by Layla Holt
“What are you doing here?” she demanded.
Instead of answering, he held out a cup of takeaway coffee. The scent of roasted coffee beans wafted up her nostrils and her stomach rumbled. Reluctantly, she took the coffee. “Thanks.”
He contemplated her and she wished that he would remove the sunglasses so she could see his eyes.
“It has been what? A year since we saw each other?” He removed his sunglasses then and she saw that he was laughing.
“You know why I’m upset Max. It’s seven in the morning for goodness’ sake. Hardly the time for an old friends’ reunion.”
He smiled and her stupid heart somersaulted in her chest. She took a sip of the coffee and almost groaned aloud. One of the things she had missed was coffee from The Aroma Coffee House.
“I’m glad that you’ve got that clear. We’re friends and that’s why I agreed to take on this last-minute assignment.”
Megan was lost. “I don’t understand. What assignment?”
“Jaime called me and told me about your ex-husband threatening you. He felt it was not safe for you to be alone and I agreed with him. We signed the contract for two months this morning.”
Megan didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry. She’d had a conversation with her brother Jaime days ago and told him that Luca had issued what could be construed as threats. But she hadn’t been unduly worried and had instantly pushed it out of her mind.
After all, she was home and as far as she knew Luca wasn’t violent. He had never raised a hand to her in the five years they had been married. What she had gone through in her marriage was emotional abuse.
If she had remained in Italy though, she would have been worried as he had taken to hanging around unsavory characters, which worried his parents as well. At home, she was safe.
She turned her mind to the current problem. She needed to get rid of Max. Fast. He was wasting her precious time and he was a distraction that she did not need.
“I’m going to kill Jaime,” she said.
“Don’t. He cares about you. We all do.” Max opened the passenger door and held it open for her.
Maybe they did but it wasn’t right for Jaime to disclose her business to Max, of all people. It was embarrassing enough that she had returned home a failure. She didn’t need the added humiliation of Max knowing how pathetic her situation was.
Months earlier, when she had sat Luca down and told him that she was done with their sham of a marriage, he had not put up an argument. If anything, he had been just as eager as she was to get the divorce proceedings rolling. He was the one who had suggested a quickie divorce, which was the way to go when both parties agreed on it.
But something had changed in that time and she suspected that the woman he had been seeing, a notorious Italian socialite, had broken off with him and now he wanted stupid old Megan to stroke his ego. She had laughed at him when he had suggested that she return to Italy and they try again.
He had gone mad, and said stuff that she was sure he regretted now. She had disconnected the call but, at the time, the conversation had left her shaky.
However, the more she had thought about it, the more she had seen it for what it was. Bravado talk and false threats. She had made the mistake of confiding all this in Jaime, being her closest brother.
Clearly not.
“Listen Max, you know you’re like a brother to me.” Megan almost choked on the words. Max had never been like a brother to her. “So I’ll be honest with you. I don’t need a bodyguard. Jaime tends to exaggerate. You know that.”
He shrugged. “I’m afraid I’ve already signed the contract.”
Her patience flew out the window. “This is ridiculous. I’m running late and I don’t need this right now,” she hissed. “I have a long morning ahead.”
He bowed low and she stifled a giggle. He looked ridiculous bowing almost to his knees in his suit.
“At your services ma’am. Driver and bodyguard at your disposal.” He smiled and Megan found herself fighting not to smile.
She glanced at the luxurious interior of the SUV. It looked so cool inside and already the sun was glaring down at them. Plus, she wouldn’t mind a ride to work.
“Fine,” she said. “But only until I get my own car.” She ignored him and entered the car.
Megan regretted her choice of seat when Max entered the car. The first thing that hit her was his scent. She remembered it from Jaime’s wedding in Asencia, when they’d danced together. An earthy scent with a musky undertone that made her want to crawl up his massive chest and rest her head on it.
Wordlessly, he started the car and drove down the winding drive that took them out of her childhood home.
“What’s happening today that’s got you so tense?” Max said.
“It’s my first day at work,” Megan said. She fought the urge to fidget in her seat.
Max made her nervous. He was a big guy but it wasn’t his size that was making her feel as though the car had shrunk. It was his nearness. It overwhelmed her and made her remember how it had felt to be held in his strong, masculine arms. She had felt safe for the less than five minutes they had danced together.
She dislodged that memory from her mind. Her schoolgirl crush for Max had to end. She had made so many mistakes in her past and she was determined to rectify all of them. She was going to show her family that she was a different Megan. She knew what she wanted now and nothing was going to distract her from getting it. Even the tempting Max Foster.
“Your father owns the company,” Max said.
“It’s not that simple,” Megan said. She needed to speak to someone, verbalize her worries. “When it comes to Candin Inc, nothing is a given with my father. I’m meeting him and my brothers in the conference room to explain why I should be given a job.”
Cold fear settled in the pit of her stomach. She knew her father well. He had two sides. A loving side where he would do anything for the people he cared about. Then there was the cold side. The business side.
Candin Inc and its welfare came first and like any other employee, he would want to know what she was bringing to the company. The meeting could go very wrong and it wasn’t improbable to find herself without a job.
“They all dote on you,” Max said. “You’ll get the job.”
If Max knew the elder Cohan, he would understand why she was worried. All her brothers started working at Candin Inc when they were in their teens. They started at the bottom and each of them worked their way up.
She had been the exception to that unwritten rule where you had to start at the bottom. Before she left for Italy to immerse herself in the language, her father had been excited and looking forward to her return. Then she had disappointed him by falling in love and wanting nothing to do with Candin Inc.
She hadn’t planned the falling in love part but going to Italy had been a plan to get away from her smothering family. A search for independence.
“We’ll see,” Megan said and retreated back into her thoughts. It had been silly of her to think that Max would understand. He still thought of her as Dean’s little sister.
She was not her father’s little girl either, anymore. It was time to stand on her own two feet.
Megan tensed when Max drove through the gates of Candin Inc. When she passed through those gates again, either of two things will have happened. She would have a job or not.
She desperately needed it. As it was, she had nothing. No home, seeing as she was living in her parents’ guest house. But that didn’t matter to Megan. What mattered was regaining her sense of purpose and only a job would do that.
Then there was the most compelling reason of all. She craved her family’s respect. She knew what they all thought about her and she understood where it came from. After all, she had made really terrible decisions in the past.
She had rejected her family and had wanted to get as far away from them as she could. Now, she was back and she needed them to see her as more than the daughter or sister
who made rash decisions, like getting married to a sexy Italian she had known for less than six months.
Not that there was anything wrong with that, but with the wisdom that comes with hindsight, Megan knew she could have done things differently. For one, she could have taken a job at Candin Inc. Her father had wanted her to open a branch in Italy. Like a fool, she had said no.
She and Luca had plans for the family vineyard. Plans that Luca had no intentions of seeing through. This realization had come a little late for her to do anything about the offer to open a Candin Inc branch in Italy.
Max smoothly brought the car to a stop. “Here you are. What time shall I pick you up?”
“I’ll find my way home,” Megan said and snapped open her seatbelt. She continued speaking, refusing to give him a chance to say anything. “Thanks, I appreciate the ride but please tell Jaime that I fired you.”
She opened the door and slipped out.
Chapter 3
Megan’s heartbeat raced as she strolled through the glass entrance doors of Candin Inc. She paused in the middle of the lobby and inhaled deeply. The scent of chocolate and candy wafted up her nostrils. It was the scent of home and family.
So many people had walked through the entrance, day after day, raising their families because of the jobs they held at Candin Inc.
Like her brothers, Megan longed to be part of the legacy, continuing with what their father had started. To be part of this special company that her father had started and which was a part of Lockwood’s history. She couldn’t believe how little Candin Inc had meant to her before.
“Miss Megan, are you okay?”
Megan whirled around and smiled at Lillian, the receptionist who was staring at her with a look of concern. She probably thought that Megan had lost her marbles. “I’m fine, just a little overwhelmed at being back.”
Being back was not quite the right word as she had never worked at Candin Inc. She had dropped in to see her brothers and father, but she couldn’t remember ever staying for more than a few hours.
She knew every inch of the building of course. Candin Inc was as much a part of her history as her family home was.
“You shouldn’t be,” Lillian said. “Everyone is buzzing with the news that you’ll be working with us.”
Megan was pleasantly surprised. “Really?” She hadn’t expected anyone would notice or care.
“Yes. Now we have the whole family working here.”
“Thanks,” Megan said.
“Adrian said to tell you that they would be in the conference room on the third floor.”
Dang! She had wasted a lot of time arguing with Max. “Am I late?”
Lillian glanced at her watch. “You will be in two minutes.”
Megan flashed her a smile and sprinted towards the elevator. She jabbed at the buttons, until the doors slid open. If the elevator could talk, it would frown at her impatience and scold her for pressing the buttons harder than necessary.
She took one step and then another, but on the third one, her leg felt a whole lot lighter. She glanced down and found her foot shoeless.
The elevator beeped, signaling an obstruction. Megan’s shoe was stuck between the railings at the bottom. Hurrying before someone came along, she bent to grab it but it wouldn’t bulge. She tugged harder. It refused to move.
A sheen of sweat formed on her forehead. She dropped her purse and gripped the shoe with both hands and pulled. It loosened suddenly, sending Megan flying through the air and then landing on her bottom with a loud thud.
“What the—?”
Megan looked up in horror. Oh God, not him. She closed her eyes and focused on her racing heartbeat. Strong arms went under her arms and lifted her up.
“Are you hurt?” Max said.
“Yes,” she mumbled, refusing to meet his gaze.
He cupped each of her knee caps gently. “Where? Your knees?”
Heat sizzled over her skin where his fingers were prodding.
“My pride,” Megan said, her face burning with shame.
He stood up and when she raised her gaze to meet his, she saw that the corners of his eyes were crinkled, as if he was trying to stifle a smile.
“Are you laughing at me?” she said.
He laughed. For a few seconds, Megan forgot her embarrassment and stared at Max’s face, zooming in on his lips. They filled out when he laughed, creating a perfect arch. She shook her head. What was the matter with her? She must have banged her head when she fell even though her head had not come into contact with anything.
Max was like her brother, not an object of her fantasies. She needed to keep reminding herself of that.
“You have to admit that it’s funny,” Max said.
She blinked rapidly. “What are you doing here? I thought we said goodbye.”
“You left your cellphone in the car.” He handed it to her. Her fingers brushed against his as she took it and pinpricks of awareness lit her skin.
“Thanks,” Megan mumbled.
“Oh, and your heel is broken,” Max said and bent down to pick it up. He turned it around. “Do you have a spare shoe? I know ladies like to have an extra of everything.”
She resisted the urge to show him her purse. It was the size of the palm of her hand. “I do, thanks.” She wanted him gone. Pronto.
“Okay. See you at five this evening.”
“Wait—” He stood outside the elevator, pressed the panel and the doors slid shut.
If she was not late before, now she was. Megan slipped off the other shoe and when the elevator came to a stop, she walked barefoot past her father’s secretary, waving to her and headed down the hallway. She knocked on the conference room door and entered.
“Is that a European thing, to walk barefoot?” Lance, who was closest to the door, said.
Megan ignored him. “Sorry I’m late.”
The five men seated at the conference table were her closest relatives but at that moment, they felt like a firing squad. No one spoke as she padded to the other end of the table and slid into a chair.
“We’re waiting,” her father barked, startling Megan.
She shot a gaze to her brothers in confusion and then back at her father. “Waiting?”
Her father sighed. “We’re waiting to hear from you Megan. Why are we here?”
Okay. So he was going to treat her like she was a stranger seeking a job as opposed to a member of the family. She inhaled deeply and squared her shoulders. “We’re here because—there’s a job opening and I’m qualified to fill that position.”
“What position is that?”
“The head of the Strategic Management Department,” Megan said.
Silence followed her declaration. Her insides turned to water but she was not going to allow her father and brothers to intimidate her. She had the same right as they did to be at Candin Inc.
“All the Cohans have given their sweat and soul to Candin Inc and everyone in here has earned their positions. You expect to walk in here and be given a title and responsibility? Is that correct?”
Megan’s blouse stuck to her wet back. “That’s correct.”
“Why should we?” her father said.
“Father…”
Megan swung her head to where Jaime’s voice was coming from. He looked down from the monitor hooked high on the wall. She was too nervous and tense to do more than acknowledge him with a nod.
“I think Father’s question is valid,” Adrian said, his tone and features solemn.
“So do I,” Dean said. “How do we know that Megan won’t meet a French man next and move to France?”
Megan’s jaw dropped. She gripped the edge of the table and glared at Dean. “How dare you?”
“Or a Spaniard and run off to Spain,” Lance said in his drawling lazy tone.
Tears filled her eyes but she refused to show them how much their words were hurting her.
“We don’t know your professionalism or lack of it, Megan,” Sean said quietly.
> She regained her composure and stuck out her chin. They expected her to back off and leave. Well, she wasn’t going anywhere. She would show them that she was not the girl who had run off to Italy to escape her smothering family.
She turned to Sean. “You don’t. But I’m family and I deserve a chance to prove myself. The same chance everyone here was given.”
Adrian grinned. “Welcome aboard little sis.”
“In that case, I’m sure you’ll have no problem with starting at the bottom as everyone else did,” her father said.
Megan’s heart pounded hard against her chest. She had no choice but to agree to whatever terms her father would lay out. “Of course. I look forward to it.”
“My secretary has your schedule printed out,” he said and stood up. “Have a good day all of you.” He left.
Megan let out a breath. The hardest part was done. She was in.
“Welcome sis, it’s good to have you here,” Lance said and left, followed by Adrian and then Dean.
“I have to go guys,” Jaime said, suddenly in a rush.
“Wait, I have a bone to pick with you. How could you hire Max as my bodyguard without telling me?” Megan said.
“Can we talk about this some other time?” Jaime said. “Arianna and I have an engagement in…” he glanced at his watch. “Ten minutes.” He blew her a kiss. “Love you sis and you’ll be great. Don’t let father intimidate you. He loves the heck out of you. We all do.”
The screen went blank before Megan could respond.
“What was that about?” Sean pushed his chair back and stood up.
“Jaime hired Max as my bodyguard,” Megan said, her voice fraught with irritation.
“For a good reason. I heard about Luca’s threats,” Sean said.
“He would never hurt me, besides, we’re on different continents in case you hadn’t noticed.”
“It won’t do any harm. Come on. Let’s go get you sorted with emails and passwords.”
Sean held the door for her. She went to her father’s secretary who promptly handed her a sheet of paper. Megan thanked her and perused it, her eyes widening with disbelief.
