Loving the Bastard (5 page)

So, the mighty Maximilian Roth had almost been felled by a little scrap of a seven-year-old. Not only was the information surprising, it actually gave Zeta hope of saving this man—and herself. She had no intention of staying with him, but it would definitely make the next six months of her life go much faster if she could tap into that spark of humanity Maximilian kept buried deep. Zeta had to wonder if he buried it deep because he truly wanted to hurt others or to keep from getting hurt himself. She was beginning to suspect the latter.

He was silent all the way back, but several times she caught him muttering to himself. Zeta refused to break his train of thought by asking what he was thinking. The more he thought about little Trevor and his sister, Shani, the more confused he seemed to become. And he
was
thinking about the children. Zeta knew it in her heart and soul. As they’d left, she’d caught him looking back over his shoulder at the two, rubbing his chest as if it ached.

“There has to be a way to keep those two from going hungry,” he finally said.

“Who?” She feigned ignorance, wanting to see what he’d do. As she expected, he flashed her an annoyed look.

“The kid I bribed and his sister,” he snapped. “How can I keep them from going hungry? They both obviously hadn’t eaten the whole day.”

“Likely not,” she said, trying to sound unconcerned. In truth, she made sure all the kids in her class got one meal from the Y concession stand each time they worked with her. Trevor didn’t normally show with Shani, but Zeta would have made sure he’d had something as well. But it suited her to let Maximilian ponder this. “They can go to the soup kitchens. In fact, I’m pretty sure their mother takes them there when things get too bad.”

“Soup kitchens? Aren’t those places dangerous?”

“Some. At least, the areas around them are a breeding ground for gang recruitment. Unfortunately, their mother has no place else to go. She’s a single mom who dropped out of school and didn’t get her GED. Opportunities aren’t exactly jumping into her lap.”

Maximilian was silent for a long while before he muttered. “Woman should have enough self-respect to at least try to get a high-school equivalency. She should never have had children in the first place.”

Zeta did her best to keep her temper in check by telling herself he was simply ignorant, but even she had to admit that his ignorance wasn’t an excuse for his attitude. “You have no idea what her life has been like, Max,” she snapped. “No idea what kinds of trials that woman has been through. Until you do, I suggest you keep your opinions to yourself. It only shows your ignorance and stupidity.”

“Anyone can get a GED. You just have to put forth the effort.”

“Oh, really? And what if she’s a learning-disabled adult who slipped through an already cracked system? She can’t afford tutors who can reach her intellect level. Hell, she may not even know she has a problem. All she knows is that she can’t understand what she needs to do. She has two children to provide for and has no time to worry about frivolous things like an education for herself when it doesn’t come easily for her.”

He glanced at her sharply. “You sound like you know this woman.”

“I do. She brought Shani to me after the girl failed second grade, telling me she would not let the girl drop out of school like she had. The woman was in tears, and Shani was withdrawn and beaten down on the inside. Debra’s story came out then. I won’t bore you with the details, but suffice it to say she does everything she can to provide for her children. She’s been working at a rundown hotel as a housekeeper for the past few months. It’s one of the seedy ones downtown where there are pimps and prostitutes all around. I can’t even imagine the biohazard she has to clean three days a week. The only reason she continues to work there is because she can go in during the day and because she loves her children too much to let them all live on the street.” Zeta let that sink in before adding. “As it is, I’m not sure she makes much more than what it takes to pay the rent. Ramon noodles are a staple for them.”

“Why not just give her kids up for adoption? They’d have a better life.”

Zeta gave a short, humorless laugh, barely stifling the urge to clock him a good one. “And who do you suppose would want to adopt two inner-city black kids? You? Not being a parent or coming from a loving home, I seriously doubt you can appreciate how utterly ludicrous that question was.” The nerve of the man! Still, Zeta reminded herself that at least he was thinking about someone other than himself. It had to be a move in the right direction.

For the rest of the ride home, neither spoke. Zeta watched Max out of the corner of her eye. His features were schooled, but he still muttered to himself under his breath from time to time. He must have been one of those people who did their thinking in the car during their commute, because in the office he was all business. Now, he seemed more…normal. The cloak and shield he wore had come down, leaving him vulnerable to a certain extent.

As he pulled into the garage of the massive estate he seemed to reach a decision. His face relaxed a bit, and he got that analytical look she had come to associate with him planning something or other for the lives of other people. God help him if he tried to harm Debra or her children, no matter how unintentionally. She’d have to keep a close eye on him and the entire situation. Sighing, she added it to the long, exhausting list of things she needed to worry about regarding Max.

Never in his life had Maximilian been so confused. In only a couple of short days, Zeta had completely turned his life upside down. For the first time, he was beginning to think this might not have been such a good idea. It wasn’t that he didn’t think his plan would work. Far from it. It was that he hadn’t planned on becoming emotionally involved. Which he wasn’t with her, per se, but the emotional entanglement around her kids at the Y was eating at him. She’d said she made sure they all had a meal but he was beginning to suspect she did more for them. It was in the way she gave each child her undivided attention when working with them. Like, to her, each of them was special and deserved everything she had to give.

He needed to get back to the business at hand, namely winning her body. The key to a woman was always pleasure. He would woo her with things then with multiple orgasms, and she’d be his. No sweat. All he needed to do was forget about this afternoon and concentrate on her.

With a sigh, he opened the door to her suite, letting her enter ahead of him. “It’s been an exhausting day,” he began, intending to take his leave of her. He needed to think, and he needed to do it away from her. “I have some work to do before bed so—”

“No,” she said simply.

Max had to stifle a groan. She wasn’t letting up. “Excuse me?”

“I said no. You agreed to have supper with me nightly.” She leaned against the counter, cocking her hip and placing one hand on the enticing curve. “Unless you want to just call the whole thing off.”

The little wench had him, and she knew it. With a little mocking bow he said, “Far be it for me to call an end to an arrangement I want so badly.”

“Need,” she said.

“I beg your pardon?”

“Need. This isn’t an arrangement you
want
. You
need
it. You know. To get control of your bank and everything.”

“And you are proving more a thorn in my side than I ever thought possible,” he muttered more to himself than to her. “But of course I’ll stay. What concoction are you going to whip up tonight?”

What, indeed. The woman had made pizza. Not from a box but completely homemade, right down to the sauce and the crust. And, God almighty, it was delicious. They didn’t talk much, but Maximilian thought that, from now on, he wouldn’t miss a meal with her for anything in the world. Forgot, in fact, why he’d wanted to in the first place.

“I take it you approve of supper?”

Max tried to feign indifference but wasn’t sure he managed it. “It’s…passable.”

She snorted none too delicately. “Is that why you ate half a pie?”

All he could do was shrug. “Okay, so it was really good.”

“Admit it,” she said, a smug look on her face. “You like this ritual.”

“I never admit to anything.”

“Even how much you want to help Trevor and his sister?”

She’d slipped in the comment so easily. Maximilian would have been proud if he hadn’t been so irritated. The woman could definitely hold her own with him. “That’s not your concern,” he said smoothly, knowing she wouldn’t let it go. “I’ll deal with that in my own way.”

“Figured you might,” she said as she stood to gather the dishes. “Help me finish the clean up then we can sit and talk about it.”

“Did I not just say…never mind.” Maximilian waved a hand in the air in surrender. “Do you
never
stop?”

With a mind-scrambling smile, Zeta answered, “Nope.”

Cleaning the kitchen didn’t take much time, as Zeta did most of her cleanup as she went. Still, Maximilian found he actually enjoyed doing the mundane task with her. She seemed to drop the subject of the kids and the Y in favor of forgettable chitchat. As it was, Max found himself watching her more than listening to her. Every time she bent over or stretched to reach something her jeans seemed to stretch lovingly over her ass, making him long to mold those same curves with his hands. Unfortunately that didn’t seem to be forthcoming any time soon.

“So,” he said when they’d sat on the couch after finishing in the kitchen. “In this fictional world of yours where we’re getting to know each other, what do we do?” Max injected as much sarcasm as possible, needing to get a grip on the situation quickly..

“We could watch TV,” she said with a shrug. “Any programs you favor?”

He smirked. “I don’t watch TV. I get my news on my phone on the way to work and anything else is meaningless drivel. Try again.”

Zeta pursed her lips but continued undaunted. “Movies, then.”

“Strike two.”

“Meaningless drivel,” she muttered.

“Exactly.”

“Fine,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest. “There has to be some kind of music you like. Maybe something to relax by.”

Max started to shoot her down again, but something stopped him. Why not humor her? Few women fascinated him the way Zeta did. For that alone she deserved a little of his time.

“I like the piano.” He gestured toward the corner. “The sound…soothes me.” The admission was harder than he’d thought. He didn’t like admitting to weakness, and telling her he liked piano music seemed to be divulging one.

Lips parted on a breath, Zeta gave him a startled look. “What’s your favorite?”

He shrugged. “I just like the sound of the instrument. I suppose it depends on my mood.”

“I suppose it does,” she said. Her eyes drifted toward the piano. The glossy white instrument was spotlighted with soft lighting by design, but moonlight from the clear night sky filtered through the glass like a beacon. When she got up and moved in that graceful way she had to sit at the keyboard, Maximilian found himself holding his breath. He wasn’t exactly sure what he’d expected in that moment, but the skill and comfort with which she played certainly wasn’t it.

Like she might caress a lover, her fingers stroked the keys with a delicate touch. The light, airy “Clair de lune” sang out with a rich sound from the piano he’d added to the room as an afterthought. Had he been listening to a professional recording, Max doubted the music would have been more pleasing. For several moments, he just sat there, stunned at the treasure he had in his home.

For a long while, he didn’t move, scarcely breathed for fear that, if he did, the spell she wove would be shattered. The complex and intricate, deft movements of her fingers astounded him. The quality of her playing was a surprise he had never seen coming. When he finally stood and moved toward her, he continued to watch in fascination as she lost herself in the music, her body swaying hypnotically as she played, her fingers, hands, and wrists moving in fluid motions that seemed to be a dance to the song she played.

Unable to help himself, Maximilian closed his eyes and drifted on the tranquil lake she conjured. Moonlight reflected on nearly still waters, the merest ripple disturbing the smooth surface. He could almost see the wind dispel the moon’s image as the notes swelled and her fingers danced over the keys, the water rippling beneath her touch as much as the wind’s. The beauty she created astounded him, took him to a place of perfect peace and tranquility he’d never thought to see.

The movement was only five minutes long, but Maximilian felt as if he’d run a marathon by the time her fingers parted from the ivory. And his cock was as hard as iron. Who’d have thought simply listening to a woman play the piano could be so arousing?

As her hand lifted from the last chord, she looked up at him, a surprised look on her face when she met his gaze, as if she hadn’t heard him approach. Without letting her drop her hand, he took it in his own, tugging her to her feet. Her eyes wide with shock and lingering emotion from her passionate recitation, Zeta let her hands settled on his chest while his arms circled her like a steel band.

With infinite care, giving her time to pull away, Max descended on her mouth slowly until his lips touched hers. He tasted passion on her breath, the silvery glow from the moon making the skin on her face gleam before his eyes drifted shut and Max lost himself in that kiss.