Page 36 of Passion and Deception

He nodded slowly, acknowledging the truth of her words. “Fair enough.” He moved over to the window and pointed outside. “Take a look, Maggie. See the guards?”

Maggie warily moved towards the window, searching Ramit’s handsome features until she finally looked through the glass.

Then she gasped!

Her tiny yard was filled with men in dark suits, wearing grim and determined expressions. If any of her neighbors noticed, she would have a lot of explaining to do. And how could they not notice? There were four…no, five…men just in her front yard! She spun around and peered through her small kitchen window. Sure enough, there were more men in the back!

“What’s going on, Ramit?” she whispered, terrified now. “Why are so many men standing around my house?”

He turned her so that she was facing him, lightly gripping her upper arms. “Those are my personal bodyguards, love. They follow me everywhere, even when I’m in the palace. Every moment that we remain here in this house, you and Nadia, and me, are in danger.”

“No!” she hissed, still bouncing as she continued to try and understand. “This isn’t happening! I thought you were just a regular guy!”

“Why is my financial status such an issue?”

She was silent for a long moment, and Ramit dug deep to find a well of patience. What was it about this woman? Maggie was the only person he would give this much leeway to. His day was filled with decisions that he had to make quickly and he expected every person on his staff to follow through with those commands as effectively as possible.

But Maggie had the ability to spin him around, to make him want to give her…everything. Including patience. And explanations! Hell, when was the last time his commands had even been questioned?

Never, he thought.

“Maggie, please, help me understand. If I can understand why you are so wary of me and…” he stopped, looking stunned. “That night at the club! You looked at me with fury in your eyes. Is this…are these issues connected?”

The reminder of that night so long ago seemed to spark something inside of her. She nodded, pressing her lips together for a moment. “Yes,” she finally replied.

He waited, but she couldn’t speak. Her throat clogged up with the memory of how betrayed she’d felt that night.

“Please, Maggie.” He touched her arm, then brushed his hand over Nadia’s head.

Maggie cleared her throat, but before she could speak, Nadia let out a loud squawk. This was her hunger cry and Maggie groaned.

“I need to feed her again. She…wasn’t finished when you burst in here earlier,” she told him. “Will you…give me some privacy?”

He blinked, then looked at their daughter who was making angry faces and nuzzling Maggie’s chest.

“You’re nursing her?” he asked, his tone sounding stunned.

“Yes. I’m lucky that I’m able to nurse her. There are a lot of women who can’t.” She moved over to the rocking chair with all of the pillows around it. She settled herself and Nadia into their normal position, then started unbuttoning her shirt. “I’d only gotten halfway through feeding her when you and your men burst into the house. So, she’s probably angry.” She glanced at him again. “You need to leave.”

“Not a chance,” Ramit replied and settled onto the ottoman where Maggie had sat while he’d held their daughter. “This is our child and I’ve missed a great deal over the past year.” His eyes narrowed on her. “Including the surprise at knowing that I was even a father, wouldn’t you say?”

Maggie swallowed, then nodded at the truth. “You’re right. That was selfish of me. I’m…sorry. I should have figured out how to contact you.”

“I’ll forgive you, if you’ll explain while you nurse Nadia,” he replied.

Maggie settled Nadia into position, adjusted her clothing, then Nadia’s greedy mouth latched onto her nipple. Immediately, the pressure in her breast eased as Nadia sucked.

“Maggie?” he prompted.

“Right,” she sighed and looked up. Nadia had figured out the whole nursing thing. She was an expert now and knew exactly what to do. Taking a deep breath, she looked over at Ramit, grateful that he was looking at her face and not at her uncovered breast. “I grew up very poor, Ramit.” When he didn’t react, she continued. “I don’t mean that we had to scrounge for things. I mean, we literally couldn’t afford food sometimes. I was a good student, but my father…wasn’t the best role model. I got a job immediately out of high school. Eventually, my waitressing skills improved and I got a job at TBC.” She brushed Nadia’s fuzzy head as she continued. “The Billionaire’s Club was the best job I thought I could ever hope for.”

“It’s an excellent place to work. Levi is a good boss.”

Maggie snorted. “Levi is wonderful.” She shifted, getting more comfortable. “It was his father that was truly horrid.” Maggie shook her head at the memories. “Jerry Harris loved having his female employees prance around in skimpy outfits and painfully high heels. The tips were great,” she continued, then shook her head. “But the sexual harassment was rampant. The club members thought that the female waitressing staff were barely a step above prostitutes.” She gazed down at Nadia. “In truth, some of them were.” She lifted her head and stared hard at Ramit. “I wasn’t. After leaving my father’s house, where he thought it was okay to smack me around whenever he was in a pissy mood, I shifted to being smacked around by the club management and the various club members.”

“I want names,” he replied with a smoothly lethal tone.

She chuckled, but there wasn’t any humor in the sound. “I could give you a list of names, but me, Emily, and Ann have already gotten our revenge.”

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