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I appeared to be in shock at the gorgeous man standing before me with an incredible tattoo, making me salivate and wish his arms were encircling me. I gained composure of myself to prevent him from seeing how hot I thought he was.
“Before you say a word, Alex, I want to apologize for everything. I apologize for taking Maxim on that hike into the woods. He’s a Blackstone after all. We were raised on fishing, camping, and horseback riding in the wilderness.” Jonas’s apology was not a real apology.
“That’s an apology?” I said, gripping the side of the bar. “He’s a Bishop too. Is that all you want to apologize for? Because, it was very immature and selfish to take a child out like that and not tell anyone.”
“I wasn’t thinking.”
“Precisely.”
“Now that we have broken the ice, have a cup of coffee with me. You may find something to like,” Jonas said, reaching for the coffeepot. He poured a cup of brewed coffee from the silver container. “You see, I’m not a bad person after all,” he said, flashing those green eyes and moving closer to me, causing chills to rise on my arms.
I stepped back, and he stepped closer. It appeared he knew the appeal he had over women, more so than Max. It was Max’s incredible sexual antics in bed that separated the two brothers in my experience.
I gazed into his eyes and saw the seduction that I was running away from, but I also saw a lost soul and someone yearning to be whole again. In Jonas’s eyes and the twitch of his lips, he appeared to be a nervous wreck, and although I felt his pain, I could not let my son fall into his hands again.
“Jonas, I have nothing against you, but I can’t forget how we met.”
“I can’t say that that was my finest hour. I didn’t know that you and Max were—”
“Yes, I know.” I cut him off, because I didn’t want to relive that embarrassment again. That kind of embarrassment took a lifetime to wash away, and staying away from the person involved was the only way I knew to lessen the humiliation.
“I will be leaving soon and taking Maxim with me.”
“Did Max agree to allow you to take Maxim with you?” There goes that word again.
“He can’t allow me or prevent me from having Maxim.” At that moment my feelings concerning Jonas went from hot to cold.
“That is not exactly the truth. He has custody of him, and he can do what he wants.”
“That is enough, Jonas. This is a conversation between me and Alex.” I didn’t hear Max enter the kitchen. He just stood silent until Jonas inadvertently informed me of Max’s intentions.
“It is now apparent that you are not going to give me your permission to take my son home with me.”
“This is his home, Alex.”
“His home is with his mother, wherever that is,” I said, turning to meet his angry, hooded eyes. “I am not a child, and I am not one of your acquisitions. I had nothing when I met you. I never wanted anything from you but my son. Now I realize that you will not compromise with me.” I felt weak throughout my body. “What would your mother say, Max?”
“She would say, ‘Take care of your son.’”
“Would she say, ‘Take your son from his mother’? The way you and Jonas were taken from her? Why do you think you and Jonas are so fucked up?” I saw the uneasiness and hurt cross their faces, and immediately I froze. I turned and ran into one of the bedrooms to call Charles St. John. Arguing with Max and Jonas would not get me anywhere, and staying around Max was getting too toxic.
After rushing out of the kitchen and into the bedroom, I searched for my phone.
“Charles. This is Alex. Can you send a plane for me?”
“I can do better than that. I’ll send my limo to Max’s estate in thirty minutes. It will take you to the airport to my private plane. You will be in Seattle soon.”
“Do you think it’s safe to take my son?”
“Alex, the only way to gain custody of your son is with a court order, and that’s impossible now.”
I can’t marry Max, and I can’t be without my son. I dropped the robe and walked into the shower. The door opened, and Max stood behind me.
“What are you doing here?” I said loudly.
“You know that I get hot whenever you are around me.”
“How do I know that you are Max and not Jonas?”
His warm hands touched my breasts. He moved them down slowly and settled on my mound. “I see you are letting your hair grow the way I like it. Do you remember what I said to you when first we met?”
“Do you mean the fortuitous meeting?” His eyebrow arched. “Those are your words, not mine,” I said, throwing Max off guard.
“Well, if that is all you can remember, then what about this?” Max wrenched me into his arms, his hands cupping my breasts. His head lowered, biting my nipples hard, the pain excruciating and exciting and pleasurable. My nipples rose like cherries bursting into his mouth. The pain only heightened my arousal. He made the most erotic sounds as he sucked each nipple, one at a time. His hands reached for my clit, and his finger circled it until I was moist and panting for air.
His body’s motion, moving his hard penis into my mound and rubbing against my pubic hair, excited and aroused me.
Then, my common sense took over. We hadn’t settled anything. It was like putting out a forest fire with a cup of water. “No, no, this is not going any further. You are using sex against me,” I said, pulling from his embrace and running naked from the shower.
“And you are using it against me by taking yourself from me, when you know that I would do anything to have your body. Anything!” His dark gaze frightened me.
“If that is true, then let me—no, I will use your favorite word—allow me to have my son.”
“Only if I know that you will marry me.”
“I’m no liar. I don’t know.”
“I have compromised with you, Alex.”
“You call that a compromise when you have all the cards, and they are stacked against me. I would call that a coup.” I threw on a pair of jeans, a tee, and a leather jacket. I had my bag in my hand and set it at the door of Maxim’s room. I crept near his bed. I kneeled and kissed and hugged him. Then I walked out and picked up my bags with Max behind me.
“Where are you going, Alex?” he said, his demanding voice reaching a crescendo.
“Where I can be rid of you.”
“You will never be rid of me.” My glance fell on Max and then I notice Jonas entering the large room.
“I wouldn’t count on that,” I said, eyeing Jonas. I walked past Max and out the door on wobbly legs. My phone rang. It was St. John. I stood on the front entrance and answered the call.
“My car will be there in five minutes.”
“Thanks, Charles.” I walked down the stone stairs and stood outside in the cool mountain air. I felt the chill whip through my hair. I was not ready for this season of winter with Max. I had been used to a warm season. I had defied him, and I would be in for the fight of my life.
Throwing my bag on my shoulder, I stopped farther down the path and looked back and saw both Jonas and Max staring at me as if I were a child that had threatened its parents with running away from home. Their expressions mirrored my father’s when I left home as a teen.
My father had sat on the porch, and said, “See you at sundown. Mother and I will keep supper warm.” That was when I was sixteen, a rebellious teenager who loved her independence. The next time I saw my father, I was twenty-one and bringing Maxim home.
It had taken five years for me to face my parents. How long would it take to face Max and my son?
I looked up and saw a sleek black SUV rounding the corner. It had the appearance of an armored car. The driver instinctively knew it was me and pulled to the edge of the road, where a small stream and trees could be seen for miles. He came to a sudden stop, stepped out, and opened the door. “Ms. Bishop?”
“Yes.”
“I’m to take you to Mr. St. John’s private jet.”
“Thank you.” I stepped into the car, and he closed the door. Apprehension surrounded me, and I became lonely and afraid, as if I was that child of sixteen again, suddenly faced with the reality of my actions. But I couldn’t turn back, or my stubbornness wouldn’t let me.
A text message came across the screen:
Max: Alex, Y have you chosen to desert our son?
Alex: I can’t believe that u would word this text as if u were planning to use my actions against me. U made me an offer of marriage and insinuated that it was the only way that I could have my son.
Max: It was the only way I knew to keep u.
Alex: You can’t keep me as if I am a business of yours. Even they go bankrupt if u don’t put something back into them. U can’t keep taking from me and expect me to love u.
Max: What can I do, Alex?
Alex: Now? Nothing. The next move is up to me, not u. U have done enough to me.
Max: Alex, that sounds like a threat.
Alex: Absolutely!
Max: Alex, where r u and when r u coming back?
Alex: I’m not. And don’t try to find me.
Max: My cameras picked up u climbing into St. John’s limo. I’m flying to Seattle now.
Alex: Who r u leaving Maxim with? Not that psycho brother of urs I hope.
Max: Jonas is leaving for San Francisco tonight. He has an appearance to make. Maxim will stay with his governess. His mother has decided to desert him and his father.
Alex: U r horrible, Max. There is no use talking to u.
Max: Alex, don’t leave me. We need u.
If I answered another text he would probably use it against me. He believed in scorched earth to get what he wanted. It appeared impossible to win with him. I loved him too much and I felt that he loved me the only way he knew how, but he could not see that he was tearing us apart. His need for family was great, and if I stayed around him, he would probably destroy both me and our son if I didn’t do something soon.
The chauffer handed off my bag to me, and I boarded the private jet at the private airfield. I spied two jets side by side. I arrived on Blackstone’s jet yesterday and I’m leaving on St. John’s jet today. What irony.
I handed my bag to the stewardess. “Hello, Ms. Bishop. Your cabin is ready if you would like to shower. The food and wine menu is on your desk, and your bed is available if you need a quick nap. If you have any questions, ring this buzzer.”
I glanced around, searching for answers, not the nearest exit, because if this jet crashed there was no way I could survive. “What am I getting myself into?” I mumbled in a fit of desperation.
Taking my seat, I looked around and spied the cabin where I could take a nap. I had entered into a world of billionaires, and the only way to fight a billionaire was with another billionaire. I finally accepted my plight. I had become the pawn in this chess game of rich, influential kings.