Billionaire’s Secret Baby

7:28 PM Elliot Brand: A driver will arrive at nine to assist you with anything you would like to bring to the new apartment.

8:02 PM Elliot Brand: Ms. Johnson, I would like to confirm that you will be available at nine in the morning tomorrow.

8:47 PM Elliot Brand: Is something amiss? Have you decided not to take the job? Might I remind you, Ms. Johnson, that you signed paperwork this afternoon and are already a Brand Employee?

9:13 PM Elliot Brand: If I cannot reach you, I will come and speak to you face to face.

Elliot was fuming by the time he pulled into the rundown neighborhood that could only be described as the slums. Sirens wailed in the night air, far louder than any crickets had hoped to achieve.

The home looked to be held together with chicken wire and clapboard. Crumbling brick littered the front porch along with hundreds of cigarette butts.

Elliot knocked firmly on the door. There was a rustle behind the curtains and then the lights went off.

Did she think she could hide from him? He knocked louder, “We both know that you’re in there, Ms. Johnson.”

The door cracked open and the unmistakable sound of the gun being cocked ripped through his ears.

“Amanda?” Elliot’s hands tightened into fists. How dare she pull a gun on him?

The door opened a little further and he saw a woman in her fifties with a light between her yellowed teeth wearing a dirty housecoat.

“What you want with Mandy? You the fucker that put that baby there?”

Elliot could only stare.

The woman raised the gun to be level with his chest, “Better start talking fancy man.”

“What’s going on out there?” A man’s voice bellowed from somewhere inside. “Can’t a man get some sleep, damn it all to hell!”

“I’m her new employer,” Elliot stumbled over the words just as he heard a rustling behind the woman. He looked up and saw Mandy.

Her eyes were wide with disbelief, “Mr. Brand? What are you doing here?”

and unlatched the door. But rather than showing him inside, she went out onto

The thin material left little to the imagination and

weren’t

breathed, “I’m so sorry for bothering

side, causing her honey blonde curls to wrap around one of her breasts and

to be sorry, Mr. Brand. I apologize for my

filled Mandy’s cheeks. “What can

from this beautiful woman that was apologizing for things that she’d no control over. A wave of protectiveness washed through him. He couldn’t let her stay

I will need your services right away,” he stumbled over the words. “I tried to text you.”

frowned, “My phone is dead, I’m sorry! My sister had an emergency at her shop, and I stayed late to help. I just got home a few minutes ago and plugged it in.”

Elliot nodded, “Can I convince

squeaked and covered her breasts, noticing how see-through her pajamas were in

course, I just need a few minutes to pack.”

“Can I come in?” Elliot surprised himself with the request. But he

this man had no

“I will need to carry the boxes,”

breath she was holding, “All right, Mr. Brand. But just a warning, we weren’t expecting company.”

moment the revolver was

was mortified, “I truly am very

hand and placed a

“I’m glad that you’ve had someone to protect you.”

well, something like that. Please come in.”

both. Mandy tried to ignore the way her mother was

basement smelled of rot and was damp. However, the bedroom that she

“Where are the boxes that

room and returned with three beat-up liquor boxes. Elliot smiled at her, “What can I

just have a seat on

chair to offer him. He looked huge sitting on the edge of her tiny twin

drawers of the dresser, Elliot stopped

“I can put these items in a box if you want.”