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“Let’s go in the bedroom.”
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me. Let’s go. I’ve been wanting to try out the bed in there.”
London swallowed her fear and forced a carefree laugh. “Is that what this is about? You want to have sex? You know how good we are together. If you wanted some, all you had to do was ask.”
She watched Max’s eyes as he processed her statement, half wanting him to believe her, half hoping he wouldn’t. There was no way she was going to let this man force himself on her.
One step at a time, London. Keep him calm.
She walked past him up the stairs. “Come on. Which bedroom?”
Max continued to eye her warily. “Let’s go downstairs first. I want a drink.”
Thank You, God. “Oh, I know. Some champagne for a tongue bath, or maybe some belly shots? Okay, player. Let’s go!”
She wanted to full-out sprint in five-inch stilettos but forced herself to take each step slowly, swaying her hips on each stair. They reached the bottom. Max grabbed her, pushed her against the wall and kissed her. Her natural instinct was to resist, but she relaxed her body, slid her arms around his neck and…jabbed her knee into his private parts as hard as she could.
“Aw!”
London grabbed her purse, headed for the door and pulled. Locked. She turned every knob. The door still wouldn’t budge.
Max lay sprawled half on the bottom step, half on the floor. Still in pain he managed to eke out, “This what you’re looking for?”
Yes, London thought as she looked at the key dangling from a chain around his neck. It was exactly what she needed.
“There’s no way out of here, London. Once I get my strength back, you’re going to wish you hadn’t kneed me.”
“Max, this isn’t going to end well. Let me go.”
“Unlike what happened in Milan, it’s going to end exactly as I want.”
Her eyes widened then narrowed. “It was you.”
“I had the perfect date planned, better than any romance. But then I got word that people were looking for you, combing the mall, interrogating the hotel staff. I had to get you back there. Your parents coming to town put a crimp in my plans.”
“You kidnapped me.”
“That’s a rather dramatic way to look at it. You’d taunted me for months, giving the impression you’d get back with me. I let you lead for a while and then decided to take control. As a director, it’s what I do best.”
“Ace thought it was you. I should have believed him.”
“I’ve got a plan for him, too,” Max spat out as he struggled to his knees. “But tonight belongs to us.”
London took off through the house, looking for a way out. A door, a window—either would do. All she found was a set of double doors and a back door. Both were locked. She swallowed her panic, forced herself to think.
My phone. I’ve got to get to it before Max gets up.
There was only one problem with this plan. Max had recovered and found her. His hand was now around her neck.
“Max. Stop.”
He jerked her arm behind her and started walking toward the stairs. When they got halfway up, the doorbell rang.
His girlfriend!
“Max, unlock the door for your girlfriend. You don’t want her to see us like this.”
“There’s no girlfriend. Whoever that is will go away. Now come on!”
London knew that whoever was at that door was her lifeline. She wasn’t going up the stairway. One way or another, either walking, crawling or falling, they were going back down.
The doorbell rang again, followed by insistent knocking.
Max growled. “Let me get rid of whoever this is. Try anything, and you’ll regret it.”
He looked out of the door pane to see a pretty woman in a uniform at his door.
“Yeah, who are you!”
“Special delivery,” the pretty woman replied.
“From who?”
“A, um, Ms. Tanner, sir. It requires a signature.”
London watched Max relax. Carly Tanner, her assistant? Later she would learn that Carly was the woman who’d helped him know London’s every move. She’d helped him in Milan. After her stint with OTB ended, he’d hired her as an assistant of sorts. Someone to help with matters that had to stay private. Matters to which Maxwell Tata could not be linked. Like renting a house on New York’s Upper East Side. London would learn all of this later. All she knew right now was relief as she watched Max crack open the door.
