There were other big men in the room, other men with height, but no one carried himself the way Maximos did. No one with his confidence. His arrogance. His intense physical presence. Even from across the room she felt aware of him. Too aware. And just looking at him she felt sick with longing. Missing. Desire.
Nothing in her life had ever felt as good as Maximos with her, against her.
Nothing in her life had ever felt as awful as Maximos leaving her, walking out the door.
“Good to see you, too,” Emilio said, filling the awful silence.
“You’ve no business being here,” Maximos said, ignoring Cass completely and she wasn’t entirely surprised. Once he moved forward he didn’t look back. He didn’t harbor regrets.
“I was invited,” Emilio answered, raising his wineglass in a mock salute.
“Not by my family.”
Emilio allowed himself a small smile. “No, by the groom’s family. My father and Antonio’s father go way back.”
“How extremely unfortunate.”
Emilio grinned. “Are you going to call off the wedding now?”
“No. I’ll just have to dispose of you. Quietly. Quickly.” Maximos flashed teeth, a savage wolf snarl. “Shouldn’t be difficult.”
“Not with the connections you have.”
“If I had the mafia connections you say I do, you wouldn’t still be around.” Maximos turned his head, fixed his dark gaze on Cass. “And I would have known about you,” he added softly, his tone velvet with danger.
Cass’s heart stopped, flipped, as Maximos’s hard gaze rested on her.
She felt him consider her, felt the uncomfortable weight of his close scrutiny, and his expression, like the rest of him, was closed. Detached. Unreadable.
She’d never really known him, had she? She’d never really had him, either. And the shock of seeing him again, especially like this, was almost too great, her body awash in heat and ice, her stomach heavy, nauseous.
She’d planned this, she’d come here to confront him and yet she wondered now what she’d thought she’d really achieve.
How could there ever be peace between them? How could there ever be any resolution?
She’d loved him and he hadn’t cared. The memory was like a knife cutting inside her, slipping between her heart and breast bone. How could she be so easy to forget? So easy to lose?
How could she have meant so little to him…?
Remnants of the old pain rushed through her, and she sucked in her breath, lifted her shoulders so that the straps of her silk bra cut into her skin. Cass stared straight forward, stared at the hard lines and angles that shaped Maximos’s fierce face.
A man without tenderness. A man without softness of any kind.
Yet wasn’t he—their relationship—so perfectly her? So perfectly Cass? She’d never taken the easy road, never wanted that which was simple or familiar. No shortcuts for her. Just hard work. Incredible challenges. And impossibly high standards.
“Let me show you two to the door,” Maximos said now, his expression hard, blank, as he gestured toward the entry.
“Sorry to disappoint you, friend,” Emilio answered, wrapping his arm around Cass and kissing her temple. “But we’re going nowhere. Cass and I’ve traveled a long way and intend to stay.”
For a moment Maximos didn’t speak, his features blank, only his dark eyes betraying his anger. “This is my sister’s wedding.”
“Romantic, isn’t it?” Emilio answered.
But Maximos wasn’t paying Emilio attention. He only had eyes for Cass and his expression was hard, dangerous, so dangerous that Cass inhaled sharply and reminded herself to be brave. Fierce.
“You’re really here with him?” Maximos asked her, his deep voice pitched even lower.
Emilio drew Cass even closer to his side. “You have a problem with that?”
“I’m not talking to you,” Maximos answered, his eyes never leaving Cass’s face. “I want to hear it from her.”
“Why?” Cass whispered, mouth suddenly too dry, her heart hammering hard. “You walked away from me, if I remember correctly.”
Maximos’s lips curved and yet it wasn’t a pleasant smile at all. “But Sobato, Cass? Why him?”
“Because I knew it would make you crazy.” She smiled brazenly, hiding her pain, hiding the hurt wrapping her heart. She had to do this, had to get through this, had to get her old life—and confidence—back.
“Bitch.”
He’d cursed her so softly, his voice filled with so much hurt and anger, that hot tears, hot hateful tears, burned the back of her eyes.
“You, bitch,” he repeated roughly and this time Cass went icy and still on the inside.
She’d never heard Maximos speak to her with so much contempt in his voice and even though she’d expected it, it still cut deep, like the honed edge of a hunting knife.
She watched him turn away, his features so naked, so savage, that her heart pounded harder. Her mouth dried. She wasn’t ready for this, didn’t know how to do this, how to hurt the man she’d loved for so long.
This is wrong, she thought, panicked, desperate. I can’t do this, and instead of tough, fierce, she felt shattered all over again, felt the awful crack inside her chest. It hurt. Her chest. Her heart burning, breaking inside. The pain was back, returning full force, a demon awake.
Maximos’s head suddenly turned and his gaze met hers, his dark eyes hot, filled with rage and contempt. He was big, tall, broad through the shoulder, narrow hipped, with long strong legs. He chewed on life, tore it apart with his teeth. From the beginning she’d admired his fierceness, his tenacity, his unflinching ability to do what he wanted when he wanted. It was one of the things that drew her to him initially and it was one of the things that kept her at his side.
“You will pay,” he said softly, oblivious to all but her. “Don’t think you won’t.”
Maximos stomach churned, acid burning his gut, even as his thoughts burned black, nearly as black as the anger in his heart. To think this was the woman he’d once wanted more than any woman he’d ever known…to think this was the woman he’d trusted. Trusted.
And yet even feeling such anger and loathing, he still felt the impact of her lush honeyed beauty, her sensuality blatant, her curves ripe and full. Her black lace blouse molded her breasts, skimmed her narrow waist, played up her gold and amber coloring, her hair and eyes a striking topaz, glinting with fire and light. She didn’t need makeup to be beautiful. She didn’t need clothes or jewelry. No accessory in the world could make Cassandra Gardner more feminine or seductive than she already was.
“I’m not afraid,” Cass flashed, taking a quick breath even as she clutched her wineglass more tightly.
But Maximos noticed her quick breath, her lips parted, her lips a glossy tawny lipstick a shade darker than her honey-gold complexion.
He nearly reached out to rub the lipstick off her beautiful lips, wanting to feel her skin, wanting to make her his again.
She didn’t belong with Emilio Sobato. Sobato was trash while Cass was…
His.
His woman.
His.