“Just stay away from the president’s daughter.” Sean hurried down the steps to the waiting car.
“You mean if I ravish her it might put a little hitch in our negotiations?”
“Cut the sarcasm and stay away from her.” Sean opened the car door, then climbed into the limo, followed by Gregori.
He gazed out the window as the limo turned onto a busy avenue. No doubt Sean was referring to pretty Madison who regularly graced magazine covers. But what about the older daughter, Abigail? How come he hadn’t been able to locate one good photo of her? Why was she hiding from the world?
He smiled to himself. The evening wouldn’t be entirely safe, harmless, and boring. He had a mystery to solve.
Chapter Five
“Tonight I will make you mine. Every inch of your flesh will beg for my touch. Your very soul will scream for me to possess you.”
Abigail hesitated as the man’s deep, husky voice filtered through the closed door. Wow. Mom had found a hot one for tonight.
She glanced at the Secret Service agent who stood next to the door. The poor guy could probably hear the racy dialogue going on inside, but his face remained expressionless and stoic.
She slipped quietly into the room. Not wanting to interrupt the audio book in progress, she simply waved at her mom and Nurse Debra.
Belinda squinted behind her eyeglasses, then smiled. “Hi, Abby.”
“Hey, Mom.” Was her mother’s vision growing worse?
“Perfect timing!” Belinda motioned to the CD player on the table next to her recliner. “Maxim’s about to get lucky.”
Maxim ripped his shirt off and flung it aside, the narrator’s voice continued.
Debra sighed. “I’m warning you. If your blood pressure goes up, I’m turning that silly thing off.”
“Shh.” Belinda hushed her. “You enjoy it, too, even if you won’t admit it.”
“Humph.” Debra adjusted her reading glasses and went back to writing her report.
Abigail smiled. Debra had been her mom’s private nurse for ten years now, and the two of them enjoyed fussing at each other.
The narrator’s voice grew softer. With graceful ease, he picked her up and tossed her onto his bed.
“Maxim is very sexy,” Belinda whispered.
“Well, that is a requirement for the hero.” Abigail scanned the monitor to check her mother’s vital signs.
She always tried to visit her mom when she was undergoing kidney dialysis, but with her long hours at the lab, it wasn’t always possible. Thank God for audio books. Especially the romances. They kept her mom entertained for hours. No doubt sexy Maxim was also tall, dark, and handsome. And of course fabulously rich.
She sighed. Guys like that existed only in fiction. But she had to admit she’d learned a lot about the fine art of lovemaking thanks to her mom’s books. Some mothers sat their daughters down for a heart-to-heart talk about sex. Belinda May Tucker simply invited them to listen to her audio books. Unfortunately that only left Abigail feeling uneasy since her forays into the world of romance had not produced the soul-searing, multiorgasmic epiphanies that her mother’s beautiful heroines experienced. Regularly. Without fail.
Maxim lay down beside her, marveling over the perfection of her lovely face and long blond tresses.
Abigail wrinkled her nose. “Why are the heroines always blond?”
Debra huffed. “Because only a blonde would be stupid enough to—”
“Excuse me?” Belinda gave her nurse an indignant look.
Abigail exchanged a grin with Debra, then patted her mom on the shoulder. “We can’t all be blond like you.”
Her smile faded when she noted strands of silver in her mother’s hair. When had that happened? Even Debra’s short and tidy Afro had acquired hints of gray among the black.
She stuffed her hands into the pockets of her lab coat so her clenched fists wouldn’t show. Time was flying by, and she’d hardly made any progress at all. Her chest tightened with the same fear that had haunted her for a dozen years. Failure is not an option. Failure means your mother dies.
“Take a seat.” Belinda motioned to the chair beside her. “The good part’s coming up.”
Abigail perched on the edge of the chair and gripped her jeans-clad knees. She needed to relax and enjoy the time she had with her mother. And not feel guilty that she wasn’t at the lab.
“Are you ready for me, my love?” he whispered.
“Oh yes, Maxim! Take me. I need to feel your manly rod of steel deep inside me.”
Abigail snorted. “I think he has a penile prosthesis.”
Debra laughed.
Belinda scowled at them both.
Maxim caressed her face, then sliced through her nightgown with his claw.