boiled in Tahlia’s veins. She wouldn’t be put down by this woman a second longer. She’d been Bailey’s whipping boy—or girl, for that matter—for two years, but no more. “Watch yourself, Bailey. Be very, very careful before you utter another word.”
“Why? Because you’ll fire me?” Bailey laughed, throwing her head back. “Well, don’t bother. I quit!”
“Good, you’ve made my life easy,” Tahlia responded, facing the angry-faced woman. “I don’t have to fire you. Please pack your belongings and don’t let the door hit you on the way out.”
Bailey took a step toward Tahlia. “You’ve no idea how to run this gallery. Mark my words, you’ll be out of business within the year because you’re a flighty ditz.”
“Get out!”
“Gladly.” Bailey stormed from the conference room.
Tahlia followed Bailey to her office. She watched her open and close drawers and bang items around as she packed a box. She was keeping an eye on the woman because she wouldn’t put it past Bailey to try to sabotage her. Her former boss was packed in five minutes flat and stalking toward the front door, her stilettos hitting the wood floor like spikes. When the door finally slammed behind her, Tahlia let out a long sigh of relief and leaned against one of the walls.
“Wow! That was dramatic,” Faith commented from behind her.
Tahlia breathed in deeply before she spoke. “Yes, it was. I just hope she wasn’t right.”
“Right about what?” Faith asked, folding her arms across her chest. “About you failing? That’s a lot of hogwash. Bailey just had sour grapes because Arthur Knight didn’t leave her the gallery. Though I shouldn’t be surprised it was you. You and he always did have a special bond.”
“Yeah, we did.” Tahlia became wistful as she glanced at one of the benches where they used to sit. With her father gone, Arthur had been like a father figure to her, filling a void she hadn’t known she’d needed filled until she had someone to confide in about her hopes, her dreams and her fears. She remembered sitting with Arthur during his lunch hour and talking at length. He hadn’t wanted to go back to the office. Instead, he wished he was in the Louvre in Paris. With Lucius’s mother, perhaps?
“Don’t worry.” Faith reached across and patted Tahlia’s arm. “You’ll do great. You’ve always had tons of great ideas that Bailey would never listen to. But this place—” she spread her arms wide “—is yours now. And you can do with it as you please. Invite whatever artists you want to exhibit.”
Tahlia beamed as she stood up from the wall. “You’re right. We’re—” she pointed to Faith “—going to do great things here. And Bailey Smith will rue the day she ever underestimated me.”
And so would Maximus Xavier Knight. If Kaitlynn was right in her assumption that he would try to charm her, then Tahlia was going to have to have her wits about her.
Maximus pulled his blue Bugatti sports car in front of Art Gallery Twenty-One later that evening. He’d tried unsuccessfully to make it earlier so he could invite Tahlia out for lunch. His schedule had been an endless array of meetings as he tried to keep Knight Shipping clients calm. They were all worried with Arthur’s death about the status of the company. And quite frankly, so was Maximus. How was he supposed to run a company with only half the power? He needed to be free and clear to make decisions unilaterally. But those days were gone. He’d have to consult big brother Lucius as well as Tahlia on every major decision that he made. The machinery deal had stalled, but the luxury vehicle opportunity was still on the horizon. They had to strike while the iron was hot.
Damn his father for putting him in this position!
He’d always done everything that was asked of him and more. And this was how he was repaid, with a knife in the back? Or at least that was how it felt to Maximus. While Lucius and Tahlia were laughing all the way to the bank. Speaking of Tahlia...
Maximus glanced at the whitewashed stucco building. Inside was the woman who held the key to whether his running of Knight Shipping would go smoothly or whether it would be hell on earth. He needed Tahlia on his side. He could offer to buy her shares outright, but if she said no then that would cloud anything that transpired between them after that. No, better to wait. Maximus hoped that with a little schmoozing Tahlia would vote to effectively neutralize Lucius. Just how far he would go to make that happen remained to be seen.
He’d told Griffin he intended to seduce Tahlia, but Maximus was hoping it wouldn’t come to that. Maybe Tahlia would see things his way and need very little convincing. Exiting his vehicle, he strode purposefully toward the door.
The gallery was well lit with vibrant paintings adorning the walls and several sculptures strategically placed throughout the open floor plan on pedestals or suspended from the ceiling. It was nearly closing time, so there were less than a handful of people milling about the room. Maximus strolled through the gallery, peering at several pieces of artwork. He’d come once before for an artist’s exhibition, but he’d hardly seen any of it. He’d come here that night to talk to his father because he’d left the office early before they’d closed a deal. He’d found Arthur hadn’t been interested in discussing business. So Maximus had stayed on his phone until the deal was finalized. But now he had time to look around to see what his father had seen in this place.
He stopped in front of a particularly intriguing painting.
“It’s quite complex, yes?” a soft feminine voice said from his side.
Maximus glanced sideways and saw that Tahlia had joined him and was looking at the painting. “Yes, it is.”
“I’ve told the artist that he should dig deeper like he did with this piece. I think he’s very talented.”
“Is there more of his work here?”
Tahlia shook her head. “At the time, I could only convince my boss to exhibit one.”
“Shouldn’t be a problem for you now,” Maximus stated, moving from the painting to walk toward another, “now that you own the gallery.” He noticed that Tahlia followed behind him.
“No, it won’t be,” she responded, “but why does that sound like an accusation?”
He turned to face her and offered an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry. I didn’t intend it that way. I was merely stating the obvious, which is you’re a wealthy woman now and the gallery is yours to run as you see fit.”
She eyed him suspiciously, as if she didn’t believe him. “Yes, it does, and I have some ideas.”
“Care to share them over dinner?” Maximus inquired. He glanced down at his watch. “It’s about closing time, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it is, but I would need a few minutes to shut down.”
“That’s no problem,” he responded. “I can wait.”
“Why would you?”
“I thought it might be a good idea to get to know my business partner since we’ll be working together.”
She nodded. “Yes, I suppose that makes sense.”
“Then join me.” He trained his dark brown eyes on hers.
“All right,” she replied. “Give me a few minutes, okay?”
“Sure thing. I’ll just mosey around.”
He stared at her retreating figure. He shouldn’t want Tahlia, but he did on some elemental, visceral level. Every time he looked into her eyes, they sizzled with fire, blasting through every reserve in his arsenal. He had not felt anything with his previous lovers other than the physical release his body craved, but there was something about Tahlia