I passed them both and headed into the apartment. I prepared myself as I walked through the foyer for the moment I arrived at the open layout home and saw her. I thought I was prepared, but it was like a blow to the solar plexus to see her again. This time her hair was loose. The way I had always dreamed it. There was a white ribbon in it. It looked old-fashioned. Girls didn’t wear ribbon anymore, but it made her look as if she belonged in another world, a forgotten, special world, where milky white women like her were worshipped on an altar.
Aldie rose when she saw me. “Hello, Maxim. It’s been a while, how are things with you?” she said almost shyly. They were seated at the long dining table, an assortment of desserts laid out on it.
The last time I had seen her had been at our place in Spain a few months earlier, just before Levan had been sentenced to life in prison and thrown into jail. “Great,” I responded.
She nodded and sat back down. Then I turned to Freya.
“Hello,” she greeted politely, and suddenly I couldn’t speak. I was only able to give a nod in response. I turned around and headed towards Levan’s study. If I had not I would have been exposed.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Freya
The arrogant bastard.
My mouth was hanging open. I couldn’t believe how rude he had just been.
“What is it?” Aldie asked.
“Did he just ignore me?”
“Uh, I think he nodded,” she placated.
“Is that good enough? Do you just nod to a fully worded salutation?”
She snickered and I tried to feel amused too, but I just could not. I was actually hurt. I had never stopped thinking of him and all the while he couldn’t give a shit. Hell, he couldn’t even say hello.
“Don’t mind it too much,” Aldie said, “that’s how he is. He barely says anything.”
“Oh no, he speaks,” I corrected bitterly. “Just not to people that he feels are beneath him. Isn’t that just plain arrogance?”
“Uh,” her eyebrows furrowed and I realize that I was ranting to someone I’d just met for the first time a few minutes earlier.
“Ignore me,” I said with a forced smile. “I’ve known him a while and I was just being touchy. Rough day.”
“Perfectly fine,” she said with a genuine smile as Levan and Bianca returned to the room.
The dessert tasting soon began, but Maxim didn’t join us. “He’s not one for sweets,” Levan explained.
I resisted the impulse to roll my eyes. He definitely needed some with all the bitterness he carried in his twisted cold heart.
Bianca’s assortment of desserts for her wedding were exquisite. The stars of the show were mini cannoli, golden cupcakes, blended mochas in shot glasses, and the cutest caramel apples dressed in tuxedos. Almost an hour later, the tasting came to an end and the final choices had been made.
“I need to run,” Aldie said, rising up. “Early morning tomorrow.”
“We’ll walk you out,” Levan said and he and Bianca stood.
Looking around at the loads of used plates, I decided to help them get a head start on the cleaning. I was pretty sure they had some help, but it was my habit not to leave a mess for the morning. I began to gather the small dessert plates and forks we had used and took them over to the sink. They had a dishwasher, and I was about to give them a rinse when Maxim emerged from wherever he had crawled into.
I completely ignored him as he came over with a used cup of coffee and placed it on the counter. I glared at the dirty cup as he turned to leave and couldn’t hold back any more.
“Why are you so impolite to me?” I asked. “Is it because you see me as beneath you?”
He turned and gave me his full attention. “Excuse me?” he asked, and just like that my brain was scrambled again, at his gaze, at the melody of his voice, and most definitely at the fine specimen of a man he looked clothed in his charcoal suit, black shirt and white tie.
I turned away before I embarrassed myself. “Forget it.”
Out of nowhere his hand closed around my arm.
My heart gave a nervous jump I whirled around like a cut snake. Hissing with aggression. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“Why do you always want to provoke me?” he asked softly.
I stopped breathing. He was too close, his scent of musk and lemon, twirling all around me, and those eyes on mine... and then on my lips. My knees became jelly.
“Let me go!” I tried to pull my hand away but he wouldn’t let go.
“Are you attracted to me?” he asked.
My mouth dropped open with incredulity. The next few moments were of me puffing air and unable to form a coherent sentence to defend myself. I settled on an outraged insult. “Get over your fucking self, Maxim.”
“Kiss me,” he ordered, his gaze fluttering down to my lips.
I felt my cheeks burn.
“Let’s see if this attraction between us is really as potent as it seems.”
His gaze lifted to mine with the challenge and I wanted to defy him. By God that was all that I swore to myself I wanted, but the truth was a whole different matter. I wanted something even more.
My voice weakened but I gave it my best shot. “Let me go,” I croaked, like a helpless Victorian damsel. I tried again to pull away, but by now my willpower was feeble, reduced to nothing in the presence of the beast.
He let go, but then his hand slid around my waist and in the next breath, his lips were on mine.
I felt a zap!
A painful jarring sensation shot straight to my core and awoke every single nerve in my body. He kissed me softly, gently, and I felt myself begin to crumble to the floor. His taste was like a drug, released into me to completely unravel me, and it was so sweet that it stole my breath away.
His tongue teased mine, stroking and withdrawing and at the hard suck of my lips I almost felt liquid hot desire begin to drip from my thighs.
“Maxim,” I held onto his shirt, desperate not to fall … desperate to hold on to what remained of my sanity. This was wrong… he was wrong. I was supposed to loathe him. That was all I knew for so long.
Somewhere in the distance, I heard laughter and was instantly jerked back to my senses. Maxim did not hear or did not care.
I tried to pull away, but he held on tightly to me and slipped his tongue even deeper into my mouth. I couldn’t help it. All I could do was suck on his tongue. He tightened his grip around my waist and I was so lost in him that for the next few seconds I did little to protest. But then I felt everything go silent and that was more than enough to jar me back to reason. I grabbed uselessly at his hand around my waist.
“Maxim!” I heard a call from the distance, and his grip loosened.
Our parting made the sweetest, softest, sucking sound. I knew that punctuation to the end of how much he had just made the world spin under my feet would haunt me in the days to come. He let go of me and turned away, not giving any of us a chance to see just how much he had unraveled. I watched him, his chest rising and falling with every harsh breath. I turned around to meet Levan and Bianca watching us. Levan had a very thoughtful gaze on his face while Bianca couldn’t hide her smile.
“We’re so sorry for interrupting you both,” she apologized, and grabbed onto her fiancé’s hand. “Let’s give them some privacy.”