“You knew how much I needed you on my side,” Maximus stated. “How hard it’s been for me growing up without my father’s support. All I’ve ever wanted was for that man to believe in me. And in the end, he still didn’t because he left Knight Shipping to not only Lucius, but you, too. He didn’t even trust Lucius and me to figure out things on our own. He put you in the middle.”
“That’s not my fault.”
“No, it’s not, but you put yourself in the middle yesterday,” he stated. “You asked me to share my world with you, and I did. I told you about how my father treated me with disdain, never showing me an ounce of the love or affection he so clearly felt for you. I shared my dreams for Knight Shipping and how much I wanted to expand, and yet you still didn’t vote with me. And you didn’t even have to vote against me. You could have abstained, but you didn’t. You didn’t support me, Tahlia. Instead, you shot an arrow straight through my heart by siding with Lucius, my enemy. You didn’t even have the decency to read all of my proposal before you shot it down.”
There was truth to Maximus’s words. It was like he was shining a mirror on her faults, too, when she’d always thought she was on high moral ground. “I suppose you’re right. I’ve failed Arthur and you. But Lucius doesn’t have to be your enemy, Maximus.”
But he wasn’t hearing Tahlia. “He is, and because of him you’ve succeeded in mortally wounding me. I have nothing left to fight for. So you and Lucius can have the company. I’m done with it!”
“How dare you!” Tahlia shouted, rushing at him. “How dare you put this all on me! I admit I’m not perfect and I may have been on my high horse where Arthur was concerned, but you set out to seduce me! I didn’t come after you. I only wanted to fulfill Arthur’s wishes and see that you and Lucius got along.”
“And I was wrong,” Maximus admitted. “Am wrong,” he corrected himself. “I shouldn’t have mixed business and personal. And I take responsibility for my actions, and I’m truly sorry about that.” He started toward the door.
Tahlia peered at him. “And that’s it? That’s all you have to say to me?”
“What more do you want from me, Tahlia?” Maximus asked.
I want you to love me, Tahlia thought. Say you love me now and it might make it all better. Then she could say those three little words back. She could admit she wasn’t entirely blameless when it came to what went wrong between them. But he was silently staring at her, or should she say through her, as if she wasn’t there. He’d checked out, checked out on her.
“There’s nothing I want from you, Maximus. You can see yourself out.” She spun on her heel and raced from the room.
When Tahlia made it to her bed, she threw herself down and clutched her pillow. Then Tahlia heard the click of the door as Maximus departed from her life forever.
Chapter 14
Maximus was enjoying his new carefree lifestyle. There was something to be said about letting go of all the entrapments that held him down and just being one with the sea. He’d been on the sailboat for two months and was enjoying the simple life.
He’d spoken to Griffin and his mother a handful of times, if only to assure them that he was all right. Otherwise, he kept his phone off. Occasionally, he’d turn on it and there’d be voice mails, texts and emails from Knight Shipping, which he’d promptly delete. It was time he started living life for himself instead of doing what was expected of him. It certain hadn’t gotten him anywhere except with half a company and a broken heart.
Thanks to having so much time on his hand, Maximus had come to realize that he’d fallen in love with Tahlia Armstrong. He didn’t know when it’d happened or how because he certainly hadn’t been looking for it. It had just sneaked up on him. The knowledge didn’t make him feel warm and fuzzy.
It felt bittersweet because their relationship had been doomed from the start. Not just because he’d begun seeing her with the intention of seducing her, but because she held the key to something he’d desperately wanted but would never obtain. His father’s love. His father’s respect. Instead, all he’d ever gotten was his scorn. And a whole lot of confusion because if his father had never inserted that clause, Maximus might never have met Tahlia. And his life had been the richer for it, if only for a little while.
And so, he’d tuck his love for Tahlia away with the love he’d once felt for his father and had never had returned. Love had never been kind to him, so why should he freely give it again? Maybe if he stayed on the sailboat long enough he would finally forget about her.
Hell, he doubted it.
At night, Tahlia haunted his dreams. Deeper and sweeter than if she was with him in person. The smell of her perfume, the way she moaned when he was inside her or the giddiness she had when she’d just finished one of her paintings. He couldn’t escape the images of her in his mind, so he stayed at sea hoping to rid himself of the memories. Memories he wondered would ever die.
* * *
“Your exhibit, baby girl, is everything,” Sophia said as she and Kaitlynn admired Tahlia’s art on display one Tuesday evening. Her collection was a mix of oil paintings, charcoal freehand artwork and several ceramic pieces.
“I’m with Mama on this one,” Kaitlynn said. “You’ve truly outdone yourself, sis. I knew you were talented, but this is remarkable.”
Tahlia beamed. “Thank you, guys.” It was wonderful to receive praise from her family, but there was one person whose praise she desired most. Maximus. True to his word, she hadn’t heard from him since he’d quietly left her apartment two months ago.
As the weeks had gone by, she’d begun to realize how incredibly unfair she’d been to Maximus. Forcing her view of Arthur on him and holding Maximus to an unreasonable standard, given all his father had put him through. Tahlia wanted to tell him that she’d heard him. No, that she understood his feelings and his disappointments about his father, his brother and even their relationship. Sure, she was mad as hell that he’d set out to seduce her, but she hadn’t been an unwilling participant. She’d been crazy about Maximus from the moment she’d laid eyes on him. Her hope was that maybe one day they could wipe the slate clean and start again.
But he’d disappeared and left Los Angeles entirely. No one had seen or heard from him or knew how to locate him. They only knew that he’d chartered his father’s sailboat and taken off for parts unknown. He’d left Knight Shipping without a word, forcing both Lucius and Tahlia to step in and handle day-to-day operations. Tahlia was learning more than she’d ever cared to learn about the shipping industry.
She’d much rather be here at the gallery in her element or painting, but being a shareholder in the business forced her to care about its goings-on. Robert Kellogg and the executive team were helpful, but she and Lucius were learning to lean on each other and becoming friends in the process. He wasn’t half-bad, and Tahlia only hoped that one day Maximus would be able to see that, see that he could have a relationship with his older brother if he wanted one. Lucius was certainly open to it.
Despite all the upheaval, Tahlia was happy that her work was finally on display. She’d worked hard over the last few weeks finishing up the pieces. Everyone who was anyone in the Los Angeles art community and neighboring cities had been invited to the event. She was hoping for some positive press, which would encourage her to continue painting. Not that she’d ever stop. Painting was catharsis for her and was helping heal the wound that losing Maximus had cost her.
“Would you like some champagne?” she asked her mother when the waiter came around with a tray.
“Absolutely,” Kaitlynn answered for her and reached for three glasses. She handed each of them a flute. “We have to toast the lady of the hour.” Kaitlynn raised her flute. “To Tahlia—we hope all your dreams come true.”
They clinked glasses and each took a sip of champagne. “Thank you, sis.”
Faith rushed over to T
ahlia. “Come, that indie magazine I told you about is here and would like a quote from you for their arts section.”
“Excuse me for a second.” Tahlia went with Faith to answer the journalist’s questions.
Three hours later, the gallery was empty, and she and Faith were left to clean up after the caterers she’d hired for the event had left.
“Everything okay, boss?” Faith asked when she noticed Tahlia was introspective. “I would think you’d be smiling given the fantastic turnout we had and that half your pieces were purchased.”
“I am very happy,” Tahlia said, feigning a smile as she began turning off lights throughout the gallery.
“Why do I hear a but in there somewhere?”
Tahlia shrugged. “I don’t know. Something’s just missing is all.”
“You wouldn’t mean a curly-haired shipping magnate, would you?” Faith raised a brow.
“Am I that obvious?”
“Only to someone who’s worked with you for three years,” Faith responded. “I’ve never seen you as happy as you were when you were seeing Maximus. I hate that you’ve broken up. Do you think there’s any chance you’d ever get back together?”
“That’s doubtful, Faith,” Tahlia responded when they’d finally made it to the front door.
“Just thought I’d ask.” Faith squeezed her shoulder. “Stay strong, okay?”
“I will.” But it was hard to do because deep down, although she wouldn’t admit it to her family, Tahlia missed Maximus and wanted him back. But as long as she was a shareholder in Knight Shipping that would never happen. Tahlia took one final look at the gallery and then locked the door.
* * *
The seas were choppy. Maximus wished the sailboat was closer to dry land, but they were at least an hour out from the Los Angeles marina. After two and a half months at sea, he’d finally decided to come home, if for nothing else than to see his mother. She’d sounded lonely the last time he’d spoken to her, and Maximus had realized how selfish he was being by staying away when she had only him. So he was coming home. At least for a short visit.
He would stay for a couple of days during the week and be back on board by the weekend, but the weather was bad. Had been for hours. After putting on raincoats, he and the captain had battened down the hatches and were now waiting out the inclement weather inside the galley kitchen with some black coffee with a hint of bourbon.
“You sure you’re ready to come home?” Roy inquired when he glanced at Maximus. He’d shared some of what happened with the will, Tahlia and Knight Shipping with the captain. The older man hadn’t offered any advice. He’d just listened to Maximus ramble on about losing his company and his woman. “I thought you were adamant about staying away.”
“I was.”
“What changed?” Roy inquired.
“My mother. She’s missing me, and I kind of took off unexpectedly. I didn’t even see her before I left, so I’m coming back for a quick visit.”
“And then going back out again?”
“Probably.”
“Just let me know. I’m at your disposal.”
“No one you want to go home to?” Maximus inquired, raising a brow.
“Not at the moment, sir.”
Maximus nodded. It was the opposite for him. He had his mother. And, of course, there was Tahlia. When he’d docked in Marina Del Ray, he’d caught sight of a Los Angeles newspaper and seen that she’d finally had her art exhibit. They were touting her as the next great artist. He was proud of Tahlia and that he’d encouraged her in some small way to achieve her dreams, even if he wasn’t there to see it.
Just then, a loud knocking hit the portholes of the galley. “Maybe one of the sails came loose,” Roy commented. “I’ll go on out and take care of it.”
Maximus shook his head. The man was nearly seventy years old, and even though he could more than handle himself on the sailboat, it would be easier for Maximus to maneuver. “You stay. I’ve got it.”
Once he was outside, the rain beat down on Maximus, soaking him right through the raincoat he had on. He was starboard when the one of the booms lurched at him. He tried to duck, but it was too late, and seconds later he was knocked unconscious.
* * *
“Tahlia, it’s Lucius,” a deep masculine voice said from the other end of the line early the next morning.
“Lucius, what is it?” Tahlia said as she rubbed sleep from her eyes. She glanced at her clock on her nightstand. It read 5:00 a.m. Her buzzer hadn’t yet woken her to get up. “You sound funny. Is everything okay?”
“It’s Max.”
Tahlia’s heart lurched as foreboding shot through her, and she sat straight up in the bed. “What’s happened to him?”
“He’s been injured in a boating accident and is en route to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. I just thought you might want to know.”
“I do. Thank you so much, Lucius. I’m on my way.” Then she paused. “Are—are you going?”
“Yes, of course,” he stated. “He’s my brother.”
The phone line went dead, and Tahlia rushed around her bedroom to find something to wear. As she threw on a pair of yoga pants and a T-shirt, Tahlia didn’t know what to think. Lucius hadn’t said much. She just prayed that Maximus was okay and that his injuries weren’t serious.
When she arrived at the hospital twenty minutes later due to light morning traffic, Maximus’s mother, Charlotte, Lucius and Naomi were already there.
Tahlia rushed forward. She glanced at Charlotte, but she looked so distraught as she sniffed into a Kleenex that Tahlia didn’t dare speak to her. She went to Lucius, and he reached for her, grasping her hands in his. Lucius looked equally desolate and not put together like he usually was. He and Naomi both wore track suits.
“How is he?”
Lucius shook his head. “We don’t know yet. They just brought him and are assessing his injuries.”
“What—what happened?” Tahlia could barely get the words out as images of Maximus bleeding on the floor of the sailboat assailed her.
“He was knocked over by one of the sails and hit his head,” Lucius replied. “We don’t know much more than that.”
Tahlia nodded. “How’s his mother?” She inclined her head toward Charlotte Knight, who was sitting with Maximus’s friend Griffin.
“A wreck,” Naomi answered her this time. “I thought she wouldn’t appreciate Lucius and my being here, but when she saw us she almost seemed happy that she wasn’t going to go through this alone. I think she’s frightened of losing Maximus, too, after losing her husband.”
“That’s understandable,” Tahlia said. Her heart went out to Charlotte even though his mother had been less than kind to her previously. “I’m going to go sit with her.”
And that was where Tahlia remained for hours because the ER doctor had come out to inform them that Maximus needed to go into surgery to repair the brain bleed from the injury he’d sustained on the sailboat. At the news, Charlotte had begun weeping uncontrollably, and it had taken both Tahlia and Naomi to calm her down while Griffin and Lucius remained stalwart. Eventually, Charlotte and Naomi dozed off. Unfortunately, Griffin had to depart because he was due in court, but he promised to be back. So Tahlia stood to stretch her legs and to check on Lucius.
She found him outside the ER staring ahead of him—at what, Tahlia didn’t know.
“Hey,” she said, coming to stand beside him.
He looked down at her, and the despair she saw in his dark eyes startled her. Tahlia had known Lucius cared for Maximus, but she hadn’t known just how much until now. Tahlia reached for his large hand and squeezed it.
“He’s going to pull through this, Lucius. He has to.”
Lucius glanced upward at the sky. “I don’t pray, Tahlia. I never have, but I have been now. I
can’t lose...” His voice caught in his throat. “I can’t lose my brother, too, not when I’ve never really gotten to know him.”
Tahlia nodded as tears filled her eyes. “And you won’t. We won’t. He’s healthy and strong. He’ll pull through. You’ll see.”
Lucius sucked in a deep breath. “Thanks, Tahlia. Where’s Naomi?”
“Dozing with Charlotte.”
He nodded. “All right, we’ll let them rest.”
“While they’re resting, why don’t we head to the chapel?” Tahlia suggested. She wanted Maximus to have all the prayers they could both give. Knowing that she could lose Maximus and seeing how short life was had Tahlia reevaluating her feelings. When he woke up, maybe it was time to tell him just how much she’d missed him and that she loved him.
* * *
Maximus had a splitting headache. This was nothing like the hangover he’d had after he’d lost the vote at Knight Shipping months ago. This was much worse. Except this time, when he opened his eyes, he wasn’t in his room or on the sailboat, which was the last place he remembered being. He was in a hospital room.
He blinked several times, trying to remember how he’d gotten here, but he couldn’t. He could see, however, that someone’s head was lying on the hospital bed beside him. He reached out and stroked the person’s hair, and instantly the smell came to him.
Tahlia.
At his touch, she lifted her head and looked at him sleepily. Her brown eyes connected with his dark ones.
“Max?” she whispered. And then she blinked several times, as if she wanted to make sure she wasn’t dreaming and that he was real.
“Yeah, I think that’s my name,” he said groggily with a half smile. His head felt foggy. Was he medicated?
“I’m so glad you’re awake.” She rose to her feet. “I have to tell your mother and Lucius.” But before she could move away, he caught her arm.
“Wait. What are you doing here? What am I doing here? What happened?” He launched several questions at her.
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