CHAPTER 29
Now that Mila was his fiancée, Maddox didn’t feel like he needed to hold back from giving her whatever he wanted to. Mila insisted he hadn’t held back anyway, but in his mind, he had. Now, though, he didn’t want to.
His first move was to ask Juliet to help him choose a vacation house for Mila. Through Juliet, he’d found out she liked Hawaii. And Maddox knew Mila would never agree to help him if she knew what he was doing. So, with the help of Juliet and Mila’s aunt, he got the information he needed and bought a house for her.
Then he took her to Hawaii for a brief visit to surprise her.
“Do you like it?” Maddox said as they gazed out at the small patch of beach out back.
“Of course.” She leaned against the black metal railing. “But you never mentioned you had a house here. I thought you stayed in the resort.”
“I do. But this isn’t mine. It’s yours.” He waved to encompass the whole house and property.
She blinked. “Mine?”
“It’s a present.” It seemed obvious that’s what he meant.
But Mila just stared back at him. “Are you joking?”
Maddox laughed. “No. You shouldn’t be surprised by now.”
“Jewelry sure, but…a house…” She turned to gaze out at the water, rubbing the back of her neck.
“Do you like it?” Maddox put his arm around her waist. “Juliet and Cathy assured me you would.”
She nodded though she still seemed uncertain. “It’s beautiful. But you’re not allowed to get anything else for me after this.”
“Mm-hmm.” He locked his arms around her from behind.
“I mean it,” Mila said firmly.
He kissed her temple. But he wasn’t making any promises.
“You’re not going to listen to me, are you?” She tilted her head back to try and see him.
Maddox shook his head.
She sighed and leaned into him. He had a feeling, given time, Mila would warm up to the idea.
The next few weeks were filled with wedding planning and answering questions as her mother put together the big engagement party.
Maddox told her there was no cap on what she could spend on the wedding, but that was too daunting to even consider. For the most part, it was in her hands, though Maddox did insist that she have a custom gown.
By the time of the engagement party in New York, they had a wedding planner and Mila had chosen a designer for her dress. They flew to New York for the party and Mila felt less out of place than she would have months ago as she was dressed and done up for the event–jewels and all.
Mila knew more people now, but she was still relieved to see Juliet and Jalen and Nikki. Xander and Sasha were also there. And of course, Savannah.
Someone Mila did not expect to be there was Jackson–and his fiancée. He congratulated them but Mila was too busy trying to figure out how he’d made the list to notice what he said. Maddox was polite but stiff and kept his arm around Mila protectively. Then, Danny’s son, Jeff, sauntered over. Mila snapped back to the present and tensed as she noticed how satisfied he looked. It couldn’t be a good sign.
“Didn’t you two date?” he said, pointing at Mila and then Jackson. Their eyes met briefly as Mila tried not to panic. After all, Jackson’s fiancée was there. Surely, he wouldn’t say anything incriminating.
“No, we haven’t,” Jackson said tersely. His wealthy fiancée glanced at Mila curiously, and Mila tried to ignore her stare. Especially since something in the woman’s eyes told Mila she was no fool.
“Oh, I was sure I heard that somewhere,” Jeff said nonchalantly as Tiffany tiptoed closer to listen. “Well, if one doesn’t work out, just find another. Right, Mila?” Danny’s son winked at her and swallowed some champagne.
Mila’s cheeks started to burn.
Tiffany closed in next to her brother and smacked him with her clutch. “Jeff, please,” she said and rolled her eyes. Mila wasn’t sure if Tiffany wasn’t happy with this turn of events or if it was simply part of the act.
“I think you’ve had too much champagne,” Maddox told him flatly.
“I’m perfectly level-headed,” Jeff responded. “We all have our history. And not all of it’s pretty. Eh, Maddox?”
Jackson and Maddox traded glances as Mila’s heart pounded.