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“No, as you might have imagined already, these are unusual circumstances. I’ll need to talk with Maxsim myself.”

“Completely understandable.”

“Thank you for coming.” I was sick inside, more so than I’d been up to now. As I leaned against the counter, I wasn’t certain I had the ability of being a good actress in me at this point. As I held my stomach, he remained where he was. “Did I miss something?”

“There is one last thing I’d like to talk to you about.”

“Alright. Fine. After that, if you don’t mind, I have a makeup birthday party to plan.”

He smiled, which was an expression I hadn’t been certain he was capable of. “Understandable, but I think this is something you’re going to want to hear.”

I pressed my hand against my face as he started talking, but within a few seconds, I lifted my head.

Completely uncertain how to react.

CHAPTER 14

Isabel

“Papa!” Mina’s squeal lit up the entire kitchen. She jumped off the stool where she was seated, flying toward Maxsim with her arms outstretched.

To the powerful man’s credit, he’d arrived with several wrapped presents in his arms and managed to drop them on the end of the island before she jumped off the floor.

Fortunately, I’d managed to scramble toward him, keeping a couple of gifts from tumbling to the floor.

Shadow was already barking, his exuberance escalating until he was matching her jumps with all four feet off the surface.

Maxsim swung her around in the air, his face beaming from hearing her laugh. Seeing them together was wonderful, which made what I’d need to tell him later something I dreaded. There was no way of telling how he’d react, but I knew him well enough to assume he’d go off the deep end.

“I think you’ve grown taller since this morning.”

She continued giggling even as he eased her to the floor, winking at me as he did.

“Papa. You know that’s not possible.”

“I don’t know about that.”

“Izzy says men are far less intelligent than women. Maybe you need to go back to school.”

“Oh, Izzy said that, did she?” He arched an eyebrow as he looked at me, allowing his heated gaze to fall to my feet.

I’d found another dress in his closet, the vivid hue of red matching my current mood. He yanked off his jacket while surveying all the baking goods strewn across the counter.

“Izzy is very smart,” Mina continued before turning her attention to the presents. “Where did these come from?”

“I’ll have you know I ran into the birthday fairy just outside. She wanted to apologize for missing your real birthday.” After tossing the jacket on the back of a chair, he tugged at his tie, all while his nostrils flared while he studied me with hunger written all over his face.

I couldn’t lie that seeing him swooning a little bit as if I was nothing but a tasty morsel was exactly what I needed after suffering in silence for hours.

I’d tried to keep busy, involving Mina in putting away the remainder of the groceries and even helping me prepare lunch. Which I hadn’t been able to eat. The news of her possible recurrence had leveled with me the type of pain I remembered so keenly from years before.

We were all so hopeful after Callista had been in remission for over a year, the longest duration so far. My mother had gone through the wringer at that point with both my father and my sister’s condition, breaking down in front of her when the doctors had not so gently told us another six months of chemo would be needed.

I looked away, biting my lower lip since I felt it quivering. The last thing I wanted to do was to ruin this evening. I moved toward the baking pan so I could grease it in preparation.

“Was the fairy wearing her pink tutu or the purple one?” I managed.

“Oh, the purple one. With feathers and glitter.” Maxsim’s answer delighted her.