Maid for the Billionaire (16 page)

Dominic nodded in grudging agreement.

“How touching,” Stephan mocked.

As if losing interest in the two men who now
stood unified against him, Stephan turned his attention to the
women in the room. “I can’t believe you pulled it off, Zhang. This
is the kind of coup they write about in the history books. Consider
yourself welcome for dinner anytime. I’d love to hear the details
behind today.”

Zhang responded harshly, leaving little doubt
in the room as to her opinion of the man addressing her. "Careful,
Stephan. Water has been known to flood even the dragon-king's
temple." Abby recognized the reference to one of four mystical
underwater creatures she had seen in a temple for at the Summer
Palace. These divine creatures used the sea and the weather to
wreck destruction on anyone who dared stand against them.

Stephan turned his amused attention to Abby
and said, as if speaking in confidence, “That’s Zhang’s way of
saying – Go to Hell.”

He walked closer until he was practically
standing over Abby and smiled down at her with practiced charm. “Is
this the little teacher who brought the great Dominic to his
knees?”

Abby ignored his extended hand. “I don’t know
what game you’re playing, but count me out of it.”

He didn’t seem the least bit offended by the
ice in her tone. He appraised her with a blatant slowness that
achieved his goal of fanning Dominic’s fury. “Are the tears for
Dominic or because of him?” The growl behind him should have warned
him, but he was intent on goading further. “He’s never been one to
treat a lady well. Although, I must say that, until you, I’ve never
thought twice about his discards. You, however, have the world
talking. I’d love to find out if you live up to what they’re saying
about you.”

A large hand closed on one of Stephan’s
shoulders and spun him just in time to meet the connecting force of
Dominic’s fist. He stumbled backwards, but did not fall. If
possible, his smile only grew wider even as he rubbed his bright
red jaw.

Dominic glared down at Abby. “You can stop
making eyes at him now, he’s leaving.”

Abby sputtered in defense. “I was not…”

Stephan’s derision filled laughter froze
their exchange. “You’re getting soft, Dominic, and that’s what is
going to make it easier to bring you down.”

Dominic’s hands clenched at his sides. “Laugh
all you want, but after today, Corisi Enterprises will be bit more
difficult to screw with. We’re out of your league, Stephan. You
can’t touch us now.”

Stephan looked disturbingly like a cat who
knew the canary cage had a back door. “Don’t be too sure about
that, Dominic.”

His smile faltered a bit when Dominic gripped
him by the lapels of his jacket and hauled him forward until they
were nose to nose. Dominic’s voice held a deadly calm. “Any hurt
you might have incurred from me in the past was an unfortunate
consequence of your poor business skills. In the future, it will be
a bit more personal.” He let the threat sink in before releasing
Stephan with a powerful shove that sent him back several feet. “Get
out of here, Stephan, before I stop caring about how killing you
would affect this deal.”

Stephan’s veneer of civility cracked,
revealing a deep animosity toward Dominic. He said, “No one is
untouchable, Dominic. I doubt you’ll be as smug the next time we
meet.”

Dominic’s only response was a small nod to
his security who were instantly on alert. Wise enough to retreat,
Stephan bowed sarcastically, rejoined his group and left the
foyer.

Dominic’s put a possessive arm around Abby’s
waist. “Don’t even think about going with him.”

Abby gasped in surprise and leaned away from
him so she could see his face. He was serious. “Are you crazy?”

Zhang piped up from behind them, “And they
say women are dramatic.”

Abby tried to step out of Dominic’s grasp,
but her struggles only tightened his determined hold. Dominic
addressed Zhang without turning around to face her. “Zhang, pray I
don’t discover that you had something to do with Stephan being
here.”

Not one to accept a threat lightly, Zhang
made one of her own. “You’re in tailspin right now, Dominic, but
choose your adversaries with care. You wouldn’t make it out of the
building alive if you laid a hand on me.” She stepped forward until
she was face to face with Abby. “You’re not alone, Abby. Say the
word and I can have you on a plane to anywhere in the world in
minutes.”

Dominic looked down at Abby as if realizing
for the first time that he’d held her in his crushing grip. His
touch turned gentle, almost apologetic for a moment and his stormy
gray eyes searched hers. Whatever inner decision he came to didn’t
seem to please him. He released her, but motioned for his security
to approach. “She’s not going anywhere.”

A young Chinese man approached and excused
the intrusion. “Mr. Corisi, the press waits for you in the main
conference room.”

“Let them wait,” Dominic ground out.

The young man wrung one of his hands with the
other. “The Minister will enter the room in the next few minutes.
He should not enter before you. It is impolite to make him wait.
Please, sir, you must come now.”

Zhang agreed with the nervous messenger. “It
would not be good to start our new alliance by offending the
Minister again.”

Jake spoke up. His rational voice sounded out
of place in a room that was vibrating with emotion. "Why don’t I
take Abby back to the hotel for now?”

Dominic’s displeasure with the suggestion was
clear, but Jake wasn’t backing down. Abby realized that despite the
angry exchange she’d witnessed earlier, their bond was still solid.
Jake was willing to shoulder another lashing from Dominic’s temper
if it meant protecting his friend from a scandal born in the heat
of his anger. Was that also why he’d paid Scott to watch Dominic?
It made sense now.

"No," Dominic barked. "She’s not going
anywhere. At least not until I figure out what her role in all of
this was…and yours.”

Jake blanched slightly, accepting the
flogging. “I deserve that. In light of today’s events, I can see
that my actions look pretty damning, but I was trying to anticipate
damage control. I never met Abby before you introduced us. You have
to believe that.”

Dominic’s expression remained closed. “I
don’t know what I believe right now, but I suggest you make
yourself scarce until I have time to get the facts.”

Jake nodded in concession. “That sounds fair.
I still think you should let me take Abby out of here until you
have time to cool off.”

“No.” Dominic’s steely response echoed
through the quiet foyer.

“Dom-” Jake started to speak in his cool,
professional tone.

In response to a subtle cue from Dominic, two
guards flanked Abby with the obvious intention of escorting her out
of the room. “Take her to my plane,” he said harshly. “Fuel up.
We’ll leave as soon as I’m finished here.”

Both of Zhang’s eyebrows rose at Dominic’s
display of force. She stepped closer to Abby, ignoring the men
beside her. “If this gets old and you need me, call me,” Zhang said
and pressed a card with her private number into one of Abby’s cold
hands.

Abby leaned forward and impulsively hugged
the woman. Taken by surprise, Zhang stood stiff as a board for a
few seconds before awkwardly returning the embrace. Abby whispered
in her ear, “He’s angry right now, but he would never hurt me.”

Zhang stepped out of Abby’s embrace and said,
“I hope for your sake that you are correct.”

Abby bit her lip and looked back at Dominic’s
tight expression. Beneath his angry exterior was the loyal heart of
man who had given up everything to search for a mother who hadn’t
bothered to write him a farewell note. He was still the man who had
taken in Mrs. Duhamel and given her financial security when many
would have let her suffer the consequences of her husband’s
decisions. He was a good man who was reeling in the face of what he
saw as a public betrayal by those closest to him.

Abby suspected that if she voiced a desire to
leave him now, he would let her go, but was that what she really
wanted? Yesterday she’d convinced herself that she could settle for
this one adventure and be content to live with just the memories of
their shared passion. After all, walking away and playing it safe
was something she excelled in.

But that was before she realized how much she
loved him.

His determination to keep her with him
sparked some hope in her heart. He also didn’t want their time
together to end. He wasn’t a smooth man who spoke in flowery words.
He was a man of action and all of his dominant posturing suggested
that no matter what he thought had happened, he still wanted
her.

For now, that was enough. When the dust from
the events of the day settled, they would be alone and she could
explain her actions to him. He’d see that she’d acted with the best
of intentions and he’d forgive her.

Being with Dominic had changed her. She was
no longer willing to play it safe and lay her life at the feet of
fate like a sacrifice, hoping that if she did, she could somehow
minimize future losses. No, she wanted it all – the man, the
passion, the till death do us part promise.

Chin high, she allowed herself to be escorted
by Dominic’s security out a side exit to where a limo was waiting
to whisk her back to Dominic’s plane.

Let the kidnapping begin.

Chapter Sixteen

Sitting beneath the same blanket she'd
cuddled under during the flight, Abby watched people come and go
through a small plane window. There were guards stationed both
inside and outside of the hanger. They were dressed in the familiar
black and white uniform.

Apparently, Dominic had not given his private
security guards instructions to humor her. They were stubbornly
silent, regardless of how she tried to pull them into discourse.
Upon arriving at the plane, Abby had paused before reentering the
open hatch. One large hand nudged her forward, prompting her to
turn and snap, "Stop acting like you're forcing me. I wanted to
come."

Her announcement was met with silence.

Not too long after that, one guard had
followed her down the short hallway to the bathroom. She'd wagged a
warning finger in his face, "Don't even think you're coming in with
me. What are you afraid of? That I’ll escape from the bathroom? It
doesn’t even have a window."

The guard had simply turned his back to her,
filling the space just outside the door with his massive frame. She
held back an urge to bean something off the back of his head. The
longer she waited for Dominic to return, the more her agitation
grew, but she wasn’t stupid enough to act on it.

Almost two hours had passed without a word
from Dominic. She’d watched most of the press conference on the
plane’s television. On the outside, Dominic had looked calm. He
fielded questions about how long he had been planning this act of
philanthropy. He accepted thanks from the leaders of countless
organizations. Every news station was calling Dominic a role model
for businessmen around the world. People speculated that his
actions would forge a new and strong relationship between the US
and China. Dominic accepted their praise with a calm they assumed
was humility, but Abby understood was cold control.

During one part of the press release, a
reporter made a statement rather than asking a question. He said,
"No one saw this one coming, Mr. Corisi. You've taken the world by
surprise."

Domini had looked directly into the camera,
directly into her soul and said with an icy tone that rang oddly
against the warmth in the reporter's praise, "It's often difficult
to predict what anyone is capable of."

Abby had clicked the television off.

He was still angry. She had hoped that his
temper would have cooled with time or that after speaking with
Scott he would have realized that she had met Zhang for the first
time during this trip. No plotting. No subterfuge. Just misguided
good intentions.

Abby pulled the blanket tighter around
herself and rolled her eyes at the guard who seemed pleased that
she was settling down. She said, "Before you pat yourself on the
back, let me just say that the real challenge would have been
keeping me off the plane."

Not so much as a twitch in response. Damn,
these guys were good.

Abby closed her eyes and let herself drift
off into a restless sleep.

Abby woke to Dominic lifting her off the
couch like a small child. The plane was moving on the runway and
Dominic was carrying her toward the bedroom.

He threw her on the bed.

She opened her mouth to say something, but he
stood over her like some conquering pirate looking down at his
share of the spoils and coherent thought flew right out of her
head. His eyes were still dark with fury. His muscles were bulging
with barely contained anger and Abby thought he'd never looked
sexier.

Surprise filled her as she realized that
being kidnapped by the man she loved was more than a little
sexually exciting. However inappropriate, she wanted to give in to
this fantasy and be taken with all the emotion throbbing through
him. The cold mask was gone. In its place was a deep hunger that
mirrored her own. He just didn’t look as happy about it.

"Sleep in here," he growled. "I've got some
calls to make."

Abby rubbed the back of her hand over one of
her eyes and rolled over onto her side as she asked huskily, "Where
are we going?"

"Not back to the United States, if that is
what you're hoping," he ground out.

Remorse trumped fantasy. Abby sat up.
"Dominic, if you'd just listen to me, I could explain about
today."

His breath came out as harshly as an
expletive. "I don't have the energy for your lies, right now, Abby
-- if that's even your real name."