I had been concentrating on my work, and I didn’t see a woman come through the door. Glancing up, I caught sight of a cold, stiff expression. Standing in front of my desk was an unfamiliar yet familiar face. I placed the phone down and met her eyes. The young woman wore a very expensive cream-colored wool-and-silk suit, no jewelry except for a pair of canary-yellow diamond earrings. It occurred to me that Max loved to give presents of yellow diamond jewelry. At a distance she could resemble me, only her hair was straight and dark, set against flawless porcelain skin. She had a pair of shiny dark eyes that glared down at me.
She stood in front of my desk with an expensive purse at her side and said, “I’m looking for Alexander Bishop.” Peering at my nameplate and then meeting my eyes, she drawled, “Oh, that’s you.” She touched my nameplate in a curious manner.
“I thought that you would be prettier,” she said, turning up her nose with a sneer and glaring at my office furniture.
“And who are you?” I said, surprised by the unsuspected attack launched at me.
“I’m the woman who’s going to marry Maximilian.” I sat up and straightened my skirt out of nervousness.
“If you are marrying him, then why do you find it necessary to give me this bit of information?” I said, standing to gain control of the situation. “Would you like something to drink, Miss, uh…what did you say your name—” She cut me short.
“Ms. Beaumont. Jessica Beaumont,” she said with ringing emphasis and a pretense of wealth and good breeding. She sat down in the chair opposite my desk and left me standing. I walked to my fridge and retrieved a bottle of water. I held up the bottle and pointed it at her, but she shook her head no.
When I reached my desk to sit, she said, “I didn’t come here to drink or exchange pleasantries with you. I wanted to inform you that whatever you had with Maximilian is over.”
“Don’t you think that’s up to Max to decide?” I said with control of my voice, showing a cool gaze to temper the heat of her black eyes.
“Max is confused, and he’s all caught up with his son. He doesn’t know what’s good for him, but that will change.”
“And you do, Miss, uh—” She cut me off.
“Beaumont. I’m sure Max has spoken of me,” she said with a haughty manner and her head held high. It was as if she had been rehearsing to affect a classy demeanor she had read about or seen somewhere, but clearly it wasn’t a natural state for her.
“I never heard him speak your name. I saw you at his fundraiser, but that was after I refused to accept his invitation.” I glanced her way, gauging her reaction. “And did Max tell you where he went when he left the podium?”
Her eyes grew wide. Not waiting for her to reply, I said, “He was with me, and we were enjoying each other’s bodies. Do I have to draw you a picture?” By the slits her eyes made, and the biting of her lip, she had created a better picture in her mind than words could conjure.
I refused to let him fuck me until he came clean about the strangled woman, which he never did. A small lie is good for the soul and good for a bitch like you, Ms. Beaumont, I thought.
“We have a history together, Ms. Bishop. My family raised Max and his brother. Max and I have been lovers since we were teenagers.” She measured my gaze and body language. I gave nothing away in my expression, but I felt like shit. She continued after staring me down. “I taught him everything he knows. Maybe some of what he used on you.” Her head tilted left, and a wicked smile crawled across her face. “You can thank me for your orgasms. I taught him how to satisfy me with oral sex,” she said with a deliberate voice. My eyes closed and opened as if I expected her to disappear. “I have an investment in him.” She raised her voice. “Do you think I will stand by while another woman takes what I want and what I enjoy?” Her riveting eyes bored into me.
That bit of information had me reeling. Why didn’t my Mr. Black tell me that a psychotic woman was fighting me for his affections?
I focused my attention and rage on her. “Your parents did a very poor job of raising them, I hear. And as for the orgasms, since it was Max who satisfied me with his tongue, fingers, and body, and not you, I’ll reserve that credit for him.”
All my animosity for her and for what Max hadn’t told me flashed across my face. “Why would he marry you when all I have to do is call him and I can have him any way and anytime I desire? Did he tell you how and when we make love? Or did he tell you how I suck his dick and make him come whenever I want!”
I’m keeping a scorecard, Jessica, and you have lost this round, you cunt.
“You are a bitch,” she said with as much force as those words could command.
“Yes, and a better one than you, Ms. Beaumont.” She rose in a huff, slung her expensive purse over her shoulder, and marched to the door.
“You haven’t heard the last from me. You’re playing a dangerous game to come between me and what I want. And someone might get hurt.”
“If you harbor any notion of marrying Max and claiming my son…”
“That’s not my intentions at all. Not at all, Ms. Bishop,” she said calmly before flicking her long hair to the side and turning to face me. “We are having our own child, and as soon as the baby is born, we will send your son off to a private school. I will be traveling with Max, and I will not have time to raise another woman’s child.”
What a pair of balls! One quick thrust to the balls can send men to their knees, but this she-devil needs a stake through her heart and sunlight to bring her down. If she continues to fuck with me, she will get everything that’s coming to her.
I flashed her a quick smile with no teeth.
I was stunned. It was a blow to me that I couldn’t recover from soon. She shot me a fiendish smile with a mouth full of straight white teeth. The glare of her smile and the intent stayed long after she walked through the door. I blinked, and all I saw was a pair of dangerous black eyes and white teeth. I sank into the nearest chair. The room swirled around me as I sat thinking about what I had heard. It took some time for me to get my bearings, and when I did, I called Charles in a nervous huff.
“Can I see you today?”
“This is a wonderful surprise, Alex. What did I do to deserve this call?”
“You know what you did. You have been kind to me, and I need to express my feelings.” Maybe it is time to start dating.
“I have a meeting this afternoon, but if you come to my office after work, I should be there at about seven o’clock. I’ll have dinner prepared for you, and if I’m late, then you can eat and then sleep in one of the guest bedrooms.”
“People will talk.”
“Oh Alex, let them. I don’t run my life on what employees say or think other than in business. My private life is mine and mine alone.”
After a long day it was refreshing not to travel across town and then have to be bombarded by calls and maybe a visit from Max.
I rang the bell to the penthouse suite. It was his office and home when he couldn’t travel to his estate. A maid answered the door. Stepping into the dining room, I saw that the table was set with beautiful monogrammed linen and crystal glassware. The chef placed the food in front of me as I sat gazing at Seattle’s skyline. I lost myself in its beauty from seeing it so high in the air.
Charles called to say that he would be late. I ate, and when I finished, the maid cleared the table. Then I looked around and found a bedroom that suited my taste. The furnishings were sparse and European, with Monet’s paintings hanging on the wall. The room I selected had a king bed. Sometime during the night, after catching up on work and reading a romance novel, I fell asleep. I felt a warm hand on my cheek and I knew it was Charles. I didn’t want to talk to him, so I pretended that I was dead to the world.
He leaned over and kissed my cheek. It was a caring and warm kiss. The kind a girl longs for from a man she loves. But I didn’t love him and I would have given everything to have that type of relationship with Max. Charles was as busy as Max, but he found time
to be around when I needed him.
I hated myself for comparing the two men. I was now spending more time with Charles than I had been spending with Max. Max infuriated me so because he left all my questions open. I still was yet to find out about the girl who by now had been buried. I never heard Max or Jonas say a word about her, but clearly one or both had had a relationship with her.
When I woke the next morning, there was a suit and accessories in front of my bed. I called out, and the maid came to tell me that Charles had an appointment and that he would see me tonight. What does that mean, tonight? I said nothing about meeting him.
After dressing for work, I tried to hide and take the elevator down to my office. I felt self-conscious, like a child who everyone knew had done something really bad, and everyone was pointing at me and whispering. I looked around, thinking I was safe when I entered the elevator, but then I heard someone say, “Good morning Ms. Bishop.”
My hand covering my mouth, I replied with a muffled, “Good morning,” never turning to see who had discovered my secret. Who was I fooling? I put my head down and got off on my floor. I didn’t know the person, but they knew me. I couldn’t help but think about the conversation Charles and Jonas had when he was posing as Max, about having a mole in his company.
Happy not to have to drive to work, I sat at my desk and began reading about insurance and banking.
It was very early, and my smartphone rang. I decided to take Max’s calls because of Maxim. “Yes, Max. Is Maxim doing OK without me? Are you OK?” I hoped that was all this conversation would center on.
“Maxim is doing just great, but he misses his mother. I miss you too.” I wanted to leap through the phone and kiss him and love him the way I knew I could.
“I’m working now, Max.”
“Has Charles given you something that I couldn’t? Does he kiss your…?”
“Oh my God. Stop it, Max. Charles and I haven’t been intimate.”
“Then why are you sleeping at his apartment?” He had gone the long way around to get to what he really wanted, and that was to discuss Charles St. John and me.
“How did you know that? Am I being followed?”
“I know everything you’re doing.” I craned my neck, looking around to see whether there were cameras on me or something that I hadn’t noticed, and it occurred to me—the voice in the elevator. That voice was Max’s spy.
“Max, this is not going to work.”
“Can I see you?”
“For what?”
“I’m so jealous, Alex, I might do something crazy.”
“Did you know that yesterday I had a visitor?” I didn’t want to entertain his conversation and fall into his pity trap.
“Why? How would I know who visited you yesterday?” He didn’t sound too convincing.
“You seem to know everything else,” I countered. “Another one of your fiancées, this one was alive. A Jessica Beaumont paid a brief visit to my office.” Max went silent. “Are you there, Max?”
“What did she say? I hope you didn’t talk with her.” I heard a break in Max’s voice, as if they shared a secret.
“Yes, I did talk with her. She had plenty to say about your future with her and our son.”
“There is no future with her. She is delusional.”
“She appears to be very lucid and she claims to know you quite well. Better than me. After all she said that she was raised with you and you two had been lovers since you were teens.”
“What does that have to do with me now?”
“She is another one of your secrets you have concealed from me.”
“I didn’t think it was necessary to tell you about someone who doesn’t exist in my life anymore.”
“What did you do the night I left you at your fundraiser?”
“I took a flight out to New York. I dropped her home before then and I haven’t seen her since. Please believe me, Alex. I have nothing to do with her. I just want you. Come back to me, sweetheart?” My breath ceased, and I felt him caressing my body. I felt the warmth in his words sliding over my breasts as if it was his tongue.
“I can’t,” I said, taking hold of my senses.
“Then you leave me no choice, Alex.” Max’s voice alarmed me.
“What are you going to do, Max?”
“I’m going to ask the judge for permanent custody of Maxim,” he said as if he was about to take over a company and lay off the workers.
“You can’t do that,” I screamed.
“I can do anything I want, especially since I have evidence that you have been spending nights with St. John.”
“Max, don’t.”
“Then marry me.” I calmed myself, trying to think. Why should I accept his terms? I’d lived my life under my own terms even if I’d paid a price. It was my decision and my price to pay.
“You are not going to bully me any longer. I’m going to do everything in my power to stop you, Max.”
“That sounds like a threat, Alex.”
“Absolutely!” It was my bluff. I held one card, and it represented his heart. I was going to hold it until it became necessary to play it.
Chapter 9
Saturday marched in quietly and quickly. I prepared breakfast for myself and Crystal. We sat in silence, occasionally peeping at each other between sips of coffee. I didn’t want to hear Crystal’s problems because I felt they were nothing compared to what I had been experiencing. But everyone feels that their problems are worst than the next fellow’s. I guess the adage is true—you have to walk a mile in someone’s shoes. So I decided to let her get whatever was bothering her off her chest.
We had been staring at our scrambled eggs and picking at them with a fork, not eating. When I glanced up, Crystal’s eyes were pooling with tears. “What’s wrong today?” I asked, less sympathetic than I should have been.
“I don’t know where Jonas is. I’ve been texting and texting him. I’ve even considered going around to his business.”
“Oh no, don’t do that.” My voice rose quickly without a measure of control.
“But why?”
“Just calm down. He likes you…”
“He said he loved me,” she said in a soft, childlike voice.
“Men always tell women they love them when they are horny and want to fuck, and they want to fuck all the time.”
“Did Max tell you the same thing?” My brow knitted, and my eyes closed for a minute, tightening at the thought of what Max had said to me through the course of our relationship. I quickly hit the ball into Crystal’s court.
“This is not about me, Crystal. Give him time. He’s probably working for Max and couldn’t call.” I changed the subject immediately. “Hey, what about Joshua?” I asked, sounding positive and upbeat.
“I hear from him every day,” Crystal said, sounding none too interested in discussing Josh.
“And you’re not satisfied that he thinks enough of you to call every day? You want the bad boy—the one that can never be around when you really need him.”
“It’s the same with you, Alex.” Crystal returned my serve. “St. John adores you, and you want Max. Look, Max and Jonas are twins. Do you think Max will be any different than Jonas? He took your son as he was telling you that he loved you.” I stared at the pattern on the wall. I didn’t know Crystal could be so deep.
Before I could defend Max, my phone rang. “Alex, this is Blake.”
“I thought that I would never hear from you,” I said, welcoming his call.
“You had my number. Why haven’t you called?”
“I’ve had a few bad days, and I didn’t want to burden you with my problems,” I said, looking to replace Joshua as my friend and confidant.
“Can I meet you for lunch? I promise that you will not be disturbed by Blackstone. I have something important to tell you concerning the murder case of that heiress. I wanted to talk to you before the papers published tomorrow.”
“Yes. Yes, what time?” I was eager to lear
n about the newest developments in the case, and because Blake was willing to tell me something that wasn’t common knowledge yet. He had been very tight-lipped on details. Maybe he thought that I would tell Max. I probably would have done that just to protect Max.
“I’ll pick you up at one o’clock. There’s a rustic bar near the waterfront where cops hangout. They have great hamburgers and beer.”
***
Blake drove up in a new Dodge truck. I waited outside and I climbed in and he shut the door and entered. Hitting a button, he drove off. I smelled the newness of the truck, and it reminded me of the new Mercedes Max had given me. I had returned it because of my pride. Blake’s radio was tuned into a country-and-western station, where a song was playing on the radio. I heard a lyric, “If you believe that I don’t love you, then I can sell you a river in Arizona.” My eyes swung around to Blake, but he kept his eyes on the road.
“Nice day, isn’t it?” he said with a smile.
We made small talk about the weather and exchanged observations on how we looked to each other. Whenever conversations start with the weather and end with the weather, something is wrong.
“Are you going to tell me what was so important that you had to ask me to lunch?”
“I wanted to see you. I miss you and I like you.” Blake placed his hand over mine as he drove. The electricity once reserved for Max seemed to register in my body. Not the overwhelming jolt I received whenever Max was near, but a calm energy that made me feel invigorated and full of life. Max had managed to sap the life out of me with his demands and his unyielding stance on Maxim.
“I explained to you that…” I stopped myself because I had forgotten there was no longer a “Max and I” to control how I felt. Now I needed stability and peace. Max had threatened to get full control of Maxim. I was disappointed and angry because Max had not touched me in months.
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