Grand Passion

say, is there?”
    “I want to know what's going on between you two.”
    “Why?”
    Kimberly's mouth tightened. “Because Max is acting very strangely. Completely out of character, as a matter of fact. He's up to something, and I want to know what it is.”
    “I really don't think I owe you any explanations,” Cleo said as gently as possible. “My relationship with Max is personal.”
    Kimberly looked briefly amused. “Relationship? With Max Fortune? Trust me, Ms. Robbins, Max doesn't know the meaning of the word relationship . He's a robot. A very brilliant, very clever, extremely useful robot, but a robot, nonetheless.”
    Cleo was stunned. “That's not true.”
    “I've known him a lot longer than you have, Ms. Robbins. Did he tell you that we were engaged for a time?”
    “Yes.”
    “Did he tell you that he got that limp saving my life?”
    Cleo tightened her arms across her chest. “He told me.”
    Kimberly looked out at the cloudy horizon. “He asked me to marry him while he was lying in a hospital bed. He was well aware that I was feeling guilty. It was my fault he'd been shot, and both of us knew it. He used that knowledge in a very cold-blooded way to push me into an engagement.”
    “Why would he do that?”
    Kimberly shrugged. “Because he wanted me and he wanted Curzon International. I'll admit I was physically attracted to him. I tried to tell myself at first that he loved me, but I knew all along that he was just using me to get what he wanted. When Max wants something, he does whatever it takes to get it.”
    “I think you're wrong,” Cleo said.
    “Am I?” Kimberly's mouth twisted. “You haven't seen him in action the way I have. Max has a certain reputation.”
    “What sort of reputation?”
    “Once he's made up his mind that he wants something, he's almost unstoppable. Whenever Uncle Jason needed a business deal pulled out of the fire or had a problem at one of the hotels, he sent Max in to handle it. Max never failed. As far as he was concerned, whatever Uncle Jason wanted, Uncle Jason got.”
    “Max was very close to your uncle,” Cleo said stiffly.
    “Max isn't close to anyone. Not in the way you mean.” Kimberly smiled bitterly. “He used Uncle Jason, just as he uses everyone else. Max deliberately set out to make himself indispensable to Curzon. As usual, he succeeded.”
    “If Max is so ruthless, why do you want him back?”
    “Curzon International needs him.” Kimberly's gaze was grim. “At least my father seems to think it does.”
    “What do you think?” Cleo asked quietly.
    Kimberly looked out over the cold sea. “I think Max would be extremely useful to Curzon, but I also think he would be dangerous. If we pay the price he'll probably demand in exchange for his return, we'll be taking an enormous risk.”
    Cleo studied her intently. “What do you think Max wants from you?”
    “A seat on the Curzon board. Uncle Jason promised that he'd get it eventually. But Jason died before he could force the rest of us to accept someone on the board who was not a member of the family.”
    “Max doesn't seem to want to go back,” Cleo said cautiously. “He thinks you and your father can run the company without him.”
    Kimberly gave a short, brittle laugh. “That's not what my father believes. He says we need Max. At least for a couple of years.”
    Cleo looked down at the toes of her silver sneakers and then raised her eyes to meet Kimberly's. “How do you feel about it?”
    Kimberly shot her a swift, unreadable glance. “I think that my father is in charge of Curzon, and if he wants Max back, I'll do my damnedest to get him back. There, Ms. Robbins, I've put my cards on the table. You know exactly where I stand.”
    “You just want to use Max. You're no different than you say he is.”
    Kimberly mouthed a disgusted exclamation. “You don't understand, do you? Max relates to people in one of two ways. He either wants something from them, or he uses them to get something else that he wants.”
    Cleo stared at her. “Did you ever love him, Kimberly?”
    Kimberly hesitated. “I will be perfectly blunt. There was no possibility of loving Max. He and I were attracted to each other from the moment we met. But physical desire is the limit of what Max can feel for a woman.”
    “Are you sure of that?”
    Kimberly smiled coldly. “Very sure. I was surprised to learn that he's involved with you. Max is as discriminating in his taste in women as he is in his taste in