Maximum Risk

  Crap. Think. “Oh, sorry, I thought you said France. We met in France.”

  “Parlez-vous français?”

  Double crap. “Not anymore. It has been a while.”

  “How long, exactly?” Alethea asked, then went on without waiting for Tara to answer. “Let me save you from embarrassing yourself further. I know exactly who you are, Tara Holmes. Did you think you could attend an event like this and not have a background check done? Just what does an amateur private investigator like you think you’ll uncover here tonight?”

  Heat rushed to Tara’s cheeks, but she told herself she had nothing to be embarrassed about. “That may be my job, but I’m here as Maddy’s friend.” It was the truth. She met Alethea’s eyes boldly.

  Alethea chuckled condescendingly. “Try again.”

  Tara looked around for Maddy but only found Max. She sent him a save-me look, but he was in a serious conversation with Gio and sent her an I’m-temporarily-trapped pained expression. She said, “You know Maddy, always a matchmaker.”

  Alethea linked arms with Tara as if they were friends and led her off to the side of the room. Once out of earshot of others, all pretense of civility fell away. “Oh, sweetie, you’re so far out of your league I feel sorry for you. I know Maddy hired you. You can stop lying; you’re not very good at it. Next time try to at least come up with something believable. You’re definitely not Max’s type.”

  Tara pulled her arm away from Alethea and squared her shoulders. “For your information, Max is very into me.”

  “Is he?” Alethea’s lips thinned in a smile as if Tara had given her information she’d been looking for. “So, Maddy’s little private eye is fucking her cousin on the side? Did you at least find out something to help her first?”

  “I-I-I mean . . .”

  “Whatever she’s paying you, it’s too much.”

  Tara’s control snapped. She advanced on Alethea. “Yes, Maddy did come to me for help, and yes, I pretended to be her friend hoping to find out the big secret she thinks everyone is hiding from her, but I failed at that task, and I tore up the check. I’m here tonight because she asked me to come—as a friend. And if I wanted to sleep with every man in this room it wouldn’t be any of your business.”

  It took a moment for Tara to connect the amused expression on Alethea’s face with the hush that had fallen over the room. A quick glance around the room confirmed Tara’s fear that the volume of her voice may have risen with her temper. Thankfully neither Max nor his brothers were still in the main room. Maddy was also MIA. Relief was short-lived as a number of family members continued to openly stare at her. Tara turned back to Alethea, her face hot with embarrassment. “How much do you think they heard?”

  It was easy to hate Alethea when no sympathy hindered her amusement. “Not enough to blow your cover, but enough that several wives are moving to stand with their husbands. You minx, you.”

  “I have never—” Tara started to say something cutting, but Marc, the man Maddy had said was the other half of Dominic Corisi’s security team, stepped between them.

  “Ladies,” he said smoothly with a smile that could have charmed even the angriest of women, “how are we doing tonight?” When neither Tara nor Alethea answered him, he offered his hand in greeting to Tara. “You’re Tara, right? It’s a pleasure to finally meet you. I’m Marc Stone.” With a twinkle in his eye, he added, “Alethea’s better half.”

  Tara reluctantly shook his hand. With a forced smile, Tara said, “It’s nice to see she has one—a better side, that is.”

  Alethea didn’t seem the least bit bothered by Tara’s comment.

  Marc put his arm around Alethea’s waist and pulled her to his side. He continued to smile at Tara, but his comments were directed to the woman in his arms. “Sweetie, this is a social event. We’re here as friends of the family. Retract the claws. Tara, you’ll have to excuse Alethea, she comes on a little strong when you first meet her.”

  “A little?” Tara asked sarcastically, happy that the crowd behind Marc had seemed to move on from the incident and were once again a jovial buzz of voices.

  Marc looked down at Alethea. Despite what he’d said about her, it was clear he adored her. “When you get to know Alethea better, you’ll see her heart is in the right place, Tara. She’s very protective of her friends. Consider whatever she said to you her way of getting to know you. Who knows, the two of you may even become friends, and this will be a story you’ll look back on and laugh about.” Marc glanced over at Dominic then said, “It looks like I’m needed. Alethea, remember this is supposed to be a fun evening for everyone. Play nice.”

  Alethea met Marc’s eyes then sighed. “I’ll try.”

  He kissed her briefly on the lips. “That’s all I ask.”

  Even this crazy green-eyed, snake-in-the-grass woman had a man who loved her? What am I doing wrong? Stop. Don’t think like that. I’m still young. Hell, some people are still living with their parents at my age. I have plenty of time to find love.

  After Marc left, Alethea smiled again and said, “Well, Tara Holmes, it was nice meeting you . . . and, by nice, I mean very informative.” She turned as if she were about to walk away.

  “Wait,” Tara said spontaneously. “I have a question.”

  Those icy green eyes turned back on Tara with full force. “I can’t wait to hear it.”

  “If you’re so far out of my league, and you know everything about everyone, why did Maddy hire me? You know her family. It seems like you could have gotten her answers easily.”

  The redhead frowned, and Tara knew her comment had hit a sore spot. “She asked me to, but I said no.”

  “Because you don’t like her?” Tara asked.

  “I like Maddy.”

  “That’s not what she thinks.”

  Alethea suddenly didn’t look nearly as confident. “She and I are very different, that’s all. And I don’t get involved with people’s private lives anymore. It never leads to anything but trouble.”

  “So, you’ll only help people if it’s convenient for you.”

  “No, I keep my curiosity contained to my job now.”

  “You lie as badly as I do. I bet you know every piece of dirt on everyone in this room.”

  Alethea said nothing, but she didn’t deny it either.

  “Someone like you would have heard about the trouble at Cogent.”

  Alethea’s eyes narrowed, but she still held her silence.

  “And you wouldn’t be able to stand by and let something happen there, would you? Not if you could help.”

  “If I did know anything, which I don’t, there is nothing there that is recent enough to matter.”

  “Are you sure?” Tara prayed she knew what she was doing. She had failed to get answers for Maddy. She hated walking away knowing she hadn’t helped Julia, either. If Alethea was the protector of all in her realm, perhaps it wouldn’t hurt to give her a nudge in Gio’s direction. He might need help, even if, as Julia said, he had trouble asking for it.

  “What do you know?”

  Two can play at this game. “If I did know anything, which I don’t, it would have been said to me in confidence, and I wouldn’t disclose it. I can say, however, you’re not nearly as good as you think you are. You missed something. Something big.”

  With that, Tara walked away, leaving a flustered and speechless Alethea to mull over her words. As Tara made her way across the room she realized the crowd had thinned. People were gathering their children, putting on their coats, and leaving.

  Maddy already had her coat on and was fastening the button on her son’s jacket. She didn’t smile as Tara approached.

  She heard what I said. Triple crap. “Maddy, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to embarrass you.”

  Maddy straightened and took her son by the hand. “What are you talking about?”

  Wait. Is this about something else? “Where is everyone going?”

  Holding his young son in his arms, Richard offered to take Joey
too. “I’ll take the boys down, Maddy. They don’t need to hear this. You tell her, then meet me at the car.”

  Maddy nodded and gave her husband a grateful kiss. “I’ll be right down.”

  “Take your time,” he said.

  As soon as he was out of earshot, Tara grabbed Maddy’s arm. “What happened?”

  “Gio received a call from Aunt Patrice’s doctor. She had an episode tonight, and it was a serious one.”

  “Is she in the hospital?”

  “No, she’s being treated at home.”

  Oh, my God. No. “You don’t think—”

  “That she’d fake an episode to ruin Gio’s dinner? I don’t know. That’s why I took you to meet her. What do you think?”

  Tara shrugged helplessly.

  “Patrice has banned her sons from visiting her. Luke is livid. He suggested they march over there and demand to be let in. Gio refused to join him. Nick said he’s done with trying when it comes to their mother. Max wouldn’t even speak to me when I tried to talk to him. I don’t want to leave them, but I’m not making it better by staying.”

  So, that was why Max had disappeared. It explained why he hadn’t come back to continue their flirtation. Tara scanned the room for him. He was putting his own coat on, and the expression in his eyes ripped at Tara’s heart.

  There it was, the sad, withdrawn look that had drawn her to him when she’d seen it in the photo. It was even more heartbreaking to witness in person, especially now that Tara understood the reason for it.

  “Do you want us to drop you off?” Maddy asked.

  “No,” Tara said, not taking her eyes off Max. “I’ll be fine. You go on.”

  “If you’re sure.”

  Tara tore her eyes away from Max long enough to reassure Maddy that she was. After Maddy left, Tara crossed the room and caught Max before he was able to slip out the door.

  “Max,” she said, stopping his retreat with her hand on his arm.

  He smiled, but his eyes remained sad and distant. “Something came up, Tara. I’ll need a rain check on tonight.”

  Tara kept her hand on his arm, not allowing him to withdraw from her. “I heard about your mother.”

  “Then you understand why I’d rather be alone tonight.”

  Tara followed her instincts. “I’m not going anywhere.”

  He gave her a half-hearted smile. “I appreciate your enthusiasm, but I’m not up to the night I promised you earlier.”

  “This is not about wanting to have sex with you.” Tara heard a surprised gasp and realized she’d once again spoken too loudly.

  The nearest group had apparently heard. The mothers glared at her and gathered their husbands and children closer to them.

  I sure know how to make a good impression. Shake it off. I’m never going to see them again, anyway. Tara lowered her voice. “I thought you might need a friend.”

  “A friend?” Max looked down at her doubtfully.

  “You do have those, don’t you? People you care about? People who stay with you when something goes wrong?”

  “I find the fewer people I care about, the smoother my life goes. Tonight is evidence of that.”

  If Tara didn’t know as much about his family life as she did, she would have thought he sounded like an ass, but she could understand his reaction. As far as families went, he’d won the jackpot of drama. “I don’t blame you for feeling that way.”

  One of his eyebrows raised in surprise.

  “I’m beginning to understand you. You’re hurting.”

  He didn’t look pleased. “You’re wrong. I just heard my mother collapsed at home, and I’m happy she doesn’t want to see any of us. Happy. It means I don’t have to come up with an excuse not to see her.”

  Tara looked at the tension in his jaw and didn’t care about the bite in his tone. She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him. He stood stiffly in her arms long enough that she began to wonder if she’d made a mistake. Maybe he really didn’t want her there. Just as she was about to pull away, his arms closed around her, and he buried his face in her hair. They stood there for a long few moments, just holding each other. He kissed her lips tenderly then said, “I’ve changed my mind. You might be just what I need tonight.”

  Tara kissed him back with a combination of passion and the emotions building within her. He wasn’t declaring love or even promising to be there in the morning, but his words had moved her. Max closed himself off from the world when he was hurting, and even though he claimed not to care about his mother’s episode, it was obvious he did. He wanted to retreat, but he wanted her with him when he did.

  They broke off their kiss when a woman nearby said, “At least she’s leaving with a single one.”

  The comment brought Tara crashing back to the moment. She looked around and felt even more embarrassed that passion had made her momentarily forget what had ended the dinner.

  She made the mistake of looking across the room at Max’s brothers. Gio stood in stoic silence with Julia, Nick had Rena in his arms, and Luke was off to one side, but all three of the brothers were sadly watching Max leave. By the expressions on their faces, Tara was certain they wanted to be there for each other, it was as if they didn’t know how to be, as if they’d tried to reach each other before and, having failed, were unsure of how to try again. None of them seemed overly surprised to see Tara with Max. She warned herself not to read any importance into that.

  “We should say goodbye,” Tara said softly. Especially since, for me, at least, this really is goodbye.

  “I’m leaving. You do as you please,” Max said harshly. He stepped away from her and finished buttoning his coat.

  Tara looked into his dark-as-night eyes, past the angry indifference, and appealed to the man she believed was hiding within. “What are you afraid they’ll say, Max?”

  “I’m not afraid. I’m done.”

  “I don’t believe you.”

  “I don’t give a shit what you do or don’t believe.”

  Tara took a deep breath. The more she pushed, the more she risked him walking away from her just as he was prepared to walk away from his brothers, but she couldn’t help herself. She had to try. “I don’t believe that either,” Tara said stubbornly. “Look at your brothers. I don’t know what you see, but I see three men who can’t figure out how to ask you to stay.”

  “They don’t need me any more than I need them.” He turned away and took a step toward the door. “Now, are you coming?”

  Tara stepped in front of him. Maddy, look what you’ve done to me. I’m as bad as you. I can’t let this drop, even if it costs me a night in Max’s arms. “I can’t sleep with you tonight.”

  His cheeks reddened, and his jaw tightened. “Excuse me?”

  Tara planted her feet and told herself doing the right thing was worth the risk of killing whatever feelings Max had for her. “I could never sleep with a man I didn’t respect.”

  With a mixture of desire and anger in his eyes, Max rumbled, “No part of tonight was about respecting each other.” He stopped and rubbed a hand over his forehead as if fighting a headache. “I didn’t mean that the way it sounded. Do yourself a favor, and stay the hell away from me tonight.”

  Although his comment stung, Tara knew he was lashing out because he was afraid, and that made Tara even more determined to help him. She told herself it didn’t mean she had feelings for him. She’d never been able to walk away from someone she thought she could help. That was why she’d originally started tracking unfaithful husbands for her friends, and it was what she enjoyed about her New Holmes agency. She helped people in need. And Max and his brothers, regardless of how wealthy they were, were clearly falling apart. Tara looked Max in the eye and spoke from her heart. “I will, if you promise me something.”

  His expression was unreadable. “And what is that?”

  “Go say goodbye to your brothers. And when you do, really look at Gio’s face. He’s tired. He’s sad. I’ve spent a lot time with your family late
ly, Max. He’s dealing with more than he’s willing to tell anyone. He needs you. If you can do that and still leave, I won’t say another word.”

  Max frowned down at her. “What else is Gio dealing with?”

  Tara smiled up at him gently. “You’ll never know if you walk away.”

  Max looked over his shoulder at his brother and sighed audibly. “Shit.”

  ***

  Max took one of Tara’s arms in his hand and pulled her close to him. “You’re coming with me.” His comment was completely out of character for him. Max was a loner. He’d built his financial empire without anyone’s help, well . . . besides the start-up money he inherited from Grandfather Stanfield’s trust fund. For as long as he could remember, even in school, he’d always chosen to fight his own battles. And when it came to weathering his family’s tsunamis of drama, he withdrew from them—alone.

  Tara gave him another sweet smile. Max swore and looked away, but he didn’t let her arm go. He’d come back to New York because he’d wanted to see her. He was still there because, after having her once, all he could think about was having her again. He should have whisked her out of the party as soon as he’d seen her.

  Despite what he’d said about being willing to leave without her, he knew he wouldn’t have. Even with everything else going on in his life, there was something about Tara he couldn’t resist and didn’t want to, not even when she asked him to do the exact opposite of what he knew he should do.

  As they approached Gio, Max looked his brother over with a critical eye. Gio was thinner, and there were circles beneath his eyes. His fiancée was holding his hand and looking up at him with a worried expression on her face. Was it possible Tara was right? Was Gio upset about more than what was presently going on with their mother?

  Getting involved was guaranteed to turn out badly. It always did. If there was one thing he could count on with his family, it was that.

  Nothing had changed.

  Or had it?

  A year ago, Nick would have already been drunk and fighting with Gio. Instead he was standing beside him with Rena still tucked against his side. Max expected him to say something sarcastic about his return, but he didn’t. He nodded at Max in approval.