"What do you want?" Lisandra asked not bothering to hide the annoyance in her voice. She was still pissed at Gwen for ratting her out to Max. They'd been friends since high school and she thought their friendship meant something. It turned out Gwen didn't care about her otherwise she wouldn't have ruined her image in front of her brother. Not when she knew how she felt about Max and how much she wanted him to love her.
"Are you seriously still angry with me? I told you, Max cornered me. I had no choice" "You could have chosen to lie for me. But you didn't even try Gwen. I thought I was your best friend" "You are. But you know how my brother is. He wouldn't have stopped until I told him the truth" "Yeah, well, thank you so much for your undying support. Now Max hates me for lying to him" "Don't say that Lisa. My brother will never hate you. He's just blinded by that bitch. All we have to do is get rid of her and things willMax was about to leave when Calvin pulled up next to him. He stood beside his car hoping to speak to Emilia about the upcoming party since he didn't want her to feel ambushed again. He'd thought about what she said all day long and realized that she had been right. He should have asked her first before hiring a bodyguard for her. They needed to work on their communication. Watching Calvin get out of the car, he wondered why he hadn't hired a woman. From his point of view, the guy was okay. Maybe women would consider him handsome judging by the way the suit he wore clung to his body. He was a few inches taller than him and weighed at least twenty pounds more than him. In fact, everything about him surpassed Max's by a few points. Well, except his bank account which Emilia most certainly didn't care about. Right then and there, he decided that she was right. She didn't need a bodyguard. "Good evening sir," Calvin said walking towards him. If he didn't know the
"Emilia, you look gorgeous today. Your skin is glowing and don't even get me started on that smile. I can see why Max is having a hard time letting you go" Emilia stopped, did a once over, all the way from his head to his shoes then did it again just to make sure she wasn't mistaken "Come again? I seem to have developed bad hearing. I could've sworn you were singing my praises" "Don't be like that pretty face. We all know your husband is throwing this party to show you off to his friends. Since I suggested the idea, I can't say it's bad but that man is cruel. Bragging about his beautiful wife to single people like us is downright evil" "Oh, I thought he was doing it to introduce me to your circle?" The rich snobby assholes who thought the world revolved around them. If she thought about it hard enough, she'd realize Max hadn't done it years ago because he knew she wouldn't fit in or he was ashamed to do it. But Emilia refused to dwell on the past.
Genevieve sat by the staircase watching the people coming and going from the house. Some of them were the people hired to plan for the party while others were the ones she'd hired to work for her. Years ago, she would have been the one giving orders. Telling them what and what not to do. She had been the great Genevieve Carter, secretly feared but openly respected. A reputation she'd earned from working hard. No one had dared go against what she said until Emilia Parker arrived at her house. Max's wife had been one of a kind. Naive, shy, obedient but also headstrong and stubborn. Genevieve would think she'd scared her but the next day Emilia would prove her wrong. Unlike the women who were after Max and wanted her approval, she didn't even try to please her.Immediately, she'd felt threatened. Maybe fighting with her had been out of fear and not dislike. For so many years she'd been the center of attention to her children but all of a sudden Max had someone else h
The heat was more intense than usual as if the sun had set out on a mission to scorch everything in its path. Including him. As much as Max loved summer, it had its disadvantages, especially for someone as forgetful as him. The amount of times he'd forgotten to apply sunscreen and ended up with sunburns was embarrassing. Nash couldn't stop teasing him about how sensitive his skin was. It irritated him to no end. Until the girls at the bar or parties flocked to him asking for his skincare routine. Nine out of ten times, the same girls had ended up under him and every time, he rubbed it in his best friend's face. Cocking his head to the side, he wondered if he should go inside the restaurant. His mother would talk his ears off if she saw him there but the place had the best burgers and cold drinks and that was bullshit. He was after the stunning, mouthy waitress who'd flat-out told him to go to hell yesterday after he'd asked for her number. As a Carter, he was used to girls
She had finally accepted his proposal after having another big fight with Chrissie, her boss. Her reasons for marrying him hadn't mattered. He knew she had feelings for him back then but not enough to call them love. As long as she was his, she'd never have to suffer again. He would make sure of it. But they'd been so wrong and naive. There was so much to marriage than just love and security. He'd made sure she never had to worry about money again but at what cost?Either way, Max had never regretted marrying her. Even when he was busy blaming her for his mother's accident, he'd never once regretted marrying Emilia. His only hope was that she felt the same way too. The party was either going to be a new beginning for them or the end. It made him nervous to think things could go wrong. Maybe throwing it so soon was a mistake but it was too late to back out. He had to go through with his plans no matter the outcome. Now more than ever he needed to get Emilia back. F
"Ugh, can you believe him, Thea? How could he pass his mistress down to his brother? What is wrong with him? Why did I marry that asshole?" Emilia breathed down the phone, pacing in front of the bed. Darren saw the best in people so he probably didn't know Lisandra's true nature but she thought Max had already found out. Why hadn't he kicked her out of that house yet?"Are you angry or jealous?" "JEALOUS OF WHAT?" She roared "Don't you get it? I'm trying to kick her out of this house but it feels like he's holding onto her. He doesn't want her but he can't let her go either" "Hate to break it to you, but that sounds a lot like jealousy" Emilia felt like punching a wall. Were they blind? Why couldn't they understand the reason she wanted Lisandra gone? Maybe a small part of her was jealous but the bigger part wanted her away from Zander and the Carter family in general. If she continued living in that house, they would never know peace. Besides,
"You look beautiful ma'am" "Thank you, TC. Is everyone here already?" "Quite a number of people have arrived." "Oh," Emilia sighed. She didn't like those kinds of parties. Not when she knew all eyes would be on her. It was unnerving to be the center of attention. She'd spent hours getting ready but still felt as if she'd missed something. Looking over her shoulder at the stairs behind her, she wondered if it was too late to run away. "I'm afraid it's too late," TC said, smiling. Emilia's cheeks flamed when she realized she'd said that out loud. She didn't know half the people Max had invited and the other half she'd only seen on magazines or TV. It wasn't a secret that she'd left Max. During the nine years they were apart, once in a while, she'd come across people cursing her and saying how despicable she was for leaving such a good man. Luckily they hadn't known who she was so no one pointed accusing fingers at her. But after that n
Max seized the guy up and decided everything about him was average. Starting from his ugly-ass face and his yellow teeth had to be a turn-off for women. Why was he still smiling? Who had lied to him about standing a chance with Emilia anyway? She was a goddess. He couldn't keep his eyes off her and knowing other men would approach her, even if it was for a simple chat, made him territorial. She belonged to him. Throwing a possessive arm around her waist, he pulled her into his side and turned to Fabbri. "If you will excuse us, we have important guests to attend to," he said, hoping the guy would get the underlying meaning. He wasn't important. "See you later, Mr. Fabbri," Emilia said over her shoulder as he was pulling her away. He didn't care that he was dragging her or that several eyes were on them. "What is wrong with you?" "Why would you go on a date with that loser?" "It's none of your business. Hands off me, Max" "Not happenin