A Bride for the Billionaire Bad Boy (The Romero Brothers, Book 2) (11 page)

“Lucas, I…” Maxine broke off. She inhaled a deep
breath before continuing. She really didn’t want to hurt his feelings but she
had her pride. She wasn’t about to take a handout for nothing, especially from
a rich, sexy bachelor. She didn’t want him to get the wrong idea. She didn’t
want to send the wrong signal.

“Lucas, that’s so nice of you but…” Maxine bit down on
her lower lip. “I just can’t accept that generous gift from you.”

“And why not?” he said forcefully.

"Well, there’s a price for everything, Lucas. You
and I both know that nothing is free.”

“Ouch.” Lucas feigned a broken heart. “You really
think I’m trying to buy you, Maxine? Now, that really hurt.” He seemed to be
having fun with it instead of taking offense, which was a welcome relief for
Maxine. The last thing she wanted to do was offend him. He was only trying to help
her, wasn’t he?

“All I want is friendship, Maxine. Only if you want
that.”

“Friendship?” Now it was her turn to take umbrage. Was
that really all he wanted from her? “You mean friendship with benefits, right?”
She cocked a brow. She really didn’t think a man as hot and sexy as Lucas
Romero would only want female friends.

“You really do speak your mind, Maxine. I like that.”

“So do you. Sometimes.”

“Well, I try to be mindful these days.”

“But you would want something more from me, wouldn’t
you?”

“Not if you don’t want it. But yes, I would love to
f—,
er
, make love to you over and over again,
enjoying the sounds of you screaming in unbridled pleasure like you’ve never
known before. What’s wrong with that?” Lucas grinned as if nothing out of the
ordinary was said.

Maxine must have flushed fifty shades of rouge. She
was getting hot inside.
Too hot.
She swallowed hard
and with shaking hands grabbed the glass of water that was by the side of the
table and placed it to her lips. She needed air to breathe. She needed
oxygenated water right now.

“Sorry,” he laughed. “Sometimes, I get ahead of
myself. But you did want to hear what I had on my mind.”

“I did,” she said, smiling. “I’m…glad.”
I’m flattered, too.
Lucas really wants
to do that to me? She visualized what it would be like writhing beneath this
sex god on a bed, naked bodies entwined in an erotic fantasy. She was throbbing
between her thighs.

Time to switch the subject.

“Listen, I’m very thankful…grateful that you want to
help me, Lucas. But like I said, I’ll find a way to help my mom out.”

“It’s not a handout, Maxine.” His tone was more
serious. He was really serious about helping her for nothing in return, wasn’t
he? “You do love your mother, don’t you?”

“Of course, I do!” she shot back, placing her glass back
on the table. “I’ll do anything for her.”

“Well, I can get you anything you want. Let me know.
But I’ll need your consent first. I can have a twenty-four hour nurse to care
for your mother.” He swiped his cell phone from his pocket. “Just say the word.”

“Lucas! I can’t have you do that.”

“Why not? I can do whatever the hell I feel like…as
long as I have your consent, of course.” He gave her a wicked grin to melt her
heart again. He was really serious, wasn’t he? He was so unlike the carefree
bachelor she’d read about in news reports. Which went to show that you
can’t
believe everything you read or hear about a person.

“Yes, but—" The truth was she was worried
sick about her mother’s safety in the nursing home since
short-staffing
was always an issue at the facility.

“Self-care, Maxine. You need to take care of number
one before you take care of anyone else in your life. I know it sounds selfish
but there is no other way. Besides, I don’t want to see anything happen to
you.”

Maxine swallowed. “I promise to take care of myself,
Lucas. You don’t have to worry about me.” She tried to brush him off with a
grin and a roll of her eyes.

“You know something?” he said, leaning back. “I like
that about you.”

“Like what?”

“The way you just seem to brush me off every chance
you get.”

“That’s not quite what I’m doing.”

“Au contraire. You’re so different. Most girls would
have jumped at the chance.”

“But I’m not most girls, Lucas.”

He leaned forward and gazed intently into her eyes and
butterflies exploded in her belly. She loved the way he looked at her that way.
Hungry passion burning in his eyes.
A
possessive interest in her.
“I know,” he cooed with a wicked grin.

“Come here,” he said softly, getting up, reaching his
hand to hers.

“Where are you taking me?”

“Over there to a better location. The sun will rise
soon.”

“Oh?”

Lucas guided her to another side of the venue where
there was a tinted window and a breathtaking view of the city by the lake.
Beauty was not adequate to describe it.

“It’s a one-way visual. We can see out but no one can
see in.”

“Oh, this is nice, Lucas.” And what a scenic view it
was. She could see Lakeside Drive with a pier and a few yachts docked. Over to
the left some tall, glass, high-rise buildings that reflected the glistening
sunrise overlooked the rich, sparkling blue lake that seemed to stretch for
miles along the coast. They didn't call it a “great lake” for nothing. Ontario
was surrounded by a few great lakes the size of some cities and even some states.
Glancing at the waves in the water outside was refreshing and soothing.

But it was the deep orange and red sun rising in the
east that captured
her
as the reflection on the water
was a warm orange over the blue. Darkness was melting into light. The dawn of a
new day—and a new phase in Maxine’s life.

“I love watching the sunrise in the morning,” he
whispered. “My mother used to tell us that when we rise with the sun we get
more energy to start the day. It’s a wonderful way to renew your strength.”

When Lucas spoke, his eyes glittered with what looked
like raw hurt. Maxine was sure there must be some story there but decided not
to probe further. Not now. She just could not believe that Lucas was sharing
this magical, intimate moment with her and it had nothing to do with them
getting naked in bed. She’d never felt so sensual, so close to a man like this.
He was opening up in a way that was indescribable, yet sweet.

Lucas sat beside her and placed his arms over the back
of the chair around her. She wanted to snuggle in his embrace. This was so not
the bad boy image the media painted of Lucas. She would never again believe
everything she read about a celebrity or public person.
Never
again.
She learned a lesson in that there was always more to a story.

To her delight, Lucas and she spoke practically
through the night to early morning. They spoke about many interests and family
stuff and all sorts of things while the city slowly woke until they heard the
honking of horns and the busy traffic outside. Yep, the city was
wide awake
now. But she was grateful to have this time to feel
protected after what had happened to her at her apartment.

And all through this she wasn’t even tired. How weird
was that? She guessed Lucas was right about getting energy from the sun. Only
once before did she remember pulling an all-nighter, while studying for finals,
but it was nothing like this. Maxine always slept well during a twenty-four
hour period. And she knew she would have to get some sleep sometime
soon—if only in Lucas’s arms.

Lucas spoke fondly about his family.
His grandfather, whom he adored more than anything on this
earth—though they’d sometimes butt heads about issues.
He spoke
about the bond he had with his cousin Antonio and his six brothers. All of his
family members were doing well in their chosen industries. They all worked
under the umbrella of Romero Corp. and the Romero Foundation. The foundation
especially brought so much to the community and it hosted the famous annual
Diamond Ball that raised millions of dollars for various programs to help young
entrepreneurs, fixed-income families and funded affordable housing for
low-income families.

Maxine felt a pang of longing. She was happy that
after all Lucas and his family had been through that he was doing well but she
wished she had a large family too. It must be amazing, simply amazing to come
from such a huge family—and a close-knit one at that, Maxine surmised.

Oh, how she wished she and her mother had a family.
She didn’t even know her biological family. That hurt her the most. She was
grateful for her adoptive mother but the pain of not knowing why her real
family gave her away, stung her at times.

“So you have six brothers?” Maxine was stunned. She’d
read about the Romero family but didn’t realize there was…so many of them.

“Yeah. And they’re all a pain in the butt!” Lucas grinned.

“You don’t mean that.”

“How do you know?”

“Because of the way you just spoke about them. I’ve
heard you’d do anything for your siblings or other family members.”

“Oh, really? So you’ve been checking up on me, have
you?”

“No!” Maxine cast her eyes away to look at the
blueness of the lake that was now fully lit up under the early morning sun.
Heat rose to her cheeks.

“So, what is it then? How did you know?”

“Aha! See. You admit it. You said
how
did you know, not
how
could you be so sure
?” she said, raising a brow, a knowing grin on her
lips.

Lucas grinned sheepishly. “Yeah, I’ll do anything for
my family and those close to me.”

His words caused a wave of hot emotions to stir
through Maxine. He would do
anything
for his family or those close to him.

“You know, we really should be going, Lucas. I’ve
really enjoyed—" Maxine stopped midsentence. Her cell phone rang and
startled her. She reached into her bag and fished her out her phone. When she
read the display, her heart stopped.

It was the nursing home calling her.

“What is it?” Lucas was overtly concerned.

“Um…it’s the nursing home.” Her heart plummeted in her
chest. They would not be calling her unless it was something urgent. Not at
this hour of the morning.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

“Has Lucas returned yet?” Zack asked as he walked into
the breakfast room. His grandfather, Toni, and Toni’s wife, Shelly, alongside
side his cousin, Antonio, with his wife, Lucy, were seated at the long, oval
breakfast table. The morning sun shone in the area through the ceiling-to-floor
windows.

What were they talking about? Zack was no fool. The
family hardly used the breakfast room unless they were having an intense
discussion about something.

Was this about his brother, Lucas, and getting Lucas hitched
so that he could avoid another public relations disaster with an upcoming
launch? He knew his grandfather wanted so badly to repair the carefree, wild
images of his grandsons in the media but Zack just hoped to God he wasn’t
playing matchmaker with Lucas.

It was as if his grandfather saw single as being some
sort of disorder that needed to be treated…a la wedding band of gold.

Well, Zack could certainly speak for his brother when
he thought: "Thanks but no thanks!”

A grin of amusement touched Toni’s lips. “I think he’s
been out all night. He was going to help that young woman, Maxine.” Toni went
back to eating his crepes.

Zack sighed a deep breath. “I can’t seem to reach him
on his cell. I’m going in to the office now.”

“Very well. And oh, Zack,” Toni called out, not
looking up from his plate. “Don’t do anything silly.”

Now what
did his dear old grandfather mean by that?

***

“I’m sorry, Maxine,” the doctor said as he sat
in the chair of his office at the nursing home.

Maxine could not sit down. She had to stand up.
She stood beside Lucas with her arms wrapped tightly across her chest. Lucas
was right beside her in the doctor’s office.

She was glad he was there. She needed him more
than anything. She just realized she had very few close people to turn to. She
did have Lucy but Lucy was married and expecting a child during a difficult
pregnancy. Thank God for Lucas!

“So what you’re saying is that my mother has to
be transferred to…another type of facility?” Maxine's voice trembled. They were
going to have her mother committed. The thought brought a crushing boulder to
her stomach.

“Well,” the doctor continued. “She does require
more supervision for one thing. As I mentioned earlier, she had a pretty
difficult episode last night. She was very…” he hesitated, glancing at Lucas
momentarily as if unsure if he should divulge such personal information in
front of non-family members.