by Hadley Quinn
At that point, Max couldn’t even believe what was going on. He’d been so caught up in bullshit with Kate, he hadn’t even considered what his dogs were doing. Maybe they’d only sniffed out a stash of pot or maybe they just smelled it on something in the car. He knew a younger Kate wasn’t a stranger to weed.
Max stood there, practically stunned, until Jake pushed him away from the car further. Both Bo and Luke were nudging his hands, so he leaned down to pet them as he not only watched two officers question Kate, but search her car for drugs.
And sure the fuck enough, she had a stash of cocaine in her center console.
“Unbelievable,” Max mumbled. Wade had joined them by now after parking the SUV, and then he led Anna and Chase into the house.
“Why don’t you go inside with your family and I’ll handle this,” Jake told him. “If they need you, I’ll let you know.”
Max was more than happy to go inside. He did, however, watch discreetly from the window so he could see for himself what was going on. Kate was actually handcuffed and put into the back seat of a police car. He made sure Chase was busy playing with Anna in the family room because he surely didn’t want him to see his mom getting arrested. Jake informed him that the other officer was waiting for a tow truck to impound her car.
It was an unbelievably long night, and by the time Max got Chase tucked into bed and had read a couple of stories to him, it was well after ten o’clock.
And not once did Chase ask about his mom.
***
“Dude, possession of cocaine,” Teague said over the phone the next morning. “God, I hope they throw the book at her.
Max could have felt the same way, but he was worried about Chase. He didn’t know what this meant for his future, or if it would even affect his future.
“They found it in her apartment, too,” Max informed him. “Jake told me there wasn’t a shit ton of it, but it was obvious she’d been using.”
“They tested her?”
“Yeah, she had it in her system.”
It made him wonder how long it’d been in her system, and why it was in her, and how in the hell she could even do something like that with Chase around.
“What about Chase?” Teague asked. “Is he okay?”
“You know, he hasn’t even asked about her. And I don’t even know if I should subtly question him or not, but since Harvey has us meeting with the judge later today, I’ll leave it alone for now. I’m just in shock that she’d even have that shit around him. I really am. She’s a vindictive bitch, but I honestly thought Chase was in good hands. He always looks well taken care of.”
Teague paused. “I don’t know, man. Maybe she was just starting to get into it, you know? That friend of hers, Angel, I’m pretty sure is a cokehead.”
“I don’t even think anything will come of it. Rich socialite with money to spend on blow. Nothing new in this city. And I don’t think anything permanent is being decided today, but I’m petitioning for full custody for now.”
“For now? Do it permanently. And do it while he’s still young so he doesn’t have to go through this shit anymore.”
Max didn’t have any answers. Soon enough there would be more tabloid stories, and he even expected Kate to accuse him of something else or go on another tabloid spree. Honestly she had no dignity left.
“Anyway, I gotta run. They’re filming at the café today and I’m going to take Chase for a milkshake and say hi to everyone. You should join us.”
“Ah, man, I wish I could. I have a therapy appointment in five minutes. But I’ll meet up with you guys. Don’t miss my text.”
“Gotcha.”
They hung up, just as Anna came out of the bathroom with a towel around her body. She gave him an instant hard-on just from seeing her. He tossed his phone on the bed and checked the clock. It was almost nine a.m.
“You dirty dog, we have things to do today,” she said, noticing the look on his face.
“Just ten minutes,” he smiled at her as he backed her up into the bathroom. He locked the door behind them and turned the bath water on for noise. Pulling the towel open, he ran his tongue over his lips at the sight of her body. “God, you’re so beautiful,” he whispered.
He kissed her lips until she was kissing him back, his fingers massaging against her pussy.
“Max,” she softly moaned into his mouth.
He dropped to his knees on the tile. His tongue pressed into her clit and she gripped his hair in her hand. His need to taste her became reckless, and he aggressively partook, placing a leg on his shoulder as he pleasured her with his mouth.
“Ten minutes my ass,” she huffed out, short of breath. “But I’m not complaining.”
Max smiled before he moved her to the large chenille bath rug and laid her on her back, his cock easing inside of her. The tighter she gripped him, the harder he’d thrust, and when he could feel her shatter beneath him, her breath released in a shaky exhale.
“I love you,” he said as he kissed her forehead. “I know it’s lame to say that after I just fucked you senseless, but I can’t help it.”
She laughed. “So if I say I love you back, I’m not being sensible?”
“Well now, let’s not get crazy.”
“And where are you going, babe? Jeez, get back inside me so I have to take another shower.”
“I think I hear Chase up.”
She paused to listen, but Max didn’t hear anything that time. Maybe he’d been wrong.
“You want me to go check on him while you hop in the shower?” she asked. “I’ll meet you there if everything is okay, and if not, it’s you and Hand Solo.”
He shook his head at her awful joke but couldn’t help it when he laughed.
“Ah, see? You think it’s funny,” she smiled at him.
“Maybe a little,” he agreed as he tested the temperature of the already running water. “Hurry up, beautiful. Hand Solo is supposed to have the day off.”
Chapter Thirty-Nine
As Max sat on the plane, waiting for the pilot to take him home, he felt completely drained. He’d spent an amazing Christmas holiday with Anna and Chase—and the rest of his family for part of it—before heading out for a week to film the action scenes to complete his movie. Filming was now finished and the cast and crew had been released hours prior, but there was something else on his agenda he knew he needed to attend to and he wasn’t sure if he had the energy for it.
The pilot boarded the private aircraft and smiled. “Back to Los Angeles we go.”
Max really wanted to get back to Anna and Chase, who had already left Colorado early that morning. He had stuck around to do some networking with the town and to have lunch with the mayor and a few other prominent people, thanking them for their hospitality while the scenes were filmed. It had been a fabulous experience, and what was even better, Teague had even filled in for one of the stunt guys who’d gotten sick a few days earlier and had to go home.
It was nice working on the same set as his brother again, and it had been an honor to have him a part of it. Between Christmas with the people he cared most about and an amazing week of location filming, the New Year was starting out with success.
“You sure you’re up for this?” Jake asked after takeoff.
“No. But I’ll do it anyway. Just feels necessary.”
“You’re a good man, Max McCallan. I don’t care how many shitty things are said about you.” He pretended to hide a smile, but chuckled anyway.
Max was amused. Jake had surprisingly become a good friend to him. It was difficult putting so much trust in one person to know such a large part of his life, but they seemed to mesh pretty damn well.
“Your former housekeeper has been trying to get a hold of you,” Jake mentioned. “She seemed pretty desperate to contact you, so I took the liberty of looking into it. Apparently someone paid off her daughter’s student loans? I can’t imagine why she’d need to see you about that.”
Gretchen hadn’t been far from Ma
x’s thoughts lately. Yes, he’d checked in on her. She hadn’t found employment yet, and her daughter was so close to finishing a college degree. It only seemed right to give her that as a bonus.
“Let her come see me, then,” he answered. “I’d like to have her back.”
Jake didn’t hide his surprise. “You’re making an exception, huh?”
“Yeah, I guess. She was a great house manager and I’m positive she’ll be loyal to me and not my father.”
“Unlike your previous bodyguard who will not be replacing me, correct?” Jake said with a level gaze.
Max laughed at the drab face he made. “No, your job is secure, man.”
They flew in silence for a few minutes. The private stewardess offered drinks, to which Max agreed to some whiskey. He hated flying, it made him nervous.
“And what about Olivia Douglas?” Jake inquired when the stewardess returned to her spot at the back of the plane.
Max took a moment to deliberate. He knew what his bodyguard was asking. A couple weeks back, just after Christmas, Olivia had been trying to get in touch with him again. Apparently she still wanted to talk things over. Around the same time, she’d also been cast in a new movie. The publicity for her comeback had made quite a splash. She’d even gone on late night talk shows to get her name out there again, but not only that, strongly implied that she and Max had gotten “reacquainted.” Of course that created some headlines because of his relationship with “Pro Surfer, Anna Evans.”
Using his name was how Olivia had gotten herself back in the spotlight again, and he wasn’t too pleased.
“I may or may not have decided to blackball her from this industry,” Max admitted. “If you name drop in Hollywood, you sure as hell better have that name to back you up. Otherwise your career is as good as dead.”
“She had a quick change of heart.”
“She’s had five years to think it over. But I’ll be damned if she’s going to use me to get her foot in the door again. Not after the hell she’s put me through. I don’t give a fuck if that sounds heartless.”
“Realistic, not heartless. And I think you should take up those invites of your own for late night shows. You can set the record straight however you see fit.”
Max laughed, but musingly. “I’ve agreed to a couple in February, but it’s to share a preview and promote the movie. Not sure what else will be on my mind at that point, though. With Olivia… I think I’ll just leave it be for now. I’ll give her a chance to recant her insinuations and back off. And at least my dad has backed off. Hopefully that won’t be news anymore either.”
Jake nodded and they flew in silence again. “Families are funny,” he spoke after a minute. “Sometimes you have ‘em and don’t like ‘em, or you wish you had one when you don’t.”
Max knew Jake had lost both of his parents at a young age and was raised by his grandfather who recently passed. After several years in the military and a bit of time in law enforcement, Jake had switched to private detail.
“I feel like I’ve spent my whole life trying to navigate my family,” Max admitted. “Sometimes it feels like I’ve wasted so much time in doing so.”
“Sometimes that’s what’s needed to get us where we’re going. Or…so I’ve heard,” he smirked.
Max smiled. “I suppose. I guess I feel like people waste so much time on things that really aren’t that significant.”
“Yeah, but you normally don’t know it’s not significant until you look back on it.”
“Mmm,” Max mused. “There are a lot of variables to life, I guess.”
“Seems like you’re going the right route with your life lately. You focus on Anna and Chase, your business goals, and relationships with the rest of your family—in that order. I think you’ve got your priorities set. If it doesn’t make you happy or help you grow, it’s not worth the time. Leave all those negative vibes out of it. Sometimes the less decisions you have to make in life, the better. Keep it simple.”
Max slowly nodded as he absorbed Jake’s advice. “Yeah, I’m trying.”
“No offense, but I wouldn’t last a day in your shoes. People think celebrities like you have it all, and that money can fix anything. You really just have our same problems and struggles, but on a public level. Nobody sees the downside to it all.”
Again, Max reflected on Jake’s words but considered another thought for a minute before sharing it out loud. “I think everyone should spend some time with all the money they want so they can do all the things they’ve wanted to do. Maybe then the world will realize it’s not the key to happiness.”
***
When they landed in L.A., Jake drove him to Kate’s. She lived in Van Nuys now. She’d served a week in jail, paid a hefty fine, and moved out of her posh penthouse apartment. Without so much of Max’s money, there was now a limit to her spending. She hadn’t seen Chase in all of that time, and she hadn’t even contacted Max to ask about him.
Needless to say, she was not only surprised by his visit but also wary. She also seemed a bit subdued as they stood in her entryway since she wouldn’t invite him to sit down.
“Can we just talk like parents instead of enemies?” he asked.
She smirked at him. “What, you got what you wanted and now it’s not enough?”
“And what is it you think I wanted?”
“Oh don’t play dumb, Max. You win, okay? My reputation is trashed and you and your lying family get to walk away with yours intact.”
He didn’t even try to hide his shock. “Seriously? You go on television to embellish a bunch of stories about us and that’s us walking away with our reputations intact? Are you crazy?”
“I’ve been called worse.”
“Not by me to the public. I think karma is finally dishing you a dose. And honestly, why play the victim?”
“Not a victim, Max. I’m the underdog.”
“Oh, so you see this as some sort of game? To be the one who takes down the McCallans with trickery and manipulation?”
“Just playing by your family’s rules, that’s all. It’s the only way to not get fucked by a cactus. But I guess that’s inevitable anyway.”
“I don’t even know what your playbook is, but I’m just here to let you know I don’t care. And I’m asking you, Kate—no, I’m begging you—to please put Chase first. Can we just drop everything else, forget what has happened so far, and focus on him instead?”
“Oh, focus on Chase? You take him away from me and that’s doing what’s best for him?”
Max couldn’t help but gape at her. “I took him away? Are you delusional? How long have you been snorting coke? Huh? That shit had nothing to do with me. You would go out and party almost every night with your high society friends? He was spending up to twelve hours a day with a nanny? How long were you going to keep that from me?”
“And what the fuck do you do with him when you work day and night? You have nannies on hand right and left!”
“He has not once ever been with a nanny when I’ve had him. There is always family to spend time with him. Family who loves him and—”
“Shut up. Just shut the fuck up. I don’t want to hear about the shitty people you have him around! I couldn’t even spend Christmas with my baby!”
Max stared at her, searching for just one little bit of sanity he could focus on. If he could connect with one part of where she was coming from, maybe he’d understand all of this.
“I’m pretty sure you were in jail if I’m not mistaken. And I’ve never spent a Christmas with Chase. Not a single one. I’ve missed Thanksgivings, Halloweens, New Years, and Easters; I’ve even missed his birthdays. Why is that okay to you?”
“Where is my son right now?” she asked, deliberately refusing to answer his question. “With your blonde jock?”
For some reason, that made him laugh. Maybe he was over tired, or maybe it just sounded funny…maybe Kate’s envy was getting out of hand and it was too amusing to take seriously.
“Yeah,
he’s with Anna,” he replied, rubbing his face to keep himself from laughing again. “And I need to get home to them.”
This time she didn’t respond with anything volatile. In fact, Max possibly saw a bit of hurt on her face. It seemed like the appropriate time to take care of what he actually came for.
“Kate, I’m here because I really want to call a truce. I’m sick and tired of all this. You spent four years using Chase to move yourself up the ladder, and even though I still don’t even understand why it was so important, I’m done trying to figure it out. You’re on my terms now, so for starters, get a job and put your life in order.”
“I’m supposed to forget I have a kid?” she scoffed angrily.
“No. You’re allowed to see him. In my house and at my convenience. If he really means that much to you, I shouldn’t be your enemy. I’m the father of your son, and even though you’ve failed to treat me as such, I will still grant you the privilege of spending time with him.”
“Grant me the privilege!?” she shouted. “Are you fucking serious? He’s my son!”
“Exactly, so you can either start acting like his mother or learn to live without him. It’s your choice. And let me just say this…” He reached for the door to let himself out. “It is hell when you’re forced to be without him.”
He walked out of her house—and maybe he shut the door a little too hard behind him, and possibly he’d left a bit angrier than he’d intended—but just the thought of what she’d subjected him to over the last few years naturally set him off.
Maybe he was also wrong by offering her another chance, but he refused to be the reason Kate’s name and reputation was smeared all over the media. She was the mother of his child, and if she was going to continue to put herself before her son, then Chase needed to learn for himself who she honestly was. Max preferred she ruined her own reputation rather than by anything he did as retaliation.
It was the first time Max truly understood how Teague felt a few years ago. Choosing to be the better person wasn’t easy, but it was worth it for Chase. He loved his son more than anything, and even though Chase still hadn’t expressed those same feelings in words, he actually did feel it from his son.
