Page 49 of The Billionaire Alpha Surrogate

“I don’t think this man has any friends because he doesn’t need them. He is positive that he is the neatest thing to happen to this earth since peanut butter was made. The man has done everything, seen everything, and knows everything,” Micah said.

“I think people who are like that are lonely. They brag because they are trying to impress people into wanting to be their friend.”

“You’re very smart and kind.”

“I people watch and notice things,” Lucy said.

After a minute, Lucy noticed that Micah was quiet. She laughed when she saw that he’d fallen asleep.

Lucy hated to wake him up, but she had to. “Let’s get you undressed.”

Together, they managed to get his clothes off. He slid between the sheets and pulled Lucy close to him. A second later, he was sound asleep.

He was gone when she woke up the next morning. According to the note, he had a meeting he had to attend and he would see her later.

Lucy was sad that he hadn’t added anything like, “I miss you” or “Hugs” or anything like that. She didn’t really expect it, but that didn’t stop her from hoping.

The doorbell rang just as Lucy was finishing lunch. A man with a tan delivery outfit had a box. A mountain emblem was on the left side of his shirt. The name Jeff was embroidered on the right.

“Delivery for Lucy Sawyers,” he said.

Lucy signed for it and took the box into the kitchen.

“What is it?” Vera asked. “Who is it from?”

“It just says ‘from your secret admirer,’” Lucy said.

A cake and a single red rose were inside the box.

“Nice,” Vera said.

“I bet it’s from Rose. She is about the sweetest woman on Earth,” Lucy said. “You were right about her.”

She grabbed a couple of plates and a knife and cut the cake. Lucy was about to take a bite when Vera knocked it out of her hand.

“Don’t eat that,” Vera shouted.

Startled, Lucy asked, “Why? What’s wrong.”

“I smell bitter almonds. Red velvet cake doesn’t have almonds in it. There’s something wrong with this.”

Vera grabbed the phone and called Micah. He called a buddy at the police department, and the two of them arrived at the same time.

The detective got all the information about the delivery man and then took the cake and the rose back to the station. He would have it tested immediately.

“It doesn’t make sense,” Lucy said. “I haven’t been here long enough to make someone so mad at me that they would want to kill me and anyone else who ate the cake. For all they knew, Micah could have eaten it, too. You almost did, Vera.”

Lucy sat in the chair and rested her face in her hands. Her stomach rolled and she was afraid that she was going to be sick. Vera made her some chamomile tea to help calm her nerves.

It seemed like forever before Micah’s friend called back with the news. He put his phone on speaker.

“There was enough cyanide in that cake to kill a whole herd of horses. Anyone who took a single bite would be dead in a matter of minutes. We’re launching an investigation to find out who might have done this,” the detective said.

Lucy gasped loudly. Her head started to spin and she couldn’t breathe.

“Someone tried to kill me and the baby,” Lucy said. “Vera, you saved our lives.”

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