The coldness in his voice made her shiver even more. “That’s a bit ruthless, isn’t it?” she ventured.
He gave a grim smile. “I protect what is mine.”
When they arrived at the top floor, he knocked on the door. A ponderous, stiffly formal butler opened it to welcome them. His eyes widened. “Your Highness!”
“Oh!” A beautiful black-haired girl suddenly pushed past the butler to fling herself into Maksim’s arms. “You’re here! I can’t believe you’re here!”
He hugged her awkwardly, then drew back. “I wouldn’t miss my own sister’s birthday party.”
“Liar,” the girl said with a laugh. “You’ve missed the last two! And don’t think expensive gifts make up for your absence. I don’t need another Aston-Martin convertible, I need a brother—” She saw Grace and drew back in surprise. “But who’s this?”
“A friend,” he said.
“Funny, you’ve never bothered bringing ‘friends’ around before.” She looked at Grace inquisitively, then pulled them both inside. “But I’m being rude. Come in! Come in!”
As the butler took their coats, the girl turned her piercing gray eyes, so much like her brother’s, on Grace. “I’m Dariya Rostova.”
Of course Grace knew the famous Princess Dariya, the fun-loving party girl who was constantly in the papers with her gorgeous friends. Pale and model slender in her silver sequin minidress, she wore a diamond tiara in her straight black hair.
Beneath her examination, Grace felt shy and out of place. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know we were going to a birthday party,” she stammered. “I’m afraid I don’t have a gift.”
Dariya suddenly smiled, and her lovely face lit up with warmth. “It wouldn’t have even occurred to Francesca to bring a gift, so I already like you loads better. If you ask me, that woman was a snooty dry stick draped in furs.”
“Dariya,” her brother warned.
“What’s your name?” his sister said, ignoring him. She cleared her throat. “Grace.”
“Well, Grace, you’ve actually brought the best present of the night.” She beamed up at her brother fondly. “Come say hello to everyone!”
Dariya led them into the enormous loft, with soaringly high ceilings and big windows overlooking St. Martin’s Lane. In the center of the room, a sharp, metallic chandelier held multicolored orbs for lights. Amid the vast space of the open-walled apartment, the furniture was a cross between 1960s retro and cartoon-ish avant-garde. Grace looked with dismay at backless chairs that were shaped like ripe strawberries.
“Look everyone,” Dariya announced happily. “Look who came! And he even brought a friend. Everyone, say hello to Grace!”
As a cheer of welcome went around the room, Grace felt happy in a way she hadn’t felt for months. She suddenly realized how much she’d missed having friends. She hadn’t kept up with her old friends since she’d started working for Alan, much less tried to make new ones. She’d given up the idea of friends or hobbies or anything but being Alan’s perfect on-call secretary.
But now…
The laughing, friendly group around her reminded Grace of bonfires on the beach when she’d been in school, before her father had died. Before she’d started working for Alan. Back when her life had been simple and easy. She ached remembering the fun she’d had, getting together with friends to eat, drink, talk and laugh.
The only difference being that these people were all impossibly rich and good-looking. And that the party was in an artistic, soaring two-floor loft that had once been the treasured possession of the Sheikh of Ramdah.
“I told you Maksim would come!” Dariya said triumphantly to a young man hovering nearby. “You owe me ten pounds!”
“Best bet I’ve ever lost. Hello, Maksim. Lovely to meet you, Grace,” he said with a grin. “Thanks for putting a smile on my girl’s face.”
“Your girl?” Dariya tossed her dark hair. “In your dreams, Simon!”
Maksim growled something incomprehensible to the aristocratic young man. He was obviously being protective, but it still seemed rude. Grace cleared her throat and turned to Dariya. “So it’s your twenty-fifth birthday?”
“Don’t remind me,” she groaned. She suddenly looked alarmed, putting her hands on her perfect face. “Do I look it?”
Grace laughed, then pointed at the hand-painted banner slung from the high, frescoed ceiling that read, Happy Twenty-fifth Birthday, Dariya! It was a charming homemade touch amid all the exorbitantly expensive, bright, sharp modernity.
“Oh. Right.” The girl followed her glance with a sigh. “A quarter of a century, and what have I done with my life?”
“I just turned twenty-five on Sunday,” Grace said sympathetically, “and I spent the day huddled in my flat in total denial.”
“No, really!” Dariya exclaimed. “Not even a party?”
“My boss gave me a gift card for a week’s worth of lunches at my favorite Japanese restaurant.”
“You had no party,” the girl repeated, shaking her head in horror. “You simply can’t turn twenty-five without a party! Maksim,” she turned to her brother, “tell her it’s ridiculous!”
“Ridiculous,” he agreed laconically.
“Lulu,” Dariya called over her shoulder, “get a party hat, will you? Right. So this party will be for both of us.” When Lulu brought the colorfully decorated hat, Dariya took the tiara off her head and stuck the hat in its place. “This will be for me.” She placed the diamond tiara on Grace’s blond head. “And that will be for you.”
“Oh no,” Grace gasped, feeling the weight of the diamonds on her head. She’d come without a gift, and now she was going to upstage Maksim’s sister, the famous socialite Princess Dariya, during her own birthday party? “That’s so generous of you, really, but I couldn’t—”
“To be honest, it suits you better.” She leaned forward and whispered mischievously in Grace’s ear, “It was a gift from my brother, anyway, and not at all my style!”
“Dariya, you promised to dance!” Simon called from the other side of the loft, where a four-person jazz band had started to play.
“In a mo!” She gave Grace one last hug. “Must go dance, I’m afraid. Otherwise he’ll pout, but I’m so glad you’re here. My brother looks happy. Make yourself at home!”
After she left, Grace touched the top of her head. Was it possible that they were actually real diamonds? The thought shocked her…frightened her. The wealth around her was already far beyond anything she’d ever seen, even working as Alan’s secretary. She felt like Alice who’d just stepped through the looking glass to a world where money really did grow on trees. And the tree branches were made of gold. And the berries were all diamonds, rubies and emeralds.
She felt Maksim come up behind her. Wrapping his arms around her, he kissed the crook of her neck. Her nipples instantly went hard, her breath shallow, her mind went dizzy. Then he whirled her around, handing her one of the crystal flutes from his other hand.
She took it with an awkward attempt at a smile. “My first champagne.”
“Cristal is not a poor way to start.”
She took a sip. The bubbles floated inside her, all soft and lovely and warm going down.
Maksim tilted her head upward with his hand, looking