Chapter 30
Chapter Thirty
Max was lying on his couch, staring at the ceiling, when he heard his elevator ding. The doors opened.
“Max? Where are you? Oh—what the hell happened in here? It smells like whiskey and misery.”
Pretty sure that’s me. He turned his head, squinting. His sister was in his kitchen, messing around in the fridge, dumping dishes into the sink.
“Aurora? What are you doing here?”
“What does it look like? I’m checking up on you. Sylvie let me in using some override button thing? Since you had your floor locked out and haven’t been answering any of your messages. I don’t know how she did it, but whatever it was, I’m here. You’re a mess, and your apartment is disgusting.”
She shoveled empty cans and wrappers off his counter into the trash.
“I thought you’d be with Lana,” he said.
“Well, I’m not. I’m with you. So, get off your ass and start helping.”
Max stumbled over, wiping a hand over his face.
His eyes were bleary, and he had several days’ worth of beard growth on his chin.
From the sun in the windows, he guessed it was morning.
What day, he had no clue. But he did know he wasn’t drunk anymore, and that was not a feeling he appreciated. His head was exploding with pressure.
He slumped onto a bar stool. “You don’t have to do this. And it’s beyond obvious you don’t want to. So why bother?”
Aurora stopped, a trash bag in one hand, a half-empty liquor bottle in the other. “Because you’re my brother. You’ve always been around for me, even when I didn’t want you to be.”
“Around for you? What are you talking about? I was gone all the time when you were a kid. You barely knew me.”
She snickered. “Max, you were my freaking hero. Maybe our sibling relationship has been tense since I had my first boyfriend, but I always knew I could count on you. I’m trying to return the favor here.
And I do know you. I know you don’t want to be babied or told that you’re a precious, beautiful flower. ”
He made a face.
“So, stop feeling sorry for yourself and clean up the mess you’ve made.”
Aurora was right. This was exactly what he needed to hear.
Max drank some orange juice, took some pain killers, and got to work, helping to clear away the rest of the trash and dirty clothes he’d strewn across the living room.
He didn’t remember much from the days since Lana had left.
He’d managed to tell Devon to watch over her townhouse that first night, making sure Wayfair left her alone.
There’d been messages from Devon reporting Lana was safe, that she hadn’t left her home.
Calls from Sylvie and from the new assistant he’d recently hired, reminding him of appointments he’d blown off. Emails that he’d failed to open.
He hadn’t been able to sleep in his bed because it made him think of Lana.
Of course, that hadn’t stopped him from sitting in her former bedroom, breaking open that case of absurdly expensive Japanese whiskey he’d been saving for clients, and wallowing in his failings.
“Have you seen Lana?” he asked his sister.
“I tried. She won’t let me. She probably doesn’t want me to choose sides.”
“But is anyone with her? Is she alone?” His stomach wrenched. Not over worries for her safety, because it did seem that Wayfair had called off his terror campaign. But Max didn’t want her to be isolated from her best friend because of him.
“Devon went to visit her this morning. He texted that she let him inside, so that’s progress.”
Max nodded. “Do you already know what I did to fuck up her entire life? Or are you waiting for the right moment to ask.”
“I’ve heard some things. But does that matter? You didn’t mean to hurt her, right?”
“God, no. I’ve never meant to hurt her.” Even though I keep on doing it.
“Then I don’t need to know the gory details. I don’t want to choose sides, Max. I want you both to be happy. And right now, you are both absolutely destroyed.”
He sat on the couch, resting his head in his hands. “I’m in love with her.”
“I kind of guessed that, you know. From all this. I know what heartbreak looks like.” Aurora sat down and put her arm around him. “You want to talk about it?”
“I asked her to be my girlfriend.”
She did a comical double-take. “Hold up. You. Asked Lana. To be your girlfriend?”
“Yeah. It’s not that absurd. She did say yes.”
“But you’ve never had a girlfriend. You don’t date. Right? That’s what I thought.”
“I haven’t had a girlfriend since high school. But yeah, otherwise you’re right. I’m in my thirties and haven’t had a girlfriend since I was eighteen. Not until Lana, which lasted for a day. That’s how pathetic I am.”
“Maybe if you hadn’t gotten laid since you were eighteen, one could make a case that you were pathetic. Depending on the reasons. But I may have heard that you, in fact, have gotten laid since then. Perhaps more than once.”
He got up from the couch, scratching the back of his neck. “I am not discussing my sex life with you.”
“Because you’ve been so respectful of mine? But you’re distracting me. Gosh, who was it you decided to bone down with, when I was just a sweet, innocent kid…” Aurora tapped her finger on her chin. “Could it have been my babysitter, Lana Marchetti?”
“She wasn’t your babysitter anymore by then.”
“No, she was practically my big sister. And you two got busier than an elementary school lunchroom when Lana was still a teenager, and you were a big, strong manly man.”
He gave her an infuriated look. “She was in college.”
“Oh my god, calm down. I know it was all legally and ethically acceptable, I’m just teasing you. But I do seem to remember someone coming down really hard on me about my boy-crazy ways. I was supposed to be more responsible? ‘Sex is not something to jump into lightly.’ Who could have said that?”
“I know. I was a hypocrite.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t quite catch that.”
“I was a hypocrite,” he said through gritted teeth.
“Is it my birthday already? Because that, dear brother, was a gift.”
He picked up a dirty undershirt and threw it at her. Aurora took one sniff and tossed it into the trash.
“So, Lana’s your girlfriend.”
“Was.”
“She definitely broke up with you?”
“I…don’t actually know.” That part was hazy. He hadn’t been feeling very optimistic since she left. But she hadn’t said anything definitive. “She was really angry.”
“Lana knows how to choose her words. If she wanted to end things, I’m sure you would be aware.
You probably just had a fight. Lana and I have had plenty of fights.
Sometimes, we both need time to cool down.
Same with me and Devon. Except, my fights with Devon usually lead to a very different kind of making up… ”
Max scowled, and she cracked up.
“So let’s assume you two didn’t break up. What do you want from Lana? You say you love her. But how serious are you about this?”
“You’re asking for my intentions?”
“She’s my best friend. And you’re the guy who hasn’t dated since high school. You don’t have a clue what you’re doing, and your track record is shit. Can you blame me?”
“No. I can’t.” What did he want from Lana? Everything. And he wanted to give her everything. All his heart. He wouldn’t have broken all his rules for anything less. “I’m very serious about Lana.”
“Marriage serious? Family serious?”
Once, he’d panicked at even the thought of being tied down. But with Lana, the idea wasn’t so scary. It was maybe even something he wanted. “I think so. Yes.”
“Wow. Then you have my blessing.” Aurora nudged him with her foot. “Now go get yourself cleaned up. Your smell is making my eyes water.”
Max stepped out of the elevators and into the workroom. A dozen pairs of eyes turned to him as his employees stopped, mid-task and mid-sentence. He lifted his chin, both in greeting and dismissal. Nothing to see here.
Luckily, they got the message and work resumed. He breathed in the ozone-scent of the computers, the starch of button-down shirts.
This is more like it, he thought. I’m back.
He strode to his new assistant’s desk, hand tucked into his pants pocket.
He’d worn a suit today, sans tie. His hair was slicked back, and his face was freshly shaved.
The dark circles remained under his eyes, but there was only so much that a shower and a pot of coffee could do.
But he’d had a full meal and sent Aurora on her way.
He was ready to catch up on all that he’d neglected the last few days.
“Morning, Nancy. I need a list of all the meetings, calls, and emails I missed while I was sick, prioritized by importance. Please work on rescheduling anything that’s urgent. Send the list and come by my office as soon as it’s ready.”
“Yes, Mr. Bennett. Of course. I’ve already been working on that.”
“Perfect.”
Next, he visited Sylvie in her corner of the workroom. She glanced up, spinning in her desk chair. “Look who’s among the living.”
“Reports of my death have been slightly exaggerated.”
“When I said you should take some time off work, I was thinking Mexico. Tahiti. Not locking yourself in your apartment for the saddest staycation in written history.”
“I already have Aurora on my case. She’s family, so I put up with it, but I seem to remember you have a performance review coming up.”
“Yep. Moving on.”
“All kidding aside, Sylv,” he said, lowering his voice, “how badly did things get screwed up while I was out?”
“I’ve seen worse dumpster fires. But it wasn’t great.
” She gave him an update on the damage. Clients pissed off that they suddenly had to deal with an underling, instead of the boss.
Decisions without anyone to make them. “But once we all realized we were on our own? The team stepped up. Things are back on track. Against all odds, we survived without you for a few days. And learned a whole lot. Next time, especially if you give us notice instead of just disappearing, it’ll be even smoother. ”
“I’ll try.” He glanced around at his employees. All working diligently, nobody pulling out their hair. His company hadn’t fallen apart without him. “Any alarms from our clients’ systems?”
“One. Tanner led a team to check on it. All good, paperwork submitted.”
“Anything with…Lana’s system?”
Sylvie eyed him. “Not a peep. But I’m sure you’re not asking for details about who’s been coming or going. Or, god forbid, a look at her cameras.”
“I’m not going to spy on her.”
“I’m sure you wouldn’t.”
Though they both knew he’d think about it. He was tempted, just to see if any creeps had been hanging around her door. But he wasn’t going to give in to the urge.
“What happened with her? You two seemed cozy before she left.”
He thought about deflecting the question and reminding Sylvie of that performance review. But she was also a friend. He didn’t have many of those, not genuine ones. He knew she cared.
“We’ve all heard about the Hearst trial,” Sylvie added. “How it blew up pretty bad?”
How I blew up, you mean? “Lana and I had a fight. But I’m going to fix it.”
“Good to hear.”
“She’s my girlfriend now.” At least, he hoped she still was. But who was he, if not a confident bastard? He’d win her back. “In case you were wondering.”
“Oh, I was.” Sylvie smiled. “Happy for you.”
“If there’s nothing else, I’m going to head to my office.”
“Got it, boss. Glad to have you back.”
He jogged up the steps. His assistant Nancy was already waiting for him.
“I sent you the list as you requested, Mr. Bennett. There’s only one urgent item.
A lawyer named Sandford has called multiple times.
Apparently he tried Lana first at the DA’s office, but heard she was unavailable.
Says his client has information he needs to share with you? ”
Dominic Crane’s lawyer. Interesting. Max took a seat behind his desk, cracking his knuckles. “Then get Sandford on the line, please.” He didn’t know what Crane was up to. But he wanted to find out.