Page 1

Chapter 1

Latoya

(Toya)

“Listen, Caine doesn’t like it when you fake it. That will only take him out of his element. But trust me, you won’t have to fake anything dealing with him. My husband is well endowed, and this will be the best night of your life. Now remember, it will only happen once if things go right. So, I am going to go out there and get him started. Then you will come finish him off, and hopefully the deal will be done. Okay?”

I nodded nervously while my best friend Kharti sat cross legged at the foot of their bed. She was giving me instructions on how to make a baby with her husband and saying that out loud sounded crazy as hell.

Years ago, if someone had told me that Kharti would be married to Caine Essex and asking me to secretly carry his baby because they couldn’t make one, I would've laughed in their face and told them to stop with the bullshit.

Only now, our mission was to have a baby boy, and I get paid the kind of money that I’d never seen before. That made it very real and convinced me to agree to something that I never thought I would.

This secret surrogacy between Kharti, Caine, and me was put in place because his grandfather’s funeral home, successful car dealerships, laundromats, and restaurants could all go to Caine if he met the requirements of his grandfather’s will. Caine and Kharti had been trying to have a kid for some time, but from what I hear, it wasn’t successful. Kharti said she was coming to me because I’d been pregnant with two little boys before, who were both babies I’d given up for adoption at the ages of fifteen and sixteen. I told her that didn’t mean that I would have a boy again, but she insisted that we at least try. She said she was desperate, didn’t trust anyone else, and I was her last resort.

Caine first saw Kharti while she was crying over my brother’s casket at the Essex Funeral Home a year ago when Brice was murdered. Caine pulled her to the side before we all loaded the family car to go to the cemetery and said he wanted to see her later that night. Of course she went, because truthfully, who wouldn’t have? It was Caine Essex for God’s sake. A tall, fine tatted man with broad shoulders, smooth brown skin, beautiful teeth, and money so long his family owned half the city. Every girl around would dream of having a piece of Caine, let alone marrying him after only dating for a month.

I remember like yesterday, when I was curled up in my bed grieving my brother as she got ready for their date, curling her long natural hair in my cracked standing mirror. Kharti was beautiful as hell, so any man would’ve wanted her as a trophy. We always knew she wouldn’t be struggling long because of her good looks. We only thought she would've gotten swooped up by a professional sports player, and not a man like Caine Essex.

Me, on the other hand, I was alone and having the roughest year of my life. I lost my mother to a heart attack a year ago when she was just fifty years old. If that wasn’t tragic enough, my little brother Brice got gunned down at the park up the street from our apartment just three weeks after Mom passed.

The grief I felt after losing the two closest people to me turned into a turmoil that I still hadn’t gotten away from to this day. Now I was taking care of Grandma Hatti, living on her state benefits and the little money I made working part time at the hair store. This surrogacy situation wasn’t ideal, but it would for sure make my life a little easier financially. That is the only reason I said yes and the sole reason I am here.

“Okay, Toya, I’m about to go into the living room and get him ready for you. Then I’ll let you know when it's time to come in.”

“Why the living room?” I turned up my nose.

“Because the bedroom makes it too personal, and this is just business for you guys. You carry this baby, stay on the low, and you get paid enough money to get you and your grandma somewhere new to live that is not those run down ass apartments. That is why.” She snapped, and I shrugged my shoulders because I guess she was right.

Kharti stood up from the bed, checked herself in the mirror, and then walked towards the bedroom door.

“You still good with this, right?” She turned over her shoulder.

“Yeah, I am,” I replied, confidently as she stepped out of the room.

All of my worries hit me like a wrecking ball when that door closed. What if Caine doesn’t want me when he sees me in this bra and panty set? I’m not skinny and built cute like Kharti. I’ve gained so much weight sitting at home and cooking for my grandma, who still craved rice and beans every Sunday. There was so much that I wanted to do differently with my appearance, but I didn’t have the time or the money to do so. To me, I looked sloppy and not like someone a man like Caine would desire. I guess that is where the business aspect comes in. Caine doesn't have to want me. He just has to stick himself inside of me and make a baby boy.

Music started playing in the living room, and shortly after that, I felt like I heard Kharti gagging and choking. I tried to take myself out of the moment, but I kept getting distracted by the sounds coming from the living room. There was slurping, then thumping, and then clapping. All sounds I used to hear in my own bedroom before Damon, my ex, went back to jail.

When he first got arrested, I was craving for him so bad, I played with my rose every night until I got used to not having sex, and then I went completely celibate. It’s been a little over a year since I last had sex, which is also why Kharti said I was a good candidate to fuck her man. She knew I didn’t have a disease, and she knew I wasn’t getting pregnant by any other man. After all, I wasn't interested in anyone now. A toxic relationship and grief had taken away the want of companionship from me.

Once the sounds from the living room stopped, the room door soon opened, and Kharti popped her head back inside. She wore a robe wrapped around her body. Her hair was now out of place and sweat was glistening on her forehead.

“He’s ready for you.”

I stood up from the bed and walked past the mirror to do one last check before stepping into the living room. Kharti followed close behind me as I took short unsure steps.

I’d seen Caine in passing before, but this was my first time at their house and this close to him. I instantly noticed how big this man is, and may I add fine ass hell.

“Y'all, go ahead.” Kharti got my attention, and from the tremble in her voice I could hear that she had become just as nervous as I was.

I looked back to Caine, and his eyes were flowing over me from my knees all the way up to my eyes before fixating on my breast. He sat back on their black leather couch with his arms spread across the top. Tattoos covered him from his neck down his long tatted arms, with little space between the ink and his smooth brown skin.

He gestured for me to sit on him, and I straddled his lap, placing my hands on his shoulders. My chest rose and fell as my eyes darted around the room, trying not to make eye contact because I was scared.

Caine grabbed my chin and tilted it toward his face.

“What’s your name again?”