Maid for the Billionaire(54)

Hugging her closer, Dominic said, "A month ago, I couldn't have. This house, like so much of what I own, was built out of some compulsion to prove to my father that I was better than him. Sad, isn't it? To waste so much time and money on things that aren't important."

Abby's chest tightened at the pain in his voice. "It wasn't wasted, Dominic. Look at what you created. It's beautiful."

He turned her gently in his arms and met her eyes with such sincerity that it nearly broke her heart. "No, you're beautiful. You don't have to sugar coat it for me, Abby, this place is gaudy and overdone. Before I met you, I had an emptiness I couldn't explain. I used to think that if I made more money, purchased something better, or built something bigger it would fill that void, but it never did. All of the things I bought, all of the decisions I made, were for my benefit and none of it made me happy. Our Chinese scholarship program is the first thing I've done in a very long time that I'm proud of. I can't even take credit for it, since you forced me to do it, but it still feels good."

"Oh, Dom, you don't give yourself credit for the good you've done. What about Mrs. Duhamel? She told me about how you helped her when she had no one else to turn to. Does that sound like a self-absorbed man?" She laid a comforting hand on his cheek and felt his smile even before she saw it.

"One kind gesture does not make a saint," he said ruefully.

"I don't want a saint, Dom. I want you." When he cocked his head to the side in a blatant request for her to continue, she said, "I fell in love with the complex man who returned to Boston because his sister needed him and didn't want to meet her alone so he was willing to blackmail me into going with him."

Abby adored the flush she saw in his cheeks. "I'm not sure at that point I was thinking about too much more than how to get you naked."

The light pinch Abby gave his stomach was a playful reprimand. "Say what you want, but the way you clung to my hand told me everything I needed to know."

"I did not—" he started to say then wisely stopped himself. "Regardless, I want you to know that I'm no longer the man who built this monstrosity of a home. I want to do something more important with our money in the future. What do you think of a scholarship for inner city children in the United States? I think Corisi Enterprises could spare another five percent."

Abby bounced for joy within his embrace. "Oh, Dominic, that's perfect!" She rained kisses on his jaw. "You are one amazing man."

"I know," he said with a self satisfied smile that held a hint of something else. From the way he was beginning to shift against her, she knew that his mind was already wandering away from the evaluation of his character and back to the master bedroom he'd shown her just a few moments earlier.

She ran a finger lightly over his lower lip. "Have I told you how much fun being here is? Even if I'm technically no longer being held against my will."

He pulled her tighter against him, lifting her slightly off her feet. "I'll do my best to make it live up to your fantasy." He swung her up and over his shoulder and announced in a poor pirate impression, "Yer mine, wench, to take back to my room and ravish as I wish. Arrh."

Abby laughed against his back. "Thank God you went into computers and not theatre."

Dominic spanked her playfully on top his shoulder. "Don't mock yer captor, woman. There'll be a price to pay for yer insubordination."

Just before Dominic stepped through the large double doors and into the house's interior, the mood was broken by the sound of two helicopters landing on the grass of the lawn on the opposite side of the house. Still hung upside down over Dominic's shoulder, Abby watched in horror as, simultaneously, a military plane squealed to a halt on the airfield in the distance.

Dominic slid Abby down to her feet beside him. The two stood side by side in shocked silence for what seemed like an eternity before Dominic asked, his voice laced with humor, "Did you call Zhang back to tell her that we'd made up?"

Abby covered her mouth with one hand, "Crap."

Dominic waved over one of his security guards to apprise him of the situation calmly. Dominic accepted the complication with surprising grace; simply handing Abby his cell phone and saying, "Well, you'd better call her now, because the men jumping off that plane have machine guns. I don't think they are going to listen to me."

Zhang's laughter boomed through airwaves in response to Abby's hasty explanation and apology. Instantly there was a reorganization of the men on the airfield, followed by a reboarding of the plane which efficiently headed back down the runway for takeoff. Abby let out a relieved breath and agreed to Zhang's only request.