MR. MORENO'S SURROGATE ✔️

36 - Leilah

The moment Elijah's hand left my skin, I instantly went cold. I thought this would all be over. He can't just remarry me to someone else if I'm already married. Is that even legal? Then again, everything they do in the mafia is illegal, and if this guy is anything like Elijah, he couldn't give a damn about what's legal and what's not.

He guides me to the limousine and I hesitantly get in, not saying a word. He rounds the car and sits next to me, tapping the driver's seat to tell him to go. As the car begins to move, he finally speaks to me.

"You look like your mother," he says, trying to lighten the mood.

Is he actually serious?

"I wouldn't know how to take that seeing as supposedly, my mother wasn't my real mother," I say blankly.

"She was beautiful. You have her face, but I'd like to think that you get your eyes from me."

I look up at him and I immediately notice his eyes as my own. It's like looking in a mirror. He wasn't lying about that one. I turn around to look in front of me and I cross my arms.

"This doesn't make sense," I say to him, shaking my head in confusion. "If you knew I was married already, why would you force me into yet another marriage? Just because I'm supposed to be your daughter?" I ask, a hint of anger in my tone.

"I did it because I don't care. Yes, Elijah Moreno is one of the most powerful mafias in this world, but I'm the first. Moreno has no choice but to bow down to me, and you know why?" he asks with an evil grin on his face.

"Why?" I ask.

"Because your life is my leverage over him. I've got to say, if it were any other man, they'd probably rather let you die, but Moreno was willing to cooperate. For his own good I suppose," he says, shrugging.

I keep my eyes in front of me, my arms remaining crossed as we sit in silence for the rest of the ride. God, I hope Elijah knows what he's doing. I mean, I don't doubt he does, but I'm hoping this won't last long. After a few minutes, we arrive in front of a huge mansion. When we get out, I notice two guards standing at the entrance of the house.

When I approach the doorstep, they nod to me. "Welcome, Ms. Barron," they greet me.

I walk past them and I walk inside, taking in the new environment. This place is huge, but it's not as big as Elijah's, at all. The kitchen is behind the staircase and the living room is to the left. The living room is huge and there's double doors leading to the kitchen in there. The staircase ascends up in a loose winding rotation, and stops at the second floor. From the bottom you can see straight up to the fourth floor. Analyzing my surroundings, I'm dragged from my thoughts when Axel places a hand on my shoulder.

"Your room is on the third floor. You will get ready for the wedding in at least an hour. Make haste with what you decide to do," he demands.

He leaves my side and I immediately feel alienated here. Men, probably at least twenty-five to thirty walk around, making looks at me, like they want to eat me alive. I rush upstairs, overwhelmed by all these people, and I search for my room. I look in every room and I immediately know that I've found it when I see a wedding dress hanging up on the wall. I walk in and I look around at the vanity sitting at the wall at the foot of my bed. A couple steps from the vanity is a huge bathroom, and on the right side of it is a walk-in closet.

This room is perfect, but the only thing missing is Elijah. I simmer in my thoughts as I lie down on the bed, and I pick up my phone. Elijah's texted my phone a billion times telling me how much he loves me and how he's going to get me back and so on. I smile at the messages before I doze off and fall asleep.