Chapter Five
Alex couldn’t figure out what was wrong with Maddie. He also couldn’t shake the feeling that it would have been a far better decision to tell Maddie he wanted nothing to do with her or the baby. He was not unaware of his mother’s aspirations for his future. The woman was mad for power. She had it in her head that Alex should be trying to put himself in competition with his cousin for the right of succession. Considering the direction the political winds were blowing in Russia at the moment, Alex couldn’t figure out why his mother thought that would be a benefit.
But here he was, in New York for business and trying to make a few political and social visits as well. Tonight they were dining with several members of a UN committee. The idea was simply to establish goodwill. It wasn’t as if it was a secret that Alex’s family wanted to depose the Russian president and return to a tsar and the Imperial Government. Alex was just hoping to dispel any rumors that there was an actual plot afoot.
“Ah, Alex! Welcome!” Senator Mackey warmly shook Alex’s hand. “Our table should be ready in just a moment. Care to introduce me to your companion?”
Alex smiled at the senator and his lovely—albeit much younger—wife. “Allow me to present Madison Castillo. She’s quite a prominent talent scout on the New York music scene.”
“Of course!” Senator Mackey gushed.
The senator’s wife suddenly took great interest in the conversation. “Oh my God, you’re the one who discovered Julietta Forest, aren’t you?”
“I did actually,” Maddie said eagerly. “Julietta is the sweetest girl. I found her playing in this dive downtown, but I knew she really had the ability to be so much more as an artist if someone would give her a chance.” Maddie reached out and gently touched the arm of the senator’s wife. “I cannot tell you how wonderful it is to hear someone else compliment one of my artists.”
“Oh, of course! I just can’t imagine how amazing it would be to get to go around finding all of these people and then helping them get a career!” The senator’s wife took Maddie’s arm. “My name is Violet, by the way. It’s just so incredible to meet you!”
The two women began chattering away while Alex looked on in amazement. Maddie was exceptional when it came to putting people at ease and getting them to feel comfortable in her presence. Then Alex realized that the senator was still watching him. Smoothing out any sign of surprise or discomfort, Alex met the senator’s gaze and smiled.
There was no telling where things might have gone from there if the hostess hadn’t arrived to take them to their table. There were three couples here this evening. Maddie and the senator’s wife were already fast friends and chose seats beside each other. Alex took a chair to Maddie’s right, which put him in a position to chat with both the senator and the member of the state department who had been invited this evening as well.
***
MADDIE HAD NO idea what she was supposed to be doing at this stupid dinner, but she figured if she could take the opportunity to put in a few plugs for her clients, then it was at least worth being here. It was difficult to believe that Violet was married to a US senator. Although she was very beautiful, she had little to no interest in politics or foreign affairs. She hadn’t even realized that the dinner was a political function of sorts.
“So,” Violet said, leaning close. “Do you really think that Nelson Phillipi will be playing here in New York in the next few months?”
“Oh, I have it on good authority that there’s a concert tour date scheduled for the end of the spring.” Maddie nodded. “If you want, I could try and get you some backstage tickets.”
”Oh my God, that would be incredible!” Violet was practically leaping up and down in her seat.
Maddie waved her hand. “Hey, it’s no problem at all!” Then she glanced over at Alex and Violet’s husband who were deep in discussion. “So what is this dinner for? You know, what’s the purpose?”
Violet leaned in close and shot her husband a surreptitious look. “Well, all I know is that Alex is some kind of heir to the Russian throne.”
“Yeah, back when there were tsars. He’s a Romanov, I think.” Maddie shrugged. “I read that on a gossip blog. I don’t know how much is true.”
“Oh, it’s true!” Violet insisted. “And apparently Alex’s mother is trying to push him into making a bid for the throne. Something about his cousin being too weak to hold it or some weirdness.”
“Wow.” Maddie mulled that over in her head. “So why the meeting then?”
“All I know,” Violet whispered. “Is that my husband claims he invited Alex to dinner to make certain that he really doesn’t have aspirations to take over the country.”
Maddie gasped, mostly because it was really very shocking to hear. Violet was basically saying that Alex was here to prove that he was loyal to the Russian president instead of his mother. Given the very little that Maddie had gleaned from Alex about his mother—especially when it came to tense topics like their baby—Alex might not have a choice when it came to participating in some bizarre Russian coup.
She gave Alex a sideways glance and wondered what she was getting herself into. Perhaps it would be better just to walk away and forget about the fact that this man was the father of her unborn child. Maybe it would be safer for them all if she just handled things on her own.
The stress made her stomach queasy. Maddie shot to her feet. “Um, if everyone will excuse me, I’ll be back directly.” Feeling so very close to ruining yet another pair of shoes, Maddie made a hasty retreat to the ladies’ room.
***
ALEX WATCHED IN confusion as Maddie walked energetically out of their private dining room and out of sight. What was wrong with her? Could she not see that the other guests sitting around the table felt that she was being unforgivably rude?
“I apologize for my dinner companion,” Alex murmured. “Shall we continue our discussion?”
“Of course!” Mackey grinned. “Women will be women.”
There were a few laughs and raucous jokes about the inconstant nature of women before the conversation turned back to more important matters. The waiter brought appetizers and then salads. Drinks were refilled and reordered as the room got a little more relaxed, and dinner progressed exactly as Alex would have hoped.
He was just beginning to think that he was making headway in convincing the senator and his fellow UN member that Alex had no designs on reinstalling the Romanov dynasty on the Russian Imperial Throne when Senator Mackey’s wife touched Alex’s elbow. He turned to look at her in surprise and realized that Maddie had never returned to her seat.
“Mr. Stepanov, I’m starting to become more than a little worried about Maddie,” Violet admitted. “She’s been gone for half an hour. I know she’s a very busy woman, so perhaps she’s just making a business call in another part of the restaurant, but I think I’m going to go and check on her if you have no objections?”
Alex shot to his feet, unceremoniously shoving his chair back as he did. Inside he was fuming. Could it be possible that Maddie was taking a business call during this dinner and managing to make him look bad as she did? The idea that she would be so selfish was abhorrent. He didn’t think he could be with a woman who would so callously be rude to people who had welcomed her so warmly.
“No,” Alex said to Violet. “I’ll go check on her myself. If you will all excuse me for a moment?”
There was a round of good natured comments and nods around the table. Alex could not help but feel like they were all laughing at him in their own ways. Not that they were being particularly rude, but this breach of protocol on his part showed a deplorable lack of manners. He didn’t appreciate being placed in such an untenable position, and he intended to be certain that Maddie knew how he felt about it.
He left the private dining room and headed back to the lounge. He fully expected to see Maddie perched on a barstool with her phone to her ear. There was no doubt that she took her career seriously and would likely not hesitate to put her commitments above her decision to be his dinner companion. Yet Alex didn’t see her anywhere.
“Excuse me.” Alex stopped a passing waiter. “Where are your restrooms?”
The waiter gestured back down the hallway. Alex gave a nod of appreciation and then headed in that direction. Could Maddie have made her phone call and then decided to make a quick detour to the ladies’ room? It seemed likely given the situation. Perhaps she would try to sway him and make him think she had been in the restroom for the past thirty minutes.
Alex snorted as he knocked on the door of the ladies’ room. “Maddie?”
There was no answer. Feeling irritated, he shoved the door open and stepped inside. The square space had three stalls and a long sink area with plenty of room for a woman to freshen up her makeup. Maddie was nowhere to be found.
Alex frowned. It was unwise for him to linger in the ladies’ room, but he couldn’t help feeling as if something was very wrong. He could well believe that Maddie had gotten caught up in her own business concerns, but he was having a very difficult time imagining that she would just leave him there with no explanation at all. She had to be in the restaurant somewhere.
“Go away, Alex.”
The voice came from the stall at the far end of the room.
Alex frowned in surprise and moved in closer. “What’s wrong? You never came back to the table, and the group was worried.”
“I just don’t feel good.” She sounded horrible. Her voice was weak and reedy.
Then Alex shoved open the stall door and gaped at what he found. Maddie was sitting on the floor in front of the toilet with her arms draped over the seat. Before Alex could even prepare himself for more horror, she gasped and began to be violently sick into the toilet. She groped for the handle as she did, managing to flush before sinking back to the floor.
“Maddie?” Alex asked weakly, feeling his own stomach heave at the sight of her. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m just sick. Okay?” She coughed, sounding utterly miserable. “I probably shouldn’t have come at all tonight. The past few days have been a little unpredictable.”
“What’s wrong?” Alex asked, completely confused.
“Seriously?” She looked at him as though he was the biggest idiot on the planet. “It’s called pregnancy.”
“That’s morning sickness,” Alex said stupidly.
“Yeah?” He could not miss the biting sarcasm in her tone. “Well, unfortunately it isn’t confined to the morning hours or to any schedule at all. Just go away and leave me alone.”
Alex felt like a complete ass. He had been imagining a dozen negative reasons why Maddie might have disappeared from the dinner table. In fact, he had already painted her with a very unflattering brush and basically condemned her for something he had no notion of. Now he discovered that she was indeed ill, and oddly enough, it was the child she carried—his child—who was making her that way. It was a very confusing sensation.
Making a split second decision, he pulled out his phone and texted his driver to bring the car around. Then he moved toward Maddie. She only gave him a dirty look and tried to push his arms away.
“What do you want?” she groused.
He plucked her off the floor and settled her in his arms. “I’m taking you home.”
“Oh.” She sounded so relieved that he felt even worse. “Thank you!”