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“No, ma’am.”
“Okay. Then I guess I don’t need anything else.”
“Very good.” Linda nodded and finally departed. I made a mental note that I needed to dismiss people, a fact which made me cringe.
After taking a long bath, I wasn’t sure what to wear to dinner. How was someone supposed to dress for a meal with a billionaire? Not just that, but a billionaire whose baby she was going to have? My instincts told me to dress fancy, but I bucked against that and threw on a fresh pair of jeans and a crop top. The bathroom had a curling iron, so I did spend half an hour making sure my hair looked great.
I was told to be in the dining room at six, but I waited an extra two minutes before arriving because I didn’t want to be early. And at six, a reminder went off on my phone: it was time to take my birth control pill. Linda had delivered them along with some other basic necessities from my apartment bathroom.
I stared at the pill case. The contract specified that I would need to stop taking them, of course. Now that I was here, however, it felt like a big step. Not that I was worried about going off the pill; I was lucky enough to have extremely mild period cramps. But I hadn’t thought I would be making this decision when I woke up this morning. I’d expected it to be weeks, or months, from now when I was chosen to be a surrogate.
Finally, I left the pill case on the bathroom sink, today’s pill untouched.
The Bellerophon’s dining room was already full when I got there. Aside from four white-clad servants, Linda was posted up next to the door with her arms crossed, looking like a team of pirates might storm the deck at any moment. Andrew was sitting at the table, making notes on his tablet. He raised a hand in greeting when he saw me, along with a warm smile. Tristan sat across from him, and was speaking quietly to one of the servants. He glanced over at me, looked me up and down, then returned to his conversation.
Then there was Pierce, seated at the head of the table. He was wearing his suit again, without a tie and with the top three buttons open on his shirt. He seemed surprised to see me, like he’d forgotten I was on board, and wore a curious smile as I approached.
“Your seat is over here,” Andrew said, gesturing to the chair between him and Pierce. “You look nice.”
“I wasn’t sure what to wear to this kind of thing.”
Before I could sit, Pierce rose and pulled out the chair for me. This must have been unusual, because Tristan raised an eyebrow. I considered a jab about how he has servants to do that for him, but I held it back and allowed Pierce to push in my chair.
“No dress code on the Bellerophon,” Pierce said. “Jeans, bathing suit, evening gown—whatever you’re comfortable in.”
“And if I was most comfortable in the nude?” I asked.
Tristan coughed into his fist. Andrew chuckled.
But Pierce gave me that curious smile again. “It’s my ship. Do whatever you want. But when we arrive at our destination, I’ll need you to be more presentable.”
“What is our destination?” I asked.
“I will go over the itinerary after the meal,” Tristan said curtly.
Or you could tell me right now, I thought. But before I could voice my complaint, servants emerged from the kitchen.
The meal was, to put it simply, amazing. The first two courses were a bean and bacon soup, and a wedge salad. After that came a tray of small pastry puffs filled with a savory meat filling. The main course was elk tenderloin served in a tart wine sauce. It was the most delicious piece of red meat I had ever tasted. All of it was paired with a bottle of merlot that was more than twice my age.
Andrew glanced at me and raised both eyebrows. He seemed to be saying: get used to this.
And to think I almost turned Pierce down.
Dessert was a peanut butter cheesecake with a strawberry drizzle, and a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side. Tristan stood up and addressed the table while everyone else ate.
“Our itinerary for the next few weeks,” he announced. “The Bellerophon will sail south to the island.”
“What island?” I asked around a mouthful of cheesecake.
“Mr. Benning’s private island,” Tristan replied simply.
“Off the coast of Costa Rica,” Andrew whispered to me.
Tristan cleared his throat and shot a look at Andrew. “The Bellerophon is capable of covering 200 nautical miles per day.”
“Nautical miles? Are those, like, fancy rich people miles?”
Andrew chuckled. Pierce smiled, too.
