by Lucy Leroux
Calen did his best to make her feel comfortable with the rapid change in their sex life. He talked to her before, during, and after lovemaking. He wanted to know everything about her, and he was pretty open about himself. Maia had learned a lot about him in the last few days.
His favorite meal was Beef Wellington, and his favorite drink was Scotch, although he preferred wine with dinner. His favorite color was forest green, and his favorite designer was Ozwald Boateng. Maia couldn’t have named any designers on a bet.
Calen also confided in her. His clubs were doing well, but lately things had gotten repetitive, and he no longer found it a challenge. He told her about his only serious relationship—a high school girlfriend. She would have been jealous if he hadn’t also told her that the woman was happily married now with three kids. He also told her travel stories and about adventures taken with his college friends.
Maia was fascinated by his life and wished she had exciting stories to share with him as well. However, he seemed more than satisfied with hearing about her childhood with a single mother and her quiet studious life.
“What about travel? Or family vacations?” he asked, stroking down her hip as she lay next to him in bed on Sunday evening.
“There were only a few trips. We didn’t have much money, but my mom had a friend who owned this big dilapidated beach house on the Oregon coast. It was cold and drafty, but we would wear big thick sweaters and go outside to build bonfires on the beach. I loved going down there,” she confessed.
“Have you ever been out of the U.S.?”
“No. Just here and Oregon. I have pictures from a trip to San Francisco that my mom took with a boyfriend once, but I was too little to remember it,” she said, cuddling closer to him
Calen shifted to spoon against her. “I’m going to take you to all of the major capitals of the world. I want to pose you in front of famous monuments, like the garden gnome in Amelie, only cuter,” he murmured, nuzzling her ear.
“You don’t have to go out of your way,” Maia said, turning to him. “Unless you like traveling,” she added hopefully.
Laughing at her transparency, Calen assured he did before sitting up and getting out of bed.
“We need to eat something. Gotta keep our energy up so we can do this all over again,” he said, tugging on Maia’s arms.
Groaning, she stood up and threw a silk robe over her naked body. She followed him out to the kitchen where they raided the refrigerator and ate at the bar in the kitchen again instead of the cold formal dining room.
After dinner, he told her about the phone calls he’d made inviting his friends to their wedding.
They were sitting in front of the fire. Calen was surprisingly fond of cuddling.
“How shocked were they?” She grinned up at him from the circle of his arms.
“Liam and Trick were forewarned, so they weren’t surprised. They said Maggie would be thrilled to come over and help you pick out a wedding dress. As for the rest of the guys, they were surprised. I think the fact I own nightclubs makes me seem like more of a player to them than I actually am. My friend Alex promised to make it over with his wife Elynn. They’re newly married. You’ll like her. She’s a scientist of some kind, too. Sergei and Giancarlo are trying to clear their schedules, but Sergei will definitely make it. He knows I’ll kick his ass if he doesn’t. Next to Liam, he’s my best friend. We spent most of our freshman year at University puking into each other’s dorm room toilets.”
“Sounds like a good way to bond.” She giggled. “I don’t think I’ve ever been drunk.”
“Really? Now that is something that has to change. I wish I’d known that yesterday because now all I want is to see you drunk. You would be so cute buzzed. Now it’s going to have to wait for our honeymoon, unless you want to nurse a hangover at work. I don’t recommend that.”
Her head swam a bit at the mention of a honeymoon. “Are we having one of those? A honeymoon? I just took so much time off, I don’t think I can afford to take anymore so soon.”
“Your boss will understand if you take a week off for your own honeymoon. If you need me to talk to him, I can give him a call tomorrow.”
Maia hurriedly promised to do it herself. She didn’t want Calen calling her boss and intimidating him. Dr. Schroeder probably wouldn’t begrudge her the time off. In fact, he usually suggested she go home early every night. He seemed overly concerned about keeping Calen happy.
“Where will we go?” she asked.
“Where have you always wanted to travel?”
“I don’t know. Everywhere. The Grand Canyon or the Florida Keys,” she said earnestly.
He laughed. “I was thinking Europe. Like France or Italy. Wouldn’t you want to see Paris or Rome?”
Maia’s breath caught. He had promised to show her the world, but actually making plans was something else. It would be a dream come true to see Europe, one that had always seemed too far out of her reach unless she was able to go to a conference there. And, unfortunately, she hadn’t gained enough seniority in the lab for that.
“Yes!” she said, jumping to her knees on the sofa and squeezing Calen with all her strength.
He hugged her back just as tightly. “Which city would please you best, nymph?” he asked, stroking her hair.
“Either, I don’t care,” she said excitedly.
“Then I think I want to do a little research and surprise you. If you genuinely have no strong preference, that is.”
“A surprise would be nice,” she whispered, cuddling closer to him.
Growing up, there hadn’t been a lot of extra money for gifts at birthdays or Christmas. Maia had always known exactly what she was getting—clothes or shoes—whichever she needed the most at the time. She had always secretly hoped for more surprises during those occasions, but had been careful not to let her mother know. She never wanted her mom to think she’d been unhappy with what she’d received. It had been hard enough for Coleen O’Donnell Dahl to make ends meet.
Calen’s eyes held a hint of sympathy, as if he could read her mind enough to know what surprises meant to her and why. And he probably did know. He had questioned her carefully on her life and childhood. In his eyes, her childhood had been bleak and deprived. Consequently, he seemed to revel in spoiling her.
“Then a surprise you’ll get,” he promised.
Chapter 19
Maia’s announcement that she was getting married, and the invitations to the wedding, threw her little lab into an uproar. She went ahead and invited everyone since Calen had told her the Caislean’s ballroom capacity was 500 people. They were technically only inviting a tenth of that.
She was nervous about Wesley’s reaction, but he didn’t say anything in front of the group. Relaxing she went about her work cheerfully. Calen had been overreacting. Wes was simply a concerned friend.
Later that afternoon, she went to the basement to get a bottle of industrial grade ethanol from the inflammables locker downstairs to finish her experiments. The basement was in fact a series of interconnected rooms and hallways, some of which were tunnels that connected to the adjoining buildings. She loved it down there. It was overflow storage for the Herbaria and the Museum of Comparative Zoology.
When she had first started work, she had gotten the grand tour of the place from one of the senior researchers in the lab. He had shown her the old bone casts of primordial human ancestors stored down here. The replica ‘Lucy’ specimen of Australopithecus afarensis was still periodically used by the human anthropology class for study. But that was only the start of the strange and mysterious objects that could be found in the basement.
Her favorite things were the drawers of mounted beetle specimens that shined like iridescent jewels. She’d been tempted to start collecting insects when she’d first seen them, but her place had been too small for a collection of any kind. Now that she lived in a huge penthouse, maybe she could start. Although, Calen would probably appreciate it more if she brought her work home and col
lected butterflies instead. Butterflies went with the fairy image a lot better.
Of course, not all the specimens and overflow displays were pleasant. The old stuffed marsupials were rather creepy. So were the taxidermy bird specimens. And the big waterproof crates that housed the old ichthyology specimens preserved in a dark blue inky substance were also pretty ghastly. Of course, that might be because she’d never been that fond of fish, except as sushi.
She was carrying the bottle of ethanol to the stairs when a sudden motion behind her almost startled her into dropping it.
“Jesus, Wes! You scared me half to death. Don’t sneak up on me like that!” she admonished.
Wes stepped closer to her with a serious and determined expression. He put his hands on her shoulders and Maia’s heart sank.
“Maia, you need to go to the police. My cousin is on the force. You don’t have to marry that guy! I can help you,” he said, trying to draw her into his arms.
She resisted his pull, trying to put the bottle between the two of them as a shield. “Let go, Wes. I’m not doing anything I don’t want to do. I’m marrying Calen because I want to,” she said.
“Maia, Doc Schroeder told me everything! I know you think you have to marry this guy, but you don’t have to! The police can have him arrested for kidnapping and extortion or something.”
“Calen is not a criminal, and he hasn’t done any of those things. He’s protecting me!”
“From his own family, I bet.” Wesley’s face was ugly. “And you’re kidding yourself about him. I’ve met the guy—he just wants a sweet innocent girl to corrupt and use for his own sick fantasies. He’s making you sleep with him, isn’t he? He made that pretty fucking clear.”
Maia pushed Wesley’s restraining arm away with her shoulder. He was bigger than her, though, and he simply put them right back on her again. “Stop that!” she hissed. “And the danger is not from his family. Believe me when I say that. I can’t tell you what happened, but Calen saved me. And he wants to marry me now and start a family. I’m very lucky.”
Wes let out a disbelieving bark of laughter. “Oh, my god. I don’t believe this. He’s brainwashed you! Or is his dick that powerful? Has he fucked you into submission?”
Maia’s face hardened, and she gripped the bottle harder to keep herself from slapping Wes in the face.
“You should mind your own fucking business!” she shouted, the hurt mingling with the anger in her voice.
Maia never used swear words, but she was so mad. Unfortunately, being so angry only made her want to cry instead. Shoving away the humiliated tears that were threatening to fall, she hugged the bottle to her chest defensively.
“Maia, I’m sorry,” Wes said, immediately contrite. He tried to hug her again, but she shoved him away again. “But I’m worried about you. I care about you. Before this whole mess started, I was going to ask you out. I really like you. In fact, I more than like you. I love you.”
Maia couldn’t believe her ears. She also didn’t believe him. Calen was right. Wes was suffering from white knight syndrome.
“No, you don’t. A few weeks ago, you were in love with Tahlia. And I don’t like you that way. I never have. You’re just eager to come to the rescue—one that is completely unwarranted and unwanted. Calen and I are getting married and starting a family. I may be pregnant now, for all I know,” she argued before shoving him out the way.
She left him gaping at her from the bottom of the stairs.
Maia ignored Wes for the rest of the day. Instead, she gossiped with Chang about her upcoming plans. Dr. Schroeder had, as Calen predicted, offered her time off for a honeymoon as soon as he received his invitation to the wedding. Though he seemed anxious for her, probably because Wes had gotten him worked up, her cheerful demeanor seemed to calm his fears enough for him to agree to attend the wedding.
She was so preoccupied with the day’s events, she didn’t notice Davis and Stephens’ alert attitude and edgy behavior. They actually met her in her office when she texted that she was ready to leave, carrying her bag on the way out. Davis shot Wes a hard look before they left, but she chalked that up to his visit over the weekend.
Calen was waiting for her when she arrived home. He came right up to her and swept her into his arms, exchanging a nod over her head with Davis who departed with his usual stealth.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
He looked so serious and was holding her tightly. “I thought you might still be feeling bad about that scene with Wes,” he said, sitting down in front of the fireplace with her on his lap.
Maia went rigid. Belatedly, she remembered the cameras. They had told her they were putting some in the basement. She had assumed they were putting them on the doors and entrances, but they must cover a wider area than she had supposed.
“Oh.” Of course they were watching. They couldn’t protect her if they didn’t. She had to remind herself that the cameras were going to see everything. Even what she didn’t want them to see. “I’m okay. I guess you saw everything?”
“Davis was monitoring the feeds, and he gave me a call. I saw the playback. I know you handled yourself well, but you were swearing and almost crying. I don’t like that little shit upsetting you. I can talk to him if you want. In fact, I think I should.”
“No. I told you I would handle it and I did. And I was more angry than anything. It’s just that when I get real mad I want to cry instead,” she said, letting out a huff.
“Remind me not to make you mad,” Calen said, gently cupping her chin with his hand. “I don’t ever want tears from you,” he added as he kissed her forehead.
“It’s not a trait I’m proud of,” Maia grumbled. Tears were a weakness and she hated that they came so easily when she was upset. “When my mom was sick I was angry with lots of different people. The insurance company got an earful when they tried to cancel her health insurance. But it didn’t help my cause that I kept bursting into tears during the negotiations. We kept her insurance, but they decreased her coverage so we had to pay more out of pocket. There were a couple of bitchy nurses that made me cry too when she was in the hospital. That never ended well.”
“I’m sorry about that, nymph,” he said, running a hand down her back. “I won’t talk to Wes if you don’t want me to. If he leaves you alone from now on. But one more little scene like that, and I will go down and have a talk with him personally.”
Maia frowned, but she didn’t think she was going to get a better offer from him. “Did you rush home early because of Wes?”
Calen shifted and held her a little closer. “Well, that was bad timing, but I also got a call from my Da today. I left him a message inviting him to the wedding, and he was calling me back.”
“I see. How did he take it?” she asked uncertainly, drawing away from him to see his face more clearly.
“Never mind his reaction. If I don’t mind his fine feelings, neither should you. It’s what else he told me that you should know about.”
“What is it?” Maia asked, growing anxious.
He put his hands on either side of his face. “Da said the Russians had been in touch. Apparently Timur has been giving his father a headache. Enough for them to make an offer. They want to negotiate.”
Maia felt a cold chill pass through her. Stomach clenched, she took a painful breath. “What do they want to negotiate?”
“Your purchase. They want to buy you back.”
Dizzy with fear and sick to her stomach, Maia covered her face with shaky hands. She knew what that was code for. They wanted her dead.
Calen squeezed her tight. “Don’t worry, baby. They’re not going to get their hands on you. I made sure Da knows that I am not giving you up, and he’s going to drive that home to them. They’ll back down. I promise you that.”
Maia buried her head in his chest, trying not to panic. His father had probably tried to talk Calen into handing her over to the Russians. He wouldn’t have wanted his son sticking his neck out for a stranger.
“Don’t worry,” he soothed while stroking her hair. “Just focus on our wedding plans. They won’t bother us after we’re married. In the meantime, I’m doubling your security detail. After the wedding, we can go back to four, but in the meantime, they’re attached to you at the hip. We’re going to send someone in as a janitor to your work this week, too. Once we’re married, this ‘offer’ will disappear. But for now, the trip to the bridal store is out. A selection of dresses will be sent here tomorrow instead. Have you gotten ahold of Tahlia?”
Maia made an effort to get ahold of herself. This is why Calen was marrying her. She would be safe once they said their vows. “Yes, she’s free tomorrow. So is Chang,” she whispered tightly.
“The Asian boy from work?”
“Chinese, and yes.”
“As long as it’s not Wes, I guess that’s okay. You can change in our room and come out here to model the dresses. I’ve taken the liberty of picking out a few in different styles for you to choose from, as well as others the dress coordinator will bring along based on your coloring and measurements. The club is sending over champagne and wine and Mrs. Portillo will fix some hors d’oeuvres.”
That distracted her. She wondered what sort of dresses Calen would pick. Since Maia had never given wedding dresses a second thought, it didn’t matter, as long as it fit and didn't make her look shorter than she was. She nodded weakly despite her continued anxiety.
Calen kissed her, and she burrowed against him, grateful for the feel of his strong arms around her.
Despite his assurances, she was tense for the rest of the night. The next day at work she was distracted, but her boss chalked it up to wedding excitement, and she let everyone believe that. At the end of the day, Chang joined her in the town car to Calen’s penthouse where Tahlia was waiting in the lobby for them. Her friends both eyed each other over the bodyguards, but neither said anything as they went upstairs, chatting animatedly.
Mrs. Portillo was waiting for them with trays of tasty treats to nibble on. There was also chilled champagne and another sweet French wine from the Rivesalte region.
