Zonnique looked away briefly, which told me enough already.
“Yeah,” I muttered darkly. “And now, because she didn’t sweat under pressure, you’ve convinced yourself that she’s trustworthy enough to carrymyheir.”
I shook my head.
“Zonnique, people lie duringregularjob interviews. You’d be surprised how many dangerous people fake stability every singleday… especially when money is involved. Hell, serial killers even know how to sound polite.”
Zonnique hesitated. “If I’m being honest, after her interview, I really didn’t want to hire her.”
“Then why the fuck did you?” I snarled, my words precise and cold. “You don’t know to trust your first instinct by now?”
“Yeah, but…” Her words started slowing. “Something happened with the other candidates. Every single one dropped out because of… strange circumstances.”
I cocked my head. “You don’t say?”
“I’m serious, Merge. One had a medical emergency, one pulled out at the last minute because she decided to move away all of a sudden, and the other I just never heard from again. It felt… providential.”
“That’s convenient… orsuspicious,” I pointed out.
“I’ll admit, it was weird.”
I leaned in until my face was just inches from hers, voice low and sharp. “You do realize that you put a stranger in possession of my seed. What if she’s dangerous, Zonnique? What if she’s not who she claims to be? What if she’s some ex-con with a fake smile and a clean wig? Or worse, some certified lunatic fresh out a mental hospital who figured getting pregnant by a rich nigga was the fastest route to housing, security, and a check? Hell, what if she’s the damn Feds? You ever stopped to think about that? What if you just walked an undercover agent straight into my life carrying my child like this some kind of twisted government operation?”
“I told you she passed every screen we ran!” Zonnique argued quickly, fear creeping higher into her voice. “Everything came back normal. No criminal record, no psychiatric history, no prior issues—”
“Background checks only tell you what people gotcaughtdoing. You’re putting entirely too much faith in paperwork.”
I laughed, short and humorless, as I pointed at her. “I’ve heard of desperate, but this? This is…” I shook my head.
“Merge—”
I held up a hand, cutting her off the second something crucial finally clicked in my head.
Slowly, I looked at her.
“Zonnique, you do realize that if she’s pregnant with my child, that I’d I have to marry her… that’s the bylaw.”
“Oh, shit,” she whispered. “I honestly forgot about that part.”
I stared at her in disbelief.
“So, you were so busy trying to save your position that you forgot the part where another woman could end up gettingeverythingyou wanted? The title… the house… the lifestyle. Hell, me too.” I laughed tauntingly. “I mean, let’s be real, ol’ girl downstairsisfine as hell. I wouldn’t mind dropping off some of this dick in her. Still… you had to know what came attached to all this.”
“Again, I wasn’t thinking about that!” Zonnique snapped back defensively, “Damn, Merge, what did you want me to do?! At least I tried to fix the situation!”
I looked at her sharply. “What you trying to say? I didn’t?”
Zonnique exhaled shakily and reached toward me instinctively.
I pulled away before she could touch me.
She held both palms up quickly. “I’m not saying that, Merge. Look, if you want, I can try to find someone else. But what would you do about the baby she’s already carrying?”
I laughed, low and ugly. “Find somebody else? I didn’t even ask for the first one.”
I stared at Zonnique for a second before another thought hit me.
“Hold the fuck up. We’re skipping over one of the most important parts. How much money did you promise her?Because this level of cooperation gotta come with commas attached. Ain’t no way somebody volunteering to carry a stranger’s baby strictly off morals and good citizenship.”
