Page 32 of Maximum Risk (The Andrades 3)
Max thought back to the night of Gio’s dinner. “I did see her speaking with Dominic Corisi’s security, but they weren’t getting along. I can’t imagine they’d be working together.”
Gio paced the length of the room. “Stephan used a hacker to help me locate Julia once. It was someone he knew through Dominic. I’ll call him. What I don’t understand is why anyone would offer to resolve all of this for us, but wouldn’t want us to know who they were.”
Nick shrugged. “They don’t want to go to jail with us?”
Max walked to the door of the office. “I’ll get Tara. Hopefully she can tell us that much.”
ILoveDPG
Chapter Fifteen
Tara’s stomach was churning as she watched Max walk across the apartment toward them. She couldn’t read his mood by the expression on his face, but she hoped Alethea had given him and his brothers what they needed. Tara stood and met him halfway. “So?”
“There are a lot of files on that drive, but it looks like your friend nailed the blackmailer. Everything is there.”
Tara searched Max’s face. “That’s good news, right?”
Max took one of Tara’s hands between both of his. “We can’t use the number you gave us without knowing who you’re working with.”
Tara kept her eyes on Max’s chest instead of his face when she answered. “I promised I wouldn’t say.”
“This is really important, Tara.”
Tara nodded without looking up. “So is my word, and I gave it.”
Max held a hand beneath Tara’s chin and raised her face until she was forced to meet his eyes. “Will you at least tell me why the person doesn’t want to reveal themselves?”
Tara chewed her bottom lip for a moment, choosing her next words with care. “She thinks people will resent how she found the information more than they will appreciate what she found.”
“Are you serious? This could keep my brother out of jail. It could save his company. Why would she think any of us would resent that?” He had an “aha” moment and answered his own question. “Because she hacked Cogent.” He looked down at Tara, and she could see the wheels turning in his head. “Someone like that could make evidence disappear. Can we trust her?”
“She said she’d do anything to protect the people she cares about. So, yes, I think you can.”
Gio came out of his office flanked by Nick. “I called Stephan. Two minutes after that Dominic Corisi contacted me. I know who gave you this.” Gio held up the card in front of Tara.
Max stood beside Tara. He looked like he was preparing to defend Tara against whatever Gio had uncovered. Tara’s heart melted, and she squeezed his hand tightly in hers. Together they waited for Gio to finish.
“I didn’t tell Dominic much, just that I was having issues and had received a mysterious offer of assistance. Dominic said this is exactly how he’d expect Alethea Niarchos to operate. She works with hackers.” Gio lowered his voice. “He also said we’d be fools if we didn’t accept her offer for help. She’s never wrong.”
With her heart thudding loudly in her chest, Tara said, “I promised Alethea I wouldn’t say where I got the information. Please don’t tell anyone else.”
Julia and Rena joined the group. Julia asked, “Don’t tell anyone else what?”
Tara covered her eyes.
Max put a hand of support on her lower back. “How good Tara is at her job.”
Julia looked to Gio, clearly not believing that answer. He shifted uncomfortably beneath her scrutiny.
Tara turned to Julia and Rena and said, “Please don’t ask. They say if you whisper a secret to the wind, you can’t fault the wind for whispering it to the trees. Your family got what they needed tonight; can we stop now before we hurt the person who gave it to them?”
Julia seemed to accept Tara’s heartfelt plea.
Rena joined Nick. “Is everything okay?”
His kissed her lightly. “It looks that way. It sure looks that way.” Then he looked across at Tara. “And it’s all thanks to Tara.”
Max pulled her to his side and said softly into her ear, “Will a day go by when you don’t completely amaze me, Tara?”
Tara smiled up at him. “I hope not.”
Despite her smile, knowing how the evening would likely end left Tara with a host of conflicting emotions. It would be so easy to fall right back into Max’s arms, but was that where she belonged? She wanted more. Watching Julia with Gio and Rena with Nick, Tara didn’t want to settle for less.
She knew she’d have to say something to Max. He might see it as another ultimatum. She could lose him again. Wasn’t some Max better than none?
Not if it slowly breaks my heart. I don’t want to jump back into something casual with him. I told him I wouldn’t lie to him again. I have to be honest about what I want.
Honesty.
Is it worth the risk?
***
Once Gio and Nick had chosen the next steps they’d take to resolve the problems at Cogent, Max made his excuses and whisked Tara out of there. He cared about the family business and his brothers, but there was something else eating at him that needed to be addressed.
He rehearsed what he wanted to say while he and Tara rode down the elevator to the car garage. He tweaked it in his head while helping her into his car. He started the car but left it in park. “Thank you for what you did tonight for my family.”
Tara clasped her hands on her lap. “You’re welcome.”
He gripped the steering wheel with both hands. “I should have stopped you from leaving Slater Island.”
“Maybe. Or maybe we both needed time to think about what we were doing.”
“I never meant to hurt you.”
“I know.”
He closed his eyes for a moment, then turned in his seat so he was facing her. “I almost sent you flowers, but considering you hadn’t been impressed with the gift of a car, I didn’t.” He took one of her hands in his. “You saw the worst of me the day you told me you’d been working for Maddy. I saw the worst of me. I’m not proud of what I said. I was angry.”
Tara met his eyes cautiously, and he wanted more than anything else to see her smile. “It’s okay, Max.”
He touched the side of her face lightly with the back of one of his hands. “No, it’s not. Tell me what I need to do to show you I didn’t mean what I said that day.”
The expression in Tara’s eyes softened and warmed. “You already did it. Tonight. You believed me, even when it would have been easier not to. And you stood by me when I needed you to. That meant a lot to me.”
“Come home with me, Tara. I want to spend the whole night making love to you.” Of all the responses he expected, the sad shake of her head took him off guard. “What’s wrong?”
She waved a hand nervously in the air. “Nothing. Everything. I want to say yes. Trust me, I want to say yes. But we jumped into bed before even going on a real date. Is it any wonder we fell apart so quickly?”
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying I thought I was a modern woman. I told myself I could handle casual sex. I can’t. I want to go to the movies, argue over which restaurant to eat at. I want to get to know someone and be with someone who wants to get to know me. Not just in bed. I know how corny all of this sounds, but being with you woke me up to what’s important. I don’t want to spend all my time tracking down unfaithful men. That job left me with very low expectations of what was possible. I want to believe in people again. And if that means I have to start fresh, I will. Does that sound crazy?”
Was she looking for a commitment? They’d known each other only a short time. He had feelings for her, but the idea of labeling them left him scrambling for a response. He started the car. “Am I driving to your place?”
“Yes.”
Every time Max thought he knew what he was going to say, it didn’t sound right, and he stopped himself. They made it all the way to the front of her apartment building without speaking. He released h
is seat belt, leaned over, and kissed her.
That slight touch was enough to have them in each other’s arms. He kissed her with all the need that had built up over the past week. She kissed him back with every bit as much passion. They couldn’t get close enough, their hands were wildly grasping at each other’s clothing.
Tara broke the kiss off. She pushed him back with a hand flat on his shoulder. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to do that.”
“I’m not,” Max said. “I’m not sorry at all. I’ve never wanted any woman as much as I want you.”
Still breathing heavily, Tara said, “If this is all we have, is it enough?”
