“Max didn’t tell me that!”
“Why not, I wonder?”
“Anyway, only my dad would have triggered the shares going to your dad. So, unless he wanted to take over Grayson Enterprises, his shares were safe. I didn’t think he wanted the company that badly.”
“Even if he did, it wasn’t going to happen. My dad and Max signed a merger contract. Grayson Enterprises is now a subsidiary of BIT.”
“That’s great. He’s protecting you already.”
That was one way to look at it. Was in fact how Romi chose to see Max’s actions. “He got Dad to go into treatment.”
Maddie’s eyes filled with tears and she hugged Romi. “I’m so glad, sweetie.”
“Me, too.” But something about what Maddie said had Romi thinking.
“So your dad was the only one who could trigger the share dump from the trust?” Romi asked, trying to understand.
“Yes. I was protecting your dad’s company from him.”
“But…” That wasn’t what Max had said.
To be fair, he could have misunderstood. Unlikely, but possible.
Not that it mattered. Romi hadn’t made her decision about marrying him because of the shares.
“Wait a minute, you’re giving me half of your shares?” she asked as that fact registered completely.
No. No way.
“Yeah, but you and I both know you’ll just put the money back into the school. My dad needed to understand that he couldn’t threaten you with impunity.” Maddie so clearly didn’t care about the wealth involved.
Romi was appalled. “But he threatened to have you committed.”
“That was never going to happen.” Maddie sounded so confident. “I’m not mentally fragile and even if he could get that self-serving doctor to say I was, Vik would never have let him get away with it.”
“It’s nice to know you have backup, isn’t it?” Romi wasn’t sure Maxwell Black would be as protective of her as Viktor Beck was of Maddie, but she knew he had her back in a way no one other than Maddie had in too many years to think about.
His deal with her dad showed that, no matter what justifications Max put on it.
“Yes. We’ve always been there for each other, but for a long time, we didn’t have the power.” Maddie was obviously as pleased by the turn their lives had taken as Romi was.
Romi’s smile was still wry. “Not being corporate sharks in the making and all.”
“It’s…I’m…I’m just so happy,” Maddie said, sounding a little flabbergasted by that reality.
Romi hugged her again. “And I’m incredibly happy for you.”
“Ditto, sis, ditto.”
Maddie assumed Romi was marrying for love and Romi let her keep thinking that. She’d spent her life protecting the people she loved and she wasn’t going to stop now.
Besides, it wasn’t a lie. Romi was marrying Max because she loved him and that was a truth that covered pretty much everything else.
“So, you’ll come to dinner?” she pressed Maddie.
Her SBC nodded firmly. “Of course we will.”
“Good. Max’s mom is going to be there.”
“She’ll love you. How can she help herself?”
Romi laughed. “You’re biased.”
“Family should be.” Maddie’s grin was conspiratorial.
And Romi returned it in kind. “Yes, they should be.”
Neither mentioned how that didn’t work with Jeremy Archer.
CHAPTER TWELVE
“DID YOU MAKE THIS, Ramona?” Natalya asked Maxwell’s fiancée.
Romi shook her head. “I’m afraid not.”
His mama looked up at him with a fond smile. “Did you cook, mishka?”
“No, Mama. We ordered in.”
“Oh.” She frowned. “Ramona does not cook?”
“She’s too busy saving the world,” Madison said with a laugh.
His mother turned her attention to Viktor’s wife. “Yes? I would think something might be left over for home.”
“Mama,” Max said in a tone he knew would get her attention. “I am not marrying Romi for her cooking skills. I employ a housekeeper for a reason and have more than one catering service on call.”
“Well, yes, of course.”
“Too bad Mrs. K won’t be coming with Romi. That woman is a domestic goddess, but the only person she’s more committed to taking care of than Romi is Harry,” Madison said with a smile.
“She’s besotted, but he’ll never see it.” Romi’s laugh was a welcome sound.
She’d grown increasingly brittle in his mother’s company. He didn’t know why Natalya was behaving like this, but he was beginning to question the wisdom of asking her to help plan the wedding.