Page 47 of Brandishing Betrayals

She narrowed her eyes at me, before those beautiful amber eyes of hers slowly slid down my body, taking in my dress pants and green dress shirt. Her lips parted as her eyes widened as her eyes slowly slid back up my body. I’d even washed and brushed out my shoulder length blond hair for her tonight. I smirked and cocked an eyebrow at her, waiting for her to make up her mind.

Maya shot a glance at Marcos and Luke, both of whom were watching her. Luke smiled at his mom, while Marcos remained emotionless, but I knew he was hoping she would take the bait. “And where are we going?” Maya asked, setting her book aside.

“You’ll have to come with me to find out,” I shot back.

An amused smirk tugged at Maya’s lips as her gaze returned to me. “Ok.”

Excitement roared within me as I smirked down at her. “Ten minutes,” I reminded her.

Maya stood up quickly from the couch and moved over to Luke. “Alright buddy, have a good weekend with your dad. I love you.”

“Bye, mom!” Luke wrapped Maya in a huge hug. “I’ll see you Sunday!”

Marcos gathered up Luke’s bag and pillow and headed for the door, he glanced back at me and gave me a subtle nod, before he walked out of the house with Luke in tow.

Maya zipped off to her bedroom and while she was gone, I headed down the opposite hallway in search of her mother. Ifound Mrs. Henderson walking toward me though, so I didn’t have to search. “Mrs. Henderson,” I greeted with a smile.

Mrs. Henderson raised an eyebrow at me. “Nico?”

“How are you? How’s Mr. Henderson?” I played things sweetly.

Elaine pursed her lips and headed for the kitchen. “He’s doing alright, for what it is,” she answered pragmatically. “The nurse that comes in during the day is wonderful.”

“Oh, that’s nice that you have help.” I nodded.

“Yes, well we wouldn’t be able to keep my husband home without her, or Maya really. She’s the one that helps move him and that’s when the nurse isn’t here.”

I swallowed hard. “So it’s the nurse or Maya?” I asked. “How’d you manage while she was in Chicago last weekend?”

Elaine shrugged a shoulder as she headed over to the fridge. “I can manage a little bit here and there. We have Clarice bathe him twice a week and help get him situated. Besides feeding and helping him use the bathroom, there’s not much that needs to be done.”

“You can help him up and get him to the bathroom?” I questioned, wondering just how strong Mrs. Henderson was.

“No, dear. He’s bed bound.”

“Ahh.” Nico could read between the lines on that one.Wiping his ass. “Did you have any plans this weekend?” I asked, trying to politely speed her along.

“No, I’ll be staying home with my Harry. Why, dear?” she asked, cutting straight to the chase while she peeked into the mostly bare fridge. She pulled out a glass container, containing left-overs most likely and set it on the counter and closed the fridge, before she turned to me.

I smiled sweetly at the hunched over woman. “I was going to take Maya out to dinner tonight, and was hoping to spend theday with her tomorrow. If she agrees, of course. I just don’t want her to feel pressure if you needed her here.”

Elaine pursed her lips again, her eyes narrowing on me. “And what exactly are you planning with her?”

“You know dinner tonight, maybe a movie. Tomorrow, I booked her in at the spa downtown. Thought maybe she could spend the day de-stressing.”

Elaine didn’t seem happy about what I had planned for Maya. Was she going to tell me no? Or would she give Maya flack about it later? I really didn’t want Maya to get into it with her mother. They fought enough as it was… or at least they used to ten years ago.

“Nico?” Maya asked, as she walked into the living room.

I left Mrs. Henderson in the kitchen without an answer and headed into the living room, finding Maya walking toward me, looking utterly breathtaking. A short-sleeved black wrap dress hugged her curves and fell to mid-thigh. It was classic and tasteful and stunning. “Gorgeous,” I grinned and immediately walked over to her. I reached for her hip and pulled her against me, and pressed a hard kiss to her lips before she could say anything else.

She was breathless when I pulled away from her a moment later.

“Come on, let’s go. I already told your mom I was taking you out for dinner.”

Maya frowned slightly and glanced at the kitchen, but she didn’t comment. She gathered up her purse, phone and keys and followed me to the door. “Bye mom, I’ll see you later!” she shouted over her shoulder.

Once outside, I let out a deep breath. Elaine had never liked any of us, and we had mostly kept our distance, but she was even more grouchy—if possible—in the six months since we’d started coming to see Luke. It was a good thing Marcos mostly justpicked up Luke to hang out and they didn’t have to hang around the house.

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