To the Max (37 page)

She fought to regain her composure. “Max, this is Beatrice Midori, and this is her date, Luigi Fallon.”

He greeted them both with a nod.

“Max Bowen is—”

“The one responsible for that big belly of yours?” Beatrice finished with a grin.

Both Luigi and Max looked at Annie. Oh God. This was getting worse and worse.

“You okay, dear?” the older woman asked, concerned.

She forced a smile on her face. “Just tired. I think it’s time for us to go.”

“Take care, my dear.” Beatrice saw a friend and, making her apologies, hurried away.

“Can I get a last dance with the brightest star of the night?” Luigi asked, his eyes never straying from Annie.

Max wasn’t going to allow it; she could feel it in the way he strengthened his grip on her waist. She touched his arm gently. “Max, honey, why don’t you go get our coats. I owe a last dance to Mr. Fallon. I’ll meet you at the front door.”

He nodded. “Okay, Ace.” Then he turned to Luigi. “Mr. Fallon.”

Luigi escorted her to the dance floor. God, this brought back so many memories. Six months ago, he’d escorted her to the dance floor too, in a very similar hotel. She’d been so taken with his attention. Now she didn’t want any.

“Who could have known we would meet here? Fate, huh?”

He was extremely good-looking. Charming. Perfectly dressed and mannered too.

In Annie’s eyes, he had nothing on Max.

“Are you working for Beatrice Midori?”

He nodded. “We’re heading to England tomorrow for four days. A business merger being finalized.”

“Wow. Four figures per hour, twenty-four hours a day. I knew she was loaded, but—”

Luigi’s lips tilted up. “I do package prices.”

“Of course,” she said, amused.

“You never told me you were a Vaughan.”

“Would that have made a difference?”

“Honestly? I don’t know. It is a powerful name; I won’t lie to you. But it doesn’t really matter. Now it’s too late.”

She nodded. Yes, it was too late.

“I’ve seen the way you look at Mr. Bowen. You love him. And he was ready to bite my head off before letting me dance with you, just because you said you were tired. He had his hand on your stomach several times. Are you happy?”

Annie didn’t have to think twice. “Yes.”

“Is the baby okay?”

“She’s fine.”

He stilled for a second but recovered fast. “She?”

“It’s a girl.”

After that, they didn’t talk anymore. It felt like the longest song in the world. When it finished, she took a step backward. “Good-bye, Luigi.”

He smiled at her, a tinge of regret in his face. “Good-bye, Annie.”

She had every intention of waiting for Max in the lobby, but she saw several people in the street eating hot dogs, and her stomach was rumbling.

“Happy New Year, Ms. Vaughan,” Frank, the doorman said. “Do you need a cab?”

“Thanks Frank, no. I’m just going out to grab a bite to eat and coming right back.”

He frowned at her. “I can get that for you.”

“No need.” It was a clear night. No wind, and judging by the softness of the snow falling, the temperature was barely below freezing. Besides, Frank was busy enough tonight. “If I’m not back by the time my date comes looking for me, please tell him I went to get a couple of hot dogs.”

Well, more than a couple, actually.

Dodging the crowd in the street, she walked toward the food stand, when suddenly someone grabbed her by the arm and dragged her around the corner to a side alley.

“What—”

“Not a word, bitch,” she heard a man grunt. Then she felt the hardness of the cold wall on her back. “Give me your purse.”

She lifted her eyes and saw a face covered by a black ski mask. Oh God. The dark alley was empty, and although on the main street there were people passing by, they were all distracted, celebrating the New Year. This man was holding her against the wall as if they were two lovers.

“I said the purse,” he repeated, pointing at the small bag she held.

“Take it,” she choked out, handing it to him. Instinctively she placed her hand over her belly. “Please don’t hurt me.”

“Good girl.” He snatched the small purse and took a step back. Out of nowhere, he produced a gun and pointed it at her face. “Shitty luck. At least you lived to see a new year, right?”

She was frozen, the cold air burning inside her. Her heart was thumping like mad, her ears roaring. Her body was prepared to run, yet she couldn’t move. All she could do was stare at the barrel of the gun, just two inches from her face.

The world slowed down. The snow falling around them. The cars passing. The people cheering. She heard the safety click off. Everything else receded to the background, only that sound strangely loud.

“Bye-bye, doll.”

Chapter Twenty-One

Max scanned the lobby, but he couldn’t see Annie.

The doorman must have recognized him, because before Max could ask, he approached him. “Looking for Ms. Vaughan? She went to buy a bite to eat. Hot dogs I think she said.”

Max looked through the glass doors. There were a lot of people being rowdy. None of them were Annie. “You saw which direction she went?”

“East. It’s been a crazy night. I lost sight of her.”

He was already on his way out. He had a bad feeling about this. It was a beautiful night, the snowflakes almost still in the sky, the streets lit with Christmas decorations, but it was cold; she wouldn’t go far without her coat.

He navigated the groups of cheering, drunk people. Then, from the corner of his eye, he noticed movement in an alley near the hotel.

There was Annie. In a fraction of a second, his brain recognized the glimmer of a gun barrel and he started running.

He threw himself at the assailant, and both went flying, the gun going off when they were in midair. They hit the ground hard, skidding, but Max didn’t feel it. In panic, he turned around to check if Annie had been injured by the shot. The gunman took advantage of Max’s distraction to punch him and scramble to his feet.

His first impulse was to chase after the bastard, but Annie was trembling uncontrollably. She’d slipped to the ground. He rushed to her.

“Annie, baby, you hurt?” It was dark and wet, but he couldn’t find blood anywhere.

Long seconds passed before she shook her head. “I… Don’t… Think… So…”

She was in shock. He shrugged off his jacket and wrapped her with it. “Call 911,” Max yelled at the doorman, who had just appeared.

Her breath was choppy. “Grandma’s… Going… To… Be… Pissed.”

* * * *

Annie woke up shaken, her hands flying around. Until she heard Max’s voice at the same time his scent reached her. “Shh, baby. It’s all right. I’m here.”

She lifted her head to find Max’s concerned face. He was lying on her hospital bed, holding her in his arms.

“I dozed off.”

He brushed her lips with his. “You need the rest. Go back to sleep.”

“Where are the doctors? Shouldn’t we be going home already? We’ve been here for hours.” She’d heard the words
shock
and
hypothermia
when she was admitted. Then came the magic word
pregnant
, and everyone had burst into action.

“Not yet, Ace. You were in shock. Shaking uncontrollably. They say you and the baby are okay, but we’re staying put until the doc releases you.”

Annie rested her head on his chest and sighed. They were going to be a long time, then. Her insurance was that good.

She looked down at herself. Her dress was ruined. So was Max’s tuxedo. On a nearby chair were both their coats, also ruined.

“Grandma?”

“Left not long ago. Gave hell to the cops for not being anywhere when they were needed. Paramedics too. I got scolded for not keeping you safe. Doctors were all bossed around, and I’m sure she mentioned she would be firing the doorman for not stopping you.”

God. She was going to call tomorrow and ensure the poor man didn’t lose his job. “I should never have gone out by myself. It was such a beautiful night, no wind. I thought I’d surprise you with some food. I wasn’t thinking. I should have waited for you. I’m sorry.”

“Not your fault you were attacked,” he growled.

“Some way to start the New Year, huh?” she muttered. “Being randomly mugged.”

His body tensed. “Baby, this is the second time you’ve ended up in the ER in less than a month.”

“The third,” she corrected, wiggling her brows and ripping a smile out of a far too serious Max.

“Are you positive the car running you over was an accident?”

“
Almost
running me over,” she pointed out. It had been snowing, and it had been slippery. Visibility had been crap, not to mention she hadn’t been paying attention. “Do you know how many people get mugged every day in Boston? Or almost hit by a car for that matter?”

“Maybe, but not all of them are a Vaughan or investigating irregularities in Franke Enterprises.”

She tried not to roll her eyes but failed miserably. Two shitty events were just a coincidence. It took three to make a pattern. Statistics 101. “All my money comes from my grandmother and ultimately goes back to her. No one wins anything by killing me except for my grandmother. She’s not the warmest granny, I’ll give you that, but I can hardly see her trying to off me. Besides, she’s the one who set up the trust fund for me on the first place. She’s the one in charge of everything. And about Franke Enterprises—I spoke with Sebastian today while we were dancing. He has suspected for a while that something was wrong. I told him I wasn’t finished but that as soon as I was, I would send him all my findings. He asked for my discretion, but he doesn’t have any motive to want me dead. He came to me.”

“What about the people behind the creative banking? And your boss and his creative auditing?”

She didn’t know who was responsible for the creative banking. That was not how she worked. Her job was to trace the funds and identify shell companies. If she had to guess, then she’d bet it was a member of the board of directors. It wouldn’t be the first time a front company had been run by a proxy who ended up being someone’s cleaning lady. And her boss plotting to off her? Benny wouldn’t hurt a fly. She couldn’t see him turning a blind eye to creative bookkeeping for that matter. Trying to cover up past fuckups by drowning her in work so she had less time to devote to the Franke accounts? Absolutely, but that was it. “Max, making me disappear won’t make fraud go away. Numbers are numbers. This was a random mugging, and the car accident was just that—an accident. Just my shitty luck.”

He didn’t seem convinced but didn’t insist.

Annie stayed quiet for a while, her head on his chest, while he caressed her back. “Are we going to talk about Luigi?”

He didn’t stop stroking her. “Up to you.”

“He wanted to know if I was happy.”

“You happy?”

Annie lifted her face to him, chuckling softly. “Before I was shot at, yes, I was.”

He cupped her neck and kissed her. “Ace, I understand he’s the father of your baby, but I love you and I will fight for you. You’re mine. I want you in my life. In my bed every night. Sleeping with you will never make me the father of your baby, but I wouldn’t mind the job if it comes to that.”

Annie’s throat closed at the rawness in his voice. “Max, it hadn’t even crossed my mind to give him another chance. It’s too late. It’s been too late since you saw me crying over the puzzle and showed me the Crabby Lobster, making me laugh and taking care of me. I think it’s been too late since the moment I moved in with you. Even if Luigi had reacted differently to the pregnancy, I’m sure you would have won me over.”

“Even with him being the biological father?”

She kissed him softly. “Even then.”

At that moment, a nurse came in. “Let’s check your blood pressure and—” She looked at them and smiled. “Well, hello. You’re having an interesting month, I see.”

It took a long second for Annie to recognize her. It was the same nurse who had been there the other times she’d visited the ER. She blushed and tried to move away from Max, but he wouldn’t budge. “Yes. We’re having a lot of mechanical issues lately.” Vibrating bullet. Car. Gun.

After checking Annie’s blood pressure the nurse picked up her chart and wrote something on it. She must have noticed her date of birth, because she said, “Happy birthday, Ms. Griffin. I hope the year improves from this.”

“Thanks. I hope so,” Annie mumbled as she left.

Thirty-six. Nine years older than Max.

He read her expression loud and clear and barked out a laugh. “I’ll be twenty-eight in two months. Don’t start panicking. You do know we’ll both get older, right?”

“Some of us faster than others.”

“Ace, at some point you and I we’ll be old, wrinkled, and toothless. Eight years up or down won’t make a damn difference in our general state of decay.”

She let out a giggle. That was true.

He cupped her face and spoke against her lips. “I had a great birthday organized for you, romantic dinner and carriage ride through the city included.”

“I’m sorry, Max. I don’t know that I will be up for too much partying today. I’d rather stay home with you.”

“Don’t be sorry, baby. I’d rather stay home with you too. You scared me.”

Well, she’d scared herself. She’d stared at that barrel. It hadn’t wavered. That man would have killed her for a frigging almost empty purse.

Then she’d seen Max flying toward the man, and her fear had turned into terror. For Max.

“Annie?” he asked “Where did you go? You’re white.”

She kissed him softly. Slowly. “You put yourself between me and a bullet.”

“Of course,” he replied. “I love you. I’d do it again without a second thought. By the way, my birthday girl is missing her present,” he said, reaching for his coat. “I brought it with me to the party. I hope it didn’t break in the fight.”

“Wasn’t my birthday present a fancy dinner and a carriage ride through the city?”

“Among other things.” He took a package from the pocket of his coat and handed it to her.

Annie sat up in the bed and ripped off the paper. She stared at the box, her sight suddenly clouded, her throat clutching.