She looked at Max.
And all this was his. Or would be some day. The pearl within the oyster. The son of one of the richest men in the world.
Her stomach wobbled. Her fingers tingled.
“Mom, is this real? I think I saw this painting in one of my history books.”
Aubrey walked toward the Picasso. “Oh, I’m pretty certain that’s an original.” The spaciousness of this room made her feel as though she hovered over New York. Nearly everything was below her. Max pressed his nose to the glass, and she fought the urge to yank him away from the window.
“Wow! How high up do you think we are?”
“Exactly one thousand, three hundred and eighteen feet,” the voice from the door called.
Aubrey’s heart accelerated, and now the cool feeling of sweat lined her tingling palms while the rest of her body heated. Justin, looking dapper and handsome and every bit the titan of business as he walked across the open expanse to Max. He reached out and pulled him into a hug, a giant smile taking up both of their faces. “Thanks for coming, buddy, and sorry it took so long for your old man to get it together.”
“No problem, Dad.” Max pulled away and looked up at his dad with an awestruck look. He obviously felt that his dad had quite possibly hung the sun, the moon, and the stars.
“Aubrey.” Justin turned toward her and walked to her side.
Heat flared between them, but there was an awkwardness and uncertainty. While he’d exited Hudson better than she’d thought he would and her anger had died down, they’d never addressed the disagreement they’d had. And Max still didn’t know about the relationship they’d had while Justin visited Kansas.
He pressed his lips to her cheek. “Thank you.” He pulled back and looked into her eyes. “I’m sorry. You were right, Aubrey. You were right about everything.”
With his words, her remaining anger deflated like a balloon that had been pricked with a pin. Gone was the heat of anger, replaced now with the heat she always felt when she stood beside Justin. Her cheeks flushed. He held both her hands, and his eyes locked to hers. In this very moment, she wished for the briefest instant that Max wasn’t there, that he was fast asleep in some room somewhere in this monstrosity of a penthouse, because the visions dancing through her head were visions of Justin naked and the make-up-slash-you’ve-been-gone-too-long-sex that would surely ensue. Justin’s pupils dilated and his lips parted. They were so close; she took a tiny step forward—
“Hey, Dad, you got anything to eat? I’m starved after that flight.’
Aubrey jumped back. How could she forget? She wasn’t here for herself or for Justin and certainly not for sex … Well, not really for sex. She was here for Max so that he might experience his father’s world, meet his uncles, and take his place as a member of the Travati family.
“Of course. Stocked the refrigerator and the cabinets just for you. Let’s take a look. I think I got everything you like and then some.” Justin slowly dropped her hand. Before he turned toward the kitchen where Max waited, he mouthed the words, “Missed you.”
Aubrey’s sex tightened with the look that accompanied Justin’s silent message. Damn. She’d missed him too. His touch. His laugh. The way that with one look he made her legs turn to rubber bands and nearly crumple beneath her. Yes, she’d missed Justin. And it wasn’t only Justin. She’d missed the feeling of unity, of cohesiveness they’d started to develop the longer he was at Rockwater Farms. They’d begun to make something, an entity that seemed right, a group of three. She followed Justin into the kitchen. Max stood in front of the refrigerator with the two doors opened wide.
“Mom, you want anything to eat?” He looked over his shoulder toward her.
Justin turned to her as well. Her breath caught in her chest. That instant of father and son, side by side, both of them looking at her, captured her breath. Stole the life force right from her lungs. My goodness, there would never be a more wonderful sight than this, her two men, the two men both strong and gorgeous and so … so … Travati in their stance.
“No thanks,” she said softly.
Justin and Max looked at each other and then turned back to plundering the plethora of food in front of them.
“Oh yeah! You got my favorite kind of soda, the Jarritos.”
“I don’t know how you drink that stuff.” Justin pulled out a large rotisserie chicken from the refrigerator. “But I know you love it.”
Max pulled out a glass container and lifted the lid. He sniffed. “These smell just like Aunt Nina’s mashed potatoes.”