Sex and the Billionaire Crime Boss - Season 2

Ch. 16: Tomorrow Always Comes

I'm naked except for the bracelet I never took off last night, so I pull on Max's discarded shirt that was lying on the edge of the bed. I walk over to the doorway and look out into the main suite. Max is sitting in the little dining area, his back to me. He's fully dressed and looks fresh showered.

There's a basket of what looks like breakfast rolls on the table, and a large carafe of coffee. He has his laptop open and appears to be working.

All of a sudden I feel nervous. I'm not sure what I want to say to him.

I take the easy way out and backtrack to hit the shower and give myself time to think. I slip the bracelet off and place it carefully on the bedside table, then drop Max's shirt back where I found it.

When I turn toward the large shower head and let the warm spay stream over my face I wish Max would step in behind me, run his hands over my body and pull me close. We communicate so much better with sex than we do with words.

And last night . . . Last night it felt like something so much more than sex. It felt like a beginning, when just days ago I told him this was the end.

How can the same man who runs a criminal organization, does shady deals with mob bosses, and makes it his personal business to crack an abuser's ribs with a lead pipe - how can that be the same man who makes me feel so safe and cared for, the man who showed me such a vulnerable side last night when he shared his mother's story?

The man who makes loves to me with such a combination of strength and gentleness that it brings me to my knees, constantly putting my pleasure before his own.

A man whose arms I fell asleep in last night and felt like I'd come home.

As I get out of the shower I hear some activity out in the main room. At first I think Gabe is here, then I realize Max just had another tray delivered.

The door clicks shut as the hotel room service person leaves, and I towel dry my hair and run a wide tooth comb through it, spray a little conditioner on and scrunch the natural waves. I slip into one of the luxury robes the hotel provides, at least at this level.

There has to be some sort of compromise possible here. Some way that Max and I can be together without me abandoning my values. But I've never been a don't ask don't tell kind of person. I would have a really hard time living a life where a large part of who Max is couldn't be shared with me.

I walk out of the bedroom, still debating how to start the conversation, and what the end goal, realistically, could even be.

Max speaks first.

"I heard you in the shower so I ordered fresh coffee," he says, without turning.

"Thanks." I walk toward him and can see it's not just coffee. There's also a carafe of orange juice, and a platter with New York bagels and all the fixings. A separate plate of fresh fruit. My stomach gives a tiny rumble and I realize I'm actually famished. Last night's dinner seems like a distant memory.

I smile when I notice the bag with our forgotten dessert is also on the table, still unopened. I'm thinking the rich chocolate torte probably survived fine.

I walk up behind him and lean down, putting my arms around him, and am surprised when he stiffens slightly.

"Is something wrong, Max?"

He stays perfectly still. He doesn't push me away, but neither does he reach out to touch me.

"I'm not going to apologize for last night."

I frown, because that was surprising. "Why would you apologize when I was the one who seduced you?"

"Sit down, Hadley," he says. I expect him to pull me around onto his lap, but instead he gestures to a chair across the table from him.