Page 38 of Chained to You (Dark Billionaires 6)

I didn’t miss the fact that her voice was a little shaky, which surprised me.

Mr. Maxwell? Suddenly, it hit me. She meant Liam Maxwell, James’s father. I started panicking, and apparently, I wasn’t alone.

Eric swore loudly, “Fuck!”

Suddenly, the man I had heard so much about, the powerful man who had fathered three hot, amazing sons appeared at the door like a king making his grand entrance.

Liam Maxwell—a striking man with silver fox hair, angular face, sharp eyes, and tall, lean body in an expensive Italian suit—strolled into the room as everyone watched.

“Grandpa!” Aria shrieked cheerfully, breaking the ice of silence that had only descended moments before.

The man chuckled in delight as he opened his arms wide for his granddaughter. Aria excitedly ran to him, and Liam lifted her up. Then he kissed her on the cheeks, and she return those kisses on his wrinkled cheeks, too.

“So how are you doing, my love?” he asked, his eyes twinkling.

“I’m good, Grandpa,” Aria said, grinning from ear to ear. “I’ve missed you so much. You haven’t been to visit for ages.”

The man chuckled again. “Grandpa has work to do,” he said. “Sorry about that, sweetheart.”

Aria giggled. “You’re forgiven ‘cause you’re here now.” She kissed him on the cheek again.

Liam said, “You know what? I have presents for you.”

Aria asked excitedly, “Really? Yay!”

Liam nodded. “From Japan.”

Aria said, “Can we go and get them now? Can we, Grandpa? Can we please?”

Liam nodded as he put her down. “Eric.” He turned to his youngest son. “Why don’t you help bring in the presents?”

“Yeah.” Eric turned to Aria. “Come on, darling.” Hand in hand, uncle and niece left the room.

I thought about going after them to help since I knew there’d be quite a haul, based upon the last time Aria had received presents from both Scott and Eric. It must have been a Maxwell thing to lavish Aria, the only girl in the family, with gifts. But then James caught my wrist, stopping me from moving an inch.

I was a little confused, but then I realized Liam was standing right in front of me. If I were to move, I would have bumped into him.

I raised my eyes to look at the great man. Up close, he was indeed intimidating. Tall, lean, dark features, and definitely a Maxwell. I noted he had those Prussian-blue eyes, which James had inherited.

“So you’re Mia Donovan,” he said, his gaze scrutinizing me, which made my heart race. Maybe just a little.

I nodded. “Hi,” I said. “And you must be Mr. Liam Maxwell.”

He cocked his head to one side and said, “Yes, I am.”

I smiled brightly, my heart now calming. “That explains why you look just like James. You behave just like him, too. Very intimidating upon first meeting.”

Suddenly, Scott burst out laughing, and I wondered why. When I looked at James beside me, he too was grinning as if he found something rather amusing. And of course, Matt and William did the same. Savannah looked worried.

I licked my lips and then asked no one in particular, “Did I say something wrong?”

Liam said, “So I look like my son, eh?”

That was when I realized I’d phrased it wrong. But instead of apologizing and rephrasing the words or explaining my meaning, I said, “But you do.”

With a dark look in his eyes, Liam leaned forward, his face so close I could feel the warmth of his breath fanning my skin. I was surprised I didn’t even flinch or, worse, scramble away like a mouse being chased by a cat. Instead, I just stood there and stared at him. Perhaps it was because he looked so much like James that he didn’t scare me, despite his intimidating demeanor.

“You’re not scared of me?”

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