Episode 23
Episode 23
No Harm No Foul
MAIA
“Oh my God, it’s you!” My shaky hand lifted to cover my mouth as a wave of heat rushed to my cheeks.
“Yes, it is, sweetheart. And you can call me Rhodes, your fiancé, or Mr. Davenport,” said a man I instantly recognized but could not in my wildest dreams believe was standing next to Madam Alana. The two of them smoothly entered the room I’d been assigned to wait in until my bidder arrived.
My body temp rose as I watched them enter. Gooseflesh pebbled on my skin and my ears burned.
“My fiancé?” I gasped. Rhodes Davenport was the man I’d crashed into and pickpocketed at the airport. A man I was sure I’d never see again. Which meant, if he was here now and standing next to the Madam…Rhodes Davenport was my bidder.
A whooshing sound ripped through my head and cut off everything but the bright lights above. I blinked rapidly as my ears throbbed, the noise of large gusts of wind going through a tunnel the only thing I could hear. My vision blurred. I inhaled desperately as my heart pounded so hard I thought I might be having a heart attack. I covered my aching chest with my fist and backed up as he and Madam Alana stared at me, each with an undecipherable expression.
The room was closing in on me like a mouse trapped in a bucket, with only a dirty stick of peanut butter to nibble on until its fate was decided. Rhodes was the hunter, I, the mouse. Would my hunter eat me whole or set me free to roam the earth again? As I tried to breathe, I realized Rhodes didn’t have to do anything. I’d already eaten the poisoned peanut butter and signed the contract. That act would change the trajectory of my life. Now I just had to suffer through the consequences of my decision.
“Are you here to get back at me for stealing from you? It was only a few hundred bucks, man. Rent was due and I was already behind. And besides,” I gasped, still sucking in as much air as my suddenly restricted lungs would take in, “I gave back the phone and the credit cards. I could have taken you for a lot more.” I banged my fist into my chest as I started to feel dizzy.
Rhodes shook his head as a gentle smile spread across his handsome face. “Stealing is stealing, Maia. We’ll have to work on that little habit of yours.”
I glared at his insinuation, as if it were a habit I enjoyed. Most people didn’t steal because they wanted to. They did it because they were desperate, or just assholes. I was the former, and maybe a bit of the latter, but the streets had taught me to be that way. If I were kind and sweet, people took advantage of me. If I looked like I might be a force they didn’t want to tangle with, I was more likely to survive. Not that he’d understand. But if anyone understood, it would be Alana. She once lived on the streets.
Alana approached me, her expression filled with concern. “Darling, come here, have a seat, you look pale,” she clucked as if herding her baby chick around the coop. I let her take my elbow and lead me numbly to one of the chairs lined up along the wall. Once seated, I instantly bent over my legs, trying to shake off the buzzy sensation overtaking my mind.
“What’s happening to me?” I gulped, my breath sawing in and out of my lungs.
Alana ran her hand up and down my spine in a soothing pattern. “You’re having an anxiety attack, chéri . Just breathe with me. In for four beats, out for four beats. Follow along,” she demanded in a stern voice.
I did as she bade, closing my eyes and focusing entirely on the sound of her voice. Alana had never done anything but help me in the past. She wouldn’t have brought this bidder here tonight unless he’d been thoroughly vetted and ready to pay for his bid. She couldn’t have known he was someone I’d stolen from.
Man, what did I ever do that was so bad I now had to face my pickpocket? I wasn’t prepared to look into the mirror of this sin just yet.
And now I was supposed to marry him.
“Good God, why am I such an idiot!?” I wheezed and then coughed.
“You’re not an idiot. You are scared. And I’m right here. Nothing is going to happen to you while I’m here, darling. You are safe.”
I nodded, but kept my eyes closed tight, breathing as she instructed.
“In for four chéri …good, good, now out for four. Excellent. You’re doing great. Just keep breathing, Maia.” She cooed, easing the fear clinging to every single one of my cells. I hadn’t had such a visceral response to anything since the night Sam saved me in that alley.
Suddenly I felt a warm touch on my bare knees. “Everything is okay, Maia. I’m not mad at you for the stolen cash. You did what you had to do,” said a soothing, deep rumble. “It’s okay. No harm, no foul, right?” It was the same words he’d said to me when I ran into him. And once I was literally sitting on top of him, my hands directly over his wallet and phone, the desire to snag those items was too much to ignore.
His touch on my knee, and his reminder of what occurred that day, brought me back to the present. I was finally able to breathe more easily as I opened my eyes, only to stare into the prettiest gray eyes I’d ever seen. They were like a frozen lake. Icy in color, but cool and calm in temperament. And so pretty I could stare into them for a lifetime, yet never be able to differentiate each tiny burst of color.
Rhodes smiled gently. “Hey there, you feelin’ better, sweetheart?” He cocked his head and rubbed both hands across my knees again. It was nice, a gesture of comfort I hadn’t experienced in many years.
I nodded, uncertain how to respond. I felt bamboozled and off-kilter.
Madam Alana suddenly appeared with a glass of water. I hadn’t even seen her step away. “Here, Maia, sip on this. Did you eat today?”
I thought about the day from start to finish. My stomach had been in knots since I arrived. If I’d put a single morsel of food into my mouth I’d have been kissing the porcelain gods for sure. I shook my head.
“I can take care of that. How about we go to dinner, and you and I can talk? Determine if going through with this auction is the right thing for you,” Rhodes suggested.
My haze of fear and anxiety shattered at his insinuation that I may want to get out of this situation. “No, I need the money. Period. I’ve already signed the contract.”
Rhodes lifted his hands. “Hey, hey, slow down turbo. It’s okay. I haven’t signed yet. No one is rushing you into anything. You can still get out.”
“And I’m telling you that I’ve already made my decision. If you don’t want to be with me, because of what I did, or because of this,” I waved a hand in front of me referring to my panic attack or whatever the hell it was. “That’s on you. The contract was very clear. I knew exactly what I was signing. It’s just seeing you was a huge surprise. You were not at all who I expected would be walking through that door,” I said as I pointed to it.
Rhodes rested his hands on his knees and pivoted up to stand before me. He stared into my eyes for a long time, so long I was just about to look away when he nodded abruptly.
“If you’re sure you’re ready to do this,” he walked over to the table where the contract sat. I’d already made my decision. I was in it for the cash. Simple as that. My family’s safety depended on it.
“Rhodes, if you’d rather take more time…” Madam Alana offered him another out, which I found irritating.
I stood up abruptly, wobbling on the stupid stilts the stylist put me in. I’d give anything to slide my feet into my well-worn, beloved, Doc Martens right about now.
“Do you two know each other or something??” I rubbed my arms, trying to warm them from the chill in the room. Did hotels have to keep the temperature at freezing at all times? Damn. I shivered.
Rhodes clocked my tremble and immediately unbuttoned his suit jacket, shrugged it off, came over to me, then placed it around my shoulders. The scent of a fruity, woodsy-like cologne wafted through the air from the satin inner lining that was pressed against my skin. I clutched the lapels between my breasts and sighed when the heat of his body transferred from the jacket to me.
“Thank you,” I whispered feeling shy and awkward after everything that had happened.
“My pleasure, Maia. And in answer to your questions, Alana and I have known one another for many years. Since before my daughter was born.”
“And unfortunately, a situation occurred during your auction that was unfair to my friend. I invited him in the hopes he would see you specifically. I knew based on the information he’d shared about being pick-pocketed in the airport by a stunning, little brunette, that you were very likely the culprit.”
I slumped where I stood. “Fuck my luck, man. I’m sorry, Alana. I didn’t mean…it’s just, the timing was so perfect and…”
She held up a hand. “You do not have to explain yourself to me. You and I have our own past and it is water under the bridge, oui ?”
“Yeah,” I huffed. “Still, I’m sorry I stole from your friend.” I turned to Rhodes. “I’m sorry I stole from you. It’s just Sam really needed the rent, and he’s covered for me too much already.” I blabbed, sharing more than I’d ever shared before with Alana or anyone for that matter. This situation had me spilling all my secrets and completely out of sorts.
“Who’s Sam?” Rhodes growled. “You in some kind of trouble? If a man is messing with you, or making you feel unsafe, I’ll handle it right now. Take me to him,” Rhodes demanded.
“Whoa!” I lifted one of my hands between us. “You don’t even know me. And what you do know of me hasn’t exactly been positive and you want to stick up for me? I don’t get it.”
Rhodes let out a long exhale and rubbed at his temples with his thumb and forefinger. “God damn, this is getting complicated. Is this Sam person threatening you?”
“No. Totally the opposite. Sam has never made me feel unsafe,” I assured him.
“Is he a romantic interest?” Rhodes rumbled, his tone rising, nostrils flaring.
I couldn’t help my nasty expression as I responded, “Gross. I mean, the biker bunnies love him, but he’s more like a brother to me.” I imagined my best friend’s gruff, wicked smile. His hair swept off his head with a red bandana tied around his forehead like Axl Rose from Guns N’ Roses. Which also happened to be his favorite band. Go figure.
Rhodes pursed his lips and crossed his arms. Those were some massive guns. I’d bet I could put both my hands around one bicep and my fingers wouldn’t even touch.
“Okay, so do you still owe this Sam, like a brother to you, money?” Rhodes countered.
I shook my head and looked away. “I paid him with the money I stole from you so we’re all settled up until next month. But I figured I’d need to pack up my stuff and move it wherever my husband wanted me to move.”
“We’ll take care of it this week,” Rhodes said before grabbing the pen, and signing off on the bid.
“Um okay,” I whispered, my eyes wide, my heart back to thundering in my chest. I swallowed and glanced at the contract then back up to the endlessly icy depths of his eyes. “Does this mean we’re getting married?”
“Yeah, sweetheart, it means we’re getting hitched.” Rhodes ran his hand through his hair and sighed. “What else needs to be done, Alana?” he asked the madam who’d been silently standing several feet away.
She walked over, scanned the contract and then held it to her chest. “I’ll make sure my team files everything. Maia, the $250,000 deposit will go into your account tonight. When the two of you have gotten officially married, $2,250,000 will be transferred into your account. The second deposit on your first anniversary, and the third on your two-year anniversary. If at any time you break any of the rules as set forth in the contract, including but not limited to being unfaithful to your husband, you will forfeit all monies. This goes both ways.”
“Having experienced that pain myself, I would never do that to another person,” Rhodes hissed.
“I understand.” I murmured then looked at Madam Alana and then to Rhodes. “What do we do now?”
Rhodes closed his eyes, took a deep breath, then held out his hand to me.
I stared at that hand as if it were a venomous snake about to strike. Still, I summoned up the courage to place mine overtop his and waited for something bad to happen.
It never did.
He curled his fingers around mine. “How’s about we get to know one another over dinner? Alana is going to secure a room for you in the same resort where I am staying. As you know, I have a teen daughter. I’m not going to bring you back to my suite until the two of us have figured out more of the future. How’s that work for you?”
For the first time today, I smiled.
“That works perfectly.“ I squeezed his hand to emphasize my relief and appreciation.
“All right then. Let’s get you fed, and then we’ll talk.” His smile, and the way he kept hold of my hand as we exited the room, made me feel cherished.
My intuition told me that Rhodes Davenport, my future husband, would keep me safe.
I could only hope I was right, because Lord knows I’ve been wrong about men before.