She kept her attention trained on the paper cup as the guilt churned in her belly.
“Are she and Trace…?”
Courtney nodded. “They’re happily in love,” she confirmed.
“That’s good. That’s real good.”
“How are you?” Courtney asked, looking at Jayden again. “How’s that guy you were seein’? Tom?”
“Tony. He’s an asshole,” Jayden said with a grin. “I’m not seein’ him anymore.”
Courtney and Jayden had become friends over the last few years, spending time drinking coffee or wine, having dinner, hanging out. Sometimes the two of them, more often than not—before the chaos of the past year—with Marissa. Girl stuff. It was a friendship that had been born of what little free time they had, but she found spending time with the woman to be easy. Effortless.
They were a lot alike in many ways. In fact, they were both in love with men they knew they couldn’t have. For Courtney, it had always been Max. For Jayden … well, it wasn’t quite so simple. She’d been in love with Courtney’s oldest brother, Conner, for as long as Courtney could remember.
The fact that Conner had been married hadn’t made Jayden’s infatuation with him exactly appropriate. And Conner’s wife being brutally murdered right outside the Sniper 1 office eighteen months ago had only made things more difficult. Jayden was a fixer, the type of woman who wanted to help however she could, but they all knew there was no fixing Conner. He’d lost his high school sweetheart, the mother of his child. Based on the downward spiral he was consumed by, it didn’t appear that anyone had the ability to fix him.
Thankfully, Jayden had never put her life on hold for him, but she’d also never fallen head over heels in love with anyone else, either.
“Well, when I get back, we’ll go out. Find us a coupla hot guys to take home and use for a night. How’s that sound?”
Jayden blushed. “How long’s the assignment? I could use a hot guy right about now.”
“Who knows? Casper didn’t say. I’m sure it’ll be a few weeks. In the meantime, keep your eyes open. There’re always hot guys traipsing in and out of the office. Maybe you can snag one of them.”
Jayden laughed. “Not likely, but I’ll certainly keep my eyes open.”
After draining what was left of her lukewarm coffee, Courtney got to her feet. “I need to go home and pack. Kira’s gonna have the jet ready for me today.”
“Well, you be careful. And call me if you get bored. You know I’m here if you need someone to talk to.”
“Will do,” Courtney said, hugging Jayden. “And do me a favor. Keep an eye on Marissa. She’s safe now, but make sure she’s doin’ okay. She needs a friend. Especially while I’m gone.”
“Absolutely,” Jayden responded with a huge grin. “Be safe.”
Forty-five minutes later, Courtney was walking into her parents’ house, calling for her mother.
“In here,” Liz responded loudly.
Courtney ventured into her father’s office to find her mother sitting at his massive desk, her eyes glued to the laptop in front of her.
“Your dad told me you’ve been assigned,” Liz said with a smile, closing the lid on the laptop and giving Courtney her full attention.
Flopping down into the chair across from her mother, she nodded. “Looks that way.”
“And I heard things went well last night?”
Her mother had phrased it as a question, which meant she wanted details. Details Courtney had no intention of sharing with her. Or anyone, for that matter. “Yep,” she answered simply. “Marissa’s safe.”
“Are you okay?” Liz questioned, leaning forward and resting her forearms on the desk. “Something botherin’ you?”
Courtney shook her head. “I’m good. Just ready for an assignment, I guess.”
“This one’ll be interesting,” Liz said. “At least it sounds like it. You’ll get another chance to see how the … extremely wealthy live.”
Courtney knew her mother meant something else. Her family was extremely wealthy, but they were nothing like the rich and famous she’d been assigned to before. Liz likely meant snobbish, entitled, or spoiled. Not that it mattered; the assignment wasn’t going to be interesting. It was going to be a pain in the ass, but Courtney didn’t say as much.
Liz handled the accounting for Sniper 1 Security. She was very much the reason the company had done so well over the years, but she admittedly didn’t care for the details of the assignments.
Fidgeting slightly, Courtney felt the need to get up and head out before her mother had a chance to interrogate her about last night. Clearly no one had shared the details of what had gone down at Max’s house, and she didn’t want to be the one to tell them. Hell, if she were lucky, no one would tell them, and her mom would never be the wiser.
Right. Like that would ever happen.
Until then, she figured she would put as much distance between them as possible. Starting now.
Getting to her feet, Courtney smiled. “I’ve gotta go pack. Kira’s gettin’ the jet ready for me.”
Liz nodded and stood, walking around the desk and hugging Courtney tightly. “If you need to talk, I’m here.”
“I know, Mom,” she said softly, letting her mother’s strength seep into her. Over the last two years, she’d put a little distance between herself and her parents. In the beginning, it’d been because of her relationship with Max and the fact that she hadn’t understood her feelings for him. Since then, she’d simply felt like an outsider. Her time with Max had changed her in so many ways.
“I love you,” Liz said, releasing her and taking a step back.
“I love you, too,” Courtney replied.
“Call me when you land. Let me know you’re all right.”
Courtney nodded, then turned away before her mother could see the emotion brewing in her eyes.
With that, Courtney ventured back out into the brisk morning air. It was time to move on with her life, and she decided to embrace this situation, to accept it for what it was. It was an opportunity to start over, to completely rid herself of all thoughts of Max.
And when she returned, whenever that might be, she’d be ready to move on.
At least that was her intention, anyway.
Chapter Nine
Drunk enough? Hmm… No, not yet.
Present day
March 4th
Max didn’t try to hide the fact that he was three sheets to the wind when Angelica arrived at his house that evening. Nor did he pretend that he wanted to see her. He’d merely called her over so they could hash out the details of their upcoming nuptials. He’d met with Artemis earlier in the day, agreeing to his terms for the land.
By marrying Angelica, Max would soon take possession of nearly seventeen thousand acres of ranch land along the US-Mexico border. It wasn’t that Max couldn’t afford to purchase the land, but the senator refused to sell it outright for various reasons. Exactly how the proposition had come about, Max was still looking into, but from what his father had said, Artemis Winslow had approached him with a suggested arrangement that would benefit both the Adorites as well as Artemis—financially as well as organizationally. The downside, now that Max had agreed—he would have to marry Artemis’s granddaughter, Angelica.
Just the thought of marrying her had him tossing back the rest of his drink and marching back to the nearly empty bottle for a refill.
After the shit day he’d had, it’d seemed appropriate that he got shitfaced and had to face the wicked witch. Seeing her would only bring another downturn in his mood, and after last night with Courtney, walking away from her… Max didn’t think it could get much worse.
Hence the reason he’d been drinking for the last few hours, trying to numb the pain that had taken up residence in his chest.
I want you to leave, Max. I never want to see you again.
He could still hear her words, and every time they replayed in his head, he fought the urge to punch something.
“Sir?” Leyton called from the doorway. “She’s here.”
Max nodded but didn’t say a word.
As though walking away from Courtney hadn’t been hard enough, now he had to plan a fucking wedding.
Fucking married.
A hell of a business arrangement, wasn’t it?
Angelica’s heels clicked on the hardwood floors of his living room when she entered the room, the sound making his back teeth hurt. He downed more scotch, eyeing her as she moved toward him. She reminded him of a jungle cat on the prowl, ready to claim her mate. The thought made his stomach turn.
“I’m so glad you called,” she said sweetly, closing the distance between them, clearly oblivious to the fact he didn’t want her anywhere near him.
Max purposely put space between them. He damn sure didn’t want her touching him. After his encounter with Courtney … Max wasn’t sure he’d be able to let another woman touch him ever again.
“Sit,” he ordered. “Somethin’ to drink?”
“No, I’m good, thank you.” Angelica moved to the sofa, her eyes trained on him as she elegantly took a seat. “I thought maybe you’d offer me dinner.”
“Not tonight,” he told her.
“Somethin’ wrong?” she asked, her blue eyes fixed on him.
Max busied himself by pouring another drink, then moving to the floor-to-ceiling windows that overlooked the pool. “Nothin’ you need to worry about,” he said, slurring some of his words.
“I heard that you accepted my grandfather’s proposal,” Angelica said sweetly.
Max nodded.
“Well, since you’ve so generously agreed to marry me in order to strengthen your organization, I’d like to think that by becoming your wife, I’m entitled to hear your problems.”
“Entitled?” Max snorted. “You really don’t get how this works, do you?”
“Explain it to me, then,” she said, her tone turning icy.
Keeping his back to her, Max gritted his teeth. “Maybe you should explain it to me, Angelica. What is it you’re gettin’ outta this deal? That’s somethin’ I haven’t figured out yet. Here you are, a good girl, allowin’ your grandfather to pimp you out?”
“He’s not pimping me out,” Angelica countered.
“No? Seems that it’d be a helluva lot simpler if I just paid him the fourteen million that the land is worth and we went our separate ways. Instead, good ol’ Artemis insists that I marry his granddaughter. Sounds like pimpin’ to me, sweetheart.”
Through the glass, Max could see Angelica’s hands fisted at her sides. He was met with silence, so he glanced over his shoulder. She was looking at her feet, not bothering to answer, which raised his hackles a little. When he was in a better frame of mind, he needed to seriously give that some more thought.
But not tonight. He didn’t want to think tonight. Or feel.
Hell, the only thing he wanted to do was drink until he fell down. And if he no longer hurt at that point, he’d consider the night a success.
“It’s the right thing to do,” Angelica finally said, drawing his attention back to her. “Our marriage will benefit both of our families. With your political pull, he’ll continue to hold his office. With him giving you the land, you’ll expand your business. And if things go well, maybe we’ll be able to find what we’re both lookin’ for.”
“Which is?” he asked with a snort.
“Love. Happiness.”
Max laughed. “It’s business. Plain and simple.”
“Business. Right. It’s all about the land with you, isn’t it?” Angelica said snidely, clearly offended by his remark.
Max nodded.
“Keep in mind, I wield some power of my own,” Angelica snapped.
“Is that right?” he slurred. “You still haven’t told me what you’re gettin’ out of this deal.”
“Protection,” she said quickly, her eyes widening as though she’d said something she hadn’t meant to.
“Protection?” he questioned. “Who do you need protection from?”
“My grandfather’s a powerful man. He has enemies. If I’m your wife, he won’t have to worry about me anymore.”
Max lifted his eyebrows. Was she fucking serious? And she thought it was a good idea to marry him for that bullshit reason? He didn’t buy it. Something was off, and he wanted to know what it was, but his brain was too fuzzy to deal with her at the moment.
“Well, it looks like we all get what we want, then don’t we?” he murmured.
“If, by that, you mean we’ll have babies together, grow old together, then yes, we’ll all get what we want.”
He snorted again. He damn sure wasn’t having babies with this woman. Hell, he didn’t want his dick anywhere near her.
Rather than turn to face her, he kept his attention on the exterior of the house, watching the water ripple as it cascaded from the hot tub down into the pool, the lights beneath the water shifting from blue to red.
His mind attempted to drift back to a different day, a different woman, but before that memory took root, he felt Angelica’s hands on his back. He instantly stiffened, a chill racing down his spine, and it wasn’t a comfortable one. Gritting his teeth together, he fought the urge to pull away.
“This can be a good thing, Max,” Angelica said softly.
Her perfume assaulted his sinuses, making him instantly nauseous. There wasn’t anything subtle about the woman, not her demeanor, not her sense of fashion, and certainly not her taste in perfume. He hated it.
“Don’t wear that shit again,” he told her.
“What?” she asked incredulously, her hands falling to her sides.
“That perfume. It’s hideous. Don’t wear it around me again.”
Angelica huffed but didn’t move away. “You’ve had too much to drink, Max.”
He was thinking he hadn’t had nearly enough, but he kept his mouth shut.
“If you’ll keep your mind open to the possibilities, I think we’ll have a happy life together.” Her arms came around him, her hands sliding over his stomach.
Why did it sound as though she were still trying to sell him on the deal? Hadn’t he told her it was done?
Max wrenched out of her grasp and headed for the liquor once more. “What fucking part of this do you not get? It’s business,” he told her bluntly. “Don’t think this is some fucked-up fairy tale. We’re not havin’ babies. Hell, I don’t even wanna have sex with you.”
“Max!”
He spun around, meeting the shocked expression on Angelica’s face. She looked as though he’d slapped her, and he couldn’t even bring himself to give a shit.
“When’s the weddin’ date?” he questioned. “I need to know the logistics so I can show up when expected.”
She studied him momentarily and then took a deep breath. “I think we should do an engagement announcement,” she said, her tone chipper once again.
Had the woman not heard anything he’d said?
“We’ll have the Dallas Morning News do an article on us. After all, we need this to look real. I’m thinkin’ a June wedding would be appropriate. It’s the perfect season.”
Perfect? For what? His life sentence without the possibility of parole?
There wasn’t anything perfect about it. It was all bullshit.
Max turned back to the windows, keeping his eyes on her reflection in the glass. He didn’t want her to get too close. It wasn’t that he completely disliked her, but he couldn’t bear the touch of another woman. Not yet, anyway.
“My grandfather has some connections. We’ll book the venue of our choice. Do you have any place in mind?”
“I honestly don’t give a fuck,” he said harshly. “Like I said, I just need the details once they’re finalized.”
“Why’d you call me over here, Max?” Angelica questioned softly, a trace of hurt in her tone.
He turned to face her. Studying her for a moment, he finished off the rest of his drink before setting the empty glass on the t
able with a loud clank. Trying to pretend he wasn’t wasted, he glared at her. There were two Angelicas staring back at him. He found it sadistically amusing. As though one weren’t enough.
“To make sure you understand this is strictly business. Nothin’ more. We won’t be sleepin’ together, you won’t be in my bed, and you won’t be cookin’ my meals or pretendin’ to be the good wife. There’s a contract involved, and I’ll follow it to the letter, but know that it’ll never be about love. I wanted you to look me in the eye and tell me that you understand that.” Stumbling once but quickly righting himself, he moved toward her. “I’m not lookin’ for love or sex or a family. It’s a mutual agreement. Nothin’ more.”
“I think you’re drunk.”
“There’s no thinkin’ about it, darlin’. I’m wasted.” And yet it still wasn’t enough. “But it doesn’t mean I don’t know what I’m talkin’ about.”
“Max.” Angelica crooned his name, her hand coming to rest on his arm. “If you give us a chance, I think you’ll find that I’m not as evil as you want me to be. I also believe, in time, you could actually come to love me.”
Max wrapped his hands around her scrawny arms, jerking her forward and bringing his forehead down to hers. “I’m not in the market for love,” he barked. “Do you understand that?” The rage that boiled in his gut intensified. “Not with you, not with anyone. And as long as you can wrap your fucking mind around that concept, this’ll work just fine. If not, then I suggest you reconsider before it’s too late.”
Releasing her, Max headed toward the stairs, staggering again but managing to keep upright.
“Leyton!” he called, glancing around in an attempt to locate his bodyguard.
“Yes, sir?” Leyton responded instantly, coming to stand just a few feet away. Max had no idea where he’d come from, but he was glad he was there.
“Show her out.”
“Yes, sir. Do you need anything else, sir?”
Max started up the stairs, an ache in his chest nearly sending him to his knees. “Yes, but not even you can get that for me.”
Beautifully Brutal (Southern Boy Mafia #1) Page 8