I didn’t want Max to know I was snooping. Hell! Snooping? I was the company’s legal representative. It was my job to make sure that all business dealings were above board–and something about Max's demeanor screamedproblem.Technically, I was doing my job.
I opened my files online and started combing through them. It took me hours to go through each one. I couldn’t find any mention of someone by that name. Perhaps it was a private matter. Max did have a private life.
I decided to keep an ear to the ground. If Grigoriy’s name ever came up again, I would be sure to pay attention. But, until then, I’d have to let it go. I could ask Max, but I didn’t want to be the overbearing lover.
Max called me at the end of the day.
“Hey. Sorry, I got busy. Did you manage to make headway with Rosenthal?”
“Hi, Max. No problem. Yes, I did. I’m meeting with their bigwigs next week. Are you okay?”
“Sure. Why do you ask?”
“No reason.”
Leave it alone, Angel.
“Would you like to join me for a drink after work?” I asked.
“I’d love to, Angel. But I’m having dinner with my sister and her husband tonight. Can I have a rain check?”
“Of course. Have fun. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Thanks, gorgeous. See you in the morning. Oh, and you better dream of me.”
“I do have other things that occupy my mind, you know,” I teased.
“That may be so, but I doubt any of them can make you scream as I can.”
“You kiss your sister with that mouth?”
Max laughed and then hung up.
Damn it. I was missing him already.
12
MAX
Ineeded a drink after talking to Grigoriy. Thank God Angel didn’t speak Russian. I didn’t want her to know about Grigoriy and hisbusiness proposalwhich was more of a demand than a suggestion.
I wished I hadn’t agreed to have dinner with Inessa and Charlie. The only thing capable of pulling me out of my funk was losing myself in Angel’s embrace. Her touch had the ability to forget just about anything else.
It was 7 pm when I arrived at my sister’s house. It was wonderful seeing Inessa so content. She and Charlie met in high school and had been married for two years. They were brand new parents and I had to say that little Jeremy was the cutest nephew any uncle could have hoped for. Little Jer was a carbon copy of his mom.
Inessa was a truly strikingly beautiful woman. That was one of the reasons I had to get her out of Russia and away from the kind of people we were exposed to. Beauties like Inessa were used up too quickly by unscrupulous men. And Grigoriy was one of those men. No one was going to use my sister for their own gain. Not while I had breath in my body.
“Hey, Max. Good to see you, buddy. Can I get you a beer?” Charlie offered when I walked into the living room.
Jeremy was lying on the floor on his playmat, chewing furiously on a toy.
“Hi, Charlie. Yeah, a beer is always welcome.”
I walked over to where my nephew lay and sat down next to him.
“Hey, little man. Come here, Uncle Max wants to see your new teeth.”
“They’re almost out. The poor little guy’s been gnawing at that teething ring for days,” Jeremy’s proud dad chimed in.