Who Gets to Marry Max?

by Neesa Hart

  Edward took Carter’s arm. “Silas, I think Max is right. It’s time for you to leave.”

  “You think he’s right?” Carter asked, his voice rising. “You think he’s right? Well, isn’t that cozy. You have no idea what that SOB is about to do to you, do you Fitzwater?”

  Edward’s face turned red. “What the hell are you talking about?”

  “Since we heard about the merger, the boys in acquisitions and I have been doing some digging. You wanna know why Loden here was able to scoop up a tenth of your stock at rock-bottom prices? Do you still want to know?”

  Max glared at him. “I’m warning you, Silas.”

  “You’re warning me? Are you kidding? I’m not the one that spread those rumors to deliberately devalue Fitzwater stock.”

  Edward stared at Max. “What?”

  “He’s lying,” Max said.

  “Am I?” Carter demanded. “Why don’t you tell Edward here about your inside knowledge of our research and development team?”

  “Patents are public record,” Max snapped.

  Edward looked from Max to Carter, then back again. “What’s he talking about?”

  “Insider trading, that’s what I’m talking about.” Carter sneered at Max. “You think you’re above the rest of us, don’t you Loden? I know your type. You think you can make your own rules? I know exactly what you did during my divorce.”

  Visibly startled, Sidney glanced at Max. “Max?”

  Carter snorted again. Max felt his blood pressure rising. “I know exactly how you kept me from finding a job. And now you’re trying to work me out of this one.” He swayed slightly as his gaze shifted to Sidney. “You know, Sidney,” he sneered, “I had no idea you were running in such lofty circles now. Loden Enterprises—that’s quite a step up from Patsy’s Pet Parlor.”

  Sidney looked at Max a few seconds longer. “Would you please believe that he wasn’t this much of an ass when I married him?”

  Max looked at her with a raised eyebrow. “If you say so.”

  She nodded. “His ass-like qualities took a while to fully develop.”

  Carter’s laugh was unpleasant. “You might think I’m an ass Sid—but I guarantee you I’ve got nothing on Loden here.”

  Sidney gave Carter a chilling look. “This isn’t going to work, Carter. If you’re hoping to make a scene, it’s not going to happen.”

  “A scene.” He tossed the remains of his drink down his throat. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  Henri reached for Carter’s glass. “I’ll just take care of this,” he said quietly. With a tilt of his head, he brought a waiter to his side.

  “Yes, Mr. Dupeaux?” the young man asked.

  Henri set Carter’s glass on the waiter’s tray. “Mr. Silas would like a cup of coffee.” He glanced at Carter. “Strong and black.” The young man hurried away.

  Carter frowned. “You think I’m drunk. I’m not drunk.” The denial was weakened by the way Carter swayed on his feet. “Tell him, Sidney. I don’t get drunk.”

  Beside him, Edward was still watching Max through slitted eyes. “I want to know what the hell he’s talking about, Loden.”

  “Oh for God’s sake, Edward,” Max snapped. “This is neither the time nor the place. He doesn’t know what the hell he’s saying.”

  Edward took a menacing step forward. Max refused to retreat. “If I find out,” Edward sputtered, “that you deliberately tried to wrest Fitzwater Electronics from me—”

  Lauren, Max noted, had joined them. She held out an imploring hand to her father. “Daddy, please.”

  “Stay out of this Lauren,” Edward said.

  Carter gave Max a smug look. “You want to tell me how it feels to know you’ve been caught in the act, Loden?”

  Without taking his eyes off Carter, Max carefully guided Sidney to his side. “I think it’s time for you to go home, Silas. Why don’t you let Henri call you a cab?”

  Carter shook his head. “I’m not ready to go home. I want to dance with my wife.” He grabbed Sidney’s arm. “Come on, Baby. Once more for old time’s sake.”

  Max clamped his fingers on Carter’s wrist. “Let her go.”

  “Carter, please don’t,” Sidney said softly.

  “Let her go,” Max said again as he struggled to control his temper.

  “Why?” Carter asked belligerently.

  “Because you won’t like what’s going to happen if you don’t.”

  Carter glared at Sidney. “What are you trying to prove here, Sid? You think you fit in with these people? You think they don’t know who you are? They know, Sidney. Hell, you’ve worked for half of them. The only hope you ever had of belonging here was staying married to me.”

  Sidney wrenched her arm away from him. “I hope you haven’t fooled yourself into believing that.”

  His expression turned ugly as he indicated Max with a nod of his head. “You don’t actually think that Loden here wants you for anything other than free party planning and a roll in the hay do you?”

  “That’s it.” Max’s temper went straight to the moon. He reached into his pocket and produced his wallet, then handed Henri a platinum credit card. “That should cover the damages, Dupeaux,” he said.

  Sidney gave him a look of alarm. “What damages?”

  Henri cleared his throat and gave Sidney’s shoulder a nudge. “You’d better step back, my dear. This could turn ugly.”

  “Max—” Sidney laid her hand on his sleeve. “Don’t do this.”

  Seemingly oblivious to the murderous look in Max’s eyes, Carter was still swaying on his feet. “Where the hell’s my drink?” he demanded.

  “You won’t be needing it,” Max told him the instant before his fist slammed into Carter’s jaw. Carter went sprawling into the buffet table.

  “Oh, Lord.” Sidney buried her face in her hands.

  “What’s going on?” Greg Loden demanded as he skidded to a stop next to Sidney. A tray sailed to the floor, sending petits fours and tiny pastries scattering across the pristine carpet.

  Max ignored the mess as he took an angry step forward and reached for Carter. “I’m going to beat the hell out of him.” He jerked him up by the lapels of his tuxedo.

  “Max—” Sidney held out an imploring hand.

  Max wasn’t in a reasonable kind of mood. He buried his fist in Carter’s face.

  “Damn,” Greg said, reaching for Sidney. “Get behind me.”

  “No! Good Lord, Greg, do something.”

  “Who the hell is that?”

  “My ex-husband.”

  Max gave Greg a meaningful look. “The bastard.”

  Greg nodded, then wrapped his arm around Sidney’s shoulders. “Why don’t you come with me, Sidney? Lauren’s been looking for you.”

  “I’m not leaving. Cripes, Max is going to kill him.”

  And that, Max decided was a real possibility. He sent Carter flying again. This time, he knocked the ice sculpture to the ground. By now, they’d drawn a crowd. Most of the guests in the ballroom were watching. Sidney looked horrified. Greg looked mildly amused, and Paul Wells, who’d managed to shoulder his way to the front of the crowd looked like he was ready to die laughing. Irritated, Max hauled Carter to his feet and thrust him in front of Sidney. “Apologize to the lady.”

  Carter swung his head to look at him. His nose dripped blood, his bleary eyes seemed to have trouble focusing. “Lady?” he asked. “Who are you talking about?”

  Max hit him again. Carter stumbled, then dropped to the floor at Sidney’s feet. Greg dutifully eased her back a few steps. Lauren, who’d come up beside Sidney, slid her arm around Sidney’s waist. “It’ll be all right, Sidney,” she said.

  “All right?” Sidney looked at her, incredulous. “Are you crazy?” Carter staggered to his feet. For his part, Max was feeling almost murderous. Sidney gave him a pleading look. “Please stop. Max, please stop. I want to go home.”

  It irritated him, somehow, that she seemed to be pleading for
Carter Silas. And that flash of irritation dimmed his concentration enough to allow Silas to land one well-aimed punch on Max’s chin. Max growled and hit him in the stomach, sending him to his knees. He wiped a hand across his mouth where a trickle of blood stained the corner. He searched Sidney’s gaze. “I want him to apologize.”

  On the floor, Carter groaned. Henri cleared his throat. “Why don’t I call security?”

  Sidney put out a restraining hand. “No, please. We’ll leave.”

  “We will not,” Max said firmly. Carter groaned again. Max reached for him.

  Edward took a step forward and blocked his path. “Stop it, Loden. You’re acting like a barbarian.”

  “Or a five-year-old,” Sidney snapped. “This has gone far enough.”

  Max put his foot in the center of Carter’s chest. “Apologize,” he bit out, “to the lady.”

  Carter coughed. He glared at Max a second longer, then looked at Sidney. “Sorry,” he muttered.

  Max tightened the pressure of his foot. “Louder.”

  “I’m sorry,” Carter shouted.

  “Fine.” With a slight nudge, Max sent Carter sprawling to his stomach. “Now, we’ll leave.”

  “OW.” MAX FROWNED at her as she used a cotton ball to furiously pound antiseptic on the back of his skinned knuckles. They were back at his penthouse—and Sidney hadn’t spoken to him since they’d left the ballroom.

  “Stop acting like a baby,” she snapped.

  “You’re not exactly the Angel of Mercy, you know?”

  “Well, I’m a little irritated. Excuse me.” She glared at him. The man made her absolutely nuts. She couldn’t believe he’d created that scene at the hotel, and, to make things worse, he’d actually had the audacity to tell her on the way back to his penthouse that he’d enjoyed himself. She slapped a bandage on his knuckles. “At least the bleeding has stopped.”

  Max flexed his fingers. “I’d like to hit him again.”

  “I think you did enough damage for one night.”

  “I’m sure Henri will enjoy charging my credit card.”

  She smacked his shoulder for that. “Not that kind of damage. Cripes, Max. Do you have any idea how that looked? You ruined Lauren’s party.”

  “It’ll give her and Greg something to remember for the rest of their lives.”

  “Oh, sure. They can remember how you picked a playground fight with a stupid drunk.”

  “He is stupid.” Max scowled. “He’s even more stupid than I gave him credit for. I can’t believe Edward hired him.”

  “Neither can I.”

  Sidney finished taping his knuckles. “It’s strange, you know. Carter was a pretty good broker—or at least I thought he was. He made a decent salary.”

  “He stole most of it from his firm.”

  “No, that money went somewhere else. I saw his actual paychecks. He did pretty well on commissions, but after those embezzlement accusations, I can’t believe he was able to get a job in this city.”

  “It makes me wonder what he offered Edward in exchange.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Max shrugged. “Just a hunch. I’ll check it out later.” He shook his head. “Lord, Sidney,” he placed his hands on her waist as she turned her attention to his split lip, “What made you marry such a creep?”

  Sidney absorbed the comment with a slight intake of breath. With the accuracy and power of a smart bomb, the words sliced all the way to the bone. How could she tell him she had no answer to that? How could she tell him that she’d lain awake for long, chilling nights after her divorce and berated herself with the same question? How could she admit that at least half the damage she’d suffered in the wake of her divorce had been the self-inflicted doubts in her own abilities and intelligence? How could she possibly say that beneath her irritation lay a deep, gnawing fear that at least part of what Carter Silas said was right?

  She’d spent four years fighting those internal battles. And tonight, with a few well-aimed comments, Carter had brought them all back to haunt her. Carter’s faultfinding she could take, but not Max’s.

  Deliberately, she concentrated on applying salve to the slight cut on his lip, forcing herself to breathe normally. A knot had formed in her throat, and she was having trouble choking it down. Max must have felt her tense. His eyebrows drew together in a slight frown. “Sidney? Honey, what’s going on here?”

  She shook her head, unable to answer him, and dabbed more furiously at the cut. Max captured her hands in his and lowered them. “Talk to me. This is about more than the fight, isn’t it?”

  She swallowed. The knot grew bigger. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

  Max shook his head. “It is. Something’s wrong.”

  “I can’t believe you did that, that’s all. It was stupid and immature.”

  “The fact that I beat him up just made you mad. But I want to know what put that wounded look in your eyes all of a sudden. What did I say?”

  She hesitated for long seconds. When she finally found her voice, it sounded rusty. “I didn’t know he was like that when I married him.”

  “Oh, honey.” Max fell back on the bed, taking her with him. His feet still touched the floor. He spread his knees so her legs drifted between his, bringing her pelvis into tantalizing contact with his body. His lips nuzzled her hair. “Sweetheart, I wasn’t criticizing you. I’d never criticize you. It wasn’t your fault.”

  “I know.”

  “I’m not sure you do.” He waited. “Please look at me.”

  Sidney raised her head. “I know it wasn’t my fault, but sometimes it’s hard not to feel like a fool.”

  He shook his head slightly. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

  To her horror, she felt the sting of tears. She’d promised herself, years ago, that she’d never cry over Carter Silas again. Before she could stop it, one salty drop slid free and plopped on Max’s shirtfront. Then another, and another. She squeezed her eyes tight. “I just wanted someone to love me.”

  “Shh.” He cradled her to him. “Honey, don’t. Please don’t. He’s not worth it.”

  “I know.” Furiously, she swiped at her eyes.

  Max cradled her to him. “I wish I’d killed the bastard.”

  Sidney sniffed. “At the time—” she sucked in a calming breath “—at the time I married him, it seemed like a way to quit being uncle Philip’s obligation.”

  “He never thought of you like that. He loves you.”

  “I know he does, but I couldn’t make myself believe that uncle Philip didn’t get stuck with me when my mother—” Her voice trailed off. The words were too painful.

  Max hugged her closer. “I never meant to hurt you. Please believe me.”

  “I do.” She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. “He’s such a jerk. I never wanted to cry over him again.”

  Max swept her hair from her face, then gently rolled her to her back. Bracing himself on his forearms so his weight didn’t bear down on her, he trailed his fingertips along her cheek. “Hush. We don’t have to talk about it anymore. I’m sorry I made that stupid remark and you have my permission to slap me if I ever say anything like that again.”

  She laid her hand against his jaw. “I’m sorry I overreacted.”

  “To the fight, maybe,” he quipped, “but not to that comment. I didn’t mean it, and I shouldn’t have said it.”

  “You shouldn’t have hit him, either.”

  “It felt good.”

  He looked so absurdly pleased with himself that she felt a slight smile tug at the corner of her mouth. “You don’t have to look so smug, you know?”

  “Can’t help it.” He pressed a kiss on the corner of her mouth. “I had the best looking woman there, and she even agreed to come home with me.”

  “Barely.”

  His chuckle fanned across her cheek. “Oh, come on. You liked it.”

  She gasped when his tongue darted into her ear. “I did not like it.”

  “You did, too.” He
gently bit her earlobe.

  “You made a fool out of yourself.”

  “Yeah, but I made a fool out of myself for you.”

  Sidney’s eyes drifted shut from the pleasure of having his mouth nuzzle her collarbone. “Oh, Mad Max. Did anyone ever tell you that you’re crazy?”

  “All the time.”

  She tugged at his head until he lifted it to meet her gaze. “I love that about you,” she said quietly.

  The teasing glint left his eyes. “Sidney—”

  She smiled at him. “I just wanted you to know that.”

  His expression turned profoundly gentle. “How did I wait so long for you?”

  “I honestly don’t know,” she quipped.

  He kissed her, thoroughly, then looked at her once more. “I want to make love to you.”

  Her fingers traced the curve of his upper lip. “I want you to.”

  When he shook his head slightly, a lock of his dark hair fell across his forehead, making him look irresistibly boyish. “I want to make love to you—like this,” he said softly, as he slowly lowered himself over her.

  As his weight came down on her, Sidney sucked in a surprised breath. “Max—”

  He waited. When she said nothing, he ran his finger along the curve of her ear. “Honey, please. Please trust me.”

  She searched his expression. There was nothing but tenderness, and, dare she hope, love in the depths of his gaze. “I do.”

  He shifted, so slowly, so gently, she could have stopped him at any time. “Are you sure?”

  She waited several seconds while she absorbed the feeling of his warm, strong body on hers. To her very great pleasure and surprise, she felt neither stifled nor trapped. He felt solid and safe. The passion thrumming through her blood heightened as she surrendered to the intoxicating sensation. She nodded. “I’m sure.”

  Something flared in his gaze. “Sidney,” he said, his voice sounding harsh. He covered her mouth with his own. When he finally raised his head, they were both panting. “I need you so much.”

  “I love you, Max.”

  A LONG TIME later, the words still drummed through his head and down his spine. He’d lingered over her, showing her in every way he knew how that he cherished her. Her trust had nearly ripped his heart out. He had felt himself drowning in her softness. Like those chocolates she made, she was simultaneously sweet and rich and, oh, so very, very tempting. She went straight to his head and his heart and wove a spell around him that left him dazed.