Chapter 24
Ramit looked up at Maggie, noticing the panic and determination in her eyes. He suddenly realized that, again, he’d gone about this the wrong way. Instead of working with Maggie, proposing to her and convincing her to come back to Ditar with him, he’d acted in his usual brusque manner and issued edicts and commands.
Time to soften his words and approach this situation differently.
“Maggie,” he soothed, starting to stand up, but then heard a squawk and looked down at his daughter. His daughter! Those words still stunned him.
“Don’t you dare ‘Maggie’ me!” she hissed, careful not to raise her voice. She was aware that any startling sounds would alarm Nadia all over again.
“You know that we can’t stay here.”
Maggie huffed. “I don’t know anything of the sort!” she replied back, folding her arms under her breasts. The movement pushed her breasts higher and he was suddenly very aware of the more voluptuous silhouette. His mouth went dry at the sight of those soft, full mounds.
Maggie snapped her fingers in his face. “Eyes up, big boy!” she snapped. “They aren’t for you any longer. These,” she said, waving her hand in front of her breasts, “are for the exclusive use of our daughter.”
He almost laughed out loud at that assertion, but decided it was probably better to not argue that point.
Yet.
“Maggie, you don’t understand the situation.”
She rolled her eyes. “Right. Like I haven’t had to figure out every part of being a single mom over the past twelve months!”
He stood up, cradling his daughter carefully, but he was angry now. “You know damn well that all you had to do was call me and let me know that you were pregnant and I would have helped you!” He reigned in his anger. “But you chose not to tell me I had a daughter.” He tried to suppress the fury and anger at that, but it was difficult.
Unfortunately, his anger sparked her own. She stepped forward, poking him in the shoulder. “I might have informed you if I’d trusted you! But apparently, you decided to lie to me. To fool me into believing that you were just regular guy! That we could have a real future together!” She took a deep breath and waved him off as he opened his mouth. “I fell for you, Ramit! I fell for all the sweet, wonderful words that you spewed in my direction. I believed you when you pretended to be a normal guy! It wasn’t until you walked into TBC that I realized what you really were! That you’d lied to me!”
“I never lied, Maggie,” he assured her.
“Oh yeah?” she challenged. “What were you doing at the museum a year ago?”
“The museum?” he echoed, not sure what she meant.
“The day we met?”
Oh, right! He decided to be honest with her. “On the day we met, I was pretending to be in Philadelphia to offer the museum several pieces of art from my collection. Pieces that have been in my family’s private collection for decades. The museum director was very interested in winning the right to display those pieces. It was all a ruse so that I could slip into the country without alerting your government.”
That stopped her cold. She stared at him, her mouth opening and closing. “Why?”
“I needed an excuse to come here to deal with someone who was trying to blackmail me.”
Ramit watched her expression and noticed the softening of her stance. She even stepped forward, her arms dropping to her sides. “Blackmail?” she whispered, her pretty brown eyes concerned now.
“It’s an ugly business, but yes.”
“Who?” she whispered. “And why?”
“Barney Mathis and Humphrey Todras tried, and they almost succeeded,” he emphasized. “They tried to use what I thought were naked pictures of my sister in order to convince me to fund a project for them. Apparently, they’d burned through all of their inheritance and needed to find a new way to finance their decadent lifestyle.”
Maggie remembered the pictures in Humphrey’s sports jacket. She turned away, wringing her hands as she thought about those pictures. “A dark haired woman having sex with a dark haired man? In a room with blue walls?”
His head snapped up and his eyes narrowed on her. “How the hell do you know anything about those pictures?’
She turned to face him. “Because I know how Barney and Humphry lost them,” she admitted quietly. “Ann, Emily and I have a sort of…system…at the club. When we…uh…think one of the rich bastards who frequent the club…is doing something wrong, we…um,” she shrugged. “Well, we do what we can to stop them.”
There was a long moment of tense silence. Then he said, “What did you do, Maggie?” Fear was choking him now. “Did you…?”
“I overheard Humphrey Todras whispering to a guest at the club. They said something about a trophy, patting his jacket. That was a couple of weeks after Barney Mathis…well,” she sighed, running her fingers through her hair at the horrible memory. “Barney is an entitled ass and he…!”
“Made a pass at you. And you kneed him in the groin.”
She stared up at him, her eyes wide. She didn’t say anything, remembering the look in his eyes when he’d walked away from her.
“That’s the night that I saw you two. I thought you were flirting. I saw you in the hallway that night. And I thought,” he paused and stared down at Nadia. Shaking his head, he looked at Maggie and admitted, “I thought that you were accepting his advances.” He sighed and pulled Nadia closer. “I’ll admit that jealousy at seeing you with that…man…caused me to act…precipitously. I was jealous and walked away.”
Her eyes were wide after that admission. “ That’s why you walked away?”
“Yes. Because I thought that you…welcomed his advances.”
Maggie bowed her head, nodding her understanding even as she ignored the stab of pain. “You thought that I wanted him to…assault me.”
“Yes. I’m sorry. I was completely wrong.” He closed his eyes. “I know that you can’t forgive me for believing the worst without evidence.” He opened his eyes and looked at her. “Maggie, I’m learning. At the art gallery, you started the process of showing me how to look at…activities and situations differently. I can only apologize for viewing that situation at the club through my own lens and not understanding. But I’m trying to learn and be better. It’s a slow, pathetic process, but I’m getting there.”
Maggie nodded, not sure if she was livid that he’d assumed something so awful about her, or amazed that he’d admitted he was wrong. Not just wrong, but actively trying to fix his perception of certain situations. It was a sort of evolution, wasn’t it?
“You’re learning?” she asked softly, wanting to believe him. But still wary. She had always been too trusting. Was this the moment to step back and protect herself? Or embrace her hope?
“Apparently, that’s the night that you kneed him in the groin.”
She shuddered. “Barney Mathis is terrifying. And he’s angry now. Not to mention, wildly unethical. Humphrey is even worse. A couple of weeks after that night, Ann spilled some wine on his sports jacket so that we could see what was in his pocket. It was the pictures. We switched them out with fakes and now, I think he’s really angry with us.”
Ramit moved closer, his eyes wide at her admission. “You…confronted him?”
She shrugged. “Indirectly,” she replied, not sure why he was so upset.
Before he could respond, a bad smell permeated the air. “What the hell?” Ramit growled, looking around, then his eyes landed on the infant in his arms. “Please tell me that smell isn’t coming from Nadia!”
The tension created by their conversation evaporated in the face of his horror. Maggie couldn’t stop the burst of laughter. She even covered her mouth as she turned towards the hallway. “I am happy to inform you that our little girl is a very healthy baby. And that means that she has very stinky poop.”
Maggie felt Ramit following her and tried to find that small kernel of self-discipline. However, she could feel the heat from his body and her own reacted to his nearness. It had always been like this. From the first moment she’d met Ramit, he’d been a force to contend with. Just his mere presence sent her into a tizzy.
Stepping into Nadia’s room couldn’t be avoided. All of the supplies were on the changing table. “Help yourself,” she told him, sweeping her arm to indicate the changing table with all of the diapers, wipes, and powder.
He stared at her. “You don’t actually expect me to change her diaper!” he asked, stunned.
Maggie shrugged, then tilted her head to the side when she realized that he was serious. “Why wouldn’t I expect you to change her diaper? You’re holding her.”
He looked down at Nadia, who had a blissful expression on her tiny features.
Ramit looked back at Maggie, extending his arms towards her, trying to hand their daughter over to her. “I have never changed a diaper.”
Maggie crossed her arms over her chest. “So, you’re going to let our precious daughter sit in her poop? Not very fatherly of you. What happened to your evolution to a more enlightened man? Are you seriously going to tell me that only women are supposed to change diapers? Aren’t you trying to convince me that you’ve evolved?”
He shook his head, his jawline grim. “You can change her,” he said, then walked purposefully towards her as if he was going to hand her over.
Maggie backed up and lifted her hands into the air. “Nope! This is all you. Possession is nine-tenths of the law.”
Ramit looked at her, then at the changing table, horror dawning on his handsome face. “But I don’t know how to change a diaper,” he admitted quietly.
Maggie rolled her eyes. “Ramit, you are a highly intelligent man. I googled you. You have overseen peace negotiations with your neighbors, managed very promising trade agreements, and have managed your country’s economy with brilliance.” She paused, one eyebrow raised. “Are you seriously going to tell me that you can’t figure out how to change a diaper?”
He blinked at her , then asked, “You researched me?”
She felt the heat stain her cheeks, but shook off the pleasure. “Ramit, your daughter needs her diaper changed. It’s a bonding experience, believe it or not. So go ahead and help her by wiping her butt and then put on a new diaper.”
Ramit looked as if he wanted argue further, but Nadia cooed slightly, grabbing Ramit’s attention. He looked down at his infant daughter and something tugged at his heart. He could no more ignore that adorable smile than he could cut off his own arm.
“Fine!” he grumbled and headed over to the changing table. “What do I do?”
He watched Maggie smother another laugh, but she walked over and positioned herself at the end of the changing table while he stood beside it.
“You’re going to help me, right?”
Maggie shrugged, leaning a shoulder against the wall. “Only because the nurses in the hospital helped me. Otherwise, I’d let you learn the same way I did – by searching the internet for answers.”
He glanced at her with those dark eyes and her heart turned over in her chest. “I’m sorry, Maggie. I truly am sorry that you’ve had to learn to do this all on your own.”
Maggie’s mouth softened. She was such a sucker for this man! She’d had a year of heartache, and he stormed her home, literally and figuratively, and offered a few kind words, and she was ready to forgive him.
Shaking herself, she gazed down at Nadia. Their daughter had to come first. “First of all, keep a hand on her belly the whole time so that she doesn’t roll off and fall.”
Ramit did a double take at that instruction and his hand flew to Nadia’s tummy. Instantly, the little lady’s arms and feet started dancing and he heard Maggie chuckle.
“She…enjoys this process?” he asked, not sure that he could believe what he was sensing. Surely changing a baby’s diaper wasn’t fun for the baby any more than it was for the parent!
“Sometimes she hates it, sometimes she loves it. We play a lot while getting cleaned up,” Maggie explained. “So yeah, generally she likes it unless she’s hungry and impatient.”
He felt like an imbecile as he carefully unsnapped her onesie, keeping his hand on her belly the whole time. “Okay, what do I do?”
She verbally walked him through the process and Ramit had to concentrate to understand the instructions. He wished he had six or seven hands, but finally, after two ripped diapers, he got one perfectly wrapped around her adorable butt.
When it was all over, with Nadia’s legs snapped into a clean onesie, he sighed with relief. “I’m never doing that again,” he vowed.
“Sure you are,” Maggie replied, reaching out to lift Nadia into her arms. She lifted her daughter higher into the air and Nadia giggled and shrieked happily as Maggie kissed her round tummy. When Nadia was settled into Maggie’s arms, she continued, “Nadia poops several times a day, plus the wet diapers. She’ll need your help several more times today.”
Ramit shook his head. “No, that task will be delegated to the nanny that my staff will hire. They’ve already set up interviews for the next few days and a temporary nanny will meet us at the airport.”
Maggie heard the words, but they didn’t make any sense. “Airport? And what nanny?”
Ramit stared at her and her stomach tightened at the sudden tension in his features. Whatever he was going to say next, Maggie knew she wasn’t going to like.
“Maggie, you and Nadia need to come back to Ditra with me.”
“Why? What would be the point? I have only one more week before my leave is up.”
He shook his head. “No, Maggie. I need both of you to come to Ditra with me. You’ll be safe there.”
“Safe? What’s the danger here? Other than you and your team breaking into my house!”
Maggie held Nadia close now, stroking the back of their daughter’s fuzzy head. She kept shaking her head as Ramit took a deep breath and kept going.
“Maggie, I am ruler of Ditra, a very powerful country. That means everyone in my family, including you and Nadia, are in danger from my enemies.”
Enemies? She’d never considered that Ramit could have enemies. Hadn’t he said something along these lines earlier? “Who would want to hurt me or Nadia? She’s just a baby!”
“I told you earlier, Maggie. Many people would use one or both of you to get to me, to influence my decisions or the direction of my country’s development. I don’t mean to scare you but…”
“Well, you’re doing an excellent job of it!”
“…but I need to keep you both safe. And…” he sighed, rubbing the back of his neck.
“And what?” she snapped, not enjoying this conversation at all. “What, Ramit? You’ve already broken into my house and told me that we have to come with you, fly off to a foreign country. What more could you say that would be worse than that?”
He smiled grimly. “We need to marry. Immediately.”
Marry Ramit? She had no idea how to respond to that. All she knew was that…nothing. At this moment, she wasn’t sure of anything anymore.
“No, Ramit. I need you to leave, and I need to get ready to return to work in a week.”
“I’m afraid that’s not possible.” He took a step forward, and Maggie backed up, startled and overwhelmed. “Maggie, you are in danger. Nadia is in danger.” He looked towards the hallway. “You just told me that I needed to do something that I didn’t like because it would benefit our daughter. Now I need you to do the same.” He stepped closer, relieved when she didn’t step back again. “I promise, I will make this transition as easy as possible.” He tilted his head slightly. “Or as easy as I can. Once you are back in the palace, in Ditra, then you will understand that this is a good thing. I will ensure that you have everything you could possibly want.”
Maggie stared up at him, her heart thudding. “I want to stay here.”
He smiled faintly, but the expression flitted away. “Except that.”
“But…why?”
“Because you, and our daughter, have power over me.”
She shook her head, confused. “You said that before and it didn’t make any sense! What does that mean? I don’t feel powerful. If anything, I feel that you’re dictating everything.”
“It might seem like it now, but once we’re back in Ditra as my wife, you will have enormous power.”
Maggie stared at him, unsure of what he was talking about. “What if I don’t marry you?”
“Then you will still be showered with everything you could possibly want. And you would still have a great deal of power over me.” He glanced at Nadia cradled in Maggie’s arms. “But our daughter will be ridiculed and rejected.”
“No!” she whispered, pulling Nadia closer. “Absolutely not! I won’t allow Nadia to be hurt!”
“Then come with me. Marry me and I will guarantee that you will never want for anything in your life.”
“What about my house? What about my friends?”
He looked around, then at her. “You won’t lose your house or your friends. And you can see them whenever you’d like. They can come to Ditra to visit, or you can go to them. I’m not imprisoning you, Maggie. I’m offering you riches beyond anything you’ve ever imagined.”
“But…why?” she pleaded. “And why the rush? If you want to marry me, then why can’t we get to know one another better first?”
“Because of Nadia. We need to marry so everyone will accept her. My culture has very strict views about children born out of wedlock. So, the marriage has to be done in secret. My people will ensure that the world will assume that Nadia was conceived after our wedding.”
“That’s…crazy! The world doesn’t care about children conceived out of wedlock anymore. This is all just…overwhelming. I need more time.”
He sighed. “Unfortunately, we don’t have time. That’s the one thing I can’t give you. We need to leave, Maggie. Now, before my enemies discover the existence of you or Nadia.”
Nadia started fussing, obviously sensing the growing tension. Automatically, Maggie started bouncing, trying to soothe the fretful child.
“I don’t understand, Ramit.”
He moved closer, but didn’t touch her. “Maggie, I need you to trust me.”
She snorted. “I trusted you a year ago and look how that turned out.” She moved around him, walking down the hallway to the family room. “No, I can’t trust you. I don’t really even know you, Ramit.”
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.”
“Interesting. Could you give me details?”
She shrugged. “That’s not the important part of the explanation, Ramit.”
He tilted his head in acknowledgement. “Fine. Please proceed.”
She almost laughed at the formality in his voice now. “We didn’t just get back at the members who cornered us or pinched us, trapped us in awkward places around the club,” she continued. Then grinned, an unconscious twinkle to her dark eyes now. “We listened. The club members are rich, entitled, unethical jerks, who think that they should be able to manipulate people without regard to the legality of their actions. They don’t even care that they are breaking the law because they know they can wiggle out of whatever legal consequences might threaten them.”
“I’ve noticed that among many of my peers as well.”
She sighed. “I don’t think that a person can become a billionaire without breaking a lot of laws.” She shifted Nadia to her other breast, ignoring the awkwardness of revealing her body so she just plowed forward with her point. “And my experience listening in on various conversations between company leaders validates that opinion. Their morals are…” she shook her head. “I don’t think they even have morals. From what I have heard and witnessed, they will happily lie, cheat, and steal in order to crush any kind of competition.”
“I know that there are some unethical leaders out there, Maggie. But I’m not one of them. I think once you get to know me better, you’ll understand that I genuinely put the benefit of my people at the crux of every decision.”
Maggie shrugged again. “Yes, well, now you know why I was upset when you walked into the club a year ago.” She looked down at Nadia, stroking her soft, fuzzy head. “When I met you at the museum, I thought you were someone I could believe in. I thought you were just a normal guy that I could…have feelings for. Not like those men from the club.” She lifted her eyes, staring right back at him. “I was wrong.”
“You weren’t wrong!” he snapped back, then stood up, impatiently running a hand through his hair. “And I’m going to prove it to you.”
She smiled gently at him, then adjusted her clothing as Nadia nodded off, her belly full. Thankfully, the little darling always took a mid-morning nap and didn’t seem to be overly concerned about the voices around her.
Ramit turned to look back at her, his eyes fierce with determination. “Maggie, I know that you don’t believe me, but I’m going to prove it to you.”
She stood up, gently cradling Nadia in her arms. “How?”
He looked down at the baby then at her. “First, I need to get both of you to safety. Will you trust me that far?”
She gazed thoughtfully out the window, then glanced up at Ramit. “Are we truly in danger?”
“Yes,” he replied without hesitation.
Maggie sighed, then nodded. “Okay. I’ll go with you. But I’m warning you, I’m not easily convinced.”
He didn’t respond. Instead, he pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number. “We’re coming out. Is the car seat installed?” After a pause, he nodded. “Good. Be ready to move. I want the plane in the air as soon as we’re strapped in.”
Ramit ended the call, then turned to look at her. “Let’s go.”
She pulled back, startled that he wanted to leave now. “Ramit, I can’t go right now! I need to pack a bag for myself and for Nadia!”
“You don’t need to pack anything. There are supplies on the plane for both of you and more at the palace. I instructed my staff to ensure that everything was ready for your arrival.”
“Ready for us? How?”
He put a hand to the small of her back, gently urging her out the front door. But before he opened it, he looked down at her. “As soon as I open this, I need you to hurry out of the house and into the vehicle. I’ll be right behind you. Strap Nadia into the car seat quickly, but we must keep moving, no matter what happens.” He paused and looked at her carefully. “Are you ready?”
“Yes,” she replied, swallowing back the terror his words generated inside of her. This was real? There was a genuine threat? Was this world truly so crazy that someone would harm an innocent child?
Mentally, she rolled her eyes at herself. Of course people were cruel enough to harm a baby. She’d overheard one of the executives of an investment company talking about how he shut down production of a baby food factory simply to ramp up the scarcity of the product. When the factory was re-started, the price of the product had doubled. Since there was no competition for it, they were able to get away with it.
So as soon as the door opened, Maggie carried a sleeping Nadia out of the house and dove into the big, black SUV. The door to the vehicle closed as soon as she was inside and the driver started moving within moments. Maggie secured Nadia into the car seat, a feat that wasn’t very easy since the little baby had been startled awake and wasn’t happy about the change to her normal routine.
As they wove through the busy highways of Philadelphia, Maggie wondered if she’d made the right choice. Had she just jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire?