unable to eat any other meat. “No.”
“Baby girl, what are you waiting for?” he asked her in exasperation.

“He just came out on Thursday, Uncle B. We have to give him time.”
“Time to find out other than hearing it from you? Girl you look pregnant.”
“I do not!” she retorted. “I'm not showing.”
“You might not be showing but there's something different about you. You have that pregnant woman glow and your bosom has filled out. You were the one who told me that your employer is very perceptive so no doubt he's going to find out soon enough,” he pointed out as he bit into the delicious crispy fried chicken. “Tell him before he does,” he added, pointing the drumstick at her.

Mia took a shaky breath. “Remember I told you that I'm not afraid of anyone? I'm afraid of Sebastian.”
The man frowned at her. “Is this man going to hurt you physically?”
“No!” she said with a laugh. “Nothing like that!” She tore the skin off the chicken breast and played with it for a minute. “He's scary when he's angry, Uncle B. He doesn't get overtly mad so that you can see that he is. He has this look on his face like ice covering the surface and he's unpredictable when he gets like that. He might fire me just to spite me or keep me there and make me suffer. Sandra and I took the choice away from him and no one does that to Sebastian.” She closed her eyes briefly. “I love him so I'm vulnerable and he's going to find out that I didn't do it for money. He is going to find out that I did it because I'm in love with him and when he does I'm going to have to see him parade those women in front of me so that he can prove a point.”

Beres stared at her for a moment. “That’s the easy part.”
“What?” Mia asked as she looked at him.

“You've been dealing with that part of it for a very long time and it never fazed you before. You're going to handle it like a pro because you are one.”

“I'm not so sure I will be able to do that when I know he knows why I did it,” she admitted.

He leaned forward. “I believe in you girl,” he said gruffly. “You're strong and don't allow anything in life to beat you down. You'll make him realize what he had in front of him the entire time.”
She stared at him and smiled at that as she ate the meat. “You're right, of course. When he finds out he isn't going to be able to ignore me.”