ARE Indecent Arrangement Part III epub

by Steph's Mac

  Mally’s brow furrowed before she managed to blink away the frown. “I’m sorry. Have we met?”

  “No. But we have mutual…acquaintances.”

  Max and Jesse. Had to be. Just thinking about them made her heart hurt. They hadn’t come after her. The past week had been hell. Getting out of bed was a monumental task for which she deserved a medal.

  She’d been dealing but instead of getting better every day, the void in her chest expanded, became a little colder.

  She’d forbidden her roommates, her bosses, and her family from mentioning their names. No one knew how to deal with her like this. She felt…lifeless.

  She thought she’d been covering it well but she’d noticed, just in the past few days, that she was never alone. Today was the exception. Tristan and Adam had a meeting that required both of them. She was surprised one of her brothers or friends hadn’t just “dropped by” for lunch or that her mom hadn’t called just to “chat.” Even Kat had made it a point to stop by the office three times this week.

  And now this woman. Who didn’t look at all like she wanted to cheer Mally up.

  “That doesn’t tell me what I can do for you, Miss…”

  “Larisa Antonoff.”

  Mally’s brows rose before she could stop them.

  “I see you know who I am.”

  “I recognize the name, yes. You’re Karel Antonoff’s daughter.”

  Larisa’s perfect lips curled slightly at the corners. “I am. And you’re the woman Jesse and Max tried so hard to be good for.”

  The disdain in Larisa’s voice nearly forced Mally to her feet so she was on the same level as the other woman. But she could never hope to compete with the woman’s air of utter cool. And all she’d had to do was mention Jesse and Max to make Mally go from walking dead to furiously alive.

  And that so wasn’t fair.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Yes, you do. I also know you don’t have the backbone to hold on to them.”

  Mally saw red as she shot to her feet. “You don’t have a clue what you’re talking about.”

  Larisa shrugged. “Yeah, I pretty much do. Max is one of my closest friends. I probably know him better than anyone except Jesse. And I know you’re not good for them.”

  The unrelenting need to scratch out the other woman’s eyes was almost impossible for Mally to ignore. “Where do you get off—”

  “And I hope you’re not so stupid to believe that they’re going to come crawling back to you. Because if they do, their former business associates will believe they’ve gone soft. And that will be so much more detrimental to their interests than you could ever imagine.”

  “Lady, where the fuck do you get off believing you can talk to me like that?”

  Mally shocked herself at the anger that spewed out of her mouth, but she couldn’t hold it back anymore. Larisa Antonoff was an entitled bitch who had absolutely no right to stick her nose into Mally’s business. Especially not Mally’s business with Jesse and Max. Of course, Mally couldn’t ignore the fact that Larisa had known the guys for longer than she had and knew them better.

  Which just made her that much more pissed off. And upset.

  That big black hole in her chest began to fill with pain. Her eyes welled with tears she refused to shed in Larisa’s presence. She wanted to go back to her apartment and crawl into bed and cry herself to sleep.

  She wanted to be done with them. With this situation. With everyone looking at her like she was fragile.

  “Well, look at that. She does get angry. Good to know.”

  “Lady, you do not want to see me pissed off.”

  “Am I interrupting something?”

  Mally swung her head toward the door and found her brother Jason standing there. Dressed in his uniform, he looked imposing. Larisa gave him a once-over and immediately dismissed him.

  “No, I was just leaving.” Larisa gave Mally a slight smile. “Have a good day, Mary Alice.”

  Then she left, as if she hadn’t just blown apart the safe little bubble Mally had been living in for the past week.

  Damn her. She’d had no right—

  “Mal.”

  Jason’s voice snapped her out of her head. He’d used his cop voice on her and that pissed her off even more.

  “What?”

  Her tone held a sharp edge that made Jason’s gaze narrow.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah. I am. And I’m sick of everyone asking me if I’m okay.”

  “Then act like it.”

  She sucked in a breath to tell him to go to hell… And realized he was right. Not that she had to tell him that.

  “What are you doing here? Is something wrong?”

  “I’m checking up on you. And before you have a conniption, be glad it’s me and not Dad. But you can’t keep putting Mom and Dad off or they will show up on your doorstep. Now, tell me what the hell happened before I find an excuse to throw those two assholes in jail.”

  “You won’t lay a hand on either of them.” She shook her finger at her brother. “I’ve decided I’m over them.” Well, not really but she was done having her life disrupted by them. Just…done. “Time to move on. And I know exactly how to do that.”

  His gaze narrowed. “Why don’t I like the sound of that?”

  She gave Jase a look that made his eyebrows rise.

  “Because you’re male and you should be afraid.”

  *

  Max woke with a shout strangled in his throat.

  “Fuck.”

  Throwing his feet over the edge of the couch, where he’d fallen asleep, he set his elbows on his knees and tried to steady his breathing.

  Damn, he hadn’t had that one in a while.

  “You okay?”

  His head shot up and he saw Jesse sitting on the recliner across from him.

  “Why aren’t you in bed?”

  Jesse shrugged. “Because I know when you wake up like this, you hate being alone. Nightmare?”

  He didn’t bother lying. Jesse knew him too well.

  “Old one. Don’t know why—”

  “Bullshit.” Jesse cut him off with one quiet word.

  Max wanted to be pissed. Knew he couldn’t because Jesse was right.

  “It was about that night.”

  “I’m assuming it was the nightmare where you don’t get there in time.”

  “Yeah.”

  “You know why you’re having that dream, right?”

  Max gave Jesse the finger. “So now you’re a psychiatrist?”

  Jesse didn’t respond to his dig. “You know you need to talk to her, right?”

  Yeah, it’d been too damn long. And surprisingly, he wanted to.

  Jesse didn’t wait for him to answer. “So get a shower and we’ll drive over.”

  “I should call first.”

  “You know you don’t have to. And you know you should talk to her face-to-face. Come on, Max. Let’s just go.”

  An hour later, Max stood at a familiar door, waiting for it to open to his knock.

  And when it did, the shock on the woman’s face nearly made him turn and leave.

  But then she grinned and she looked so happy to see him, Max wanted to kick himself.

  “Max! It’s so good to see you.” Then she frowned. “Is everything okay?” She looked him over from head to toe before her gaze darted back to his face. “Are you okay? Is Jesse—”

  “I’m fine. We’re fine.” He pointed over his shoulder, where Jesse waited a few feet behind him. “I just…need to talk to you, Mom.”

  Slightly overweight and several inches shorter than Max, Miranda Kurowski threw open the door of the house Max had bought for her years ago.

  “Come on in.” Then she smiled over his shoulder. “Jesse, how are you?”

  “I’m fine, Miri, thanks.”

  “Good. Come on into the kitchen. Have you eaten breakfast yet? Do you want something?”

  “We’re fine, Mom.”r />
  “I made scones yesterday. I know Jesse likes my scones. Come have some coffee.”

  As his mother bustled around the kitchen of her two-story Cape Cod in Bryn Mawr and Jesse kept up a steady stream of small talk, Max tried to get his jumbled thoughts into order.

  And finally he couldn’t help but simply blurt out his question.

  “Was I right, Mom? Did I do the right thing for you? Or was I a judgmental asshole for not even talking to you about the situation before I took over?”

  Jesse and his mom exchanged a look but she quickly turned her attention to Max as she reached across the counter to take his hand.

  “We never really talked much about that day, did we? We just let it…go. That was a mistake I didn’t know how to fix.”

  “I’m not sure I could have back then. I wasn’t exactly rational after what’d happened.”

  “You mean after Jimmy nearly beat me to death.” Her smile held so much sadness, and Max could’ve kicked himself for dredging up this old pain again. “You were eighteen, Max. You went to work for a Russian mobster so you’d have the money to get us out. Did you think I didn’t know that back then? Even as screwed up as I was, I knew what you were doing. And I was terrified. Of Jimmy. Of losing you. And I still stayed with him. So, am I mad at you for dragging me out of that house, kicking and screaming, away from the man who’d abused us for years? No, baby. Not even a little. I just wish I’d been strong enough to walk away by myself.”

  “He would’ve killed you, Mom.”

  She nodded. “Eventually. I know that now. But I was ashamed of myself. Ashamed that you had to save me when I should’ve been doing everything in my power to make sure you were safe. I’ve never been ashamed of you, Max. I couldn’t be.”

  “I could’ve handled it differently. I took away your choice, Mom. I forced you—”

  “Away from a man who would’ve ended up killing both of us. And my only excuse is that I thought I loved him and that he loved me and that ‘’til death do us part’ shit in the marriage vows doesn’t actually mean he gets to beat you to death. You were never the bad guy in that nightmare. You were the hero.”

  Max nodded, feeling an old knot in his chest slowly unraveling. His mom tapped her fingers on his clenched fist, narrowing his focus back to her again.

  “Now…what’s going on?” His mom looked from him to Jesse and back again. “Did something happen?”

  What the hell did he say? That their past had turned him into a jackass who’d pushed away the one woman perfect for him and Jesse?

  He exchanged a glance with Jesse, who raised his eyebrows as he stuffed another scone in his mouth.

  Then he took a deep breath. “So we met this girl…”

  Chapter Seven

  “Well, damn. Is that like a giant goddamn sign or what?”

  Jesse stopped beside Max, standing with his arms crossed, staring at the bank of surveillance monitors in Shivers’ security room.

  “She’s here with friends.”

  “They could’ve gone to another club.” Jesse rested his hands on his hips, feeling no pain from his wound. He hadn’t for the past couple of days. “And yet here they are.”

  “Maybe she wants us to see she’s moved on.”

  “Or maybe fate is handing her to us on a plate.”

  Jesse had never believed in fate. Life was what you made it. You had to go after what you wanted. Jesse wanted Mally. Max wanted Mally.

  And after Max had spoken to his mom, Jesse had thought they were back on track.

  But another two days had passed and Max had avoided the discussion. Now, there was no way Jesse was letting him avoid it anymore.

  But Max was right. She hadn’t asked for them and she looked completely focused on having a good time with her friends. Dancing, laughing, drinking… Though Jesse was pretty sure that was soda in her glass.

  “I’m done waiting,” Jesse said.

  Max stiffened beside him, sucking in a rough breath. “I know.”

  “So…do we do this together or are you seriously going to give up the one woman who’s made for us?”

  Max looked at him, but the anger Jesse expected from him wasn’t there. Instead, he saw heat in Max’s eyes.

  “You think we should just walk out there and throw her over my shoulder? And expect her not to put up a fight or call the cops or her brothers on us?”

  “I think we should walk out there and beg her to take us back because I’m pretty sure the caveman routine will send her running for the doors.”

  “And if she tells us to fuck off?”

  Jesse shrugged that off. “Then tomorrow we try something different. And the next day and the next until we wear her down. Hell, I’m ready to beg if it comes to it.”

  Max’s mouth quirked into a grin that made Jesse want to breathe a sigh of relief. “Then I guess we better prepare to grovel and do it with a smile because she’s not going to let us off the hook that easily.”

  “We’ve had to fight for everything else.” Jesse grinned back. “Why would our woman would be any different?”

  *

  Mally had almost begged her friends not to come to Shivers tonight.

  They’d been talking about where they wanted to go on the rare night they all had off and Bethann had kept raving about this place. Of course, everyone had wanted to come here.

  No one but Izzy knew that Max and Jesse owned this place or about Mally’s connection to the men.

  They only knew she’d been seeing someone and she’d walked away and she’d been telling them for a week that she was over them. She almost had herself convinced. And then the little voice in the back of her head laughed hysterically.

  Luckily her friends had bought her story and she couldn’t say no when they’d told her she had to come out with them.

  “Stop thinking so much, Mally,” Izzy yelled at her over the throbbing house music. “We’re here to have fun, unwind. The least you could do is try.”

  Mally, Izzy, Damaris, Bethann, and Bethann’s older twin stepsisters, who looked like freaking fashion models, had commandeered a small table away from the crowded dance floor. Mally had been trying not to bring everyone’s mood down. But really, all she wanted to do was sit and sulk in the corner and keep an eye out for the two men she wanted to magically appear and whisk her into the back office where they’d tell her they couldn’t live without her and they’d been pricks to let her go.

  And again, that little voice laughed.

  “I’m not thinking.” At least, she wasn’t trying to. “The music’s kinda loud and I’m getting a headache.”

  “Oh no you’re not.” Then Izzy grimaced and leaned closer. “I’m sorry. This place was a bad idea. It’s just that when Bethann suggested it, she was so gung-ho and then Damaris jumped on and they know I’ve been here a few times and really loved it so I was worried if I tried to talk them out of it, I’d have to explain why and I wasn’t sure if you’d want me to.”

  All of which made sense. She hadn’t told any of her other friends about Max and Jesse. Hadn’t quite known how. Bethann might’ve put two and two together about her fiancé’s gambling issue and then it would’ve become a thing.

  “I’m fine. Seriously.” Mally had to lean close for Izzy to hear her while the others were out on the dance floor. “Maybe it’s a little soon after…everything happened. And yeah, it’s kinda hard not to think about them while I’m here.”

  “Then maybe you should go find a guy out on the floor and have a little fun and forget them!”

  The idea was so repugnant, she shook her head before she could stop herself.

  “No way. I’m not ready.”

  Izzy’s gaze drifted over her shoulder toward the dance floor for a second before darting back, brows raised. “So I guess I should tell the two men approaching the table to back off?”

  Mally rolled her eyes and deliberately didn’t look over her shoulder. “God, I do not want to deal with more testosterone today. Men are totally off-limit
s.”

  A lull in the music meant her voice sounded a little louder than she’d meant and she groaned. But if it meant these men would leave her alone, she didn’t really care.

  “Ms. Dabrowski. We’d like to have a word.”

  Mally blinked. Was that…

  She sat up a little straighter, shooting Izzy a glare that her friend answered with an apologetic shrug and a hopeful light in her eyes. Her heart began to pound out a faster rhythm than the current song, and she froze for several seconds before taking a deep breath and turning.

  Max and Jesse stood only inches away. They were dressed for business, both in dark suits and white shirts. Max wore a tie that he’d loosened. Jesse had no tie. Both of them looked good enough to eat.

  Mally blinked back sudden tears. It so wasn’t fair. She wanted to be angry with them, wanted to send them away with a pissy comment or even just ignore them. She couldn’t do it.

  “I don’t think we have anything left to say.”

  “We do.” Max held out his hand. “Come back to our office and hear us out.”

  Her heart actually hurt but she knew if she went with them and all they wanted was to find out how she was feeling… That would make everything so much worse.

  Jesse and Max exchanged a glance then Jesse stepped forward, holding out his hand as well.

  “What are you doing?” Her voice sounded like a squeaky toy and she couldn’t believe they heard her over the music.

  “We’re staking our claim,” Max said.

  She swore her heart stopped beating for several seconds before resuming at heart-attack speed. “And what’s changed since the last time we saw each other?”

  Jesse and Max exchanged a quick glance before Max took a deep breath. “Nothing. Except for the fact that I don’t want to live without you.”

  Mally felt like Max had hit her over the head with a silly stick, but they’d hurt her so badly, she wasn’t sure she knew how to respond. She wanted to take their hands, wanted to let them stake their claim. But…

  “Did something happen?” Oh god, had someone tried to hurt them again? She jumped off the low couch she’d been sitting on and took a good look at them. “Were you hurt?”