Page 20 of Passion and Deception

Ramit looked around and realized that he’d stopped moving towards his office. A line of his staff members were waiting behind him, trying to board the plane.

“Right,” he muttered, then proceeded down the long hallway towards his private office. “Just another woman with no morals.”

Ramit knew that women were generally out to make the best of their situations. And Maggie was a waitress. She probably didn’t earn much money. She worked for tips and, for some reason, that angered him. Although why he should be concerned with the wages of a woman who would sell herself to a man, he wasn’t sure.

He sat down behind his desk and found the seat belt, then stared out through the small window. The airport employees were rushing about, trying to clear the airways so that his pilot could take off. But Ramit didn’t see any of that. He was thinking about that night with Maggie, the way she’d sighed in his arms, snuggling closer to him.

He should be thinking about the absolutely best night of sex that he’d ever had. But it was the conversation afterwards, the soft touches and her curvy body pressed against his that really lingered. He’d loved the way her round bottom had fit perfectly in his hand, the tender way she’d looked at him when she’d offered him waffles the next morning. She was a pretty good cook, he thought, despite the lasagna debacle.

“Your Highness, the energy commissioner is on the phone.”

Ramit looked up at his assistant, blinking as he tried to process what he’d just heard. Commissioner? Energy?

Right!Work issues.

With a sigh, Ramit leaned forward and picked up the phone.

Chapter 16

Maggie was sick of crying. She’d felt betrayed and abused, but she shouldn’t have given her trust away so easily. It had been twenty-four hours since she’d seen the disgusted look on Ramit’s face, and she’d been crying ever since.

“You okay?” Emily asked, sidling up beside Maggie at the bar. “You look sad.”

Maggie shrugged and took the box of napkins, storing them away in the correct place for later that night. “I’m fine,” she lied.

Emily was silent for a long moment, then she shook her head. “You’re not fine. What’s wrong? Last night, you were all smiles and energy. Today, you look like you’ve been crying ever since you left.” She pulled out a jar of olives but hesitated before opening them. “Are you upset about Mathis’ assault last night?”

Maggie thought about that for a split second, trying to figure out what Emily was talking about. A moment later, she remembered the incident with Barney Mathis and shook her head, snorting with disgust. “Nah, that guy is a slime ball. Plus, Hendrix said he wouldn’t ever bother me again. His membership was revoked and Hendrix said something to the guy to ensure that he wouldn’t bother me in the future.”

“Good. So, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” she replied, pasting on a bright smile. “Everything is just perfect. Exactly the way it should be.”

Emily popped the lid off of the jar of olives. “When are you seeing your man again?”

She shook her head and turned away. Over her shoulder she said, “I was mistaken. The guy isn’t who I thought he was. We’re over.”

Maggie felt better just saying those words aloud. Nothing was different. Her life was just fine. No worries. She’d had a wild few days with a glorious man who made her body sing with happiness. It had been wonderful, but it’s over now. She could go back to her normal routine and forget about Ramit.

Two weeks later, Maggie was cursing those words. Staring at the plastic stick, she struggled to breathe. “I can’t be pregnant!” she whispered.

Still staring at the strip, she shook her head. “No! Impossible!”

And yet, she knew that it was possible. She hadn’t thought about the aftermath of that night, but she’d felt sticky the following morning. It hadn’t occurred to her that they’d completely forgotten contraception! She hadn’t dated anyone for…years! So, she hadn’t been on birth control. And…obviously…Ramit hadn’t thought to use a condom. Nor had she thought to remind him of that little detail. She’d been more interested…emphatic…about him continuing with the pleasure.

Not so pleasurable now!

Maggie sighed and dropped onto her bed, staring up at the ceiling. “What am I going to do?”

She’d have to tell Emily. Would she be fired? It would be difficult to serve drinks to the club members while she was pregnant. She didn’t think that Levi would fire her. Nor would Sean and Matteo, although those two hadn’t been around as much lately. Sean spent a lot of time down in Georgia so their children could spend more time with their “grandparents”. The older couple wasn’t technically related, but they’d helped Sean’s wife, Kennedi, after she’d given birth, treating her more as a daughter than an employee.

And Matteo still worked in Philadelphia with his wife, Bailey, but Matteo was working on building a stronger relationship with his half-brother, the current Marquesso del Campo. So Matteo and Bailey traveled to Spain with their kids often.

That left Levi here to pick up the slack, but he didn’t seem to mind. In fact, Levi seemed to enjoy the role. Or maybe he just enjoyed keeping his two pathetic half-brothers out of the club. Levi’s two older half-brothers had inherited their father’s chain of sporting goods stores, then proceeded to run them into the ground with stupid marketing and worthless product decisions. For a while, the brothers had tried to gain membership to the club, but Levi had turned them down repeatedly.

Maggie remembered the club before Levi’s father had “bequeathed” the old house to his bastard son. The inheritance had been an insult, but Levi had turned things around. Now, it was a pleasure to work at the club. The members had resented most of the new rules, but they’d more than enjoyed the increased membership. The club had become an old boys’ network that allowed the heads of industry to trade secrets and make more money.

What they didn’t know was that Maggie, Emily, and Ann listened in on those old farts’ conversations. They knew when to invest in a company and when to sell their shares. Which meant that Maggie was a relatively wealthy woman.

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