A Forever Love

by Maggie Marr

  “I will be back as soon as the matter is settled. It should take four days to a week tops, and then I’ll come back and we’ll go to New York or I’ll send for you.”

  “Right,” Max said, his voice trailing off. “Guess we won’t get too much time in the city. You know football practice starts in a couple of weeks.”

  “But we will get time. We’ll have time together. We’ll do all the touristy things you want and you’ll meet your uncles.”

  Max nodded and swallowed his words. Justin could see him doing it, not wanting to show how disappointed he was, not wanting to disappoint his father, wanting to be strong for his dad.

  “Your mom didn’t think it would be right for you to leave your enrichment program early.”

  “Sounds like her,” Max said. His voice dripped with bitterness.

  “I agreed with her.”

  “Yeah, right. I’m sure you did.”

  Justin turned down the gravel road that led to Rockwater Farms. There were other things he wanted to say, maybe even things he needed to say, but he didn’t know how, the words didn’t seem to form. Instead, he drove in silence, knowing that he had, for the first time, deeply disappointed his son.

  Chapter 18

  Four days turned into seven and seven turned into twelve, and with each passing day Aubrey watched Max deflate. Sure, Max and Justin Skyped on the fancy new phone with fancy new service that Justin had sent upon his return to New York. A guilt present, as Aubrey thought of it. As Max deflated, Aubrey simply fumed. Her anger grew larger and larger and ate at her insides. She didn’t speak to Justin, didn’t text or e-mail. This was her old fear come to life, that Justin would abandon Max and her and everything that was important for Travati Financial. Hadn’t he proven that making money was the most important thing in his life? Not making a family or taking care of their son. And while she wanted to feel vindicated, as though Justin’s actions proved to her and the world and her family that her decision fifteen years before had been the right one, instead she simply felt angry for Max and weirdly sad for herself and even for Justin.

  “You going to sit in here and fume all day?”

  “Why not? Seems to be the only place I can sulk.”

  “He knows you’re mad.”

  “Which one?”

  “Both,” Nina said. “Max mentioned it yesterday and Justin did today.”

  Aubrey’s head popped up. “Justin? You’ve been speaking to Justin?”

  “Well, you won’t, and he does want to know what’s really going on with his son. Whether Max is just putting on a brave face or is incredibly devastated by his father’s disappearing act.”

  “Traitor,” Aubrey mumbled and looked back at her computer screen. She wouldn’t ask, she didn’t want to know, she didn’t even care how worried Justin was about Max, or whether he was finally going to return to Rockwater Farms before school started as he’d promised Max. The man was running out of time as far as a New York trip was concerned.

  “Have you even looked at the news? Seen why he went back?”

  “I don’t care.”

  “Maybe you should. Hostile-takeover attempt out of the Middle East. Brother accused of running a prostitution ring out of two of the Travati clubs. Justin acting as the solid big brother trying to save them all.”

  “His monkey, his circus. He can clean up the messes he’s made. He left one here for me to deal with.”

  “Really?” Nina set a piece of key lime pie on Aubrey’s desk.

  “What do you want?” Aubrey eyed the pie with suspicion. Nina didn’t bake. She wasn’t a baker. Never. Not that she couldn’t, because she could. In fact, pie crusts and cinnamon rolls and tres leches cakes made by Nina were to die for, but she didn’t unless it was a birthday, Christmas, or Nina desperately wanted something.

  Aubrey eyed the pie. She could taste it without lifting a fork, and her salivary glands were suddenly working overtime. But if she touched that plate, took one bite of that pie, her favorite pie, any resistance she had to whatever request her little sister was about to make would evaporate into the air.

  Aubrey pushed back from her desk and away from the pie. “Again I ask, what do you want?” There was too much at risk now that she knew her sister was a spy working for Justin Travati.

  Nina folded herself into the chair opposite Aubrey’s desk. Uh-oh. The alarm bells in Aubrey’s head started to clang. Pie and Nina was sitting down. Digging in for the long haul of a conversation. This didn’t look good.

  “I hear there’s pie.”

  “Dad is here too?”

  Nina nodded with a wicked gleam in her eye. Oh no. This was bad. Very, very bad.

  Dad walked into the office, already halfway through his first slice. “My God, Nina, why do you waste your time being a chef when you can make pie like this?” Dad took another big bite and sat in the chair next to Nina.

  “Why are you both here?” Aubrey asked. She could count on one hand the number of times Nina and Dad had been in her office at the same time. Two were coincidence and the other was when Max fell off the jungle gym at school and broke his arm.

  “Try the pie,” Nina said and raised one eyebrow. The wicked little-sister gleam remained in her eyes, and the corner of her lips lifted into a half smile.

  “Not falling for that one.” But Aubrey looked at the pie and then at Dad taking the final bit of his slice.

  “If you don’t, Aubrey, girl, then I will,” Dad said and reached for the plate on her desk.

  “That’s mine,” Aubrey said and lifted the plate. The moment her fingertips touched the porcelain, she knew she was a goner. She might have resisted with the piece an arm’s reach away, but now that she had the plate, the pie, and a fork, the end was inevitable. She took her finger and swiped through the fresh whipped cream that dotted the slice of key lime pie’s surface. My God, that was good. She lifted the fork and slid it through the thick, rich goodness. One bite. Heaven. Pure, wonderful, sweet-tart heaven.

  “So why are you here?” She didn’t even care why these two were in her office now that she had started eating this delicious pie. A look passed between Nina and Dad. Dad nodded toward Aubrey, and Nina cleared her throat.

  “We want you to take Max to New York.”

  Suddenly the pie tasted like wet paper.

  “What?”

  “He needs to go to New York, and we want you to take him,” Dad said. “Pretty clear, isn’t it? The plane will be here tomorrow and you’ll go.” Dad stood and scraped his hands down the front of his pants. “See, Nina, told you that you didn’t need to bake a damn pie, but I’m glad you did. Is there more?”

  “Wait? What? You two think that you can come in here and order me to take Max to New York? With a piece of pie?”

  “Order’s an awfully strong word, honey,” Dad said. “More like encouraging. We need you to do this.”

  “For Justin? I’m not doing this for Justin. He promised Max he’d come back and get him, and he can haul his ass back to Kansas and do exactly what he said he’d do.”

  “Aubrey.” Dad settled his gaze on her face. “We’re not asking you to do this for Justin. I wouldn’t give much more than a rat’s ass about that guy except for one thing.”

  Aubrey stared at her father. “And that is?”

  “He’s Max’s dad. Max needs this, Aubrey. We’re not asking you to go for Justin. We’re asking you to go for Max.”

  “Neither one of us want him to go alone, especially with everything going on at Travati Financial. Max might get lost in the shuffle, but if you go—”

  “Then none of us, including you, have to worry about Max.”

  “Are you kidding? No way,” Aubrey said. “I’m not taking Max to New York. Why should I help to fix Justin’s fu—” She glanced at her father, who raised an eyebrow. “Mess. Why should I clean up Justin’s mess?”

  “Because anything having to do with Max is our mess too,” Nina said. “Hudson isn’t a big city, Aubrey. He’s already gotten some heat for no
t going to Justin’s when he thought he was. You know he told all his friends he’s going to New York. You don’t want him to start high school with his tail between his legs, having to explain to every kid that’s heard just who he is why his dad didn’t take him to New York like he said he would.”

  “Peer pressure, plain and simple.”

  “Don’t act like you were immune,” Dad said. “I remember a freshman who burned her scalp trying to make her curls straight so she could look like all them other freshman girls at Hudson High.”

  Aubrey touched her curls. That was a bad memory. Loads of tears and a trip to the salon with Mom to try to fix that mess. Aubrey took a deep breath. Max would already have a target on his back because he was now the “different” kid with a “different” family. Sure, he’d been different before because of not having a dad around, but single-parent households weren’t all that uncommon, even in Hudson, Kansas. Billionaires were uncommon. Dammed uncommon, and now her son was a Travati, heir to a billion dollars, with a dad who had a private jet, a couple of sports teams, and mansions around the world.

  “Being a freshman is already tough, but he’ll have hell to pay.”

  Aubrey closed her eyes. Max had been putting on a brave face, but she could see the disappointment in his eyes. Even after he spoke to Justin nearly every night, Max still seemed sad because his big trip to New York to meet his uncles and see his dad’s place hadn’t materialized.

  “Fine.” Aubrey crossed her arms over her chest. “I suppose Justin is complicit in this plan?”

  “You leave at eight a.m. on the Travati jet tomorrow,” Nina said.

  “What, is it already here?”

  Dad looked at Nina and a sly grin started across his face. “Let’s just say your transportation is en route.”

  “Glad to see everyone just knew I’d say yes to this little trip.” She lifted her plate of pie and forked the final bite into her mouth. She hadn’t returned to New York City since her exit when pregnant with Max.

  A shiver raced down her spine. The city would be the city, but many things had changed in her life since then. Max. Max’s father. She didn’t even have to ask where she and Max were expected to stay. Justin’s place was most likely big enough that they could stay a week and not bump into each other.

  “Better tell Max so he can pack,” Aubrey said and started to stand, but Max peeked his head around the doorway to her office. “You were in on it too?”

  “He was our secret weapon,” Dad said.

  “If the pie didn’t work,” Nina added.

  “He wasn’t opposed to begging—we’d told him it might come to that.”

  She couldn’t help but smile because of the giant grin on Max’s face. She’d not seen a smile like that since … Well, since Justin had been there. “Okay, go get packed then. Looks like we’re taking a trip to New York City.”

  Max didn’t move.

  “Eight a.m. is early,” Aubrey said, trying not to be pushy but also trying to impress upon Max that he needed to get his things together.

  “Don’t worry about me, Mom,” Max said and lifted a plate of pie that he’d walked into her office holding. “I’ve been packed for this trip since before Dad went back to NYC.”

  Chapter 19

  Three weeks. He’d been without Max and Aubrey for three weeks, and each day seemed longer than the one before. “Liza, you ordered flowers, correct? Wildflowers with hydrangeas for the blue room and the bath, I also want them in the—”

  “Living room and dining room. Yes, sir, we have six dozen arriving fresh this morning.”

  “Veuve Clicquot?”

  “A case.”

  “Hamburger, nacho-cheese chips?”

  “And the latest issue of Sports Illustrated.”

  “And

  “Key lime pie. Yes, sir, just as you ordered. The reservations at Yankee Stadium. We have tickets to the three shows that you requested. You’re also dining with Mr. Rodriguez this week at Blue Hill.”

  “Excellent, excellent. And my brothers?”

  “They are arriving now.”

  Justin hung up his office phone and spun his desk chair around from staring at the Manhattan cityscape. Nothing like putting off the inevitable until the bitter end. He’d not had the right time or the right place to inform his three younger brothers of their nephew. The past three weeks had been a gauntlet of legal meetings, press conferences, and conference calls with infernal bankers. Between the hostile-takeover attempt financed out of Dubai and the nightmare unfolding with the prostitution ring in the Travati nightclubs, the past three weeks had been hell for all four of the Travati brothers.

  “We’re here.” Leo sat on the sofa and poured himself a cup of coffee out of the carafe on the end table.

  “Tell me it’s good news.” Devon plopped down beside Leo, who was just tilting his cup to his chin.

  The coffee slid over the rim and sloshed onto Leo’s tie. “Nice job.”

  “Sorry,” Devon quietly said.

  You knew things were bad when he didn’t have a smart comeback to make to one of his older brothers. Devon’s eyes looked tired with lines of worry and fatigue. He and the Travati legal team had spent three weeks going through every employee, every patron, every businessperson that went to Prayer on a regular basis, attempting to make certain there was no indictment where Devon was concerned.

  “We could all use good news.” Anthony sat on the chair opposite the sofa. He was impeccably crisp. Perfect suit. Perfect tie. His discipline rivaled Justin’s, as did his error toward overwork and type-A tendencies. His face didn’t move, only the light in his eyes gave away that he was even remotely interested as to why his eldest brother had requested all four Travati brothers’ presence in his office.

  “Well.” Justin stood from his desk and rounded the corner. “I think it’s good news, but I’m particularly interested to hear what you three think, because what I’m about to tell you impacts the entire Travati family.”

  The three brothers exchanged looks. Only Anthony’s face couldn’t be read, no real change in his facial features; however, he did give a swift tug to his tie as an indicator of his interest about whatever it was that Justin was about to tell them.

  Justin’s heart beat against his ribs. Why was he worried about telling his brothers about Max? Why did he even have the slightest hesitation? They were brothers. Competitive, yes, but still they loved each other, and of course they would be happy for Justin when they heard that the one Travati brother they’d thought could never, after his illness, have a child, in fact could … had … Max was nearly grown, but he was a Travati. The next generation of Travatis.

  “As you know, I was in Kansas last month—”

  “We’re not buying a farm, are we? Those wide-open spaces really freak me out,” Devon said. “What do people do out there?”

  “Cattle and land are both quite lucrative.” Leo took another drink of coffee.

  “Plus, you weren’t really just in Kansas,” Anthony said. “Were you, big brother?”

  Justin squinted his eyes. While Anthony was his brother, his younger brother, lately he’d noticed an edge. A privacy that might not have existed six months ago, a secretiveness to his nature. Was Anthony having him followed? Tracking his whereabouts? How would Anthony know anything about Justin’s trip and two better questions: what and why?

  “I was in Kansas for business, but business of a personal nature. Business that impacts us all.” He passed his gaze over his three brothers: Leo with his confident and athletic air, Anthony with his brisk and perfectly maintained demeanor, and Devon, who until recently had maintained a constant joie de vivre about life and business.

  “It would seem that I have a son.”

  Silence. His brothers exchanged looks but for a moment not a word was said.

  “How is that possible?

  “I thought after the radiation treatment—”

  “Are you certain it’s yours?”

  “Max was conceived befo
re my illness. Before my radiation treatment, before I lost my ability to father a child.”

  Leo’s face spread into a smile. “Well done, big brother, well done.” He’d been the brother most aware of Justin’s acute disappointment with the thought of never having his own family.

  “Are you certain?” Anthony asked. He spread his hand over his tie and gave it a small pull. He crossed his legs and rested his ankle on his thigh. “Blood tests? Paternity? We don’t want a gold digger coming after you simply because your illness put you in an emotionally vulnerable state.”

  Heat flamed through Justin. Anthony could be direct. He could be self-absorbed. At times, he could even be a pain in the ass. But he was rarely rude, nor did he often become aggressive with his brothers.

  “I’m certain Max is my son. I have no doubts, and I’m sure when you see him—”

  Anthony’s eyes narrowed. “My God, you didn’t have a DNA test done, did you?”

  “Anthony, the boy is mine. I spent the night with his mother, and she’s not taken another lover—”

  “Ever? Come now, Justin, that has the phrase gold digger written all over it. A former lover, a one-night-stand even, shows up, claiming the boy is yours and asking for money? Are you in such a vulnerable state that you didn’t even request a paternity test?”

  “That’s why you were with Aubrey Hayes.” Leo leaned back against the couch. “I always found her to be quite good to look at but aloof. Never seemed like the type.”

  “She wasn’t. She isn’t.”

  Justin’s chest tightened and heat boiled his blood. He wouldn’t have his brothers making disparaging remarks about the mother of his child or his son. He turned his hard stare toward Anthony. “The boy is mine. Are we clear? I won’t have any of you treating him like anything but your nephew.”

  Anthony jumped from his chair. “Well, when you prove that he is my nephew, I’ll certainly treat him as such, but until I see it from a lab, all he is to me is an interloper with a greedy mother.”