Billionaire Temptations: Rich, Ruthless & Obsessed

Chapter 30

Chapter Thirty

Max and I got up bright and early the next morning. After showering together, we dressed and headed to the penthouse Max was dying to show me.

“So where exactly is this penthouse?” I asked as I took hold of his hand when he slid in next to me.

“East 61 st Street. It's about eleven minutes from my other apartment. It’s closer to my office and only one minute further to Parsons for you.”

Darren pulled up to the curb, and Max slid out, holding out his hand to me. I looked up and stared at the thirty-nine-story building. I gasped.

“Wow.” I smiled.

“I know.” Max chuckled. “Wait until you see the penthouse.”

We took the elevator up to the thirty-second floor to apartment 32BC. When Max opened the door, an older lady approached us.

“Good morning, Mr. Hamilton.”

“Good morning, Maggie. I’d like you to meet my girlfriend, Emma Knight.”

“It’s nice to meet you.” She smiled as she held out her hand. “Let’s take a look around, shall we?”

Just stepping through the front door, I knew this was the perfect place for us.

“This penthouse offers three bedrooms, four bathrooms, a separate den, and two private wraparound terraces. But the best part of this home is the views of Central Park from every room.”

I was blown away by the elegance of the light-stained oak flooring and the oversized picture windows throughout the entire place.

“Let’s start in the kitchen area. You can see this is a chef’s kitchen with a pristine window over the sink, white stone countertops, and top-of-the-line appliances by Miele, Wolf, and Subzero. I can envision you cooking many wonderful meals here.”

I looked at Max, and he smiled because he knew all too well that I wasn’t all that great of a cook.

“This is the dining area, which will seat eight people comfortably. Next, we have the large living area, which features one of the generous wraparound terraces facing the west, a beautiful feature for throwing elegant parties. Next, we’ll move onto the master suite, which features a private den off the back as well as a second wraparound private terrace. The best feature of this room is his and her bathrooms because we ladies know we need our own bathroom to accommodate all of our beauty products.”

I stepped into the extremely large oversized walk-in closet and swallowed hard. I’d never seen anything like it. It was triple the size of the one I had at my apartment.

“Nice, isn’t it?” Maggie smiled. “Now, if you open this door right here, it leads to the second walk-in closet for Mr. Hamilton. That way, you don’t have to worry about space for your collection of clothes, shoes, jewelry, and handbags,” she whispered.

“Max has more clothes and shoes than I have.” I laughed.

“Not for long, sweetheart.” He winked.

We stepped out of the room and into the hallway, where Maggie showed us the additional two guestrooms, each having their own bathroom.

“Well, what do you think?” Maggie asked.

“I love it. I’m speechless at how amazing this place is.” I looked over at Max and placed my arm around his waist. “I can totally see us living here and making it our home.”

“So you love it?” he asked.

“Yes. It goes beyond love.”

He let out a sigh of relief. “Thank God because I already bought it.”

“What? When?” I laughed.

“Yesterday. I knew you’d love it, and I was afraid it would sell before you had the chance to see it.”

“I do love it, Max. Thank you.” I reached up and gave him a kiss on his lips.

“You’re welcome. I think the three of us will be very happy here.”

“Congratulations to both of you. You’ve made the right decision.” Maggie smiled as she walked away.

“Yeah, of course, we did because now she gets a huge commission,” Max whispered in my ear.

“We’ll need to go furniture shopping,” I said. “Unless you just want to bring your furniture from your apartment.”

“Nah. If we’re starting new, then everything is going to be new, and I want us to pick out furniture we both like together. Especially our bedroom set.” He winked. “The only furniture coming here will be Sarah’s from her nursery, and I’ve already hired the decorators to duplicate the room.”

“Have I told you how much I love you?” I asked with a smile.

“Not today, you haven’t.”

We stopped in front of the doorway, and I wrapped my arms around his neck. “I love you to the moon and back, Mr. Hamilton.”

“I love you more, Miss Knight. Now let’s go see our baby girl.”

After scrubbing up and stepping inside the NICU, Max and I walked over to Sarah. She was awake.

“There’s my baby girl.” I smiled as I picked up her tiny body and cradled her in my arms. “She looks so good, Max.”

“Yes, she does.” He bent down and kissed her head.

“Good news.” Laney, the nurse, walked over and said with a huge smile. “You will get to take Sarah home in one week.”

“Really?” Excitement overtook me. There was finally light at the end of the tunnel for us.

“Yep. She’s doing better every day and getting stronger. She’s drinking full bottles now, and she’s holding her own. Dr. Cooper will talk to you later when he gets here.”

“Oh my God, Max. We’ll finally get to bring her home. I’m so excited.”

“Me too, baby. That means we have exactly one week to move and get everything in order.”

“It’s not possible,” I said as I looked at him.

“Sure it is. We can do it. If you’ll excuse me, I have several phone calls to make.”

I smiled as he kissed me and walked out.

“Did you hear that, Sarah? You get to come home with Mommy and Daddy in one week.” I smiled as I kissed her head and cuddled her against my chest.

We spent the next day traveling from furniture store to furniture store, picking out every piece of furniture we needed. I had the best ideas of how to decorate, and Max agreed with me.

“You’re the interior designer, so anything you pick out will be amazing.”

“Not an interior designer yet, my love.”

“Well, consider our home your first project.”

We picked out everything we needed to fill our space while the movers were packing everything up at my apartment and Max’s. Max had to pull some strings to get the furniture delivered within a couple of days. Things were moving so fast that it was making my head spin. The nursery was being painted, and the furniture was being moved over to the penthouse. I gave the painters the colors to ensure they bought the right paint color.

It was now day six, and tomorrow was the big day. Sarah was coming home. We spent our first night at our new place last night and christened our new bed more than once. Furniture wise, everything was in its place, including the nursery and all of Sarah’s things I had purchased. Cardboard boxes filled most of the wall space with our things from the other apartments, and I had planned to start unpacking after I went to the hospital to visit Sarah. It was a Saturday, and Max told me he had to stop by the office for a bit to catch up on some work and that he’d meet me at the hospital.

As I was feeding Sarah her bottle and rocking her in the chair, Max walked in with a big smile on his face.

“Hi.” He bent down and gave us both a kiss.

“Hi. Did you get some work done?”

“I sure did. Let’s go to lunch. I’m starving.”

“Okay. We can grab something to eat in the cafeteria.”

“Emma, I was thinking of a nice restaurant. Aren’t you sick of eating this hospital food?”

“A little, but I don’t want to leave her.”

He gave me a small smile as he knelt down beside me. “We’ll come back later, and she’ll be home tomorrow.”

“Okay.”

After I fed her, Max took her from me and burped her. Watching him with her was one of the most precious moments of my life. He was a natural, and he loved her more than anything in the world. After we laid her down and said goodbye, Max took me to a place called Anassa Taverna.

“What restaurant is this?” I asked as we stepped out of the Rolls Royce.

“A place with really good food.” He smiled.

We walked through the large doors, and Max led me up the stairs. When I reached the top step, everyone yelled, “Surprise!” I was taken aback as I placed my hand over my chest.

“Oh my God. What is this?” I asked in excitement as I looked around at all the people staring at me.

“It’s your baby shower!” Molly exclaimed as she hugged me.

I looked at Max, and he had a big grin on his face. “Did you do this?”

“I helped.” He winked.

I looked around at the tables that were covered in white tablecloths with a light pink overlay. White and pink balloons with Sarah’s name were scattered everywhere, and centerpieces made of white and pink roses filled each table. Tears sprang to my eyes as Kara and Aubrey hugged me.

“You didn’t think we’d let you go without a shower, did you?”

“I didn’t think about it, actually.”

I was overwhelmed and overjoyed.

“I have another surprise for you.” Max smiled as he took my hand and led me over to the corner of the bar, where I saw my mom and Danny sitting.

I could no longer hold back the tears as she walked over to me and gave me a hug.

“Oh, my baby girl. I’ve missed you so much.”

“Mom. I’m so happy you’re here. I can’t wait for you to meet Sarah.”

“You look amazing, Emma.” Danny smiled as he hugged me.

“When did you two get in?” I asked.

“Last night. Thanks to Max here.” She placed her hand on his chest. “Oh my.” She smiled.

I let out a laugh and then walked around to the hundred guests that had attended. The majority were Max’s friends and coworkers and my friends from school.

“Fiona wished she could be here, but she’s in the middle of a job in Paris and couldn’t fly out.”

“She couldn’t get out, but I could!” I heard a familiar voice behind me.

“Macy!” I turned and hugged her.

“Congratulations, Emma. I’m so happy for you and Max.”

“Thank you.”

I spent some time talking to Hannah and Austin before it was time to sit down and eat. Max sat beside me and took hold of my hand.

“Are you happy?”

“Incredibly. Thank you so much for this, Max. I think I’ll keep you around.” I winked.

“I hope so.” He brushed his lips against mine.

After I opened the mounds of presents ranging from baby books, toys, equipment, and clothes, everyone was beginning to leave.

“How are we going to get all this stuff home?” I asked.

“I have a truck outside, waiting for my signal to come up and start loading.”

“You think of everything, Mr. Hamilton.”

“I try, Miss Knight.”

I was excited to get home and show the girls and my mom our new home. As soon as we walked through the doors, everyone gasped.

“Holy shit! Look at this place!” Molly exclaimed.

“Absolutely stunning,” Kara chimed.

“Oh, Emma, this is gorgeous,” my mom said with tears in her eyes. She took hold of my hands. “You are so lucky to have Max in your life. He’s a good man, Emma. He’s got a heart of gold. I can tell.”

“Where did he put you up?” I asked with a smile.

“The Ritz Carlton.”

“And what a hell of a hotel it is,” Danny spoke.

Max laughed as he wrapped his arms around my waist from behind. “I’m happy you like it there.”

My mom put her arm around Danny and looked at both Max and me. “We have some news of our own. We’re getting married!”

I put my hands over my mouth. “Mom! That’s wonderful news. Congratulations.” I hugged them both tightly. “When?”

“We decided to wait about six months. We’re going to do it right with a wedding and all. I wanted to wait until it was safe for Sarah to travel, and I want you to be my maid of honor.”

Tears sprang to my eyes as I looked at her. “Of course, I’ll be your maid of honor,” I squealed.

We spent the early evening talking and catching up. Max and I went to the hospital to visit Sarah as soon as they left. We held her, played with her, talked to her, and gave her lots of little kisses. Our little bundle of joy was finally coming home tomorrow, and we couldn’t be happier.