Page 57 of The Billionaire Alpha Surrogate

“Lucy,” the man said.

“Gavin,” Lucy replied.

“We need to talk.”

“About what?”

“You. You are a disgrace to my son. Everyone knows that you are just a gold digger out to get his money, which is why you went and got yourself knocked up. I doubt that it is even Micah’s kid, yet you are going to force him to take care of it,” Gavin said.

Lucy wasn’t going to bother arguing with him. It wouldn’t matter what she said. “I’m sorry you feel that way.”

“What’s even worse is that you are a bear shifter. You have no place in Micah’s life.”

“You are entitled to your opinion.”

“What will it take to make you give up your game and go back to the shifter world, taking the bastard with you?”

“I will leave if Micah asks me to,” Lucy replied, trying her best to keep her temper in check. She knew that it would only feed his bullying if she showed that she was upset.

Gavin pulled out a checkbook and signed a check with a flourish. He wrote her name on the payee line and handed it to her.

“Write whatever number you want. Take the check and go home.”

Lucy stared into his eyes as she slowly, deliberately ripped the check into shreds.

“I don’t want anything from you.”

“If you were any kind of decent woman and if you cared about Micah the slightest bit, you would leave. You are making him a laughing stock with our pack, his friends, and his colleagues.”

“Thank you for your feedback. I will take it under advisement,” Lucy said, her hands clenched under the table. There was no way that her pride would let this jerk now that he was affecting her.

“You are going to regret this. Don’t say that I didn’t give you fair warning.”

“Gavin, what are you doing here?” Ronnie asked as he rushed toward them.

“Lucy and I were merely having a conversation,” Gavin said.

“You need to leave,” Ronnie said.

Gavin glared at the tiger shifter and bared his teeth. “Who the hell do you think you are?”

“I’m the man who’s going to make you leave,” Ronnie said, his voice deadly cold.

Gavin looked at Lucy and back at Ronnie. “I was just leaving anyway.” He shot a nasty look at Lucy and said, “Remember what I said.”

Lucy didn’t react. She watched the older man march out the gate with Ronnie right behind him, making sure that he left.

When they were gone, she slumped in her seat, with her hand over her heart. She hated confrontations, but it seemed like she had a huge target on her back, between Caroline and Gavin.

She closed her eyes and a single tear slipped out. Wiping it away angrily, she said, “You will not let him upset you. The babies do not need stress.”

Lucy had recently read a journal article where doctors made the link between cortisol, the stress hormone, and fetal development. She didn’t want anything to hurt the babies.

Closing her eyes, she folded her hands on the table and inhaled deeply. Out to the count of four, hold it to the count of four, in to the count of four, hold it to the count of four.

She pictured the oasis near the creek full of colorful wildflowers as she practiced breathing. The stress slowly seeped out of her.

Lucy focused on her book. A few hours later, she heard heavy footsteps walking toward her. Instantly, her stress level jumped through the roof, as she expected Gavin to come back and harass her.

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