by Hadley Quinn
“It’s not going to come up in my case. At least I don’t think so. But Kate told me if I ever decided to fight her over Chase, then she was going to unleash all of that to the media.”
“Well nothing can come of it, it was four years ago. Statute of limitations on, what would that be—a misdemeanor? –Well too late. It ran out after six months, or something like that.”
“I know, but all of this just…it makes me nervous. There’s a gag order on the custody battle with Chase, but there are a shit ton of other things Kate is ready to spoon-feed to the tabloids. I don’t want you to be caught off guard.”
“So you mean to tell me…you’ve been giving in to Kate because… Because of that? Because she has crap on our family and is gonna leak it all? Is that what you’re saying?”
“You have a different life now, a better one. You guys don’t let Grandpa buy your way out of stuff like that anymore. I know you did the right thing with that guy, he deserved it. But our family did cover it up, and that’s the bottom line. And who knows what else there is. She’s a loose cannon. I just don’t want you to get caught in the crossfire. You’ve been through enough with her.”
“First of all, we did all of that for Kellie, you asshole! Kellie was the one who needed protecting. You can’t count on this shit being handled the right way any more. A family like ours is hung out to dry—as an ‘example’. You know it, I know it, and she didn’t want to go through all of that. We handle shit our own way, you know that. You’ve had your own share of it too—”
“I know,” Max replied angrily, pounding his fist on the table. “I’m just telling you what I know. I don’t exactly know what kind of evidence she has, but I’m just warning you. She’s a coward and likes to dish her dirt from hiding, so I doubt she has the guts to do anything more than that. I’m prepared to deal with whatever she throws at me, but I can’t prevent what she says about any of you.”
“Well you didn’t have to do stupid shit to keep it quiet,” Teague growled. “I can handle my own life, okay? I don’t need you making deals with that bitch for my benefit. Got it?”
“If it meant keeping your name out of the negative media, then it was worth it.”
“Fuck the media.”
“And Camryn too.”
With the mention of his wife, Teague’s face went dark. But Max knew it finally hit home. You protect your family. Nasty stories can do a lot of damage even when you do your best to ignore it.
“So what the hell is her problem with you anyway?” he asked. “I mean seriously, Max, for her to rake you through the coals as much as she has…what the hell does she have on you?”
“Rejection,” he answered without pause.
Teague looked as if he didn’t believe it—like it really couldn’t be that simple. But that was the sad truth. It truly was. The woman had been rejected and it sent her into a tailspin.
“What?” Teague finally scoffed. “You mean she actually thought she had a chance at you after everything she did?”
“I don’t get it, man. You know at Grandpa’s birthday party, when everything came out about Chase, and Gramps asked if I wanted to be with Kate?”
“You said ‘fuck no’ or…something to that effect.”
“Yeah, and apparently she was shocked by that. I think it had to do with rejection and being humiliated in front of everyone, but she’s held on to that like you wouldn’t believe.”
“Oh I believe it, but to do all this shit because of it… Holy shit. And I guess it didn’t help when Camryn decked her in the face, but Jesus, she fucking deserved it.” He sighed. “A woman scorned. Wow.”
“She once told me everything would go away if I’d just face the inevitable and be a family with her.”
Teague’s eyes bugged out. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
“I wish I was. She wants that whole elite celebrity family thing—the ol’ Hollywood power couple.”
“She’s fucking nuts. Seriously, is she mental? And sounds like she wants half of your net worth. Marriage and divorce, even with a fair pre-nup she’d be swimming in money.”
“She already has plenty of it, but yeah, I guess for someone like her, it’s never enough. And I couldn’t give two fucks about the money. I’ve been trying to get my life straightened out. I want everything to be just right when a shitload of people will be in my business to see if I’m a suitable father for my own son.”
“So is that why you donate so much money to charity, too? To the nursing homes and the animal shelters…the military veterans too? I guess I thought that one had to do with your movie, but who the fuck knows anymore.”
Max shook his head. “No, I don’t cater to charities for notoriety, or for it to look good for my court case. That’s stuff I’ve been doing for years already. And how’d you know about it? I donate to all of those anonymously.”
Teague studied him for several seconds. “Answer me honestly. Are there other charities too?”
“Tell me how you knew about it.”
“No, tell me first if there are more.”
“You make it sound like you’re looking for all of my stashes of cocaine.”
Teague barely smiled. “Thank God I’m not, but seriously… Are there more charities?”
“Yes.”
“How many?”
“Why does it matter?”
“Because…it does.”
“No it doesn’t.”
“Max, look at this house,” Teague motioned around him. “It’s nice, I mean it really is, but it’s nothing like you had before. You’re down to just two or three vehicles, and you don’t wear the Vacheron watch Grandpa gave you for your birthday anymore. Don’t think I haven’t noticed. You live up in the woods now instead of in a mansion or luxury suite. What the fuck is going on? You’re either going broke in order to shut Kate up, or you’re giving your money away elsewhere.”
“I’m not going broke,” Max shook his head. “I have plenty of money, even after fronting it for this movie. I’ve just been…downsizing. I’ve never cared for the mansion—it’s too big, and frankly, it’s kind of lonely there.”
“Okay, so how many charities do you help out?”
Max shrugged. “I’d have to look at my records, but probably…eight or ten regularly. I don’t know. More than that if you count a donation here or there for other opportunities that pop up. My accountant takes care of it.”
“You still use Jerry?”
“No, I don’t use a single person who came from Dad. My new guy is also Jeremy Robb’s accountant. His name is Andrew Benton. Why?”
Teague shook his head. “Just curious. It just seems like…like you’ve changed a lot of things, really. I’m trying to keep up with it all. And Max, seriously, I know you’re doing a lot of good but…”
“You still don’t trust me?” Max nodded. “I understand. But nothing I do is to impress anyone but myself. If I’m happy with my choices, it’s all I care about.”
“And what about Chase? What plans do you have for him?”
Max considered his question for a moment before answering. “I’m not quite sure what you mean, but Chase’s happiness means more to me than anything. I’m sick of having such a public life that affects his future. I wish that weren’t the case. He was born into a privileged family, but I want him to learn the value of being your own person. I want him to understand that there’s a good way to handle fame and a not-so-good way.”
“With great power comes great responsibility,” Teague smirked.
Laughing, Max nodded. “Yeah, pretty much. And look, Teague, I’m happy here in this house. I’m back to needing security again, and I don’t really like that, but for the time being it’s necessary. If that makes me a high-maintenance diva, then so be it. But this movie means a lot to me. It’s something I’m really fucking proud of. I don’t even care if it flops in the box office. That says a lot about my focus when it comes to this project. I’m trying to make an impact with my art and vision, and I want it to be
significant even if it’s just for one person. If it even touches just one tiny part of our society, I’ll take it.”
Teague slowly bobbed his head in thought. They both continued to eat again, even though the food was already cold. Max knew his brother needed to get back to his family, but he was very grateful for the time he was willing to spend with him.
It was huge progress at this point.
Chapter Thirty-One
They say when things are going really well, it’s time for some sort of metaphoric rug to be pulled out from under you.
His case against Kate came across like a slam-dunk. He’d been in to meet with Judge Carney twice already and both times were a bit rough at first but ended well. Kate had thrown out quite a few accusations toward Max, but he was able to defend himself suitably or clarify a normal situation that had been over exaggerated to look really bad. Cole had also discovered that she had a full time nanny who she left Chase with quite a lot. Max felt quite betrayed by that fact, and realized that’s who Meg was.
A caseworker had been assigned to oversee Chase’s time with both his parents. The woman barely spoke to Max, but she did walk through his home, around the property; she checked out the vehicles he hauled his son in, and otherwise just assessed whatever she could of his life. He even got to have Chase for three days one weekend, so any invasion of his privacy for monitoring purposes was worth it. He also casually asked Chase about the nanny. It seemed his son liked her, but the whole situation was disturbing to Max.
All in all, Harvey was pretty confident that joint custody would be put into place and Kate would have to follow it.
It didn’t, however, mean that the media was in the dark. Even though there had been a gag order put on the case details, it was somehow known that Max was fighting for custody of his son. It was splattered all over the covers of tabloids everywhere. Gossip could have come from anywhere, really, which was expected. He’d been spotted going in and out of the court building and so had Kate. And since it was known that Max was filing for joint custody, it was also assumed that Kate had been keeping him from his son. So that was a new set of tabloid stories altogether.
That metaphorical rug yanking happened a few weeks later, when Max finished a day observing filming at the studio and was about to pick up Anna to meet with Harvey and Cole for dinner. He was just about to get into the SUV that Jake had pulled up to the building entrance when someone called his name.
Thinking it was just a female fan, or maybe another crewmember that was working on the movie, he glanced up with a smile to give a wave goodbye—it was his routine, the way he’d been trained. But he was not expecting the woman who was walking toward him to be the brown-haired, blue-eyed blast from his past. She wasn’t smiling nor did she look angry, but Max felt a shitload of emotions battling in his chest just from seeing her again.
He froze for a few seconds, but after his instincts kicked in, he glanced around him for any paparazzi moments that had been set up to catch him off guard. He wanted to slip into the SUV and drive off just in case, but Olivia spoke again.
“Max, can we talk?”
He shook his head. “No. I have nothing to say to you.”
She sighed and stared down at the concrete. “Please. It’s important.”
This couldn’t be happening, right? The timing with everything; walking away from his father’s business, the custody battle, writing and now producing his own movie, things getting better with Teague, his relationship with Anna…
Anna. His relationship with her had taken a hit lately. With being so busy with work and all the other custody issues going on, he’d barely seen her the last few weeks. She hadn’t even stayed last weekend with him because she was up in Santa Cruz to watch a friend compete in a surf competition—a friend she’d been helping train every week. They texted and called every day—nothing felt off or troubling between them; there were a lot of ‘I miss yous’ and some sexting—but there was a lot more missing from not seeing each other in person.
And now here was Olivia Douglas, the woman who had ripped his heart to shreds six years ago; the woman who wouldn’t even sit down and talk to him about it back then, or even explain anything other than she wasn’t in love with him. Yeah, here she was right in front of him, wanting to talk. About what? Things with her were completely finished. He didn’t have anything to say to her.
“Can we not stand out here in the parking garage?” she asked. A few people from the studio had trickled out. Max hadn’t even noticed until now, but a couple of them—extras for crowd scenes—were glancing between the two of them as they headed for their cars.
Max motioned into the Escalade. He got in and slid over, and Olivia climbed in after him. “Jake, some privacy. And just drive. Anywhere.”
The partition slid upward and the vehicle moved forward.
“What happened to Dexter?” Olivia asked. “Or was it Joe…”
Max ignored the question. “What do you want?”
She sighed and examined her pretty fingernails. “I want to talk about what happened between us.”
“You made it very clear there was nothing to talk about.”
“I lied.”
Max had been staring at the carpet until that moment, and he looked at Olivia with surprise.
“Is it true that you left your father’s company to start your own?” she asked.
He blinked to gain understanding. “How the fuck is my business life any business of yours?”
With a heavy exhale she shook her head. “Max, you know how much trouble I had with your father. I couldn’t do it anymore. You and I…we were good together. But not with your dad in the picture. I told you this.”
“Yes, you did. And you also told me that you cared about me but weren’t in love with me, and that you weren’t ready to get married. I also told you that I’d give you all the time you needed. There was no rush.”
“I know.”
“So what the hell is this little surprise visit for? For someone who swore she’d never be caught dead in L.A. again, here you are, and not only back in town, but sitting in my fucking car. So what the hell is going on?”
“I’ve been following a lot of the news about you—even right after we broke up, the good news and the bad news. But lately…this new stuff came as a surprise to me. Breaking ties with your father, writing your own movie… Writing is something you always talked about. I’m glad to see you didn’t let that dream float away from you.”
Max pinched the space between his eyes. “Get to the point. Everyone makes changes in their life.”
“You’re right. And I was waiting for you to make yours.”
He could feel her watching him, so he studied her closely this time. She appeared to be the same but more mature, and really, that seemed to be a better look on her. She was only nineteen when they were together, but the last few years had given her more of a distinguished, softer appearance. She was beautiful—elegant, even—and well put together as always. Overall she seemed composed. Maybe that was the case for anyone six years older, but time out of Hollywood may have done her some good.
“Say that again,” he told her.
She pursed her lips in pause. “I was waiting for you to put me first for once. Everything you did in your life was to make your family happy. Just once I wanted you to do something for me without thinking about them first, or what they would think. You’ve done the one thing I always prayed you would do and that was walk away from your father’s control.”
Unbelievable. Max could hardly process this right now. Out of all the times he pleaded with her to come back to him? All the times he said he would do anything for her?
“You expect me to believe this bullshit, Olivia? I put my career on the line for you! I came after you not once, not just twice, but three different times. And all three times I pleaded for you to give us another chance. You broke my fucking heart and basically spit in my face, and now you expect me to believe you took money from my family because you wanted
nothing to do with them?”
“Max, that’s not what happened. Yes, I took what your father offered me. But I haven’t spent it. I took it so I could prove to you what he’s like; so you could see for yourself the extent he is willing to go in order to get his way. I didn’t think it would take so long for you to find out the truth, but obviously you did at some point.”
“Yes, I know about it. All that bullshit came out when my long lost cousin skipped into town and started dating your sister. What are the fucking odds of that, huh?”
“I have nothing to say about that coincidence, but you do understand what I’m talking about, right? Your father paid me to stay out of town. Do you get that? He. Paid. Me. Off. Doesn’t that affect you in any way? Doesn’t that tell you anything?”
“You know damn well what my family is like and what I’ve struggled with. Yes, I tried to hold on to both of you at the same time. Fuck me for trying, right? But a man can only take so much disappointment in his life before he has to walk away. You didn’t support my career, and my father didn’t support my personal endeavors. There was no winning either way.”
“But you picked him over me. That’s the bottom line. All I wanted was to come first for once, for you to prove that you’d do anything it took to keep me. But you chose him.”
“Because you told me you weren’t in love with me!”
“Because it hurt that much!” she shouted. “The one thing I wanted to feel—like I mattered—and you couldn’t do it!” She wiped at a tear that escaped. “It shouldn’t have been that much of a struggle, Max. If you loved me, the choice should have been simple.”
“Well now I walked away from you both, so I guess that’s the price that had to be paid.”
“I’ve waited six years for this to happen. Six years. Your dad had more influence over you than I ever did, and that’s all I saw. I wasn’t able to survive in this industry as long as you’ve survived. As long as you still are surviving,” she corrected. “But you didn’t need your father’s hand in everything you’ve accomplished. You could have done all of that and more without him. I would have supported you through all of that. You didn’t need his approval all the time.”
