Just What The Mafia Boss Ordered

Chapter 4 - Discussing options

Zoe’s POV

“FRANKIE”, I yelled out over the sounds of the music pumping and the hundreds of people in the club, many of who were impatiently waiting for drinks, “Toss me the bourbon.”

“Yep.” She answered before she reached down, grabbed the bottle and threw it at me, the customers clapping when I caught it, “I need the tequila.”

I repeated her actions with the tequila bottle, and we both got back to work. Ella, Frankie and I were a well-oiled machine behind a busy bar. I had nothing against Max's people, but they were all green to be working together. You needed to add in a few seasoned professionals to get the job done while the new people were trained. Now a year into, all of my staff knew what they were doing. I felt at home behind this bar. I felt safe.

“Hey, sweetheart.” A man bellowed just down the bar, “Think I could get some service here?”

I rolled my eyes while finishing up the drink I was serving and strolled over to him. “Is there a problem?”

“Yeh, I need a beer now.” He demanded.

“You see all the rest of the people around this bar.” I held my hand up, gesturing at the fifty-odd people. “They are all waiting for a drink too, and some have been waiting a lot longer than you. So be patient, and one of us will get to you when it’s your turn.”

He growled at me as I turned my back to him, “Listen, you coyote ugly b***h…..”

I turned to see why he had stopped and was surprised to see Eddie standing there with his hand on the jerks shoulder, staring down at him with a scowl on his face, “I think it’s time for you to go find a new bar to drink at.”

The jerk was shaking under Eddie’s scorching stare, nodding his head and starting to leave, but Eddie gripped his shoulder tighter, nodding in my direction.

“Sorry.” The jerk mumbled, scampering off with his tail between his legs when Eddie released him.

“I had that handled,” I advised him, trying to sound sure of myself when I was anything but, this man made me nervous in a way no other one did.

He smirked, leaning against the bar, “what can I say? As a gentleman, I couldn’t stand by and watch that go on.”

Normally I could wrap guys around my fingers, and if they pissed me off, I left them quaking In their boots, but there was something about this man that rattled me. It had been a week since I had had dinner with him at his apartment, a week without any contact. It took all my strength not to fall into bed with him that night, especially after he placed his hand on my thigh. Just that small contact alone had sent my entire body into overdrive and had my panties soaked within seconds. But I had to stay strong.

Whilst I wanted nothing more than to toss caution to the wind and have him take me to his bedroom and do unspeakable things to my body. I knew that s*x complicates things at the best of times, let alone when you offered to carry a child for someone. After watching my mother for all those years, I knew I wasn’t the mothery type and was doing everything I could to stop myself from becoming one. So I didn’t think it was going to be a problem giving a child up. I knew that there would probably be some contract in place to make sure of that. I just needed to get myself out of the crappy financial hole that my ex had dug for me so I could start living my life again. The quicker I got Greg Spivey out of my life, the better.

The p*****t to him this week had cleared me out. All of my savings were now gone. I didn’t want to keep having to look over my shoulder and worry whether he was going to change his mind about our p*****t arrangement and demand full p*****t of what Ryan still owed.

What I still didn’t understand is that Eddie had been radio silent ever since. I had given up hope that he was actually going to contact me, and here he was looking as mouth-watering as even in his navy Brioni suit. His tailor deserved a hefty raise for the work they do because he looked good enough to eat. I didn’t have much in the way of designer clothing, hell I found the hells I wore for dinner at a consignment store, but I knew my designers and the suit he was wearing had to cost at least fifteen grand, but on him, it was worth every penny.

Having him stare at me made me feel like we were the only two people in this place, “What are you doing here, Eddie?”

“Having a drink.” He answered, winking at me. Then, when I continued to stare him down, he laughed, “I was hoping we could talk.”

I grabbed a glass, a bottle of the whiskey he drank last time and poured him a drink. “There is you’re drink, but I can’t talk right now. I’m working.”

“What time do you finish?” He enquired.

I sighed, trying to ignore the calls for drinks coming from people all around me. We were slammed, “We close at three, but I normally don’t leave until four.”

Eddie took a sip of his drink, “That’s okay, I can wait.”

The way he was looking at me, I could tell if I kept saying no, he would keep digging his heels in until I caved and I didn’t have the time to argue with him. “Fine, there is a diner up at the end of the block. I’ll meet you there, now can you go? I have work to do.”

He winked at me, grabbing his drink and walking away. I watched him all the way to the VIP area. Of course, he fell in with that crowd. I didn’t have long to dwell on it before I had to get back to work. By the time the bouncers kicked out the last customer, I was exhausted. A year after opening, this club was still the hottest thing in town and with that came the crowds. We never really had a quiet night.

Frankie, Ella and the other staff got to work cleaning all the glassware, doing the floors and taking out the garbage while I balanced the tills and dividend up the tips. Max had one rule here. All tips were pooled and divided equally amongst the staff, so it was my job to distribute them at the end of the night.

After I was done, I went into the locker room to get my stuff. I spent a little time in the bathroom fixing up my hair and makeup. I couldn’t face Eddie looking all sweaty and unkept when he looked like he had just stepped off the cover of GQ magazine.

When I got back to the bar, Frankie and Ella were waiting for me, both with knowing looks on their faces.

“What?” I demanded, “I told you guys to head off. I’m meeting up with someone.”

Ella smirked at me, “This wouldn’t be the hottie in the expensive suit you were flirting with earlier, would it?”

I rolled my eyes at her, ignoring her question, “I’ll see you guys in the morning, don’t wait up.”

“I want details in the morning, Zoe.” Frankie called out as I walked away, “all the dirty, sordid details.”

I shook my head in disbelief as I chuckled to myself, walking out of the building and towards the diner. Frankie had one of the greatest boyfriends there is. He was hot, kind and head over heels in love with her, but she was still the first one who wanted to know about any of my one night stands.

The closer I got to the diner, the faster my heart was beating, and the more my brain was telling me that this was a bad idea and that I should run away, but I had come too far not to see it through.

I rested my hand on the door handle, taking a deep breath before I entered, looking around for Eddie. Even though he picked a booth in the back corner, the diner was practically empty, so he wasn’t that hard to spot. His eyes were already on me when I entered and followed my movements the entire way over to him. The first thing I noticed was that he must have gone home to change. In place of his Brioni suit was a simple pair of jeans and a sweatshirt. Regardless of his change in clothes, he stuck out like a sore thumb as he nursed his two-dollar cup of bad coffee.

He smiled at me as I sat down, “You showed up.”

“You thought I wouldn’t?” I queried c*****g my eyebrow at him.

“Well, you didn’t seem too happy to see me tonight.” Eddie advised, “So I had doubts.”

Before I could respond, a waitress brought over a big plate of golden, crispy fries and a strawberry shake, placing it on the table in front of me without a word.

Eddie eyed the plate, “Wow, great service, you didn’t even order anything.”

“My friends and I come in here a few nights a week since we started working at Inferno if we need to wind down.” I replied, pushing the fries in between us, “Feel free to help yourself. Their fries are incredible.”

Eddie grabbed one of the fries, rolling it between his fingers, “So should we just cut to the chase? I thought about your offer, and whilst it’s tempting, I am still wondering what you get out of it.”

I sighed, “I told you I have some debt to settle.”

“You know that technically paid surrogacy is not legal in New York.” He advised, eying me cautiously.

“You also don’t appear to be one that plays by the rules of the law when it comes to something they want.” His cautious look turned to one of shock, “What? It’s my job to read people. Trust me. I’m not one to judge. It’s just an observation.”

“So hypothetically speaking.” He stated, “if this was something that I was interested in pursuing, what are you after?”

“One hundred thousand, in for instalments. The first one is when the agreement is signed, then two more payments after the first and second trimester and a final p*****t once the baby is born. The first instalment is repayable if I back out. Of course, this doesn’t include medical expenses,” I explained to him.

I had spent a lot of time researching surrogacy and totally how much money I would need to get out of the hole I was in and still have some left for the future. New York was heavily against paid surrogacy. It was illegal, but I figured that he was the type of man that could find a way around it.

He looked a little shocked at my terms, “And what makes you think that I could afford that?”

I gestured at his watch, “The fact that that watch retails for a cool thirty thousand dollars and that suit you were wearing tonight was at least fifteen grand. I know my labels.”

The corners of his mouth twitched like he was fighting the urge to smile. “You’ve thought this through. I’ll give you that, but in saying that, I could go to a service and get the same result for a lot less money.”

I pulled my wallet out, grabbing out a few bills and throwing them onto the table, “You’re right. I’m sorry to have wasted your time.”

I stood up and was just about to walk away when I felt his hand snake around my wrist to stop me, “Wait, let's talk a bit more.”

Two more plates of fries and an hour and a half later, I was beyond exhausted and needed to call it a night. We didn’t talk much about surrogacy. Instead, we talked about life in general, my health, and after that, it was just small talk, but it gave me a broader sense of who he was behind the walls I knew he had built up. They reminded me of mine. Just before I went to leave, Eddie pulled out a large envelope that he had been resting on the seat next to him. We said our goodbyes, and I promised I would call him after I had a look through the documentation he had his lawyer prepare. He had definitely come organised to this meeting.

By the time I got home, the paperwork felt like it was burning a hole in my bag. I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep until I read it. It was extremely thick and had a lot of legal jargon. It would have taken me all day to read it completely and make sense of it, so I just skimmed it for the basics. By the time I was done, I was shaking my head in disbelief he had every contingency and event that could happen during a pregnancy mapped out. I didn’t want to call him as I didn’t want my roommates to hear our conversation, so I pulled out my phone and decided to text him instead.

Me: Okay, read the basics. You want to control my entire life during the pregnancy. What I eat during the pregnancy, how much I exercise, how much I sleep etc. Were you channelling Christian Grey when you prepared this contract?

I thought he would be asleep by now and was just about to head to bed when I saw the three little dots appear on the screen, signalling his response.

Eddie: I don’t remember any b**m requirements in there, but I am happy to add them if that interests you . But if we are being serious, everything else is just about making sure you are healthy, and therefore the baby is happy.

Me: You can’t see me, but I am rolling my eyes at you. I’ll be sticking to the turkey baster method, thanks. Anything else complicates things too much. What about cravings? Are you going to deny your unborn child the food it wants because it’s not healthy?

Eddie: You can’t see me, but I’m pouting right now. You’re taking the fun out of it all. How about you come over in a few days, and we can negotiate the finer details. Get some sleep.

Me: Wipe the pout off your face and get some sleep too. I’ll check my roster and let you know my availabilities. Good night Eddie

Eddie: Good night, Zoe.