James’ eyes followed Mia all the way up to the top of the first-floor landing. Fuck! He really couldn’t help himself. It was Mia, and he just couldn’t miss the enticing view of her climbing the steps. Once she was out of sight, he returned his attention to his coffee, a smirk playing about his lips.
“Matt,” he said under his breath, shaking his head. “You’re playing dirty, my man. I hope Andy can handle you.”
Like Eric said, Matt would fuck the shit out of the boy, and James had no doubt tonight was one of those nights.
Damn! He was sure Mia was confused and outraged when she’d heard her brother on the phone. It was amusing watching her expressions. The panicky look and then the suspicion that Matt was hurting her brother, and then there were the frustrated and surrendered looks. She was beautiful. And he remembered the lust he had seen in her eyes when he’d kissed her in the car.
The reminder only brought forward a powerful surge of passion in his blood, and he gulped another mouthful of coffee to clear his head. Suddenly, her sadness, those tears flowing down her cheeks, appeared in his mind. It was enough to make him feel sick to his stomach. Oddly enough, he felt his heart aching. It was unlike him.
He dismissed the thoughts of Mia and returned his attention to the phone. He dialed the house number, and a few moments later, Ms. Lane answered. He requested an audience with his daughter.
“Daddy?” Aria’s voice came through not long after.
“Hey, sweetheart,” he said softly, smiling.
“Did you find her? Did you find her, Daddy?” came her eager question.
He had to chuckle. “I did.”
“When is she coming over, Daddy? I promised to have dinner with her. We’re going to have so much fun together.”
James shook his head. Aria was just so cute. “As soon as I can but not tonight, sweetheart. She’s busy.”
Now wasn’t the right time to bring Mia home. The girl was tired and confused and needed to sort out what she needed to do next.
Prior to his encounter with her, his plan was to simply recover the two million Andy had lost. Once he laid eyes on her, however, everything changed. He was attracted to her and wanted her, hence his offer. Now he no longer gave a shit about that two million. Heck, he could make two million in a heartbeat. The only problem was now he was worried about her welfare.
The sickening feeling when he’d noticed both the Mexican and the Albanian trailing her wasn’t pleasant. Fuck, the naïve girl didn’t even notice a thing, even ten men following her every move. He had no choice but to brand her his to make sure they knew Mia belonged to him, to protect her. If he hadn’t decided to follow her himself this evening, either the Mexican or the Albanian would have gotten her by now. They would’ve forced Andy out of hiding and killed both brother and sister to shut them up.
Aria’s voice came through loud and clear. “Oh, okay, then. I can’t wait to see her though.” She giggled.
James chuckled. “Are you in bed?”
“Hmm?” came the reply.
“Aria?”
“Yes, Daddy?”
“Daddy won’t be home for a couple of days. I have business, okay?”
“Oh.” She sounded disappointed.
He chuckled. “When I’m home, your Mia will be there with me, all right?”
“Promise?”
“I promise,” he replied. “Now go to sleep.”
“Okay, good night, Daddy.”
“Good night, sweetheart,” he replied and then hung up.
After putting the cups in the dishwasher, he headed upstairs. His eyes lingered at Mia’s door for a brief moment before he finally went into his own bedroom.
He’d just finished showering and getting ready for bed when the phone rang.
“We have a problem,” Scott said the moment he picked up.
James sighed. “What now?”
“It’s Eric,” Scott muttered. “He’s fucking crazy.”
James laughed as if Eric were never crazy, as were all the Maxwells. “What’s he done now?”
“You need to talk to him, James. He’s bloody leaving for Japan in a couple of days.”
“What the fuck for?”
Scott sighed on the other end of the line. “He wants to stop the wedding.”
“Shit!” James swore. He’d known Eric was against their old man’s wedding to the Japanese woman the whole time, but he didn’t think he actually wanted to wreck it completely.
“You have to talk him out of it, James,” Scott said. “Eric doesn’t listen to me. He’d listen to you though.”
James sighed. “All right, I’ll talk to him.”
“We can discuss it over lunch tomorrow,” Scott added. “I’ll text him.”
“Sure, thanks.” He was about to hang up when Scott stopped him.
“So you found yourself a little rabbit, eh?” The brother chuckled. “I heard she’s very pretty.”
“Fuck!” James swore again.
“Andy’s sister?”
Nothing could go past Scott without him noticing. He was as sharp and shrewd as their old man. There was no need to deny the truth.
“Yeah,” he said. “She came to me.”
Scott laughed. “She came to you? Lucky bastard.”
“She came to settle her brother’s debt,” James said.
“Is it settled yet?”
James smiled. “I’m pretty sure it’s a done deal.”
Scott must have heard that light, amused tone in James’ voice, and he chuckled. “I know exactly what’s on offer.”
“Fuck off, Scott,” James muttered.
Scott ignored the warning and laughed. “Bring her around. I want to meet the woman who makes my brother forget about two million.”
“I will, as soon as she signs the contract,” James said.
“How long?”
“Five years.” There was no need to hide it from Scott. He’d figure it out on his own in a split second. In a way, they had the same taste in women. Even Eric, who was a fucking nuisance.
James should have seen the signs with Whitney when both Scott and Eric said they couldn’t understand why he’d marry the woman because they didn’t see anything beautiful about her. They were right, of course, and he had come to realize it a bit too late.
“What if you get sick of her?” Scott voiced his opinion.
James smiled. “I won’t,” he replied confidently.
“What if she gets sick of you?”
A knot formed in his stomach. “She won’t.”
“You’re a harsh man, James,” Scott said. “Good luck.”
James frowned. “What for?”
Scott just laughed, like he always did. “Good night, bro. See you tomorrow.”
“Good night,” James said and then hung up.
For a moment James stared into space and wondered about Scott’s words. Would Mia ever grow tired of him? The thought didn’t sit well within him, and he felt sick. Fuck!
MiaWhen I woke the next morning, it was bright, the sun just rising across the horizon. I turned my head to my right. Instantly, I sucked in a breath. The view before me was indeed spectacular. The city’s buildings glittered like golden jewels beneath the glowing orange. I sat up, my eyes feasting on the sight before me with amazement.“Beautiful.” The voice reached me, and I jumped.I turned my attention to the door and saw the man who had been on my mind the majority of last night.“James.” I said, my heart pounding within my chest. And it was so early in the morning too.Well, to be honest, it was hard not to be nervous around him, especially with him wearing only a pair of tight jeans and nothing else. His hair was wet, so perhaps he’d just showered.He came into the room. “I did knock,” he said, placing a shirt on the bed. “But you were otherwise occupied.” He grinned. “I had to check in on you.”In case the men snuck in and stole me away? I thought. Or I ran away? Then I thought
MiaJames Maxwell was busy typing away. There was that something about him I couldn’t put my finger on.No, I thought, he would never get tired of doing anything. Just look at him. He was a man in great health. He could definitely manage sex every night without even exerting that much energy.My body shook a little at the thought, in both fear and anticipation. Fear because I was stepping into the unknown and anticipation because it was James.I knew I was jumping to conclusions, of course. To put it bluntly, I was going to be Mr. James Maxwell’s mistress, his lover. That was all. There was nothing more to our relationship than that. All I had to do was give myself to him when he wanted me.Sex shouldn’t take long at all. A mere twenty minutes at most. I could definitely handle that. And James was very handsome and, thus far, had been nice to me.Yes, I confirmed to myself, I have nothing to fear.“Is something wrong?”I jolted out of my contemplation. “Huh?”James cocked his head to
Mia“Where are we going?” I felt the need to ask again as I stared at his large hand wrapped firmly around mine.I had no idea why I found this man’s hands so fascinating, why I suddenly felt this overwhelming need to be touched and caressed by them. Why my inside suddenly burned with desire so deep I felt weak. Only moments before, I was scared and my body became rigid when he kissed me, but now? Because of James’ gentle and warm touches?I blamed my body.“Shopping,” he responded.“Now?” I couldn’t help myself.It wasn’t the fact that I didn’t like shopping. Heck, I’d like to shop until I dropped. There were heaps of clothing I’d like to try on and buy. But shopping was usually done with girlfriends, which I didn’t have, and doing this sort of fun stuff with James just didn’t seem right. There was also the fact that I didn’t have any money.I pulled my wrist free from his clutch and stood there in the middle of the living room, watching him. He turned his gaze to me and cocked his h
James“I don’t like your fucking good mood, James,” Eric muttered in irritation. “And don’t even dare try stopping me from going to Japan.”The three brothers were at Scott’s apartment, sitting around on the veranda outside, taking in the great view and the sun while they ate lunch.Eric’s mention of his good mood put a smile on James’ face, and once again, he thought about Mia. Fuck, he couldn’t help himself. That sex had been great. It had only been their first time together, and he was hooked. He couldn’t wait to spend more time with her.That sex was also Mia’s first time. He wondered if it lived up to her expectations. The thought it possibly didn’t caused his stomach to twist in dread a little. No, it was definitely great for her; no doubt about that. The look on her face when she came was complete satisfaction for him.“Hello? Anybody home?” Scott chuckled, waving his hand in front of his brother.James blinked and laughed. “My bad. Sorry.”Eric got even more irritated at James
MiaWilliam’s sudden appearance made me so unsettled that when the phone inside the apartment rang, I jumped in fright. I blinked. Who’d be calling?Should I pick up and tell whoever it was to go away? But heck, whoever it was surely was persistent. It kept ringing and ringing, and it was getting on my nerves. Then, because I couldn’t help myself, I rushed in and picked it up.“Hello?”A chuckle sounded and then, “Took you long enough. How’s your afternoon going, sweetheart?”I blushed at the comment. We’d only started our master/mistress relationship, for God’s sake. He needn’t call me sweetheart.“James?” I asked.“Yes, sweetheart.”“Why are you calling?” I couldn’t help myself.“To see how you’re getting on,” he replied.I licked my lips. “I’m fine.” Then I wondered if I should tell him about William.“Good,” he said. “Look, I won’t be there until late tonight. Sorry, sweetheart. Will you be okay?”“Of course I’ll be fine. I’m a grown adult, after all,” I said matter-of-factly. The
MiaBack in the days before I turned twelve, my life was beautiful. We weren’t well-off. In fact, my parents always worried about money, about how we were going to pay off that next bill, how we’d have enough to put food on the table. But it was a worry we shared, a combined effort to make ends meet, and we were happy.My parents had been childhood sweethearts and were married straight after they’d graduated college. They had loved each other dearly, and they had cherished me and my brother Andy with all their hearts.Yes, my life had been beautiful back then, before that fateful summer day when a truck drove into our car on Interstate 93 as we made our way back to Mystic Spring, when both my parents’ lives were abruptly snatched from this world.I felt tears sting my eyes as I stared up at the ceiling, watching the shadows of the room playing about. My chest tightened with sorrow at the thought of my parents, at the thought of how unfair the world was.“Mommy?” I remembered my eleven
MiaThe moment I saw those burning Prussian-blue eyes and his dark face, I wanted to weep with both delight and trepidation. I knew the moment I saw the look on his face that he was going to ravish me again. But so early in the morning? When we’d just done so last night?I couldn’t help myself and voiced my confusion. “James? Are we doing this again?”He chuckled. “You’re finally awake,” he replied, ignoring my question. “I was beginning to wonder.” He returned his attention to my breast.I couldn’t have that. “James?”He continued to ignore me and guided my leg up. He met my thigh with a kiss of his eager lips and then another and another and then some licks of his tongue.His tongue was hot and wet, and I groaned in response as he moved ever closer to the forbidden area.“Oh, James,” I whispered. “It’s early in the morning.”He finally turned his attention to me with an amused look. He moved up so that we were face-to-face. Then his lips found mine, and he kissed me, plunging his to
MiaAs I went down the stairs, I smelled coffee and bacon. James must have been cooking breakfast again.I found him in the kitchen transferring crispy bacon from a frying pan onto plates.“Good morning, sunshine,” he said, eyeing me with interest as I descended the last few steps.The word sunshine tugged something deep within my heart, and I felt weak in the knees.“Morning,” I replied as I hopped onto a barstool.He poured me a cup of coffee.“Thanks,” I said.“You’re welcome,” he stated, smiling.He appeared to be in a fine mood after what happened in the bedroom only twenty minutes ago. I eyed him with interest, too, as I raised the hot cup of coffee to my lips. I noted his dark hair was wet and that he had on a pair of jeans and a simple T-shirt. Despite the fact he wasn’t in a suit, he still looked handsome as hell.After the thorough examination of his person, I decided he must have had a cold shower to cool himself down as I’d suggested. Oddly enough, I felt a little disappoi