“Was it the twins?”
He widened those hazel eyes. “How did you know?”
I handed him the garment bag. “Put this on. It should be your size.”
“Thanks.” Maxwell grabbed it. “She called you?”
“No. I just know Valentina’s games. At the core, it is her insecurities. What she did this morning was surround you with tons of women.” I raised my hands a few inches in the air. “Then, the women are rubbing those beautiful pussies all in your face. How could you not enjoy them? Especially, when Valentina is right there with you and having fun.”
Nodding, Maxwell unzipped the bag and pulled out the suit.
I finished, “Together, you have sex with a few women. You’re shocked that you’re so lucky. And then Valentina goes to take a shower, and the twins approach you on the bed—”
“And they ask to suck my dick.” Maxwell looked up from the garment bag and frowned. “At the same time.”
“And you probably said to yourself, ‘Sure. Why not? Valentina wouldn’t mind.’” I smiled. “She’s had her face between their thighs most of the morning. It will be fine.”
“And then she walked in and kicked me out.”
I quirked my brows. “By pointing a gun at you?”
“Yeah.”
I gestured to the suit. “Which is good for me because I have a problem that requires your special knowledge.”
“So, you came over here today because you knew I would fail Valentina’s test, or because a problem happened to come up right on time?”
“Does it matter? The suit fits, and as much as I’m impressed with your physique, we wear clothes in Russia.”
“I was waiting on you to turn around.”
I put my back to him. “I had no idea you were so modest, Maxwell.”
“I had no idea you admired my physique.”
“Good layering.”
“Thanks. I. . .think.” Clothes shuffled behind me. “What’s the problem?”
“I had a nice evening with Ava last night.”
“The ballerina?” Maxwell asked.
“Yeah.”
“Good for you. I know she gave you blue balls for a year.”
You have no idea.
I continued, “I got caught up in the moment and had my men. . .execute a surprise for her.”
“What do you mean?”
I broke down the entire situation from my taking Ava back to her penthouse, the phone call to Fuego, and what I found out from Naveen that morning. By the time I finished, Maxwell had dressed and stepped in front of me.
I looked at his bare feet.
Damn. I knew I forgot something.
“Wait a minute.” Maxwell adjusted the jacket and tightened the tie. “You kidnapped her grandmother?”
“It was a complication that came from—”
“But at the heart of what you’re saying is that you accidentally kidnapped her grandmother?”
“Yes.”
“Misha, thanks for the suit, but what do you want me to do about that? Your men could handle this better than I can.”
“You’re from New York. You know the area that her grandmother is from.”
“Yeah. The Bronx. That just means that when you take that duct tape off her mouth, she’s going to curse you the fuck out. And if she gets her hands on a gun, then you’re dead. That’s a Bronx woman, but then that’s most women that get kidnapped. I don’t know, if I can tell you anything else.”
“It helps that you are African American.”
Maxwell scrunched his face in confusion. “I don’t even know how I should take that.”
“With all respect, I need your help.”
“I don’t know, man.”
“You’re coming with me.” I checked my watch. “If I had days to think, I could pull myself out of this. I barely have an hour. That will be the time to get to the airport and meet them as they land.”
“Damn.” Maxwell shook his head. “Man, you could fucking. . .come up with some sort of scheme where. . .some enemy guy. . .like your archnemesis—”
“My archnemesis?”
“Yes, you tell Ava’s grandmother that your archnemesis knew how much you were obsessed with Ava and then went to New York and grabbed her, and then you save her—”
“That’s not going to work. One, I already hinted to Ava that I was going to get her grandmother. Once her grandmother tells her that some Russian guy grabbed her, then Ava will connect it to me. Two, I don’t know if Fuego has mentioned my name or not to the grandmother. And three, I don’t want Ava thinking that I have an archnemesis that will be around in the shadows, kidnapping her family members.”
Maxwell shrugged. “Hey, man. I’m not the head game guy. I kill people. I clean up dead bodies. You want me to kill this Fuego guy? I can do that.”
“No, I have someone dealing with it.”
“As far as my helping you about being black, that shit is funny.”
“I am glad you are finding the humor in that.” I glanced down at his bare feet. “We have to get you some shoes on the way to the airport.”
“And maybe you need a big ass bag of money.”