“Sounds like love to me.”
I flip him off and pick up my phone but the screen is blank. “I just need out of this contract and that Russian cunt is coming to make my life hell for a while no doubt.”
“Nastya?” he whispers, his brows pulling together.
I nod and bite my lip. “She knows I tried to get out of our deal.”
“Fuck. Stone rat you out?”
“He warned me so I doubt it.”
“What are you going to do?”
I shrug. “Hope and pray she fucks off without coming to Malibu. I might take an extended vacation until she’s gone.”
“Not a bad idea.”
I finish the last of my coffee and tuck my phone in the inside pocket of my jacket.
“It’ll all work out,” he assures me. “Focus on your new girl, don’t worry about the other shit.”
“Oh, I am definitely focusing on her.”
He smiles genuinely and mutters, “Lucky bastard.”
Tempest
“He didn’t call,” I say after buckling myself into Sargent’s car. “He didn’t text, call, send a pigeon…”
“A pigeon?” He smirks, placing his hand on my thigh after putting the car into drive.
“Or an owl.”
“An owl,” he mimics my accent, so I slap his arm.
“This is serious.”
“I know, but not tonight.” He turns a corner sharply, still smiling but the creases around his eyes are holding his stress. He might be smiling but I can see he too is suffering. “Tonight, it’s about me and you and nobody else.”
“You’re not breaking this off to save face with your son?”
“No.”
I’m surprised by this, I’ve worried all day. “I thought this was going to be a breakup night.”
“That’s what you want?”
Is it? I don’t know what to think about any of it because Maddox hasn’t spoken to me yet.
“Tempest,” he snaps, drawing my eyes back to his profile. His smile has gone and the handsome creases around his deep-set eyes are more prominent. “If you’re going to end this with me then do so now.”
“Maddox…”
“Don’t blame it on my son either. Choose what makes you happy.”
“His happiness makes me happy,” I admit. “He’s the only family I have.”
“You have me,” he says quickly, still looking ahead at the road, glancing at me for only a split second.
“Come on, Sarge,” I laugh but there’s little to no humor in my tone. “I have you until you tire of me, which won’t take much longer if rumors are true about your attention span.”
He doesn’t deny it but he does add after a pause, “I promise I won’t abandon you.”
“I’m not your responsibility.”
“You’re not Maddox’s either.”
He has a point.
Sighing grievously, I look out of the window and purse my lips for a moment. Finding the right words in a situation as sticky as this and a conversation that’s teetering on the edge of argument is hard. “I’m sorry all of this is happening. I wish it wasn’t.”
“I don’t wish that.”
At least he knows what to say, this time at least. His words make me smile.
“I’m not breaking this off. I’m enjoying whatever this is and like you said this morning, Maddox knows so there’s no use ending it. I’ll always wonder if I do.”
“Good,” he says as his hand comes back to my thigh and squeezes before drifting up to my sensitive spot.
I shiver and return the favor, groping him over her trousers while smiling a mischievous smile. “Why don’t we find somewhere quiet and just fuck this day away?”
“No.” He withdraws his hand from between my thighs and grips mine. “I’ve made plans for us. Plans that can’t be changed. Plans I’ve spent a lot of time figuring out.”
“I am intrigued.”
We arrive at a large house, even larger than Sargent’s but less glass windows and more walls. It’s stunning. The driveway is huge but there are only half a dozen cars parked along the sides.
We pull up at the very end, closest to the exit and I suddenly feel very underdressed when we approach a group of sophisticated-looking adults at the entrance doors.
“Wolf!” an older man calls, and everybody moves to greet us. “It’s an honor to have you in attendance and your stunning lady friend, Tempest is it?”
I nod. “I’m at a disadvantage.”
“Of course, you are,” he chuckles, shaking his head as I look around the crowd of beautifully, expensively dressed individuals. I look a mess but I’ve just finished a long shift. “I’m Maxwell. This is Jenny, Debra, Hamish, Louis, and Josh.”
“Hi.” I give them all a little wave and they politely do the same.
“Come,” Sargent urges, his hand on the small of my back as he leads me into the magnificent house and straight through to the garden where a large stage has been set up with comfortable-looking chairs making sections on the soft grass.
“It’s a theatre?” I ask, surprised.
What on earth is going on?
There are a few people in the crowd who are part of their own conversations. They wave but keep to themselves as Sargent takes me straight to a man at the side in a hut-like bar. We order popcorn and drinks and Sargent then leads me directly to the front row.