Sweet Reward (31 page)

He thrust a small package wrapped in silver paper toward her. “Here.”

Another gift? Confused, she unwrapped the box, looked up at him, then back at the box of candy. “What’s this for?”

“To eat, of course.”

“You bought me candy?”

“Yes.” He walked past her and into the kitchen. She heard him open the cabinet and then liquid being poured into a cup. Then she heard pans rattling. He was making breakfast.

The box of chocolates still in her hand, she went to the kitchen and watched him work. She wanted to ask him questions, get inside that tough exterior, but that damn wall surrounded him again, and this time, it seemed even more impenetrable.

Hoping she could think of something to break through the ice later, she gave him the news she’d woken up to this morning.

“Philippe called and asked me to come stay the weekend at his house.”

His head shot up. “When did he call?”

“About half an hour ago.”

His jaw tight, he looked down at the bowl of eggs he was beating. “What else did he say?”

“Told me to bring over enough of my things for a long weekend and then someone would pick up the rest of my stuff next week. I need to go shopping. I don’t have anything remotely appropriate.”

“We need to go over our plans.”

“And we will, but I have nothing suitable for a casual weekend with a man like Philippe.”

The tic in his jaw told her he didn’t agree.

“You have a problem with me going shopping?”

“Just seems damn stupid to be going shopping when we’re trying to catch a murdering baby snatcher.”

There was nothing she could say to that stupid, asinine statement. Turning away, she headed for her bedroom. A quick, hot shower and then she would leave him to his nastiness. She was at her bedroom door when he said, “Breakfast will be ready in about five minutes.”

Instead of answering verbally, she swung the door closed, satisfied that the distinctive slam was answer enough.

A smile twitched at Jared’s mouth as he poured the egg mixture into the skillet. The sizzle reminded him of Mia. She had a volatile temper, one that could be set to sizzle with a single word. He’d hurt her feelings last night, and she’d closed up on him. When he’d walked through the door this morning, that wounded look had still been there. Setting off her temper had seemed the right way to go.

Odd that he argued so much with Mia. In other romantic relationships, including his marriage, the disagreements had been nonexistent. The only time Lara had gotten angry with him was the day their marriage ended. And even then it had been a controlled anger.

When Mia was angry, she didn’t hide behind a passive-aggressive façade. She let him know in no uncertain terms why she was angry and how she felt. He liked that about her.

He slid the omelet onto a plate just as she emerged from her bedroom. She could get ready faster than any female he’d ever known.

“Breakfast is ready.”

She marched toward him, the determined glint in her eyes telling him she was still angry. “I don’t want breakfast.”

“Then what the hell do you want?”

She continued her furious stare for several seconds, as if waiting for something. Hell if he knew what that
something was. Heaving an explosive sigh, she whirled around and stalked out of her apartment without another word.

Jared released his own explosive sigh, the sound echoing through the now empty apartment. Maybe she did need to go shopping, because her temper obviously hadn’t abated.

His enjoyment of his meal was greatly diminished. Instead of sitting at the table, he stood over the counter and demolished the omelet. Though once his stomach was full, for some reason, he still felt as if there were an emptiness there.

Disgusted with his own sour mood, he cleaned up the few dishes he’d dirtied. When he was finished, he found himself in the living room without any clear idea of what to do next. How long would Mia be gone? Calling and asking was probably not a good idea. She’d just hang up on him, if she even answered at all.

Yesterday’s newspapers on the coffee table caught his attention. He gathered them up and stuffed them in the garbage. The place really could use a good cleaning. Maybe when Mia came back, a clean apartment would put her in a better mood.

Even though it wasn’t a job-related task, he was glad to have a plan. In minutes he’d located the vacuum cleaner, cloths for dusting, and cleansers for the bathroom. His mind on his task, Jared set to work.

   Mia stood at her apartment door. Three hours of shopping had been pure drudgery. Not only because she was buying clothes to entice a creepazoid criminal to sleep with her, but because she was still so furious with Jared. How could one man be so intelligent and so stupid, too?

She told herself it really shouldn’t matter. Soon this case would be over, and she’d probably never see him again. What was the point of getting angry? Mia refused to consider that anger was only a by-product of the real issue. Jared had hurt her feelings, and the only people who could do that were people she cared about deeply. Caring about Jared beyond what they had agreed upon was impossible.

As she was about to insert the key into the lock, it was pulled open for her. Mia swallowed a gasp. She’d figured Jared would have left long ago. He’d probably been waiting for her to come back so they could talk about the weekend ahead.

“Looks like you had some luck.”

Mia walked into her apartment. “When I’m on a mission to buy, I usually find what I need.” She was in the middle of the room when she recognized the fragrance of lemon-scented furniture polish blended with some kind of disinfectant cleaner. She turned and stared at him. “You cleaned my apartment.”

His expression bland, Jared took the bags from her and carried them to the bedroom. “I didn’t have anything else to do.” Seconds later he returned. “You ever get anything to eat?”

“Can I ask you a question?”

Another shrug. “I guess.”

“Have you ever apologized for anything in your life?”

The flinty look in his eyes would have made anyone else melt. Mia wasn’t immune to his anger, but she knew without a doubt that Jared would never hurt her physically. Then the anger changed … became something else. An unutterable and deep sadness entered his eyes, and she suddenly had the strong urge to apologize to him instead.
She knew the next words weren’t going to be the hurtful ones of last night. These words were going to break her heart for a whole new reason.

“The last time I apologized to someone, I couldn’t move for a week.”

Despite herself, she couldn’t control the gasp that left her mouth. “What happened?”

“My first foster home … I stole an apple from the fruit bowl. Mrs. Henderson caught me. Told me if I said I was sorry, she’d let it go.” He grimaced. “After my parents died, I developed a really bad stutter. I couldn’t get the words out.”

“My God, she beat you because of that?”

“No, first she almost killed Melody.”

“Who’s Melody?”

“She was my foster sister … a year older than me. She’d been at the house for a few months before I got there. She knew the ropes and tried to tell me how to behave. I didn’t listen.”

“What happened to Melody?”

“She tried to get me to say I was sorry. When I couldn’t, Mrs. Henderson beat her.”

“Oh, Jared,” Mia whispered.

“I finally got it out … screamed that I was sorry, that I would never do it again, but she beat her anyway.”

Unable to not know the rest, Mia said, “And she was hurt badly?”

A smile almost twitched at one corner of his mouth. “I thought she was dead. Turned out she was faking unconsciousness. Said she knew the woman would leave her alone if she thought she was badly injured.”

Already knowing, Mia asked, “And then Mrs. Henderson turned her anger to you?”

“Yeah … apologies be damned. Beat the shit out of
me. I couldn’t get out of bed for a week. That was the last time I apologized for anything. Ever.”

Her chest constricted and a lump of emotion made swallowing impossible. How could she have missed this? The breakfasts, the gifts, the bubble baths, the clean apartment. He couldn’t say the words but did everything he could to show her he was sorry.

It took every bit of her willpower to stay put and say coolly, “I like chocolate-covered strawberries.”

“What?”

“I figure you’re going to be pissing me off several more times before this case is over. Might as well put in an order for what I would enjoy.”

He jerked her into his arms, and then his mouth was on hers. She didn’t know if this was in appreciation for not asking questions or relief that she wasn’t demanding an apology. As his mouth ate at hers, Mia knew it didn’t matter. For however long she had with this man, she vowed, she would enjoy the experience and relish the pleasure. It would be over soon enough.

“Set up a board meeting a week from Tuesday. The architect for the new wing at Our Sister of Mercy will be presenting his final plans.”

His assistant hurriedly scribbled notes. Philippe had been issuing orders for the past half hour. Since he was taking a long weekend, he wanted to get everything urgent out of the way. Total relaxation and pleasure were his only agenda items this weekend. By the time Monday came, he’d be engaged.

“And reserve a very private table for two at Les Montés for next Wednesday night, eight o’clock.”

“Very good, Monsieur Ricard.”

“Also, I have a jeweler coming in at one this afternoon. Please show him to my private office and have him wait. I may be late, depending upon my eleven o’clock meeting.”

“Oui, monsieur.”

Philippe’s mind raced with all the things he needed to do. He had described the ring he envisioned to his favorite jeweler this morning and had been assured that there were several to choose from. Normally he would want a one-of-a-kind piece, but since he needed to tie everything up this weekend, he would have to settle for convenience over uniqueness. A whirlwind romance had a tendency to stifle creativity.

The buzzer on his desk, alerting him that he had a call, interrupted his thought process. As a rule, when he was meeting with his assistant, his secretary wouldn’t dare disturb him, much less put calls through. The caller couldn’t be Kinsey; the man would call only on the disposable phone he purchased once a week.

Pressing a button, he said, “Yes, what is it?”

“You have a call, monsieur, from Nadia Maxwell.”

Mia’s sister
. Yesterday he’d confided to his staff that he would be getting married soon and had specified that if Mia or any of her family called, they were to be put straight through. He had never cared for Mia’s sister. Nadia Maxwell was the most self-centered, vain woman he’d ever met. All she wanted to do was talk about herself. She was so very different from her sister. Mia went out of her way to ask him questions about his work and himself. He’d definitely chosen the better Maxwell daughter.

However much he disliked her, she would soon be family, so he would resign himself to a short conversation. “I’ll take the call, but interrupt me in five minutes with
an important message. I don’t have time to listen to her prattle.”

“Oui, monsieur.”

As his assistant scooted obligingly out of the office, Philippe picked up the phone and leaned back in his chair, prepared to be bored for the next few minutes. “Nadia, how delightful to hear from you.”

“Philippe … darling. It’s been a while … much too long.”

“Yes, it has. You are doing well?”

“I’m quite bored here in Rome and am considering coming to Paris for a few days of shopping.”

“You must know your sister is in town.”

“Mia … in Paris? I had no idea.”

Considering the publicity Philippe had cultivated for their whirlwind romance, the idea that Nadia didn’t know her sister was even in Paris was laughable. However, he had no interest in knowing her reasons for pretense.

Nadia continued: “Mia has cut herself off from the family and hardly ever calls anymore.”

That didn’t sound like Mia at all. However, he couldn’t blame her for not wanting to talk to Nadia. Never had he met someone so in love with herself. “Perhaps while you’re here, you can visit with her. We’ve been seeing each other socially.”

“You and Mia are dating? How very exciting. Is this something serious? Should I be looking for a bridesmaid’s dress?”

He wasn’t going to reveal his intentions before he proposed to Mia, but he saw no problem in letting Nadia know that he had deep feelings for her sister. “I’d forgotten what a delightful and beautiful woman Mia is. I’ve become quite enamored of her.”

“Is that right? Mommy and Daddy will be so pleased. The entire family had almost given up on her as a lost cause.”

“Why is that?”

“Well, you know, after that accident, she was never really the same. Then she broke her engagement with Lewis without any explanation to the family. After that, she just disappeared for a while. But I’m sure she’s told you all about that.”

Actually, she hadn’t. He knew there’d been something years ago where she’d been injured, but he had heard little of the event. They’d talked of his life and accomplishments, but she’d said almost nothing of her life other than that she’d been traveling. Despite the intense dislike he had for Nadia, if he could find out secrets Mia wasn’t willing to share, wouldn’t that put him much further ahead?

“She doesn’t talk about herself very much.”

Nadia’s laugh had a tinkling quality that Philippe found grating. “Still the same modest person she always was … though to be honest, I’m not sure there’s anything for her to really talk about.”

He knew women well enough to recognize the venom in Nadia’s words. So
was
there something for Mia to brag about? “Why do you say that?”

“That little business she started in Chicago hasn’t really panned out for her.”

Mia had a business in the United States? How very quaint and charming. “What kind of business?”

“A rescue business. She even changed her name … took our grandfather’s first name so no one would associate her with our family. I’m quite sure that hurt my parents, but if you’ve gotten her out of that ridiculous life, I know they’ll be so grateful.”