Unfinished Business

 
BRENDA JACKSON

 
UNFINISHED BUSINESS

 
Copyright © 2005 by Brenda Streater Jackson.

 
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.

 
Printed in the United States of America

 
St. Martin’s Paperbacks edition / April 2005

 
St. Martin’s Paperbacks are published by St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue,
New York, NY 10010.

 
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This book is dedicated to all the faithful readers of my Madaris Family and Friends Series who waited patiently and untiringly for Christy’s and Alex’s story. I appreciate all of you and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

To my hero, husband and best friend, Gerald Jackson, Sr., and to my two sons, Gerald Jr. and Brandon.

Special thanks to my readers who are accompanying me on the Madaris Family and Friends 10-Year Anniversary Celebration Cruise to the Bahamas. Let the celebration begin.

To Cruises and Tours Unlimited, Jacksonville, Florida, the title sponsor of the Madaris Family and Friends Anniversary Cruise.

To the members of the Brenda Jackson Book Club—you are a very special group.

To Jeff Westcott, Special Agent, FBI, Jacksonville, Florida. Thanks for taking the time to answer all my questions.

To Shemell Perry. This one is for you.

And to my Heavenly Father who makes all things possible.

THE MADARIS FAMILY

FRIENDS OF THE MADARIS FAMILY

Unfinished
                    Business

 
Stop being mean, bad-tempered and angry. Quarreling, harsh words. . . . Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God has forgiven you.

 
—EPHESIANS 4:31–32

 
Christina Marie Madaris stood at the window that faced her mother’s flower garden as she remembered a quote from Albert Einstein: “In the middle of difficulty lives opportunity.”

She sighed deeply, acknowledging that this had been a very difficult two years since graduating from college and returning to Houston. But now she was faced with an opportunity, one she had decided to take advantage of.

She turned slightly when she heard the sound of car doors opening and closing. Drawing in a deep breath, she glanced down the walkway that could be seen from where she stood. As she’d known they would, three men came into view, and although she could see them clearly, they couldn’t see her, so she took a moment to study them. They had similar features, indicating that they were brothers. They were tall and handsome and had the gait of self-assured men.

But she knew how vastly different they were.

Justin, the physician, was the oldest of the three. He had been twenty and away at college when she was born twenty-four years ago. Of her three brothers she considered him the warm, sensitive, diplomatic one. That didn’t mean she had never seen him angry. It just took a lot to get him there.

Dex, the geologist, was eighteen months younger than Justin and didn’t know the meaning of
diplomacy
. Where Justin could be warm and sensitive, Dex could be hard and unyielding. Most of the time he was way too serious, but he was always a man of his word.

And then there was Clayton, the attorney. He was three years younger than Justin. Because Clayton was in high school and still living at home when she was born, she’d always had a special bond with him. He had been the fun brother, the one who would let her get away with just about anything.

She couldn’t help but smile when she recalled how her birth had been a shock to her two older sisters, Traci and Kattie. They had been in their early teens, and for the longest time they could not get over the fact that their forty-something parents were still sexually active.

Christy thought of all the fun she had being the baby in the family, with three overprotective brothers and two overindulgent sisters. She had never minded how her brothers’ guard-dog attitudes always scared guys away because she had truly believed that she was going to grow up and marry Alexander Maxwell. He had been their neighbor and a close friend of her brothers. Boy, what a fool she had been at thirteen to believe Alex’s promise, and an even bigger fool to continue to believe it for eight solid years. But he had set her straight on the matter three years ago, and as far as she was concerned her life had been in total shambles since.

Because the Madarises and Maxwells were such close friends, it was not uncommon for her and Alex to be invited to the same functions. Each and every time she had been around him had been difficult, and returning home from college had been the worst. Seeing him was a constant reminder of what a fool she had been to believe the eight-year difference in their ages meant nothing and that he was doing just as he had promised—waiting for her to grow up.

The phone call she had gotten two days ago had been a blessing. It would give her the opportunity to pick up her life and move on, something she could not do if she remained in Houston.

She had already told her parents her decision, and the only thing left to do was tell her brothers and sisters. She decided to tell her brothers first, since everybody knew her sisters couldn’t hold water and she wanted her brothers to hear it from her. She was glad that Justin, who lived near Dallas, was in town visiting, so she could tell all three of them at the same time.

She knew they wouldn’t like her news. More than likely they would try to talk her out of leaving, saying that she already had a great job as a reporter for the
Houston Chronicle
and that she didn’t need to take the job in Cincinnati, Ohio.

What she couldn’t tell them and what they didn’t know was that the job opportunity was only part of the reason she was leaving. She needed space and a chance to do something she hadn’t been able to do for three years.

Repair her heart.

And more than anything, although it would be hard for them to do, she intended to get their blessings and their promise not to interfere in her life. She would not be satisfied until they finally acknowledged that she was no longer a little girl but a grown woman. If their parents could accept that, then it was time her brothers did as well.

“Christy? Mom and Dad said you wanted to see us.”

She slowly turned around and met three pair of curious and intense eyes. She shifted her gaze from one to the other, smiled, then said softly, “Yes. I have some news that I want to share with the three of you.”

Seven hours later

Alexander Julian Maxwell bolted upright in bed when he heard the telephone ring. Suddenly he remembered he was back in Houston and not in Miami, where he had been for the past week. Since leaving the FBI as a federal agent a few years ago, the company he owned, Maxwell Investigative Services, was expanding, which meant more cases to solve, which oftentimes took him out of town.

When the telephone rang again, he wiped the sleep from his face before reaching over to pick it up. “Yeah?”

“Alex, sorry if I woke you, man. This is Clayton.”

Alex wiped another hand down his face and glanced across the room at the illuminated clock. It was past midnight. The last time Clayton had called him in the middle of the night had been when he’d wanted him to find someone: his wife’s biological father. “Clayton, what’s going on?”

He heard Clayton’s frustrated sigh before he said, “I need you to do me a favor, and I want you to keep it between us. That includes not telling Dex and Justin.”

Alex lifted a brow. “What is it?”

“Do you still fly into Cincinnati occasionally to check on that business interest you have there?”

Alex knew Clayton was referring to the rental properties he had recently acquired as part of his investment portfolio. “Yes, why?”

“Whenever you go there, I’d like you to check on Christy, but do it discreetly because—”

“Christy? Why would Christy be in Cincinnati?”

“She’s moving there.”

“What!”

“Yeah, we were surprised as hell, too. She broke the news to me, Justin, and Dex this evening. She’s taking a job there, claims it’s an opportunity of a lifetime.”

Alex took a deep breath, not believing what he was hearing. Christy was moving to Cincinnati? He couldn’t believe the Madarises were letting her move way across the country, considering how overprotective they were of her. Her leaving home to attend college was one thing, but permanently relocating to another state was altogether different.

“And you, Dex, and Justin are OK with it?”

“No, we aren’t OK with it, but we didn’t have much choice, with the folks giving her their blessings. Of course they expected us to give ours.”

Alex shook his head. “And the three of you did?”

“Yes, grudgingly. And we even promised not to interfere.”

“But
you
are,” Alex pointed out.

“Yeah. I need to know she’s OK. So will you do that for me?”

Alex wiped another hand down his face. “Yeah, I’ll check on her whenever I’m in Cincinnati.”

“Thanks, man. I owe you one.”

“Don’t mention it.”

After hanging up the phone, Alex closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. Reopening them, he had thrown back the covers to sit on the side of the bed when the phone rang again. Thinking it was Clayton calling back, he quickly picked it up. “Yeah?”

“Alex, sorry to disturb you, but this is Dex.”

Alex raised a dark brow. “Dex?”

“Yes, and I have a favor to ask of you and I want it kept between us. I don’t even want my brothers to know about this.”

Alex nodded. “Sure. What do you need?” he asked, though he already knew the answer.

“Jake mentioned you have a business interest in Cincinnati.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Good. This is what I want you to do . . . .”

A half hour later, Alex pushed his sliding glass door aside and stepped out onto his deck. The night was hot and humid, not uncommon for July. He inhaled deeply thinking about the calls he had gotten from Clayton, Dex, and Justin. They had made the same request and each wanted things kept confidential.

Alex stared into the darkness as his thoughts shifted to Christy’s thirteenth birthday. He had come upon her crying and saying that no guy would ever want to marry her when she grew up because of her overprotective brothers. As a way to cheer her up, he had told her to stop crying because he would wait for her to grow up and marry her himself, and had gone so far as to take a ring he wore on his pinkie and place it on hers.

With an exasperated sigh he then recalled that night three years ago when Christy had been home on spring break from college and had reminded him of that promise. He was surprised she had remembered that time and tried to explain to her that he had only been teasing her that day. He emphasized the eight-year difference in their ages, told her that she needed to start dating guys her own age and stop waiting for him, because he had no intention of ever marrying her or any other woman. He knew his words had hurt her that night and since then she had made him her sworn enemy.

But what he hadn’t been able to forget, more than anything else about that night, was the kiss they’d shared before he had given her the brush-off. Desire for her had consumed his body to a degree he hadn’t thought possible. And when he had kissed her—“devoured her mouth” was a better way to describe it—he had felt things he had never felt before . . . or felt since.

He rubbed his hand down his face, admitting that was the crux of his problem. Christy Madaris was still off-limits to him. She would forever be the baby sister of three of his closest friends. But that hadn’t stopped him from finally realizing that Christy was no longer a girl but a woman—a very beautiful and desirable woman.

A woman he desperately wanted.

He sucked in a deep breath. The day of reckoning had arrived. Although he had begun seeing her as a desirable woman, he had been able to control his lust because in Houston she was in a safe place, surrounded by family, and therefore untouchable. In a strange sort of way, he had been satisfied in knowing not only was she untouchable to him, but was hands-off to other men as well, mainly because of her brothers’overprotectiveness. But now it seemed the tables had turned . . . and definitely on him.

Moving to Cincinnati meant she was no longer in a safe place. No longer protected by her brothers. No longer untouchable. The thought of that made his skin crawl, literally shook him to the core. Christy was a beautiful woman. She would draw attention. Men would take notice. They would react.

Damn
.

Without her brothers’ protection, she would be like a minnow in a pool of sharks, and there was no way on this earth he would allow that to happen. He wanted her and he’d damn if he would let any other man get close to her.

He glanced down at his hand and studied the ring he had placed on his finger when an angry Christy had given it back to him. As far as he was concerned, the ring represented unfinished business between them.

Unfinished business
.

He sighed heavily, and at that very moment, he knew he would risk everything to finish it.

Jonathan Madaris hung up the phone and slowly shook his head.

“Was that Justin?”

He looked up and met his wife’s gaze as she came out of the bathroom. A profound sense of both love and pride swept through him. She had been his wife, best friend, lover . . . his everything . . . for almost forty-five years, and he thought she was just as beautiful today as she had been the first time he laid eyes on her.

He scanned her body from head to toe. Tonight she was wearing one of those sexy nightgowns their daughter-in-law Syneda had given her for Christmas, and she looked gorgeous in it.

“Jonathan?”

He blinked. She stood leaning against the huge wooden bedpost, waiting for his response. “Yes, that was Justin and his message was the same as the ones Dex and Clayton left earlier. He’s asked Alex to check on Christy whenever he goes to Cincinnati on business. Of course, like his brothers, Justin is claiming he’s doing it for our benefit, so we won’t be worried about her.”

Marilyn Madaris chuckled as she crossed the room to her husband. “We’re
not
worried. In time they’ll discover that Christy is no longer a baby; she’s a mature young woman who is smart, has a good head on her shoulders, and is old enough to make her own decisions. She’ll do fine. I’ll miss her, but it’s time for her to seek her own destiny.”

Jonathan nodded as his thoughts shifted back to his three sons. “They promised her they wouldn’t interfere.”

Marilyn shook her head, smiling. “Yes, but we knew they would anyway. Too bad they don’t realize they’ve made a grave mistake in soliciting Alex’s help. That’s like asking the rooster to watch over the henhouse.”

Jonathan grinned as he pulled his wife into his arms. Her skin was so soft. Over the years, with five of their six kids married and on their own, he and Marilyn had been able to do the things they’d always wanted to do. Both had retired years ago from being educators in the Houston school system and spent their time traveling to places they had always wanted to see and visiting old friends who lived all over the country.