Taming Her Billionaire Read online

  “That would be prudent,” Lucius responded.

  Soon they were all headed in the direction of the dining room. Tahlia was shocked when Maximus returned to her side after briefly speaking with his mother. She could see Charlotte Knight recoil with the turn of events as evidenced by the glare she threw in Tahlia’s direction, but she remained silent and did as Maximus instructed.

  Once they made it to the beautifully appointed dining area, Charlotte immediately sat at the head of the table, making it clear this was her home and they were all just visitors in it. Maximus flanked his mother to the left, leaving the seat to her right open, which Tahlia reluctantly took. Meanwhile, Lucius and his mother sat beside Tahlia while his fiancée sat next to Maximus.

  A uniformed man Tahlia could only assume was the butler came to speak with Mrs. Knight. Several seconds later waitstaff entered to fill their water glasses as well as offer them wine with their meal. Other than everyone selecting their choice of red or white, the silence in the room was deafening.

  “Th-thank you for having us,” Tahlia offered, glancing at Charlotte. “It’s really quite generous.”

  “Did we have much choice?” Mrs. Knight queried under her breath.

  “If you don’t want us here, we can leave,” Lucius responded tightly from across the table, and Tahlia could feel the tension ratchet up a notch, but Maximus intervened.

  “We’ve invited you and you’re our guest,” Maximus stated wanly. He turned to the company on his side. “Naomi Brooks—” he offered her his hand “—it’s a pleasure to finally meet you. I’ve heard quite a lot about Brooks & Johnson. I believe you use their products don’t you, Mother?”

  He turned to Charlotte.

  She gave the first sincere smile Tahlia had seen since she’d arrived. “Yes, I do. They are the only products my salon carries where I get my facials.” She lightly touched her cheek. “They’re really quite remarkable products.”

  “Thank you.” Naomi smiled.

  “You started the company with your best friend, yes?” Maximus inquired, sipping his wine and leaning back in his chair to regard her.

  “Yes, in our apartment in college,” Naomi replied.

  “And turned it into a billion-dollar business,” Maximus added. “You’ve got yourself quite a find here, big brother.”

  Tahlia gave Lucius a sideward glance. The love in his eyes was evident as he grinned across the table at his fiancée.

  “And you?” Charlotte turned her attention to Tahlia. “What is it that you do, dear?”

  “Mother,” Maximus cautioned. The tone in his voice told her to tread lightly.

  “I’m just being cordial,” she replied, reaching for her wineglass.

  “Up until recently, I worked as an assistant at Art Gallery Twenty-One.”

  “That was one of Father’s favorite galleries,” Maximus said, offering Tahlia a warm smile.

  “Have circumstances changed?” Charlotte asked.

  “As a matter of fact they have,” Tahlia answered. “Robert informed me that Arthur was owner of the gallery and has bequeathed it to me.”

  A loud gasp escaped from Charlotte, but she soon recovered. “So now you own it? You must have made quite the impression on my husband.” She took another sip of her red wine. “Very much like other people I know.”

  Her implication was clear that Arthur and Tahlia had an intimate relationship, a seedy one. Fury boiled inside Tahlia, but she needn’t have worried because Jocelyn rose to the bait.

  “If you’re insinuating something, Charlotte,” Jocelyn spoke after being silent since they were seated, “just say it. Maybe then we can all end this whole charade.”

  Tahlia suspected it must be very difficult for Jocelyn to sit in her former lover’s home with his wife and son, knowing she’d had an affair with the man for years and produced a child. A child who was sitting beside her but had never been acknowledged, until now.

  “Au contraire, contraire,” Charlotte replied with a snort. “It gives me great pleasure to sit with the mistress of my lying, cheating excuse for a husband and her illegitimate offspring after you’ve in essence ripped my child’s inheritance right out of his hands.”

  “I did no such thing!” Lucius roared from beside her. His dark eyes blazed with indignation. “I didn’t ask for any of this. Neither did he.” He flung his hands in Maximus’s direction. “Did you know Arthur was cheating on your mother?”

  Maximus glared at him, and at first Tahlia thought he wouldn’t respond, but then he shook his head. “Of course I didn’t,” he finally replied. His dark brown eyes were very much like Lucius’s. “Do you think if I did I would have let Arthur continue to humiliate my mother with yours?”

  Tahlia tried to speak. “Everyone, why don’t we calm down. I think dinner is coming.” Or at least the salads were. Several waitstaff entered the room carrying plates filled with mixed greens, cranberries and walnuts and what appeared to be some sort of vinaigrette. As they set a plate in front of her, Tahlia couldn’t wait to dig in.

  Maximus gave her a small smile from across the table, but it was pointless because Jocelyn rose to her feet. “I’m sorry, Lucius.” She turned to her son. “I can’t sit here and break bread with these people in A-Arthur’s home. It’s just too much.” Seconds later, she pushed her chair back and rushed out of the dining room.

  “Good riddance!” Charlotte said with a smile.

  “That was uncalled for, Mother,” Maximus hissed. “Apologize.”

  “For what? For speaking the truth in my own home?” she replied bitterly.

  Lucius rose from his chair beside Tahlia, and she watched in horror as Naomi did the same. Despite her best efforts to bridge the gap between the brothers, it was all in vain.

  “We’re leaving,” Lucius stated, throwing his napkin onto the table.

  “You don’t have to go.” Tahlia attempted to save the day.

  Lucius patted her on the shoulder, preventing her from getting up. Then he bent down and whispered in her ear. “Good try, ole girl, but you’re going to have to do a lot better than this to get us to become a family. C’mon, Naomi.” He extended his hand to his fiancée and headed for the door.

  Maximus stood as well, buttoning his suit jacket that looked sexy as hell on him, and strode confidently to the dining room door and met his brother at the exit.

  “Lucius.” He inclined his head. “I’m sure we’ll be speaking soon.”

  “No doubt,” Lucius replied. Seconds later he and Naomi were gone.

  “Did you really have to be so gauche?” Maximus asked, turning to his mother after Lucius and his family had gone. It was only the three of them remaining.

  “Quite frankly I did.” She stood. “You should be happy I was willing to get through salad, given everything that woman—” she pointed to the door Jocelyn Turner had just vacated “—did to me.”

  “That you let them do to you,” Maximus corrected. “Don’t try to rewrite history.”

  “I—I’m not going to talk about this right now,” Charlotte huffed. She reached for her wineglass and without another word took it along with her as she stormed out of the room.

  “Was it something I said?” Tahlia asked when it was just her and Maximus alone in the dining room.

  He let out a loud rumble of laughter that was so infectious Tahlia couldn’t resist and joined in on the fun. Soon, they were both howling, unable to control themselves. After several moments, the chuckles finally subsided and Maximus came beside her, pulling out the chair next to her that Lucius had vacated.

  “That was a complete and utter disaster,” he stated unequivocally, leaning back in his chair and staring openly at her.

  She nodded her agreement. “It was.”

  “I applaud you for trying to calm the waters, but considering the circumstance
s, you must know that this is an untenable situation. We are never going to be a family.”

  “Who says? There are all sorts of families.”

  * * *

  “You’re not really that naive are you?” Maximus inquired, peering at Tahlia. Where the hell had she come from anyway? He knew his father liked to frequent the art gallery. And now he knew she was the cause. And could he really blame his father? Tahlia Armstrong was a bombshell.

  Had she, too, been carrying on an affair with his father right under their noses? Or at least under his mother’s since she’d known for years about his father’s affair with Jocelyn Turner. How could she stomach staying in the marriage knowing he was unfaithful?

  Maximus would never have tolerated such a betrayal. When he married, if he married, his wife would be his and only his. He’d kill the man who dared look at her, let alone touch her. It was why he couldn’t understand how his mother allowed the adultery to continue for decades.

  “I’m not naive,” Tahlia responded. “I just choose to be positive and was trying to make the best of the situation.”

  “Very noble, but wasted on us,” Maximus replied, rising to his feet. “Can I walk you out?”

  She blinked several times. Perhaps she thought they were still going to continue with dinner. Not tonight. He needed time to think and strategize his next move.

  “Uh, yeah, sure,” she said.

  Maximus pulled her chair out and followed Tahlia as they walked down the corridor. He purposely walked behind her so he could enjoy the view of her backside. His groin tightened as she swayed, and God help him, he wanted her.

  Suddenly she stopped short and turned to him. “In the spirit of keeping the peace, I want to make it clear to you that nothing happened between your father and me.”

  “And you expect me to believe that?”

  Her eyes narrowed. “Yes, I do, because it’s the truth. When your father visited the gallery, all we did was sit and talk during his lunch hour. He was a father figure to me, Maximus. Nothing more.”

  “What on earth would he have to discuss with you?” As soon as he said the words, he knew they sounded harsh. “Listen, I’m sorry, all right? But even you have to see where I’m coming from. A woman I’ve never met had a relationship with my father that not only did no one know about, but apparently he was more caring with you than he’d ever been with me.”

  When they made it to the large oak door with a stained glass insert, he held it open for her, and she stepped outside. “I’m sorry. Truly sorry that Arthur wasn’t more open with you and that you didn’t get to know the man I knew. And th-thank you for dinner.” She smiled up at him with her big brown eyes, and Max felt his manhood swell. He’d only just met Tahlia, but she was having a profound effect on him.

  “It wasn’t much of one, I’m afraid.”

  “You tried.”

  “Have a good night.” He watched her walk to her car and shut the door. Then he headed directly for the library. He usually loved the room because it was surrounded on three sides by bookshelves up to the crown molding at the ceiling. The furniture was upholstered in rich chocolate-brown leather to match the solid oak desk his father had once used. But Maximus didn’t care for any of that tonight and went straight for the wet bar. He poured himself a bourbon straight up. He walked over to the French doors across the room and opened them, staring out over the manicured great lawn. He sipped his drink and thought about his next move.

  He hadn’t felt such a strong physical pull toward a female in a long time, if ever. Wanting Tahlia Armstrong was irrational and not advisable. He needed to figure out how he could control her and the situation. She now owned the two most important percent of shares at Knight Shipping because hers was the deciding vote, thanks to his father’s machinations. Had his father done this to spite him because Maximus had suggested taking Knight Shipping public when Arthur was adamantly opposed to it? Had he given Tahlia those shares to ensure it never happened? If so, she was no match for him. Expansion was inevitable, and the board now composed of Lucius and Tahlia would have to vote on it. Maximus would do whatever was necessary to ensure he was successful.

  He’d seen the way she looked at him today. She wasn’t unaffected by him either. He’d noticed earlier that she stammered whenever he came within close proximity to her. Perhaps their mutual attraction could work to his advantage. Sexing her was an intriguing possibility.

  Maximus heard a noise behind him and turned to find his mother standing in the doorway. “Care to pour me one of those?” she asked, inclining her head to the drink in his hand. The red wine she’d had earlier was nowhere to be seen.

  “Sure.” He stepped back into the library and took care of making her a drink. Then he walked over to where she’d made herself comfortable on his father’s favorite easy chair and handed her the bourbon.

  “Thank you.” He settled across from her in another chair, and they were both quiet for a long moment before she finally spoke. “I’m still in shock, Max. I can’t believe your father did this to us.”

  “You mean to me,” he responded. “I’m the one he pushed and pushed to be the best at everything. I’m the one he said would run Knight Shipping one day, but instead, he gives half the company to my illegitimate brother? A son he couldn’t even acknowledge while he lived? A son who knows nothing about the shipping business? You have no idea what it feels like to be in my shoes, Mother.” Maximus threw back the remaining bourbon in his glass and then jumped up and went to the bar for another one.

  Maybe, just maybe, he could drown out the hurt and betrayal he felt at a father who’d never loved Maximus as much as he’d loved him.

  “I’m so sorry, Max,” his mother cried. “I thought I was doing what was best for you.”

  He spun around on his heel. “By staying with a man who didn’t love you and pined for another woman? For what? So I could inherit the keys to the kingdom?” He chuckled wryly. “Well, you can see what good that did you. He screwed you over yet again.”

  “He screwed us both, Max,” his mother responded tightly. “He’s given half your birthright over to that no-good playboy brother of yours.”

  Maximus eyed her warily. “Be careful, Mother. Be very careful.”

  “Why? Don’t tell me you’re feeling sentimental about a brother you never knew you had and who’s trying to take what’s rightfully yours.”

  Maximus didn’t believe for a second that was the case. Lucius had been as shocked as he was by the bequest. He hadn’t known he was Arthur’s son until that moment in the hospital a couple of weeks ago, when his mother had railed at him. Maximus had seen the horror that had crossed his older brother’s face when the realization had sunk in that not only had his mother been carrying on an affair for decades with their father, but that he’d been the result of it. Lucius had been devastated.

  Despite that, however, Maximus wasn’t about to let an interloper, an outsider, walk in and take what was his. He’d been groomed his entire life to run Knight Shipping, and no one, brother or no brother, or their sexy partner, Tahlia Armstrong, would get in his way. He would see to it.

  “Of course I’m not sentimental, Mother,” Maximus responded. “But haven’t you heard the old phrase ‘you catch more flies with honey’? Don’t worry.”

  Her brown eyes stared at him incredulously. “How can I not be worried when half your inheritance is being stolen?”

  “We have to play it cool, Mother. Because if there’s one thing I’ve learned in business, it’s that we mustn’t show our hand. I promise you, I’ll get what’s mine. I promise you. All in due time.”

  “How?”

  “I have a plan.”

  Chapter 2

  “You own Art Gallery Twenty-One?” Kaitlynn Armstrong, Tahlia’s sister, stared back openmouthed as they sat at Tahlia’s breakfast bar the next morning. Tahlia
had stopped by Kaitlynn’s apartment to tell her about the dinner at the Knights’ estate and to share her amazing news and good fortune.

  “Sure do,” Tahlia replied with a self-satisfied smile. “Arthur Knight transferred the title to me. So now that witch Bailey will be coming to me for approval.”

  Tahlia was referring to her boss, Bailey Smith, who was into traditional art. Tahlia had been trying unsuccessfully to get her to branch out to show unconventional pieces. It was only when Arthur had liked a piece from an up-and-coming artist that Bailey had relented for a small showing. It was at that opening that Tahlia had first laid eyes on Maximus Knight.

  She’d been setting out canapés when he’d walked into Art Gallery Twenty-One just as confident as he pleased in a designer suit, skinny tie and expensive loafers. He looked every bit the wealthy shipping magnate. From her vantage point, he’d looked serious and intent when he’d spoken to his father. Tahlia had watched him from afar, soaking in every bit of his aura, from the curly fro on his head that she would love to run her fingers through to the bushy eyebrows above sexy eyes to those sinful lips.

  Unfortunately, Maximus Knight hadn’t stayed long at the gallery. She’d been pulled away to help a customer, and when she’d finally looked for him, he’d been gone. But now everything had changed. Arthur’s death had set her on a new path that Tahlia could only hope she could prove worthy of.

  “I still can’t believe it,” Kaitlynn said. “Did you have any idea that Arthur Knight put you in his will?”

  Tahlia shook her head. “None.”

  “Have you told Mom yet?”

  “No, not yet. She’s at work now,” Tahlia responded. Their mother, Sophia, was an RN at UCLA Medical Center and had just started her evening shift. And Tahlia couldn’t possibly tell her this news over the phone. This news had to be delivered in person.