A Man in a Million

“Thanks. Are they already seated for dinner?”

“Yes.” He hesitated as he took her bag. “But…perhaps you’d like to change before going in?”

“No.” She was late enough already.

She thanked him again and went to face the lions. By the volume of talk coming out of the dining room, she figured there were probably twenty people tonight. Not a surprise. Her father had always said that was a good number. Intimate enough so there could be a single conversation over the table; public enough so that rivalries could be diffused.

The moment she came into the dining room’s archway, Richard looked up from the head of the table. Somehow, it was a shock to seen him, even though he hadn’t changed at all.

No, she thought, he was just the same. Still pale-haired, tanned, fit…with eyes like motion detectors. When Richard looked at you, you weren’t so much stared at as surveilled.

While the conversation at the table dimmed, his eyes flicked over her, reviewing the khakis and the polo she had on. His annoyance and disgust were evident without the benefit of words: his lowered eyebrows said it all.

To avoid the urge to run back to her car, Mad assessed his guests. As she took in the group, all she could think of were salt-and-pepper shakers: everyone was lined up, men alternating with women, the whole lot of them glowing with wealth. And their fancy exteriors honestly seemed to house dry goods. Not a belly laugh in any of them, she’d wager.

“I’m sorry I’m late,” she said to no one in particular.

“Traffic must have been awful,” Richard replied smoothly. He nodded to an empty seat on his right. “You will sit here.”

As several people murmured and all of them stared, Mad started on the walk of shame down the long, thin room, her loafers making a clicking sound on the inlaid floor. She smiled in a general way, feeling like an inept, ugly Miss America candidate. Who was about to get dinged by the judges.

When she sat down, Richard said under his breath, “You could have called.”

“I know. But I don’t have a cell phone.”

“Which makes you the only person in America without one.”

Richard turned away and promptly started to talk horses with the woman on his left, as if he were resuming a conversation that had been rudely interrupted. Mad took a sip from her water glass and thought fondly of her new lawyer.

As a salad plate was put down in front of her, she snuck a peek at her half brother, and up this close, she realized he had in fact changed. Richard no longer resembled their father, he’d reached his life goal and had turned into the man: he was a carbon copy now, presiding over his fancy guests, eating with Christophe silver on Royal Crown Derby plates, sipping from Baccarat glasses. And yes, the Maguire family signet ring was on his right ring finger.

As their father had always worn it.

Looking at the stamp in the heavy gold, everything slid into place.

Richard was like a Brooks Brothers bobble head spitting back criticisms that had made her cringe when she was growing up: her father back from the dead. That was why she was so weak around her half brother. It wasn’t just because he’d been hard on her when they’d been younger.

Putting a label on the dynamic kind of helped and she wondered why she hadn’t figured it out sooner. Then again, she’d always done her best to avoid thinking about Richard.

Which was part of the problem, wasn’t it?

Mad blotted her lips, returned the damask napkin to her lap and realized that she’d crossed her feet together under her chair like a good little girl.

Oh, hell, no, she thought. If she was going to make it through this weekend in one piece, she needed to fight the urge to fall into place.

Feeling like a rebel, she eased up, cocked one foot under her butt, and sat back down with her leg on the chair.

“Isn’t that right, Madeline,” Richard drawled.

“Excuse me?” She deliberately played with the tassel on her loafer. Sure enough, Richard caught the movement and his eyes bugged out.

He opened his mouth as if he were going to scold her, but seemed to realize that would have been absurd.

As he cleared his throat, it seemed more curse than cough. “Penelope was commenting on the new Rubens exhibition at the Met. But I told her you wouldn’t have seen it because that kind of thing doesn’t interest you.”

“Oh…well, I didn’t know there was one.” She’d always liked Rubens. His colors had such depth, it was as if you could dive into his paintings, swim in them. “I haven’t been to the Met in a while.”

“Penelope goes all the time. She’s on the board.” Richard smiled over at the woman and their eyes held.

Penelope was dressed in something white and expensive. And had about forty-five pounds of pearls around her throat, but no wedding ring. Maybe the two were a couple?

Richard lifted his wineglass. “Yes, I’m afraid the Met is of no interest to Madeline. She didn’t make it through college and art seems to elude her. She likes boats.”

“Boats.” Penelope’s drawn-on eyebrows arched. “How lovely.” As if the interest were as inexplicable and unattractive as a flying pig.

Mad opened her mouth to try and do some damage control, but then shut it because she didn’t really care what Penelope of the pearl noose thought of her.

She picked up her salad fork and—

From out of nowhere, a deep, throaty growl reverberated into the room. The bass throbbing grew louder and louder, until it cut off all conversation. Then it stopped altogether.

One of the guests laughed to fill the silence. “Maguire, old man, is Newcomb using your lawn as a landing pad?”

“That helicopter of his is horrid,” a woman answered. “I mean, honestly.”

Conversation lit up with a vengeance, a spark catching fire and blazing as the guests talked about whoever the “Newcomb nightmare” was.

Mad heard a knocking at the front door, but went back to poking the endive on her little plate. She was definitely not interested in any new arrivals.

Abruptly, the table went completely quiet again. And then the butler said, “Miss Madeline’s guest is here.”

Mad’s head jerked up.

Spike was standing in the dining room’s entryway, six feet four inches of raw man in black leather. He had a motorcycle helmet dangling from his hand, that infamous half smile on his face and his hair was a jagged crown. At his side, the butler looked kind of pasty and worried.