Ryan (Members From Money Book 16) Read online

  Ryan

  A surrogacy taken out of necessity, a relationship formed out of love

  A sexy romance by Katie Dowe of BWWM Club. Features another free bonus book.

  After having his heart broken, billionaire Ryan Sullivan is determined to have a child of his own.

  When he chooses Aaliyah to be the surrogate, he believes all contact with her would be strictly business.

  Exhausting all other options, Aaliyah takes the job to help pay for her mother’s medical bills.

  But when her due date approaches, she ends up having second thoughts about giving up the baby!

  And to complicated things further, she’s also falling for Ryan!

  Aaliyah is determined to make Ryan fall in love with her, but his past heartache and bitterness towards love makes him cold and distant.

  He distrusts not only her, but also his own blossoming feelings towards her.

  Will Ryan move on from his tragic past and realize that true love awaits him?

  Find out in this emotional yet sexy romance by Katie Dowe of BWWM Club.

  Suitable for over 18s only due to sex scenes so hot, you'll want your own billionaire baby-daddy!

  Tip: Search BWWM Club on Amazon to see more of our great books.

  Free: Get Jason from the Members From Money series where YOU'RE the star!!

  Hi there. As a special thank you for buying this ebook, for a limited time I want to send a copy of Jason free of charge directly to your email! It's a personalized story, meaning you'll add a few details about yourself (these won't be shared with anyone else) and you'll become the star of the story!! :D

  You'll be emailed a new chapter once a day for 7 days. You can get it by clicking the cover below or going here:

  Direct link: www.afroromancebooks.com/personalized-jason-members-from-money

  This book is so exclusive you can't even buy it. As well as sending daily emails with the story, I'll also send you updates when new books like this are available.

  Copyright © 2017 to Katie Dowe and AfroRomanceBooks.com. No part of this book can be copied or distributed without written permission from the above copyright holders.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Bonus Book - Against All Odds

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

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  Chapter 1

  “We are going to find the money somehow Mom, don’t worry about it. You are the one who is always telling me to have faith,” Aaliyah said with a forced smile as she sat next to her mother in the small cheerful bedroom. It had been a very rough journey for them both, both financially and emotionally. Agnes Cole had been diagnosed with degenerative bone disease that requires surgery in the next couple of months. Her husband had died from kidney failure two years ago leaving them in a rubble of debts that they had not been able to surface from and now this! Aaliyah worked as a junior librarian at the local library where she could be able to rush home in case her mother needed her.

  Agnes looked at her daughter tenderly admiring the quiet attractiveness of the short spiky hair that suited her small face and upturned nose and the gentle dark brown eyes. The girl had gone through it with her and had given up her career as an accountant in a very big firm to take the position at the library. It had seemed foolhardy at first because the money she was working at the accounting firm would have gone a far way in paying off some of the debts owed but it was too far away and commuting would have been foolhardy. “I did, didn’t I?” Agnes said wryly. “I am afraid my faith has taken a little dent over the years, honey.”

  “We are not giving up, Mom,” Aaliyah touched her mother’s hand briefly. She had just got in from work and had made them soup to go with the loaf of freshly baked bread she had brought home with her. She had found herself getting more and more discouraged as she tried to think of a way for them to get more money. Her mother had a step sister who had money and who lived in the UK but she did not correspond and Aaliyah had no intention of reaching out to her. There had to be a way!

  “I was thinking of being a surrogate,” she said half-jokingly.

  Her mother looked at her sharply. “You are not the type to do something like that.”

  “We need the money Mom,” she took the dish from her mother and put it away. “I still believe in the traditional love and getting married and having children, it’s just that it is something to consider.”

  “We won’t get to that.”

  *****

  Ryan Sullivan studied the list of recommendations his secretary had brought in with a frown on his forehead. His dark brown hair was tinged with a slight amount of grey that gave him a look of distinction. He was CEO of Sullivan Holdings, a vast empire that had five-star hotels all over the world as well as two major airlines. Ryan was a self-made billionaire who had taken one small hotel and turned it into a five-star one. He had turned thirty-five in September and had been declared one of the most successful businessmen in the world.

  “Mr. Sullivan?” his secretary Eloise poked her head in tentatively. Ryan’s dark blue eyes lifted and looked at her.

  “What is it?”

  “I tried you on the intercom but you did not respond. Elaine is on her way up. I did not realize until she had already boarded the elevator.”

  His frown deepened as he looked at the woman. “Send her in.”

  “Yes, sir.” She retreated swiftly.

  Ryan put aside the list he had been perusing and waited until the door was pushed open to admit his sister. Elaine Rosewood was a precocious twenty-five year old with curly blonde hair and dark blue eyes. She was his sister by his mother’s side when she had remarried after Ryan’s father had died of a heart attack ten years ago. “What is it this time, Elaine?”

  “I want to go to Europe for a little bit, Ryan, and I am not going to allow you to stop me.” She plopped herself down into one of the elegant chairs in his large office.

  He looked at her for a moment. He had taken to the girl when she was little even though he had resented his stepfather and had taken Elaine under his wings. “You are an adult, I cannot stop you.”

  “I need money.” She said as she crossed her legs. She had taken advantage of his wealth and the fact that he doted on her and had jumped from one job to another.

  “No.” his tone was inflexible. “I gave you five hundred thousand two months ago and I told you if that was finished then it would be the last.”

  “You are loaded!”

  “And I intend to remain that way. You need to settle down and find something you want to do.”

  “I have already tried employment and I don’t do well with others telling me what to do.”

  He leaned back and looked at her. He had spoilt her but he was no longer going to be doing that. He had his own problems. He buzzed his secretary. “Yes, Mr. Sullivan?”

  “Take my sister with you to the recruiting department. She has a hankering to go to Europe. Call Lamas and have him set something up for her in one of the hotels in Spain.”

  “Yes, sir.”

 
“You are offering me a job instead of giving me the money?” Elaine asked him sulkily.

  “You need to make your way. And Elaine?” she turned to look at him. “This is the last time. If you fail or bail, you are on your own.” She sent him a fulminating glance and flounced out behind the secretary.

  He leaned back against the chair and closed his eyes. He had been battling with something for the past few months and he was still not sure how to go about it. He needed an heir. He got up and went over to the cabinet where he poured himself a glass of scotch. It was four p.m. and he was not used to drinking this early in the afternoon but he was contemplating going about it in a way he was not certain of. He had been gullible a long time ago when he was just starting out. Twenty-five years of age and the sheen of love on his face. She had been his assistant when he started out and they had been working together. He had had the intention of asking her to marry him whenever he had gotten his business off the ground. He had bought the ring and was about to pop the question later that week when she had come to him telling him that she had been pregnant and had gotten rid of it. “I am sorry, Ryan, but a family is not something I can deal with right now.”

  “I was going to ask you to marry me,” he had looked at her and felt the bottom dropped from his world.

  “I am sorry.” She had told him quietly and started gathering up her things. “I got an offer for one of the biggest department stores in town and I have accepted the offer.”

  “I am going to be bigger than that and you have given up everything for more money now? I never knew you, did I?” he had said bitterly.

  “I am sorry,” she had said again and left.

  He had hurled the ring into the bin and sent the desk top computer on her desk smashing to the floor. He had spent the next ten years working himself to the bones determined to prove to himself and her that he was worth it and he had. She had come back to him two years ago trying to make it up to him but he had turned her away coldly. Now he wanted a child and he had no intention of going into a relationship to get one!

  *****

  Aaliyah sank into the hot, slightly unbearable bath and relished the water stinging her flesh. She put on a positive front to her mother but there were times when the situation was more than she could bear. She closed her eyes as she thought about the surrogacy agency she had secretly signed up with. She had spent a long time during her lunch break looking at the options and had weighed the pros and cons. Her friend Maxine who worked at the local department store as a clerk had told her she was crazy but she knew it was something she had to do. There was no other way out and her mother needed the surgery. She had signed up with an exclusive one hoping to get a very good deal. She had an appointment on Monday to go and get the forms to sign up and to have the ‘talk’ about surrogacy and what it will mean to her and to the person who hires her. Their bank account was nil and credit card bills were strangling them. She had not been able to afford a new dress in years but she was not worried about that. All she wanted to do was to pay off the bills and have enough money for her mother to do the surgery. Her mind drifted back to the relationship she had been in when she was working at the accounting firm three years ago. His name was Travis Myles, an up-and-coming lawyer who had worked in the same building. He had not been her first but her second and she had thought that they would have been together. When her dad had been sick, she had told him that she wanted to move back home to be with her mother and help her to take care of him and he had told her if she left he was not going to be able to see her anymore. She had stayed and visited her parents every weekend until her dad had died. When her mother had been diagnosed, she had told him firmly that she was leaving with or without him and he had told her he wished her all the best and that was that. Over the years she had thought about him but he had faded from her mind gradually and she had realized that he had not been the one. She felt the temperature changed around her and realized that the water had turned cold. With a sigh, she got up and grabbing a towel she wrapped it around her body before making her way to the bedroom.

  *****

  “I have sent you another list, Mr. Sullivan.” The woman at the other end of the line said in a polite tone. “I need to know what your thoughts are as we are thinking of meeting with the applicants on Monday.”

  Ryan had closed himself into his office and told his secretary he did not want to be disturbed for another hour. He had a trip to make to the islands to find out about increasing the routes of his airlines and it was going to take him away for two weeks. He needed to do this now and set it into motion. “I will call you back.”

  “Of course, sir.”

  He clicked on his laptop and sat back to look on the screen. He discarded the first two as his instinct told him that they were going to pose a problem. He had gone through ten when he sat up and stared at the quietly beautiful African American woman with the spiked hair and dovelike brown eyes. She looked like a pixie, the thought came unbidden to his mind. He clicked play and listened to her. “My name is Aaliyah Cole and I am twenty-seven years old,” he saw her take a deep breath before she continued. “I am not a mother and I have hopes of marrying and having children of my own sometime in the future. I am doing this because I need the money. My mother is ill and needs surgery. I have thought long and hard about this and it is the only way out for us now. I promise that I am not going to demand anything more and will treat this like any other arrangement as long as the compensation is adequate. I understand we do not get to meet and I am fine with that, it makes it less complicated. I am looking forward to hearing from you.”

  He clicked pause and stared at her freeze framed picture, noticing her flawless cocoa brown complexion and the long spiky lashes. His eyes drifted to her mouth and stayed there. She had full lips that looked made for smiles. He shook his head and frowned a little bit. He sat there for a moment and then he picked up the phone. “Mrs. Lawson, I have made my selection. I will have my attorneys draw up the papers and you deal with it. I will be out of the country for two weeks starting on Wednesday so I expect by the time I get back things will be in motion.”

  “Of course, sir,” the woman said in a pleased voice.

  He hung up and stared off into space for a bit and then he buzzed his secretary. “Get me the airline.”

  “Right away, sir.”

  *****

  “Ms. Cole, come this way please,” Mrs. Lawson said ushering her into her office and closing the door. “Please, have a seat.”

  “I had not expected to hear from you so quickly, Mrs. Lawson.” Aaliyah sat on the edge of the seat and clasped her hands.

  “We work fast in this agency,” the plump, homely woman told her with a hint of pride in her voice. “You have been chosen and we need to tie up things as soon as possible. The man who wants you to carry his child will be out of the country for a couple of weeks and wants this done as soon as possible.”

  “Man? As in a single person?” Aaliyah looked at the woman frowningly. “I thought it would be a couple.”

  “In most cases, yes, but this time it is a single male who wants an heir and as a very important client we do our best to accommodate him. He is very eccentric and is a very busy person so we are instructed to deal with everything.”

  “I am sorry and please don’t think I am being ungrateful but how does a man like that expect to raise a child?”

  The woman looked at her as if she had lost her mind. “That’s really none of our business is it, Ms. Cole?” she said a little stiffly. “We are in the business of pleasing our clients and we do just that. Now here is the form and the booklet to let you know what this is all about. Also we need to run some tests to make sure you are fit and this is what is being offered. Your bills will be taken care of medically and anything else you need while the term lasts.” She handed the sheaf of papers to Aaliyah. She leafed through it and her eyes widened at the amount of zeroes on the paper.

  “Now you see why we do not question our clients?” the woman said
smugly as she looked at the girl’s expression.

  Aaliyah nodded dazedly. It would pay off their debts and get her mother the surgery she needed! She just had to put away the misgivings of a man who was going to be raising a child with a busy schedule. She looked at the woman. “I need to read it over before I sign.”

  “You have until tomorrow,” the woman told her coolly as if she had expected the girl to sign right then and there.

  “I am interested, Mrs. Lawson, it’s just that I am not used to this and I need to familiarize myself with it before I commit.”

  Mrs. Lawson nodded with a slight smile. “Okay, my dear, looking forward to hearing from you.”

  *****

  “Mother, I don’t have the time right now,” he told her as he shrugged out of his jacket and leafed through the messages he had received. He had done all he could for her even though he had his misgivings when she had married Evan Rosewood but they seemed to be happy.

  “You never do Ryan,” Rosalie said quietly as she looked at her handsome and forbidding son. She was a sixty-five-year-old woman who looked ten years younger and had passed on her russet brown hair to her son and her dark blue eyes. She knew he resented the fact that she had started a whole new family but she had felt the need to do so.

  “What is it?”

  “Elaine. Have you spoken to her?” She sat on the edge of the chairs and leaned forward. She had never been close to her son not since she had married Evan and she wished she could get him back. But it was probably too late now.

  Ryan glanced up at her and sat behind his desk. He had meetings with several department heads before he left and time was against him. “Last week. Why?”

  “She said she met someone.”

  “She has been in Spain for two weeks. That was quick.”

  “He is from Spain and she says he works in the hotel as a Front office clerk. I have a feeling that he is into her because she is your sister.”

  “Maybe,” he inclined his head. “I will check him out. Is that all?”