“Did you get the piano yet?”
She turned back to Sebastian. He lifted his drink to his lips.
“What piano?” Sebastian asked quickly.
“It should have come today. Did it not?”
“I haven't been home,” she said honestly. “I've been here all day. I wouldn't know.”
“Let me know when it does.”
He didn't walk away. Sebastian stared at her expectantly.
“Do the two of you need a moment?” B asked.
“No.” Mariss said.
Sebastian continued to smile and wait.
“Is there something I'm missing?” she said, raising her voice. She looked around. A few people were staring. “Come on.” She grabbed sebastian by his arm and dragged him to a back room. “I'll be right back, B.”
“What have I done to make you so angry?” Sebastian asked.
“You're here!” she retorted.
“But I was invited. If you didn't want me to come you shouldn't have invited me.”
“You would have come anyway.” She looked up at him, into his eyes for the first time that night. “Don't think you're going to lure me into your pants with your magic penis eyes,” Mariss said.
Sebastian's chuckle was seductive and beautiful. “Magic penis eyes? What have you been reading? You know, I got my hands on an early copy of your book.”
“You did?”
“Mm hm. It was very good. Not your normal style, but I get it. I liked it.”
“Heads are going to roll!” Mariss growled.
Sebastian's arms were wrapped around her before she understood what was happening. He forced her to look up into his eyes again.
“The last time I saw you-”
“Was hot,” she admitted, “but it's not going to happen again. I can't be with you. I can barely stand to be around you.”
Her cell phone rang before she could tell him what she was really feeling.
“Mariss Red,” she answered.
“Hello, Mrs. Red,” a German voice replied. “Your mother Katrina Luft is in the hospital. You're listed as next of kin.”
“Oh, my god, is she okay?” Mariss could barely hear past the rushing in her ears.
“Yes. She's sedated right now.”
“What happened?”
“She was attacked in her home. She's been beaten very badly.”
“I will be on the next flight out.” With shaking hands, Mariss hung up and turned to Sebastian's concerned face. “I need to borrow your plane,” she told him. “My mother has been attacked.”
“Of course.” The charm melted away and was replaced with worry. “Is she alright?”
Mariss shrugged. “I don't know.”
Sebastian took out his cell and made a phone call. While he sent directives about having his plane fueled and prepped, Mariss went in search of Juliet. She was chatting with some attendees when Mariss ambushed her.
“I have to go home,” she said in a rush, completely ignoring the women Juliet was talking to.
“What's wrong? Are you okay?”
“No, Germany. I have to go to Germany. Something's happened to my mother. Sebastian's having his plane prepped as we speak. I have to go.”
“Okay. We'll run by your place and pack a bag.” Juliet looked up. Mariss followed her gaze to Sebastian as he approached them.
“The jet will be ready within the hour.”
“I can't believe I'm about to say this,” Juliet said, “but can you please stay and…entertain the guests?”
The scowl he graced them with was sublime. “If that's what you need me to do.”
Mariss imagined him grinding his teeth. “Please,” she asked. “Juliet will fly with me. I'll be fine.”
“Very well. Please keep me informed?”
She nodded. “I will.” To Juliet, she said, “Call the car.”
B caught them as they were getting into the backseat of their ride.
“Sebastian said something about your mother being hurt?”
“Yeah, get in,” Mariss said. “I'll tell you on the way.”
Mariss rang her hands in her lap. She crossed her legs, uncrossed them, and crossed them again. Stray hairs irritated her neck, so she pulled it up into a ponytail and secured it with a rubberband.
“She's going to be fine,” B said in her ear. “Calm down.”
“I've already lost my husband,” Mariss said. “I can't lose my mom too.”
“You're not going to lose your mom.” He came around and sat in the seat next to her. “Let me help you relax. You're going to make yourself sick and hurt the baby if you worry all the way to Germany.”
“What did you have in mind.”
B caressed the side of her face. “Have I ever told you how beautiful you are?” he asked in German.
“Yes, a few times,” she replied in the same language.
B laughed and kissed her. “The other night at my apartment-”
“B.”
“Tell me what I did wrong.”
Mariss shook her head. “You didn't do anything-”
“Tell me what I did wrong.”
Mariss sighed. “You don't have to be so gentle. Contrary to popular belief, I'm not going to break.”
“That's an easy fix.” B grinned. He hiked her skirt up over one hip.
“Where's Juliet,” Mariss asked.
“In the back cabin sleeping. She promised not to come out until we land.”
Mariss smirked. “You finally get to join the mile high club, huh?”
“I joined that long ago,” he laughed. “I was hoping to introduce you.”
“Stop talking,” she said. “Start fucking.”
“Yes, ma'am.”
Mariss shimmied out of her panties and reached to unfasten B's dress slacks. “You looked nice tonight,” she told him.
“Not as nice as the model.”
“Don't do that,” she warned. “Sebastian makes it his business to look better than anyone else. Don't compare yourself to him.”
“So, I don't have a condom.”
“I'm alreadypregnant. I can't get pregnant again.”
He laughed. “Right.”
There was no resistance when he thrust inside her. Mariss dropped her head back and groaned.
“Better?” B asked.
“Oh, yeah,” she moaned loudly. “God.”
“That's what I like to hear.” B grabbed her chin and made her look at him. “How rough do you like it?”
“I like to have two men inside me at the same time,” she gasped, “so you tell me.”
He grinned and thrust a little harder. As he did, a sudden bout of turbulence tossed the plane. B fell into her and was forced deeper inside her. Mariss cried out, unable to contain her pleasure.
“Should I apologize?” he panted.
“No.” The plane dipped and Mariss' stomach dipped with it. “Wish we could do that again.”
A perfectly timed thrust was met with another shake of the plane.
“Your wish is my command.” B thrust again, harder this time, pulling another cry from her lips.
The plane continued to dip and toss, working with them to heighten the sensations that drove them both toward release. B's hands slipped under her dress, stroking her skin. He palmed her breast and pressed a kiss to her lips.
Mariss wrapped her arms and legs around him. This was infinitely better than their first time.
“Uuh, god, B,” she muttered.
His body gyrated over hers. Mariss yanked his shirt up so she could touch his skin. Her nails raked his back. B grunted with the pain, but continued to work her body. As her climax built, Mariss' back arched involuntarily. She dropped her head back and uttered a long, low moan as it overtook her. Deep satisfaction shuddered through her body.
“Shit,” B grunted. His body tensed and he grunted again. “Goddammit, Mariss.” He buried his face in her neck like he'd done the first time, but she was sure that it had nothing to do with him being embarssed thi
s time.
He sat back, pulling her into his lap. The plane dipped again.
“Must be a storm or something,” he said.
Mariss giggled. “Yeah, or something.”
“Look at me.” B stroked her hair and stared into her eyes. “Your mom is going to be okay.”
She nodded. “I hope so. It's just… This bitch is gunning for me. She killed Holden on purpose. If she attacked my mother, then she could be coming after you next. Or Juliet. Anyone I'm close to. If she took…”
She was going to say, if she took Sebastian, but Mariss didn't want to think about missing him the way she missed Holden. As angry with him as she was, the idea of never seeing him again made her ache all over. To never feel the fury he ignited within her every time he did something exponentially stupid, or to never again appreciate him for going out of his way to show her that she was special to him.
“Mariss, what's wrong?”
Mariss blinked through the haze of tears she hadn't realized were trailing her cheeks. B wiped them away.
“Who were you thinking about?”
She shook her head. “No one. Nothing. I'm just so emotional.”
“Yeah, well, pregnant women usually are,” he teased.
Mariss smiled.
“Put your panties back on.” B held up the bit of lace on the end of his finger and winked.
Mariss snatched them from him. “Put your dick away.”
They could hear the commotion from the end of the hall, but it wasn't the sound of frantic voices of those trying to save a life. Instead, a woman leaped out of a doorway and ducked behind the wall just before a metal bedpan came flying through after her.
“I don't know where the hell you got your medical license” Mariss' mother shouted, “but you need to go back to school!”
Mariss snorted.
“I told you she'd be fine,” B said from her side.
“Right. I'm going to leave you to deal with this while I…hide out here in the hall,” Juliet said. “Is this normal for your mom?”
“Yeah. When it comes to hospitals, this is normal.”
They met the nurse just outside the room.
“I hope you're her daughter,” she said. “She's out of control.”
Mariss only smiled and stepped into the room.
“Why are you harrassing the nurses, Mama?” she asked. “They only want to help you.”
Katrina turned to her and Mariss gasped. The side of her face looked like she'd been stomped. It was covered in a purple bruise in the outline of a small woman's shoe. Tears sprang to her eyes once again as she approached to inspect the rest of the damage. Katrina yanked her face way from Mariss' touch.
“Don't treat me like I'm broken,” she hissed.
“Stop it!” Mariss said firmly. “Let me look.”
Her mother didn't fight her anymore. The right side of her face had faired much better than the left, but her lip was split and it looked like her nose was probably broken.
“I'm fine,” Katrina finally said. “I'm glad you're here though. She said… She told me she was going to kill you next.”
Mariss shook her head. “I'm fine, Mama. I'm so sorry.”
“You didn't do this. Do you understand? You are not to blame for this.”
“But I am. If I'd never slept with Sebastian-”
“You can't blame yourself.”
“But it's true.” Mariss bit back a sob. “If I hadn't cheated on Holden, if I'd just stayed away from Sebastian, Hellena would never have had a reason to cause all of this.”
Katrina didn't reply. She stared with a sad understanding that hurt Mariss more than her own denial.
“I'm so sorry.”
Mariss pressed her face into her mother's shoulder and cried. When she could compose herself, she looked over her mother's sheet-covered body.
“What else did she hurt?”
“Only bruises,” Katrina promised. “And a concussion. Oh, and a broken pinky.” She held up her splinted finger. “Otherwise, I'm good to go as soon as you sign me out.”
“Is there someone who can look after you?” Mariss needed to know. “Someone who can stay with you and make sure you wake up?”
“No. No one.”
“Then I'll stay a few days.”
“We'll take care of you, Mrs. Luft,” B said with a grin from his place near the door. “It's the least I can do for all the times you took care of me.”
“Get me out of here. That's all I want.”
Mariss laughed. “Yes, ma'am.”
A large object sat outside her apartment door when they arrived home three days later. It was shrouded with a black cloth so she had to pull it away to see what lay beneath.
Mariss ran her fingers over the glossy cherry wood of the piano Sebastian had told her about. A smile played on her lips.
“Is this what Sebastian was talking about?” B lifted the cover to find it empty. There were no keys inside. “What the hell is this?”
“It's a dresser,” Mariss told him. “Sebastian gutted it for an art project while he was at University. It used to be in his bedroom in London.”
“And he just gave it to you?”
“No. He's trying to win me back.”
“I thought the two of you weren't dating,” B pointed out.
“We weren't.”
“Someone needs to tell him that. Why did he give this to you?”
“He knew I wouldn't get rid of it.” Mariss sighed. “Help me get it inside.”
They rolled the piano dresser into the apartment. Mariss left it in the middle of the floor as she climbed the stairs.
“I'm going to shower.”
“I'll be right up.”
CHAPTER THIRTY
THANKSGIVING MORNING BLUES
The parade was on TV and with a box of chocolates between them, Mariss and Juliet lay in their pajamas in the hotel bed. Sebastian had been sending her text messages like the one that came through on her cell just that minute.
:Never before have I forgotten myself with a woman like I do with you…:
Mariss didn't bother to read the rest. She deleted it and tossed her phone across the room to land on a pile of dirty clothes.
“Bassy Bear again?” Juliet asked.
“Yeah.” Mariss shoved another chocolate in her mouth. “I'm going to be full before we get down to dinner.”
“Are you going to tell me what happened?” Juliet asked. “Or am I going to have to call Sebastian and get his side of the story?”
“We had sex,” Mariss said. “Hot, angry, fight sex.”
“Ah, I see. So you're not talking to him because you want his hands on your body. I get it now.”
“That's not it. You heard what he said.”
“You're still mad about that? Did you expect anything less?”
“Yes,” Mariss was quick to say. “I expected him to at least have some couth about it. Or, at the very least, not act like I was asking him to sacrifice his soul to satan.”
“I think you're being a little dramatic now. All joking aside, Sebastian would make a great father. If he wanted to be one. You haven't seen him with the children from his home. Katie adores him and he feels the same way about her. The thought of children terrifies him, though. You have to see that.”
“Yes, I see it, but-”
“I'm not finished. The way he reacted was wrong, no doubt, but he's sorry. He told me so.”
“He told you? You mean you've talked to him? Like civilized adults?”
“Yeah, right. We talked. Sort of. The important thing is, he knows he was wrong. You should have heard what his mother said after you were gone. He's properly shamed and he's tried to apologize. Seriously apologize, Mare. You know what that means coming from him.”
“This baby is all I have left of Holden and I'm not going to let Sebastian ruin it.”
“Whatever,” Juliet huffed.
“What are you getting at, Jules? Just say it.”
“That stupid man is i
n love with you and you know it. How many times do I have to say it before you believe me?”
“I'm not the one you need to convince!” Mariss retorted. “Sebastian is the one who doesn't believe in love!”
“And he wants to be with you. You're the one fighting this.”
“Look.” Mariss sat up and dangled her legs over the edge of the bed. “Can we just drop this for now? I'm getting indigestion.”
“It's all that chocolate you ate on an empty stomach.”
“The baby wanted chocolate,” Mariss huffed and slid off the bed, the parade forgotten for the moment. There was a knock at the bedroom door. Mariss waddled over to answer it.
“Mrs. Red,” a bellhop from the front desk said. He held out a letter to her, his gloved hands shaking. “This was left for you at the front desk.”
She smiled. “Thanks. Hold on a moment.”
Mariss took the letter from him and dug through her purse for a bill. The smallest denomination she had was a twenty, so she handed it to him with a smile.
“Thank you,” his voice squeaked and he turned away, escaping down the hall.
“What is it?” Juliet asked.
“A letter.” Her name was scrawled in calligraphic script across the front. “It looks like Sebastian's fancy handwriting on the front.”
“Open it!” Juliet exclaimed. “What does it say?”
Mariss was starting to think the woman loved the drama of Mariss and Sebastian's relationship more than she needed air. She tore into the letter and let the envelope flutter to the ground, thinking for a moment how it would irritate Sebastian.
“You won't answer my calls or my text messages, so I dropped this letter by the front desk hoping that you would at least read it since it meant no interaction with me was necessary,” she read aloud.
“Geez. He sure is eloquent,” Juliet noted.
“When he wants something.” Mariss continued to read, “I hope this finds you and the baby well. Happy Thanksgiving. I am on my way to the airport as you read this, assuming they had the letter delivered promptly as I requested.” Mariss shook her head. “Why does he have to talk so perfectly all the time?”
“Just finish reading.”
“I will be out of town until Christmas working and my mother has requested I spend Christmas and New Years with her. I will not see you again this year and I wanted to wish you a happy holiday season in my absence, but since you have not spoken to me despite my allowing the use of my jet to check on your mother, I guess I have to make do with this letter.” He was trying to lay on the guilt, but Mariss wouldn't bite, though a pang of disappointment struck her as she realized it would be another month before she got to see him again.
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