The Vintner and The Vixen

Chapter 14

Jacques scanned the faces at the airport, searching for his driver. Instead Daniel stood there, wearing a chauffeur hat and carrying a sign with Jacques's name on it. His brother's antics made him smile. But the warmth coursing through him had more to do with the knowledge that in half an hour he'd have his arms around Maya. Ten minutes after that he hoped to have her naked body pressed against his. That was the homecoming he wanted after sixteen nights away.

"You moonlighting?" Jacques asked as Daniel reached for his bag.

"Grand-Papa sent me."

"Is he okay? Is Maya okay?" Jacques scanned his brother's face, a trickle of fear replacing the warmth of a minute ago. Dieu, what if Maya had crashed on that motorbike of hers? She drove it too fast, and there wasn't even a scrap of metal to protect her. His stomach churned. He couldn't go through that again.

"Both are fine," Daniel replied quickly. "We want to talk to you about Maya."

They exited the airport and Daniel directed him towards his Mercedes parked as far away from all the other cars as possible. "What about Maya?"

"According to Grand-Papa, you're having an affair."

Jacques shrugged. He wasn't a man to kiss and tell. Or in the case of Maya, have multiple never-before-experienced orgasms and then brag about it. "Is that what you want to talk about, my relationship with Maya?"

He wasn't sure he wanted his brother or grandfather's interference. What he and Maya shared was too explosive to involve other parties.

"In a way. We're concerned that you'll let your experience with Clarisse stop you from letting Maya into your heart."

Jacques stopped walking. Really? Relationship advice from the world-famous playboy who'd never had more than two dates with the same woman? "First, it wasn't an 'experience with Clarisse'—it was a god-awful marriage. Second, I want Maya in my bed, not my heart."

Daniel laughed and carried on walking so Jacques had to jog to catch up with him. Or take a taxi home. That was looking like the better option at the moment.

"That ship has left the harbor, mon frère. You may think you're just banging her, but that woman is so deep inside you, you don't know where you finish and she starts."

"You're a prick, do you know that?"

"So I've been told. But the word coming down from Grand-Papa is it's time to move on and give Maya the chance she deserves."

"She takes risks—drives that bike of hers too fast and climbs ladders with a heavy chainsaw—how can I live with that? Knowing she could be hurt or killed? I can't go there again." It was the shallowest of the deep, dark places he wasn't going to again, but Daniel didn't need to know that.

"Maya takes risks at the moment because she has nothing to lose. I'll bet you anything that once she knows you feel something more for her than lust, she'll be extra careful because she won't want to worry you."

"I don't know. She's a wild child; she's lived her life on the edge."

"And that's why you're the perfect couple. You can teach her control. And she can help get rid of that pole you've got shoved up your ass. Don't let your woman slip away like Grand-Papa did. Hold on to her, Jacques."

"Maya and I can't live the life that Charles and Yvette should have had."

Daniel let loose a frustrated sigh. "He doesn't want you to live the life he wanted. He wants you to live the life you deserve. A life with a good woman at your side and a house full of children to keep you from forgetting what's really important: family."