CHAINED TO YOU: The Contract (4 page)

Aria wrapped her little arms around my neck
and kissed me back on my hard cheekbone. “One for Aria.”

I laughed. “Yes, one for Aria.”

“Daddy, Sammy won’t eat.” She pointed down
at the samoyed with accusation. “He won’t listen to me.”

I raised my brows. “Oh? Shall we see if I
can make him eat, then?”

Aria nodded enthusiastically, and Alfie
barked excitedly. I carried her out of the sitting room and then
down the stairs toward the kitchen, Sammy, Alfie, and Sophie
following close behind. All the while, my little darling kept on
chattering, telling me about her day at school. Suddenly, she
stopped and asked, “Daddy? Is the rabbit all right?”

For a moment, I didn’t understand what she
was talking about. Then I remembered, and an image of the girl
sprawled on the ground sparked in my mind. A sudden desire to kiss
and taste those plump lips seared hot in me.

I stuffed down the scorching craving and
concentrated my attention on my lovely daughter instead. “The
rabbit is fine.”

“Why didn’t you bring it up? It might have
been injured and needed nursing.” She sounded disappointed in
me.

I felt like someone punched me in the
stomach,
hard
. Guilty as charged. Why didn’t I offer to
bring Andy’s sister up to see me? Because I’d wanted to kiss and
fuck her right there and then, and having her sitting in the car
with me would just be too tempting.

“It wants to go home to its family,
darling,” I said evasively.

“So its mommy can nurse it back to good
health?” Aria asked innocently.

“Yes,” I said, finally reaching the ground
floor.

“But what if it doesn’t have a mommy?” she
asked, her bright blue eyes large. “Like I don’t have a mommy
because Mommy ran away?”

A toxic surge of anger and hurt rushed
through me. I stroked my daughter’s dark hair fondly and said,
“It’ll have a daddy to look after it.”

“Like me?” she asked, smiling happily.

“Yes, sweetheart, like you,” I replied.

She tightened her arms around my neck and
rested her head on my shoulder. We came into the kitchen a moment
later, and Martha greeted me with a, “Oh, Mr. Maxwell, what can I
do for you, sir?”

As usual, she looked flustered in my
presence. I was used to staff, regardless if it was here in the
house or at the various Maxwell hotels, resorts, and commercial
buildings around the world, looking and acting like I was about to
pull a gun and shoot them in the head. It was just as well, because
I had my fair share of shooting people in the head. Not to mention
a lot of backstreet and underground fighting.

“Sammy needs food,” I said.

“He just had his,” Martha stammered, her
face a little pale, as usual.

“He didn’t eat it,” Aria said. “Daddy is
going to make him.”

Martha looked at the dogs. “I’ll prepare it
for him again right away, sir.”

Some five minutes later, Sammy sniffed at
the lump of brown meat in his bowl and took a small bite. Alfie
helped himself to the food as well.
The greedy brat!

“He’s eating,” I said.

“How come he only listens to you?” Aria
asked, her eyes large and accusing. She was so cute; I couldn’t
help but kiss her.

“I have no idea,” I said honestly. “Still
want to play for me?”

She nodded enthusiastically. I lifted her
and carried her across the hall to the back of the mansion where
the music room was located. The dogs left their food and followed
us out, as did Sophie.

I was soon listening to my darling daughter
play mistuned music, when the knocks came at the door.

Ms. Lane stood there, her hand clasped
before her. “Security needs a word with you, sir.”

I’d known it was coming, and instantly, my
stomach twisted and my heart skipped a beat. For fuck’s sake! I was
a fit, healthy twenty-nine-year- old man. My heart shouldn’t skip
like a thirteen-year-old about to go on his first date.

I turned to my daughter. “Aria, Daddy has
business to attend to, all right?”

Aria nodded. “Can I take Sammy and Alfie
outside to play?”

“Of course you can.”

Glancing at Sophie, I said, “Make sure she
doesn’t go into the woods.”

“I’ll make sure of that, sir.” She smiled at
me, her eyes bright.

I’ll admit Sophie was a remarkably beautiful
young woman, and I always wondered why she would want to be stuck
here as Aria’s nanny. I knew she was more ambitious.

I dismissed the thought from my mind and
walked out the door, up the stairs, and into my office. Switching
on the intercom, I demanded, “What?”

“Sir.” The voice of Peter O’Neil came
through. “There’s a girl here to see you. She said you sent her an
email requesting her presence?”

I switched on the laptop screen connected to
the security camera. The black screen flashed on, and then a moment
later, the girl’s face appeared before me.

I stared at the screen, at Andy’s sister,
long and hard, and felt my cock stirring again. “Does she have a
name?”

“Err, Mia Donovan, sir.”

I took a deep breath, my eyes still on the
laptop screen, on the girl who caused sparks, the girl who managed
to awaken my cock without even doing anything seductive. I was so
fucking going to regret this.

To Peter, I said, “Let her in.”

The moment I sighted the humongous gate, my
heart missed a beat. I glanced at the number and, sure enough, it
was the right property. Or rather estate, because stretching before
my eyes were acres of lawn and woods. I hadn’t yet seen the house,
but I knew it was going to be big.

I stepped over to the intercom and pushed on
the button. A buzzing sound came through and then a male voice
said, “Yes?”

I nervously cleared my throat. “I… I’m here
to see Mr. Maxwell.”

“Do you have an appointment with him?” He
was harsh and straight to the point.

“Err, no, I…”

“No appointment, no Mr. Maxwell.”

I panicked and knew he was about to end our
conversation. “No, please. I mean, he sent me an email asking that
I come to see him. I mean… Mr. Maxwell sent me an email a couple
weeks ago.”

A pause and then, “Your name?”

“Mia… Mia Donovan,” I said quickly.

“Wait there a minute,” he said, and then the
intercom buzzed out.

I blinked and then looked around me, taking
in the scenery. It was something to do while I waited. But really,
I was so worried, the exquisite scenery didn’t interest me
long.

It was five minutes later when the buzz came
again. “Come in. Just follow the path. You won’t miss it.”

“Thanks,” I said as the gate screeched open.
I did that little hop to pull my backpack up my shoulders and then
headed through the opened gate.

I followed the path, and it wasn’t long when
I came to view the most breathtaking scenery of the city below. The
buildings sparkled like jewels under the evening sunlight. For a
moment, I was lost. For a moment, I felt free of all the worries
and burdens that rested heavily on my small shoulders.

If only there was no two million dollars. If
only my parents didn’t die that summer in a car accident. If only
my aunt and uncle hadn’t hated us so much and kicked us out of
their house even before I turned sixteen. If only… Yeah right.

I pulled myself back from the fantasy world
and turned on my heel, continuing up the path.

I was hiking.
I was literally hiking
up the private driveway, and it took me another ten minutes before
I came to the house. No. It wasn’t a house. It was a mansion, built
of white stone and three stories high. It was the type of mansion
I’d seen in magazines, worth millions, and it literally took my
breath away.

I stood there for a moment, lost. Usually, I
would have been in awe at the sight of such an amazing structure.
What I felt today, however, was pure terror, for the sight of that
building served only to remind me once again of the power wielded
by the man I was about to meet.

A lump formed in my throat and my stomach
kept flipping with dread. I took a deep breath and told myself it
was too late to run now. It had been too late since I’d opened that
email, in fact.

A loud, angry bark caught my attention,
jolting me from my thoughts of trepidation. I looked around in
confusion. To my left, I saw a big, white dog sprinting toward me,
growling and barking aggressively. Panic seized me, and I staggered
back. The moment I knew that beast of a canine wasn’t going to
stop, because man, it was charging at me like a raging bull, I
turned and took off, my heart pumping like mad.

I hurried down the lawn, legs sprinting like
never before. I headed straight for the woods. Somehow, I thought I
would be safe there.

I was just about to reach my destination, my
safe heaven, when I tripped on something and fell. A puff escaped
my lips as my body unwelcomingly met the ground, followed by a big
splash of brown water against my face. Some got into my mouth,
tasting like dirt and salt. Spitting the unsavory substance back
out, I blinked, wondering what had just happened. Heaving with
exertion, I sat up and found that my jeans and shirt were covered
in filth. Across from me, the dog had stopped, though it was still
barking at me aggressively.

“Stop it!” a tiny voice shouted from the
distance.

I lifted my head to see a child running
toward me and the dog. A moment later, she came to a stop in front
of me. She was heaving with exertion as she looked at me with
interest. Then she gave me the loveliest grin I’d ever seen. I felt
like someone had just snatched the oxygen from my lungs, because
the child was indeed very beautiful. Dark hair, flawless skin, and
Prussian blue eyes.
Prussian blue eyes?
Just like that
gorgeous man back at the road.

I couldn’t help myself, of course, and gave
the little girl one of my lovely smiles as well, despite my fear of
the dog, which looked like it wanted to bite my head off.

The girl turned to glare at the fluffy
canine, her small hands on her hips. “Stop it, Sammy! You’re being
a very naughty dog. Now be quiet and be nice.”

The dog immediately halted his barking and
nuzzled his head against her legs, informing its master it was
sorry. It didn’t take the girl long to stop being mad with her
beloved pet, though. She laughed and patted the dog’s head,
exempting him from punishment.

“That’s a good boy,” she said. Then she
turned to me. “You’re full of mud.” She giggled.

I sighed. “Yes, I am.”

“Sorry, Sammy isn’t usually that excited
about new people,” she said apologetically.

Excited?
Those barks were excitement?
I begged to differ. The dog looked like it wanted to chase me down
and do some horrible, unmentionable things to me.

“What’s your name?”

I gathered myself up, unsuccessfully
brushing off the wet, dirty, thick brown goo from my clothes.

“Mia,” I said, eyeing her. “What’s
yours?”

“Aria,” she replied, giving me a toothy
grin. “And this is Sammy. There’s Alfie as well, but he’s back in
the house.”

By house she meant mansion, of course. Then
I wondered how the heck I was going to get myself cleaned up before
going up to see the billionaire Mr. J. Maxwell.

“Do you know where I might be able to
freshen up?” I asked, giving her a lovely grin again, hoping she
was able to help me.

She nodded. “Follow me.”

“Are you sure?” I asked, wondering if I was
overstepping the boundaries. I was a stranger, after all, and
requesting a little girl to aid me without her parents’ permission
wasn’t something one usually did. It was frowned upon.

“About what?”

“You helping me,” I said. “I’m a stranger. I
could be a bad guy.”

She cocked her head to one side, her
Prussian blue eyes large as she gazed at me. I found myself
remembering the other Prussian blue eyes, the ones that belonged to
the gorgeous man. The one that made my heart flutter with both
excitement and trepidation.

The girl laughed. I realized she was
laughing at me.

When she managed to calm down, she said,
“You don’t look like the bad guys.”

I sighed and thought,
Kids
.

“Bad guys don’t run from friendly dogs,” she
said, nodding her head. “And we’re not strangers. I know your name.
Your name is Mia. And you know my name. My name is Aria. And if we
become friends, that means you’re not a stranger.”

I had to admit the beautiful child was very
smart for a six-ish-year-old.

“Come on. You’re getting a little smelly,”
she said, taking my mud-covered hand.

I couldn’t help myself. The child was
adorable and very kind. I let her lead me toward the house.

Aria took me back to where I’d been before,
the front double doors. This time, though, two females stood there.
One was dressed in an immaculate black suit with short, neatly
styled blond hair. Her posture was straight, and she had a stern,
no-nonsense expression on her face that scared me. The other one
was a beauty, with long brunette hair, warm tan skin, hazel eyes,
and, well, a not-so-lovely expression on her face. She was glaring
at me, of course. She didn’t bother to hide the look of disgust she
had for me. I couldn’t blame her. She looked like she was the
mistress of this massive house, and I was a girl covered in stinky
mud.

The two superior women didn’t seem to
intimidate little Aria at all, which confused me a great deal.

“Ms. Lane,” Aria said to the one in the
black suit. “She’s my new friend and she needs to shower.”

“Yes, of course, Miss Aria,” Ms. Lane
replied with a bow of her head. “Which bathroom will your friend be
using?”

Aria thought about this for a moment. “The
first floor.”