Page 21 of Passion and Deception

If she lost her job at the club, Maggie had enough money saved up. She wouldn’t need to work for many years. That meant that she could stay home with her baby.

A baby! Wow! Her hand fluttered to her stomach as she pictured herself with a big, swollen belly. A baby! She hadn’t really considered having kids because of her traumatic childhood, Maggie hadn’t thought to ever have a family. No kids, no husband, and no pets. That had been the plan.

Well, she was going to have a family now!

She thought about calling Ramit and letting him know about the pregnancy. But she remembered the expression of disgust on his face when he’d seen her in the hallway being assaulted.

Instead of coming to her rescue, the asshole assumed that she’d welcomed the advances of that slimy bastard, Barney! He’d actually thought that she’d go from being with him in the morning to finding a new man for her evening!

How dare he insult her that way! Plus, he’d lied to her about who he was. Oh, not in words, he hadn’t lied. But he’d deliberately given her the impression that he was just an average guy. That he didn’t have a lot of money.

Resentment burned like acid in her throat. Because that memory was so painful, she pushed it out of her mind. “I’m not going to think about him! Never again!” And with that vow, she pushed off of her bed and stepped into the shower. She had a few more months before she’d need to tell anyone about her pregnancy. Maggie wasn’t exactly sure when she’d start to show, but until then, she had time to figure out what to do with her life and her future.

Chapter 17

Ramit stared at the report in front of him. Maggie’s beautiful image stared back at him from the photograph. She was smiling, her brown eyes bright with that sparkle that had warned him she was about to tease him about something.

Sighing, he reached for the report.

“She’s fine, Your Highness,” Nittan explained. “The man you mentioned,” he looked down at his notes, “Mr. Barney Mathis, hasn’t bothered her in any way.” The man looked up, his eyes curious. “As requested, I also did a deep dive into Mr. Mathis’ financials and his businesses. He doesn’t actually have any, Your Highness. He inherited several businesses after his father’s passing, but he sold them. There was a period in which he’d become heavily involved in drugs, specifically cocaine, but he seems to have that under control. At least for the moment.”

Ramit nodded, then noticed an email come in on his personal cell phone. He knew that the message was from Mathis and Todras. He looked at the message, unaware of his features turning grim.

“Is that something I need to work on, Your Highness?” his guard asked.

Ramit shook his head and lowered the phone to his desk. “No, it’s a personal issue. Thank you. That will be all.”

The man bowed, but Ramit could see the concern in his eyes. The man turned and left Ramit’s office, but there was a hesitation in his steps. Ramit considered asking Nittan to help with this matter, but at the moment, he didn’t want Ciara’s images, even if they were false, to be seen by anyone. It was difficult enough for Ramit to see his sister naked and locked in an embrace with another man. He didn’t want anyone else to see those images.

Not yet. If it came down to the wire, he’d go back to Nittan and have him resolve the issue.

Again, the thought of talking to Maggie popped into his head. She would have listened and, for some reason, he knew that she wouldn’t have mentioned the pictures to anyone.

The thought startled him. If he was so sure that Maggie wouldn’t say anything, if he trusted her so implicitly, then why had he so easily believed she would betray him with another man so soon after their night together? What exactly happened in that hallway?

Ramit rubbed his forehead, feeling a headache coming on. Memories of seeing Maggie in another man’s arms had really gotten to him. If it had been any other woman from his past, Ramit might have simply banished her from his mind. What was it about Maggie that was different?

With a sigh, Ramit answered his own question.

He wanted to believe that she’d been innocent.

He wanted to convince himself that he hadn’t seen her accepting another man’s advances. But the images in his mind were too vivid for him to ignore. He’d seen her body shift, almost inviting the man to move closer. He’d seen the way the man had pressed her back against the wall. It had been a very intimate moment.

Sighing, he rubbed the bridge of his nose, reminding himself that he had a blackmailer to deal with. He shouldn’t be thinking about Maggie. He should be figuring out his next step.

Picking up his phone, Ramit read the message again.

“Your Highness, Please send the money so that we can break ground on the project. We need to get the financing in place immediately.” And there was an attachment. Ramit didn’t want to open the attachment, afraid that he knew what he’d find. But he had to know. So instead of ignoring the attachment, he clicked on the image. Sure enough, he saw Ciara nude and straddling an unknown man. It was just the back of her head, but Ramit recognized her hair.

“Ealayk alleana!” he muttered, then dropped the phone. Rubbing his eyes didn’t help remove the erotic image of his sister from his mind. Unfortunately, nothing would.

Chapter 18

Maggie ignored the exhaustion that was creating a throbbing headache over her right eye. Pushing through the pain, she smiled as she delivered the scotch and bourbon to two club members. “Enjoy, gentlemen,” she said, then turned and walked towards the wall where she’d stand until she noticed someone needed her. She was working the pool room tonight. Someone had called in sick, so Emily had shuffled everyone around.

“Do you have the…trophies?” a man asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

Maggie heard the question, but didn’t turn her head, didn’t flinch, blink, or move in any way to indicate that she’d heard something that wasn’t meant for her ears. It always amazed her and her friends how much these men revealed when they thought no one was listening. Idiots! As a waitress, Maggie knew she was invisible to these men.

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