Chapter One
"You simply cannot continue like this!" Ira pounded his fist on the gold desk in front of him. He glared at Dion, obviously struggling to restrain his desire to commit homicide. "Get out! Get out! GET THE FUCK OUT!"
Dion grinned and bowed deeply. "As you wish," he said without the least bit of remorse evident in his tone, or his demeanor. He backed out of the room, and as he shut the heavy iron door, he heard a muted thud. Dion laughed, imagining his brother throwing something in a fit of rage.
Not easily provoked, Ira did not usually display such temper, and evoking such rage in him was nearly impossible, but Dion seemed to have a knack for it. He had been able to piss Ira off almost from the moment of his birth. Of course, his brother had been a bit more patient with him when he was a child, but as Dion grew into a young man, Ira’s patience wore thin. Lately, it seemed non-existent. At least where Dion was concerned. Dion blew out a breath, still chuckling from his brother’s diatribe. He really would have to try and behave himself. He could behave himself. Of course he could.
Sometimes.
Rarely.
Maybe . . . .
"Dion," his mother said, appearing in a blue cloud of smoke, "what have you done this time?"
Dion kissed Aurora’s cheek and she returned the affection. "I don’t know what you mean," he told her innocently.
"Bullshit," she said flatly. "Your brother rarely takes time out of his day to contact me, yet today, not only did he contact me, he commanded my presence!"
Dion raised a brow. "And you obeyed?"
She waved one elegant hand, as if dismissing the idea. "He is my son and I had nothing else to do this afternoon."
"What, no storms to gather, no rain, no wind, no mayhem to spread?"
She smacked him on the back of the head. "Watch it, boy. I am still your mother!"
"How could I forget?" he answered dryly.
"Tell me you’ll behave yourself and I won’t have to hear another long, drawn out tirade from your brother. He wants me to ground you."
"I’m a little old for grounding, Mother."
"He means permanently," his mother said and cut her eyes up at him, waiting for a reaction. She got what she wanted.
"Permanently? Permanently! That son of a—"
"Dion, dear," Aurora said quietly as she grabbed him by the ear just as he turned to go back to his brother’s office. She pulled him down so that his ear was next to her full red lips, and she whispered, "Since I am the bitch you are both sons of, I’m going to tell you one more time. I love you, you’re my youngest child, and very special to me. But believe me, boy, if you don’t calm down, I’ll take you out myself. Got it?"
Dion gritted his teeth. He clenched his jaw. He curled his hands into fists. "Yes, ma’am," he finally ground out.
Releasing him, Aurora smiled and patted his hand. "That’s my good boy." Then she was gone on a gentle breeze.
Dion waited, looked around, wanted to make sure she was really gone. "That smug bastard!" He said aloud. "Telling mommy on me? What, is he five years old? Can’t handle his own shit anymore? Needs his mother to help him with every little thing? Well, fuck him! I’ll do as I damned well please, and if Mr. High and Mighty doesn’t like it, he can kiss my ass!" Having already forgotten the pledge he’d made to behave himself, Dion clenched his jaw and disappeared.
* * * * *
Patty made her way through the crowd on the street. Her feet ached because she’d forgotten her tennis shoes and she was still wearing the black pumps she’d put on this morning before going to work. Now her arms ached from carrying the heavy box filled with everything from her desk. Downsizing. That’s what her boss had said. The company was downsizing and since she was the low person on the totem pole, she was the one who got the axe.
Now what would she do? It wasn’t like her landlady was going to let the rent go unpaid, nor would the electric company keep her lights on unless they were paid. Same with the cable, her credit cards, Internet service . . . everything! Not to mention the fact she would need to eat. She had less than two weeks before all her bills were due again, and her final paycheck wouldn’t cover all of them.
"Thank you very much," she said out loud, not actually addressing anyone in particular. Just then, two young boys rounded the corner and ran straight into her, spilling her box on the sidewalk, and knocking her to the ground.
"Uh, sorry lady," one of the boys said.
"Sorry about your stuff," the other one said, and the pair kept going.
"Yeah, no problem," Patty said and blew a lock of hair out of her eyes. No one else even stopped to help her. "Great, just bloody great! I could use a little help here, people. Somebody. Anybody." She got up and brushed herself off. The heel on her right shoe was broken. It was just too much and she began to cry.
"Are you all right?"
Patty looked up to find herself gazing upon the most beautiful man she’d ever seen. And he was not just handsome--he was simply beautiful. Long, blond hair, brilliant blue eyes, a square jaw, cleft chin. Good lord, he looked as if he’d just fallen off Mount Olympus. He looked like a Greek God!
"Are you all right, Miss?" He asked her again.
Patty nodded and sniffled.
"Here’s your things," he said handing her the box with its lid in place.
"Thank you," Patty said as she wiped at her eyes.
"You’re not hurt?"
She shook her head.
"Okay, then. Good luck to you."
"Thank you," she said again and watched the man walk away. Then she began limping off in the direction of her apartment, berating herself for acting like a wimp, and an idiot, in front of such a gorgeous hunk of a man!
Of course she’d be flat of her ass on a sidewalk with a broken heel and her things scattered about when a man like that showed up. She’d never meet anyone that gorgeous when she was dressed to the nines on a Saturday night, ready to go out to the club with her friends. She blew out a breath, and sighed, "Only you, Patty, only you."
She said hello to the doorman as she entered her building and pushed the button on the elevator. Opening her apartment door, she went inside, dropped the box on the floor, and threw the offending shoe in the garbage. Elton John, a big, gray tabby cat, wound his way through her legs.
"Hey, big boy, are you hungry? I bet you are," she purred to the cat and picked him up. Carrying him with her to the kitchen, she opened a can of food for him, dumped it in his dish and set him on the floor.
As the cat settled down to eat, Patty headed into the shower, stripping her clothes off as she walked through her bedroom. She adjusted the water temperature and then stepped under the spray. Standing there with the hot water pounding on her neck and shoulders, she pondered her current options.
Final paycheck: $850.00. Amount in savings account: $52.00. Bills coming due: $1,233.00. Falling down in front of a Greek God: Priceless!
"Stupid, stupid, stupid," Patty berated herself as she bounced her forehead off the shower wall. Stepping out of the shower, she wrapped her hair in a towel, dried off and went into her bedroom. She put on a clean T-shirt and barely got her sweats on when the buzzer at her front door sounded.
"Yes?" She held the intercom button down, waiting for a reply.
"There’s a gentleman here with a delivery for you, Ms. James."
"Thank you, Eddie. Send him up."
"Yes, ma’am."
Patty unwound the towel from her hair and quickly finger-combed her wet tresses.
"I wonder what it is, Elton," she said to the cat as he rubbed against her leg. There was a knock on the door. "I guess we’ll find out."
She opened the door then stood there in shocked surprise. She stared, apparently mute and deaf, because she couldn’t speak and she could see the man’s mouth moving, but she couldn’t hear what he was saying.
"Are you all right?"
"Um, I, um . . . ," she said. Standing before her was more than six feet of gorgeous, blonde man. The same gorgeous, blonde man she’d met on the sidewalk when she’d been knocked down. And now he was standing here while she was in sweats with wet hair! Geez, a girl just couldn’t get a break! "You, um, you’re here. How? Why?"
He grinned at her and she thought she’d fall over. Had she thought him gorgeous? No, he wasn’t gorgeous, that was too mild a word to describe the man before her. He was an Adonis, a Greek God, a dream come true. Good grief, could she drop her panties right here and jump on top of him?
"I found an envelope and some papers on the sidewalk just before the street sweeper got them," he explained. "I’m sorry to have opened them, but it was the only way to find out who they belonged to. Or rather, I thought perhaps they were yours since I’d seen you after that little fall you took, I just didn’t know how to reach you. I opened them to see if I could find an address."
"Thank you." He handed her the papers, his fingers brushing hers, and she felt electrical shocks run up her arm. Oh, say something, Patty, don’t let him get away again!
"You’re welcome. Sorry to have bothered you," he told her and turned to go to the elevator.
"Coffee!" She shouted after him. Oh, my god, I’m an idiot!
He turned. "Excuse me?"
"Coffee. I have coffee." Dammit, can’t I say one coherent sentence?
"Okay," he said slowly. "That’s great. See you later."
Crap! Come on Patty, you can do this! "Would you like a cup? I can make some if you’d like to come in." He smiled again and Patty felt her knees begin to buckle. What is wrong with me? He walked back to her apartment and stood looking at her. Patty met his gaze and her heart thumped. He is soooo beautiful! Can I keep him?
"Excuse me."
"What?" she asked, confused.
"You invited me for coffee, right? I can’t come in unless you move."
"Oh, right." She jumped out of the way and bumped her head on the door, then ran into the gorgeous hunk as he came through the doorway. "Sorry," she mumbled.
"No problem. I’m Dion, by the way," he said and offered his hand.
"Pat-Patty," she said and tripped as she started to shake his hand. "Sorry."
He caught her before she was completely off balance. "Pleased to meet you Patty. Is that short for Patricia?"
"No, it’s Patience. It’s such an old fashioned name. I was named after my grandmother. I always hated it, so I shortened it when I was a kid. I used to cry whenever anyone called me Patience. I got teased a lot when I was a kid, too. You know how cruel kids can be." She took a breath. Stop rambling, Patty. You sound like an idiot! "Coffee, I’ll make coffee. You sit." She shook her head. "I’m sorry. Please, sit."
"Thank you," Dion said with a big smile. "Do I make you nervous?"
"No," she said, lying through her teeth.
"Good. I don’t want you to be nervous."
"I’m not," she assured him and heard him chuckle as she went about making the coffee. He sat at her tiny, Formica kitchen table, and when the coffee finished brewing, she poured them each a cup and set a plate of sugar cookies on the table between them. "Do you take cream or sugar?"
He shook his head, his blonde hair falling around his shoulders, and Patty felt her heart do a flip.
"No," he said. "I drink it black." Patty stared at him, not knowing what else to say. He seemed to sense her utter loss of social skills and smiled again. "You have a nice apartment. Lived here long?"
"About two years," she answered. There was another silence. Why can’t I make simple conversation with this man?
"What do you do? Were you coming home from work when we met on the street?"
Nodding, she said, "Yes. Coming home from work for the last time, actually. I got laid off today, downsizing they called it."
"I’m sorry to hear that."
"I’ll find another job," she said more to herself than to him.
"Well," he said, "thank you for the coffee, Patty. And good luck to you in your job search." He rose from the chair and started toward the door. "It was nice meeting you."
"It was nice meeting you, too, Dion. And thank you for being nice to me on the street, and for bringing these papers to me."
"You’re welcome," he said and smiled at her as he reached for the doorknob. He paused a moment and looked at her kindly. "By the way, I might know of a place that’s hiring." He handed her a business card. "Come by in the morning, you might be surprised."
"Thank you," she said and took the card from him. His fingers brushed hers and again, she felt an electrical shock run up her arm. She watched him step into the elevator and waved as the doors slid closed. Then, shutting the door of her apartment and leaning with her back against it, she squealed, "Oh-my-god! I don’t believe this!"
She looked at the business card. Dionysus was printed in the middle of the card, followed by an address and phone number, but it gave no hint as to what his business might be. Patty sighed. It didn’t matter, though, maybe her luck just changed for the better.
