Indiscretion: Volume Four (2 page)

“What’s going on?” Jess was getting impatient.

Jackie took her hand and squeezed it. “It’s all being handled, Jess. You don’t need to worry.” Thank God for Jackie stepping in. She knew how important it was to me that my sister pursue her ambitions in Los Angeles. At least with her on my side I stood a fighting chance at convincing Jess it was no big deal.

Jess pulled her hand out of Jackie’s. “What exactly
is
going on?”

I sighed and dove in, giving her a basic rundown of everything that had happened, intentionally skimming over some of the details.

“That doesn’t seem like no big deal to me,” she grumbled when I was finished.

“Jamie is looking into it,” Jackie assured her. Being the more sober of the two us, I was grateful to her for stepping in.

Jess watched us both for a moment, then raised her chin in defiance. “I should stick around. I don’t like being on the other side of the country, knowing all this is going on.”

I reached for her hand and squeezed. “I’m going to be fine. I have a lot of people looking out for me. You don’t need to worry.”

She squeezed my hand back with concern in her eyes. “You’re all I have, Chlo. If anything…”

“Sweetie, nothing is going to happen. Trust me.” I blinked a few times to try and sharpen the image of my sister. It didn’t help much.

She stared at me for a minute, contemplating, before she finally nodded. “Fine. But you can guarantee that I’ll be calling you more often to check in now.”

“And this is why I didn’t want you to know,” I grumbled. I picked up the wine again, gulping down more. I wrapped my lips around the bottle and paused halfway mid-tip when I saw Jamie enter the kitchen from my peripheral vision. I shifted slightly to look at him.

His eyes darted from me, over to Jackie, and then to Jess. “I don’t even wanna ask.” He shook his head, turned on his heel, and left the kitchen like it was on fire.

We must’ve looked like a bunch of black widow spiders sitting around the table, ready to devour anything with a penis. I shrugged and proceeded to gulp back more wine, enjoying the light feeling in my head. It helped to dull the emotional pain.

Jackie giggled a little, then a little more, and before I knew it all three of us were in the middle of a laughing fit. I laughed until my eyes watered and my abdominal muscles hurt. Then, as the laughter at the table died down, my own turned into uncontrollable sobs. My head sank to the table, my arms wrapping around myself. It was only moments before the two people I was closest to came up behind me and enveloped me in a warm cocoon.

It should’ve brought me some measure of comfort. Instead it increased the ache in my chest because I knew it was still someone else’s arms I was longing to comfort me.

And what kind of pathetic loser did that make me?

Max

I’d been waiting on Chloe’s porch all night. And I’d spent the majority of my time here hiding in the corner behind the rocking chair before I finally said ‘fuck it’ and propped myself against the front door. If anyone saw me, I’d claim I’d been wasted and somehow ended up passing out on the front porch.

Now the late morning sun was beating down on me, warming my skin. Though that wasn’t what woke me from my uncomfortable half-sleep. I lifted my stiff neck, groaning and rubbing the back of it to see a pair of high-heeled feet in front of me. I whipped my head up, forgetting all about how stiff my muscles were to see Chloe’s sister standing there with her arms crossed and a displeased expression on her face—one that closely resembled her sister’s. Shockingly so.

“What are
you
doing here?” she asked, clearly not happy to see me.

“I need to see, Chloe.” I pushed up off the porch and stood to my full height. I’d told the bodyguard tailing Chloe that he didn’t need to keep a sharp eye on her during the gala, figuring she’d be safe enough with me in the room with her. What I hadn’t figured on was her hightailing it out of there before the event was over, so my guy had no idea where she’d taken off to.

“Pretty sure she doesn’t want to see you.” She levelled me with a look, showing me she meant business. She was quite intimidating for a girl that wasn’t even twenty yet.

“I think I have an idea why she took off last night,” I explained. “I need to see her so I can explain.”

She pursed her lips, appraising me. “I suppose I should thank you for bringing me out here. You know, so I could be with my sis and all when you stomped all over her heart.”

I knew Chloe would be upset with me if she’d seen me with Sarah, which I was pretty positive now was the case, but the way her sister was describing it was making it seem like maybe this was more than just a fling to Chloe, too. I’d been pushing those same feelings away for a while now and despite my exhaustion and sore muscles, I couldn’t help feeling somewhat elated.

“If you’ll tell me where she is, I can explain everything to her.” I gave Jess a pleading look, hoping it would help sway her.

She studied me for another moment. “What’s going on with you guys anyway?”

Wasn’t that the million dollar question? “It’s complicated.”

“Do you care about her?” she asked with an arched brow.

That was an easy one. “Yes. Very much.”

She went back to studying me, pursing her lips. “I’ll tell you where she is under one condition.”

I bit the inside of my cheek, my heart rate picking up speed at the idea of seeing her. I didn’t like being held hostage, especially by a teenager, and that’s essentially what this situation was. “What’s that?” I tried to keep the impatience and displeasure from my voice.

“That you don’t hurt her again. If you’re bullshitting me and it turns out that you’re just using her, or you have something going on with someone else…” Her green eyes narrowed into slits. “I don’t care whose son you are. I’ll make you regret it.”

I laughed silently. There wasn’t much this little girl could do to hurt someone of my stature, nonetheless I admired her bravado. More than that, I was happy to know Chloe had someone in her life who loved her so fiercely.

I looked her directly in the eye. “I won’t hurt your sister.”

She didn’t say anything for a beat, searching my face for the truth of my statement. “Fine. She’s hiding out at Jackie’s house. I’m just here to grab some of my stuff before I head to the airport, and bring something back for her to change into.” She gave me the address, and I repeated it in my head like a mantra several times so I wouldn’t forget it.

“Thank you,” I said, the relief in my voice obvious. I stepped to the side, away from the front door, now that I had the information I needed.

She bit her lip, another of Chloe’s habits I recognized. “Listen, I want to believe you’re a decent guy, and the only reason I told you where she is, is because she’s been different since she’s been with you. A good different,” she added meaningfully. “There are times when I feel guilty she was forced to drop everything in her own life to raise me—”

I shook my head. “Your sister loves you. I haven’t known her that long, but she’s told me over and over again that she wouldn’t change a thing. She doesn’t regret raising you for a minute.”

She gave me a sad smile. “No, I know. I’m just saying it’s nice to see her have her own life for once. Find happiness for herself. Please don’t do anything to put that in jeopardy.”

There were unshed tears in her eyes. Gone was the feisty girl who’d stood before me minutes ago. She was now just a young girl worried about someone she loved.

I brought a hand to her shoulder and gave her a reassuring squeeze. “I care for her. I promise you I didn’t, nor will I, jeopardize her happiness.” She nodded and sniffed, trying to hold the tears at bay, and I asked her, “Do you have a way to get to the airport?”

“Yeah, my friend Kurt is going to take me.”

“Okay, then. It was good to meet you, though I wish it’d been under different circumstances.” I put my hands in the pockets of my now rumpled tux and looked down at the worn porch floor.

“You, too,” she replied, a note of sincerity in her voice. “I hope we’ll be able to see each other again.”

I swallowed hard. I couldn’t respond and tell her that probably wouldn’t be the case. I wouldn’t be in town long enough for it to happen. So I just smiled. She unlocked the door to the house and stepped inside.

Drawing in a deep breath, I steeled myself for what was sure to be an unpleasant confrontation with Chloe. The best I could hope for was that she’d let me explain. If she didn’t, I’d just try again. And again if that’s what it took. I was nothing if not relentless in pursuit of my goals—something that Chloe would soon find out.

Max

Jackie’s house was on the outskirts of town, set back into the trees with no neighbors in sight. Sunlight filtered in, laying its own pattern over top of everything. It reminded me of my trip to Portland with Chloe and the funny word she’d used to describe that exact effect. With a sigh, I shook the memory from my mind and focused again on the house. Cedar shake covered the outside of the home and a large wraparound porch surrounded the second story, a set of stairs on one side. A garage was set into the lower half of the home, on the opposite side.

When I reached the end of the driveway, I parked and exited the car. A large man with sandy-colored hair, dressed in athletic shorts and a T-shirt, walked around to the front of the house. I had to assume this was Jackie’s husband, Jamie.

He stopped halfway across the lawn, feet apart, arms crossed. “You must be Max.”

I nodded, unsure as to whether this guy was getting ready to kick me off his property or welcome me. “I am. You Jamie?”

He walked the rest of the way over to me and held his hand out to shake mine. Guess I wasn’t about to get my ass handed to me after all. “Good to meet you. You sure you want to go in there?” He nodded in the direction of the house. “There’s a good chance you’ll be facing the firing squad based on what I saw in there last night.”

I cringed.
Shit.
That didn’t sound promising. “Yeah, I guess there was a misunderstanding of some kind last night. I’m hoping to straighten it out.”

He chuckled and patted me on the shoulder. “Good luck with that. In my experience, the only way misunderstandings get straightened out with women is if you admit defeat and beg for forgiveness.” He gave me a look of pity.

I kicked at the ground, pursing my lips. “Yeah, well…I’m not above grovelling if that’s what it takes.”

“I’d get ready to do just that—and I’d keep your hands in front of your man parts.” He gave me a meaningful grin. “I know what Jackie can get like when she’s trying to defend Chloe. Those two are a package deal.”

Jesus.
This guy was really starting to have me concerned that I may come out of there with the inability to bear children.

“Thanks, man,” I said, trying to school my features. “Wish me luck.” I turned and headed in the direction of the house.

“Take the stairs up at the side of the deck, front door will be at the top,” he called from behind me.

I glanced over my shoulder at him. “If I’m not out in half an hour, send in the cavalry.” I was only half joking.

“You kidding me? I’m not stupid enough to get in the middle of that.” He laughed again, at my expense, then his expression became somewhat serious. “Listen, when you’re done in there I wouldn’t mind having a word with you about what’s been going on with, Chloe. The weird shit, I mean.”