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Jonas took Maxim and brought back Crystal. It wasn’t a fair exchange. When I woke the next morning, Crystal lay snug in her bed. Good thing she hadn’t quit her day job, because Jonas was not a man you could depend on; but I didn’t have time to tell her that, and I didn’t want to be the messenger of bad news.
I drove Charles’s car to the front of the bank, and a valet hopped in and drove it away. Walking slowly, I entered the building and let out a contented sigh. I was excited about losing myself in my work. I knew little about the insurance side of banking. Marianne guaranteed me that with her help, I would be a fierce businesswoman in no time. All I had to do was follow her lead, not ask too many questions, and go to all of the meetings and keep my mouth shut. In other words, “Fake it until you make it.”
I knew that I could do that for now. Especially the part about not asking many questions and keeping my mouth shut. I didn’t know enough to know what questions to ask. Sitting at my desk and reviewing the papers from the day before, I began checking everything to make sure the signatures matched and that the individuals signing the checks were who they said they were. It was lunchtime, and I hadn’t heard from Charles. I picked up the phone to call him and tell him that I had brought his expensive BMW back without a scratch and that I was thankful.
I had been concentrating on my work, and I didn’t see a woman come through the door. Glancing up, I caught sight of a cold, stiff expression. Standing in front of my desk was an unfamiliar yet familiar face. I placed the phone down and met her eyes. The young woman wore a very expensive cream-colored wool-and-silk suit, no jewelry except for a pair of canary-yellow diamond earrings. It occurred to me that Max loved to give presents of yellow diamond jewelry. At a distance she could resemble me, only her hair was straight and dark, set against flawless porcelain skin. She had a pair of shiny dark eyes that glared down at me.
She stood in front of my desk with an expensive purse at her side, and said, “I’m looking for Alexander Bishop.” Peering at my nameplate and then meeting my eyes, she drawled, “Oh, that’s you.” She touched my nameplate in a curious manner.
“I thought that you would be prettier,” she said, turning up her nose with a sneer and glaring at my office furniture.
“And who are you?” I said, surprised by the unsuspected attack launched at me.
“I’m the woman who’s going to marry Maximilian.” I sat up and straightened my skirt out of nervousness.
“If you are marrying him, then why do you find it necessary to give me this bit of information?” I said, standing to gain control of the situation. “Would you like something to drink, Miss, uh...what did you say your name—” She cut me short.
“Ms. Beaumont. Jessica Beaumont,” she said with ringing emphasis and a pretense of wealth and good breeding. She sat down in the chair opposite my desk and left me standing. I walked to my fridge and retrieved a bottle of water. I held up the bottle and pointed it at her, but she shook her head no.
When I reached my desk to sit, she said, “I didn’t come here to drink or exchange pleasantries with you. I wanted to inform you that whatever you had with Maximilian is over.”
“Don’t you think that’s up to Max to decide?” I said with control of my voice, showing a cool gaze to temper the heat of her black eyes.
“Max is confused, and he’s all caught up with his son. He doesn’t know what’s good for him, but that will change.”
“And you do, Miss, uh—” She cut me off.
“Beaumont. I’m sure Max has spoken of me,” she said with a haughty manner and her head held high. It was as if she had been rehearsing to affect a classy demeanor she had read about or seen somewhere, but clearly it wasn’t a natural state for her.
“I never heard him speak your name. I saw you at his fundraiser, but that was after I refused to accept his invitation.” I glanced her way, gauging her reaction. “And did Max tell you where he went when he left the podium?” Her eyes grew wide. Not waiting for her to reply, I said, “He was with me, and we were enjoying each other’s bodies. Do I have to draw you a picture?” By the slits her eyes made, and the biting of her lip, she had created a better picture in her mind than words could conjure.
I refused to let him fuck me until he came clean about the strangled woman, which he never did. A small lie is good for the soul and good for a bitch like you, Ms. Beaumont, I thought.
“We have a history together, Ms. Bishop. My family raised Max and his brother. Max and I have been lovers since we were teenagers.” She measured my gaze and body language. I gave nothing away in my expression, but I felt like shit. She continued after staring me down, “I taught him everything he knows. Maybe some of what he used on you.” Her head tilted left, and a wicked smile crawled across her face. “You can thank me for your orgasms. I taught him how to satisfy me with oral sex,” she said with a deliberate voice. My eyes closed and opened as if I expected her to disappear. “I have an investment in him.” She raised her voice. “Do you think I will stand by while another woman takes what I want and what I enjoy?” Her riveting eyes bored into me.
That bit of information had me reeling. Why didn’t my Mr. Black tell me that a psychotic woman was fighting me for his affections?
I focused my attention and rage on her. “Your parents did a very poor job of raising them, I hear. And as for the orgasms, since it was Max who satisfied me with his tongue, fingers, and body, and not you, I’ll reserve that credit for him.”
All my animosity for her and for what Max hadn’t told me flashed across my face. “Why would he marry you when all I have to do is call him and I can have him any way and anytime I desire? Did he tell you how and when we make love? Or did he tell you how I suck his dick and make him come whenever I want!”
I’m keeping a scorecard, Jessica, and you have lost this round, you cunt.
“You are a bitch,” she said with as much force as those words could command.
“Yes, and a better one than you, Ms. Beaumont.” She rose in a huff, slung her expensive purse over her shoulder, and marched to the door.
“You haven’t heard the last from me. You’re playing a dangerous game to come between me and what I want. And someone might get hurt.”
“If you harbor any notion of marrying Max, and claiming my son...”
“That’s not my intentions at all. Not at all, Ms. Bishop,” she said calmly before flicking her long hair to the side and turning to face me. “We are having our own child, and as soon as the baby is born, we will send your son off to a private school. I will be traveling with Max, and I will not have time to raise another woman’s child.”
What a pair of balls! One quick thrust to the balls can send men to their knees, but this she-devil needs a stake through her heart and sunlight to bring her down. If she continues to fuck with me, she will get everything that’s coming to her.
I flashed her a quick smile with no teeth.
I was stunned. It was a blow to me that I couldn’t recover from soon. She shot me a fiendish smile with a mouth full of straight white teeth. The glare of her smile and the intent stayed long after she walked through the door. I blinked, and all I saw was a pair of dangerous black eyes and white teeth. I sank into the nearest chair. The room swirled around me as I sat thinking about what I had heard. It took some time for me to get my bearings, and when I did, I called Charles in a nervous huff.
“Can I see you today?”
“This is a wonderful surprise, Alex. What did I do to deserve this call?”
“You know what you did. You have been kind to me, and I need to express my feelings.” Maybe it is time to start dating.
“I have a meeting this afternoon, but if you come to my office after work, I should be there at about seven o’clock. I’ll have dinner prepared for you, and if I’m late, then you can eat and then sleep in one of the guest bedrooms.”
“People will talk.”
“Oh, Alex, let them. I don’t run my life on what employees say or think, other than in business. My private life is mine and mine alone.”
After a long day it was refreshing not to travel across town and then have to be bombarded by calls, and maybe a visit from Max.
I rang the bell to the penthouse suite. It was his office and home when he couldn’t travel to his estate. A maid answered the door. Stepping into the dining room, I saw that the table was set with beautiful, monogrammed linen and crystal glassware. The chef placed the food in front of me as I sat gazing at Seattle’s skyline. I lost myself in its beauty from seeing it so high in the air.
Charles called to say that he would be late. I ate, and when I finished, the maid cleared the table. I looked around and found a bedroom that suited my taste. The furnishings were sparse and European, with Monet’s paintings hanging on the wall. The room I selected had a king bed. Sometime during the night, after catching up on work and reading a romance novel, I fell asleep. I felt a warm hand on my cheek, and I knew it was Charles. I didn’t want to talk to him, so I pretended that I was dead to the world.
He leaned over and kissed my cheek. It was a caring and warm kiss. The kind a girl longed for from a man she loved. But I didn’t love him, and I would have given everything to have that type of relationship with Max. Charles was as busy as Max, but he found time to be around when I needed him.
I hated myself for comparing the two men. I was now spending more time with Charles than I had been spending with Max. Max infuriated me so, because he left all my questions open. I still was yet to find out about the girl who by now had been buried. I never heard Max or Jonas say a word about her, but clearly one or both had had a relationship with her.
When I woke the next morning, there was a suit and accessories in front of my bed. I called out, and the maid came to tell me that Charles had an appointment and that he would see me tonight. What does that mean, tonight? I said nothing about meeting him.
After dressing for work, I tried to hide and take the elevator down to my office. I felt self-conscious, like a child who everyone knew had done something really bad, and everyone was pointing at me and whispering. I looked around, thinking I was safe when I entered the elevator, but then I heard someone say, “Good morning, Ms. Bishop.”
My hand covering my mouth, I replied with a muffled, “Good morning,” never turning to see who had discovered my secret. Who was I fooling? I put my head down and got off on my floor. I didn’t know the person, but they knew me. I couldn’t help but think about the conversation Charles and Jonas had when he was posing as Max, about having a mole in his company.
Happy not to have to drive to work, I sat at my desk and began reading about insurance and banking.
It was very early, and my smartphone rang. I decided to take Max’s calls, because of Maxim. “Yes, Max. Is Maxim doing okay without me? Are you okay?” I hoped that was all this conversation would center on.
“Maxim is doing just great, but he misses his mother. I miss you too.” I wanted to leap through the phone and kiss him and love him the way I knew I could.
“I’m working now, Max.”
“Has Charles given you something that I couldn’t? Does he kiss your...?”
“Oh my God. Stop it, Max. Charles and I haven’t been intimate.”
“Then why are you sleeping at his apartment?” He had gone the long way around to get to what he really wanted, and that was to discuss Charles St. John and me.
“How did you know that? Am I being followed?”
“I know everything you’re doing.” I craned my neck, looking around to see whether there were cameras on me or something that I hadn’t noticed, and it occurred to me—the voice in the elevator. That voice was Max’s spy.
“Max, this is not going to work.”
“Can I see you?”
“For what?”
“I’m so jealous, Alex, I might do something crazy.”
“Did you know that yesterday I had a visitor?” I didn’t want to entertain his conversation and fall into his pity trap.
“Why? How would I know who visited you yesterday?” He didn’t sound too convincing.
“You seem to know everything else,” I countered. “Another one of your fiancées, this one was alive. A Jessica Beaumont paid a brief visit to my office.” Max went silent. “Are you there, Max?”
“What did she say? I hope you didn’t talk with her.” I heard a break in Max’s voice, as if they shared a secret.
“Yes, I did talk with her. She had plenty to say about your future with her and our son.”
“There is no future with her. She is delusional.”
“She appears to be very lucid, and she claims to know you quite well. Better than me. After all she said that she was raised with you and you two had been lovers since you were teens.”
“What does that have to do with me now?”
“She is another one of your secrets you have concealed from me.”
“I didn’t think it was necessary to tell you about someone who doesn’t exist in my life anymore.”
“What did you do the night I left you at your fundraiser?”
“I took a flight out to New York. I dropped her home before then and I haven’t seen her since. Please, believe me, Alex. I have nothing to do with her. I just want you. Come back to me, sweetheart?” My breath ceased, and I felt him caressing my body. I felt the warmth in his words sliding over my breasts as if it was his tongue.
“I can’t,” I said, taking hold of my senses.
“Then you leave me no choice, Alex.” Max’s voice alarmed me.
“What are you going to do, Max?”
“I’m going to ask the judge for permanent custody of Maxim,” he said, as if he was about to take over a company and lay off the workers.
“You can’t do that,” I screamed.
“I can do anything I want, especially since I have evidence that you have been spending nights with St. John.”
“Max, don’t.”
“Then, marry me.”
I calmed myself, trying to think. Why should I accept his terms? I’d lived my life under my own terms even if I’d paid a price. It was my decision and my price to pay.
“You are not going to bully me any longer. I’m going to do everything in my power to stop you, Max.”
“That sounds like a threat, Alex.”
“Absolutely!” It was my bluff. I held one card, and it represented his heart. I was going to hold it until it became necessary to play it.