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Her brow shot up and her eyes flashed. "Actually, since I'm immune to your...charms, yes, I can." Maggie huffed, then picked up her fork and began to half-heartedly eat. "If you wanted me to like you, you might want to consider not keeping me in the dark. Show me you trust me. Prove that you believe I'm strong enough to be with you, because I can tell you're the kind of guy who is going to need a formidable match." Then she ignored me and focused on hereggs.
She wasn't wrong. How could I argue with her? Instead, I decided to do as she requested. "Okay, let me explain your father's program and the ramifications he clearly never considered when creating it." I blew out a breath. This was going to be a long conversation and I was already more interested in the idea of an Italian wedding. Why couldn't we talk about that? "Here's the thing about the program. And Malcolm, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think I am." I nodded at him and waited to make sure he was payingattention.
"Go on," he urged. "You seem to think you can explain it better than I can, so just get on withit."
"I think I can help her understand.” I turned to Maggie. “Is everyone in your family this damn sensitive? Christ," I grumbled. She snickered and I actually felt better as I continued explaining. "The program was developed to help with marketing. That part is great. Marketers need all the help they can get. The problem is this one is a littletoohelpful."
"How can it be too helpful?" Maggiefrowned.
"Well, picture it. You’re playing online, working online, doing whatever you do online. This program can follow everything." I watched as Maggie's hand flew to hermouth.
"Sorry. Go on." Her mouth snapped shut. She dropped her fork with a loud clatter on her plate, and then clasped her hands in front of herchest.
"Right, so it takes what you search and what you click, then measures it. By doing this, it knows how to gain your interest. It knows how to sell to you. This in itself isn't a bad thing when it's used for the right reasons, but when it's used by say...politicians...to sway the course of an election, this can be incrediblydestructive."
Maggie nodded. "So it's intuitive, like Facebook ads and Amazonads."
"Yes, just like that, only deeper. Imagine a program uncovering all your deepest, darkest secrets and being able to use them against you." I had more I was going to say, but Maggie suddenly shoved her chair away from the table, stood and rushed from the patio into the house. I followed after, meaning to give her a little space, but battling my protective nature, which had been in overdrive ever since I'd accepted her as mymate.
After a short search, I found her in her bathroom. Without saying a word, I simply entered the room, stood behind her as she crouched over the toilet, and gathered her hair so it wouldn't be in the way. I rubbed her back and murmured words meant to comfort. “It’ll be okay, Maggie. Whatever is upsetting you, I can fix it.” She didn’t soften, but she didn’t snap at me either. When she was done retching I reached over her head to flush, and then grabbed her a few tissues from the box on thevanity.
"Blow," I suggestedgently.
"Why are you being so nice to me? I'm a terrible person," shemumbled.
As soon as she finished wiping her eyes and mouth, I hefted her into my arms."You're not a terrible person. There's nothing you can do or say that would make me not want to be your mate. I'm in this, even now, before I've convinced you to accept me." I carried her to the bed and gently laid her on the mattress. "You should rest.” I waited for her to argue with me. Since she didn't, I continued. "Would you like me to hold you for awhile?"
Her eyes were closed and her hands were clasped under her chin, just like they were the first day she came over.Maggie nodded. "Please." Then she froze. "Wait, don't you have anything more important todo?"
"More important than taking care of you?" I laughed. "No. From now on, you come first. My mate always will." Then I climbed onto the bed and opened my arms. Without hesitation, Maggie cuddled up against myside.
Her eyes closed and her breathing slowed. Almost as soon as I thought she'd fallen asleep, she whispered, "Thank you,Blaise."
Inside me, the ice, accumulated around my heart over hundreds of years from hurt and disappointment,melted.
* * *
Maggie
“Well, there’s my Sleeping Beauty,”Blaise teased when I finallywoke.
Ignoring him, I blinked a few times while my eyes adjusted to the light. “Did I miss anything?” I slowly sat up and glanced out the window. The sun, though low in the sky, hadn’t set yet, so that wasencouraging.
“Nah. Your father went back to the office and immersed himself in his program. Fredo planned next week’s menu. I caught up on some emails, assigned some new projects, and started planning forItaly.”
I inhaled sharply. “AboutItaly…”
Blaise silenced me with a kiss. “No. Let me have my dream. And maybe one day you’ll share it withme.”
My shoulders heaved. I didn’t know how to explain to him that it was impossible. Last night, I nearly forgot. This morning, I had a painful reminder. “So, what shall we do? I’m guessing you’ll be going back to the office tomorrow.” I pasted a smile on myface.
“Right. Well, I’m only going to be working a half day tomorrow. Then I’ll be home with you.” He grinnedproudly.
I sucked a bit of air through my teeth. “Okay. What if we…hop in the hot tub? It’s fall. We could relax before dinner…” I was struggling, desperate to get out of the bedroom and scared to death if we were here any longer, he’d make another attempt at convincing me to mate with him. With every refusal, I feared I only hurt him more. Worse, he was growing harder to refuse. The way the man doted on me was incredibly enticing. What woman wouldn’t want to be treated with such love and kindness? I couldn’t afford to have my resolve weaken. I had to save him. Fromme.
“Sure. If you want to go soak…in the daylight, then we’ll do it.” He rolled his eyes. “I don’t suppose you brought asuit.”
“Actually, I did not.” I pursed my lips. “Well,crap.”
