Code Blue

Lexi vs. The Mansion

I spent the entire ride staring out the window because I didn’t want to miss a thing. It wasn’t every day that I got invited to a fancy party held in the mansion of a notorious crime lord. And it wasn’t every day that my date to said party was the crime lord’s son and possible replacement.

If I was being completely honest with myself, I had to admit that the fact that this ball could decide Max’s future, and thereby mine as well, was mildly terrifying. My suspicion was that Daniel would use the opportunity to announce to announce to the other party goers – who just happened to be his investors and co-conspirators – that if anything should happen to him, it would be Max who would take over Stafford Incorporated’s operations.

On one hand, this was good for my operation because being the girlfriend of heir to the crime syndicate meant I got instant access to the inner circle and might even be able to convince Max to let me in on some of the inner workings. But on the other hand, Max becoming his father’s second in command meant that when all was said and done, I’d be forced to put him behind bars as well. And as much as I kept telling Evan that I had my emotions under control, the truth was that my heart would break just a little if it came to that.

Careful not to lean my face too close to the window in fear of smudging my makeup, I paid special attention when the car left the familiar campus surroundings and continued along the winding outer roads, lined with sky high trees. I’d never been to this part of town before, so I soaked in the lush forested areas and the grassy meadows filled with wildflowers, until we turned onto a wide gravel road, which would its way through the forest before opening into large clearing, in the middle of which sat a sprawling pillared red brick mansion with ivy climbing its walls to add to its old world charm.

It was exactly the kind of home I’d expect the head of a crime family to live in and I was so engrossed in imagining what it must have been like to grow up in a house like that, I didn’t notice that the driver hadn’t taken the path to the front entrance once we’d been granted access to the main gate.

“Where are we going?” I called out through the partition I hadn’t closed.

The driver didn’t turn around as he responded. “I was instructed to take you around back, Miss.”

I gulped instead of replying, a little terrified at the implication of being taken to a special entrance. Was this where it all ended? Was I going to be met by a couple of surly bodyguards who silence me forever because the Stafford family couldn’t risk an outsider becoming a part of their ranks? Maybe they’d take pity on me and at least allow me to be buried with all of my shoes.

But my thoughts were proved to be paranoid when the car slowed at the mansion’s back entrance and I found that the person who was sent to greet me wasn’t threatening in the slightest. He looked to be about eighty years old, judging by his hunched posture and sparse white hair, but he helped me from the backseat of the car nonetheless, sticking out his hand to pull me upwards and nodding politely, but never smiling. “Miss Dupont. I’m Lester, Mr. Stafford the senior’s valet. I’ve been sent to escort you to Master Max so that the two of you can enter the festivities together.”

“Oh,” I blinked, following as he turned to walk towards the nearest door. “Okay. Thanks.”

To be honest, this situation didn’t seem much better. At least if I arrived by myself, I’d have time to scope out the mansion and observe any key players from afar before alerting Max and his family to my presence. But entering the party alongside Max meant that I would automatically be the center of attention and that was intimidating as hell, considering the identities of the other party goers.

Taking a deep breath to calm my nerves, I stayed in step with Lester as he guided me along the narrow hallways which passed the kitchen and various study rooms and dens before we reached what looked to be the main foyer and my breath caught in my throat.

Crystal chandeliers – not one, but three – hung from a ceiling that much have been at least fifty feet tall, lighting a room lined with what I was certain were million dollar paintings.

“This house is incredible,” I gasped, trying to take a closer look, only to be stopped when Lester grabbed my arm and gently tugged me towards a hallway on the side which led to a back staircase.

“Indeed,” Lester agreed once we were ascending the back stairs at a slower pace than we had walked because I had to focus in order to keep myself from tripping over my dress, “It’s been in the Stafford family for generations and each new generation has expanded it over time.”

After my prep meeting with Evan, I’d realized that I wasn’t as knowledgeable as I thought and done some research into the history of the Stafford family. I’d learned that it was actually Daniel’s grandfather who first got the family into criminal activity, starting small by breaking into the homes of the rich and powerful, stealing their expensive art, and then turning around and selling it on the black market. It was tradition for the family’s oldest son to take over and each new generation would expand the range of criminal operations. So if everything went according to plan, it would be Max who ended up filling his father’s shoes in the future.

“Have you worked for the Stafford’ for a long time?” I asked. It wasn’t as though I expected him to drop some family secrets on me, but perhaps I could get some insight about the world I was getting myself into.

“Since Master Max was a boy,” he nodded, gesturing to the right when we reached the top of the stairs. “I’ve seen him grow up.”

It was kind of weird to imagine Max as a child, considering the context I knew him in. “He’s become quite the man, hasn’t he?”

“That he has,” Lester replied with just the slightest hint of a smile, coming to a stop outside a closed door. “It’s this room, Miss.”

“Thank you, Lester,” I smiled sweetly, wondering if all the members of Stafford household were trained to reveal as little information as possible. Once Lester had disappeared down the stairs, I knocked on the door and when I heard something incoherent being said on the inside, I pushed it open. “Anyone home?”

“Over here!” Max’s voice called out and I swept my gaze across the messy bedroom to follow the sound to where Max was standing with his back to me in front of a full length mirror, adjusting the sides of a black silk tie around his neck. His lips parted to say speak again, but then his gaze locked on my reflection and his jaw went slightly slack and his eyes became wide.

“Is something wrong?” I asked, a little worried, because I’d never seen him speechless before. Maybe one of the daggers strapped to my thigh had sliced my leg and left a blood stain on my dress and I just hadn’t noticed yet because my heels were keeping my legs pleasantly numb.

“No,” he shook his head, turning to face me and letting out a soft sigh, “you’re just beautiful and I can’t believe I’m lucky enough to be your boyfriend.”

He said those words with so much sincerity and conviction that I felt my body temperature rise and I lowered my gaze to smooth down my skirt with one hand and hide my reddening cheeks and laughed softly when I finally gained the courage to lift my eyes to meet his again. “I didn’t take you for a romantic.”

Taking a step towards me, he smiled widely. “I have my moments.”

I probably should have said something about how gorgeous he looked, oozing effortless charm, despite his outfit not being complete, but apparently I was as bad at giving compliments as I was at receiving them, so I settled for saying, “Need some help with that tie?”

“I got it,” he chuckled, turning back towards the mirror to prove his point by knotting the tie expertly. “I perfected the art when I was six.”

“Max Stafford: tie artist extraordinaire.” Deciding to get comfortable, I perched myself on the edge of the bed, still keeping my clutch tightly held in my lap, because Max truly was extraordinary, so maybe he’d developed x-ray vision as well.

His smile widened as he turned to face me again, taking two steps towards the bed and reaching down to grab the jacket laying out across the comforter and shrug it over his shoulders, completing his image of male model for expensive watches. “Something like that.”

“So this is your room?” I asked, taking a moment to appreciate my surroundings, partly because I want to know more about Max and partly because his childhood bedroom could be a treasure trove of clues. Despite the fact that he no longer slept here the majority of time, the room was about as messy and you expect the room of a male in his early twenties to be. There’s various pairs of shoes strewn across the floor and absolutely no space to actually do any work at the desk, but it’s the fact that the actual furniture and design of the room is aesthetically pleasing that is the most surprising. Everything is black or grey with clean lines and shiny knobs. Not exactly what came to mind when I thought of a childhood room. “Remind me to ask for your interior decorator’s number later.”

“It’s pretty nice, right?” he lifted an eyebrow, returning my level of sarcasm as he walked around the bed until he was in front of me. “My mum had it all done up when I was like eleven. Appearance is everything, you know.”

It made me kind of sad that he was taught from such a young age that how others perceived him was more important than how he perceived himself. But I supposed it also made sense. Because maybe a powerful man’s influence came less from actually having any power and more from other people just assuming that he did. “I have heard that before.”

Never one to let the mood stay serious for long, he kinked his lips into a smirk and reached out to ask for my hand, pulling me upwards when I slipped my palm against his. “Speaking of things that are appealing…”

I couldn’t help the smile that lifted my lips as I prepared for him to kiss me, but before our lips could actually touch, an unfamiliar voice rang out.

“Knock knock, everybody decent?”

On instinct, I pushed Max away to make it seem like what we were doing was entirely innocent and felt my cheeks heat at the sight of the black beauty draped in emerald silk who was standing just inside the doorway, looking as though Christmas had come early.

Clearing his throat into his fist and then shoving his hands into the pockets of his pants, Max nodded. “I think we’re good to go.”

The woman I recognized from the pictures on Evan’s laptop as one of Max’s sisters returned her brother’s nod, but didn’t budge, her gaze flicking towards me and her smile becoming wider by the second. “Aren’t you gonna introduce me?”

Shooting me an apologetic glance, Max sighed. “Krista, this is Evie. Evie, Krista, my middle sister.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” I stepped forward and smiled warmly, wanting desperately to make up for my horrible first impression. “I would say Max’s told me so much about you, but to be honest, all I know is that he has sisters.”

She seemed to appreciate my honesty and let out a soft laugh. “Yes, well, Max loves talking about his family.”

“I’ve gathered,” I smirked, glancing at Max, who looked decidedly uncomfortable at the topic of conversation.

“You know,” Krista went on, taking a step towards me, “when our mum first told me that Max was bringing his girlfriend, I definitely thought she had misheard, because Max never calls anyone his girlfriend, so he must really like you.”

Before I could respond, Max fixed his sister with a glare so frosty it could start a blizzard. “Wow, Kris, wanna be a little more embarrassing?”

“You ain’t seen nothing yet,” she winked at her brother before deciding to show some mercy for the time being, “Come on, I was sent to hurry you guys up. The guests have already started arriving.”

“Yeah, we’ll be down in a sec,” Max nodded, waiting until his sister shot us one last smile and swept out of the room before turning to face me again, his hands coming to rest at my hips. “So, this is it.”

“You seem nervous,” I noted the fact that his heart rate seemed a little faster than usual, “Should I be nervous?”

He shrugged, outwardly showing no signs of stress, despite me practically being able to hear his heart thumping in his chest. “No, I mean, honestly, it’s not that big of a deal.”

Apparently that whole ‘appearance is everything’ mantra was taken very seriously in this house. And maybe I should apply that logic to my own life as well. Because the truth was that I was scared shitless about how this night would play out and maybe if I just acted like I knew what I was doing, someone would actually end up believing me.

“Yeah,” I rolled my eyes, my weapon filled clutch lightly hitting his chest, “the casual get togethers I go to usually have waiters serving champagne on silver platters.” I had only barely glimpsed the ballroom where the main event was taking place, so I was making some assumptions on the level of fancy. “Look, it’s okay if you’re nervous.”

The way his eyes widened, it was like the whole concept of nerves was completely foreign to him. “It is?”

“Of course,” I assured him, thinking it was truly horrifying that it seemed he’d never been allowed to express those kinds of feelings before. “And to be honest, it’s kinda nice to know that you’re not on all the time.”

From afar, it seemed like Max had it all figured out. He always knew exactly what to say or how to act or what to do, and sometimes it was a little intimidating to be around him. But right now, as we stood in his childhood bedroom and I looked into his eyes and felt his heart beating against mine, I realized that Max Stafford just might be human after all.

Smiling softly, he leaned down to press his lips to mine, holding them there only for a few moments, but long enough for me to feel his gratitude.

“What was that for?” I grinned, as I seemed to be in the habit of doing, when we pulled apart.

“Just wanted to kiss you,” he replied casually, dropping his hands from my waist to reach out grab my free hand and intertwine his fingers with mine. “Come on. Let’s do this.”

“Any advice?” I asked as he tugged me towards the door, feeling the nervous knots in my stomach becoming tighter and tighter.

Squeezing my hand, he paused when we reached the doorway. “Just stay close to me. I’ll guide you through it.”

“I can do that.” I said those words with more conviction than I felt, but as I hugged Max’s arm and allowed him to lead me towards the main staircase, I realized that I truly didn’t have anything to worry about, because with Max by my side, nothing could go wrong.

I gripped Max’s arm a little tighter than necessary as we headed towards the main staircase, causing him to laugh softly and turn his head to whisper in my ear. “Breathe, baby.”

His use of an endearment did nothing to slow my heart rate, but I inhaled and exhaled deeply in hopes that the action would calm my nerves, only to realize by the time we reached the top of the staircase that descended into the main ballroom, that I was being completely ridiculous.

It wasn’t like the Staffords were royalty. Our arrival wasn’t going to be announced to the rest of the people at the ball. But despite the fact that we walked down the stairs without any sort of grand pronouncement, I still felt as though every pair of eyes in the room was looking straight at me. And it took me all of thirty seconds to realize that was exactly what was happening.

“Everyone’s staring,” I whispered at the bottom of the stairs, noting that the other party guests were being less than subtle, gawking at Max as the two of us walked by, making our way through the crowd, hopefully to nearest open bar. God knows I’d need a stiff drink to survive tonight.

Max, of course, seemed unperturbed by it all. And why shouldn’t he be? After all, this happened everywhere he went at school as well. At first, I thought it was just because he was genetically gifted, but after a few days of observing him from afar, I realized the reason people stared was because he carried himself with a sense of confidence that automatically made him command the attention of every person in the room. The kind of poise that only a true leader could have. The kind of charisma he’d probably been trained to have since birth.

He shrugged, flashing charming smiles at everyone with whom he made eye contact and I wondered if he actually knew the names of all of these people. “Comes with the territory.”

“Of what?” I asked, though I already knew the answer.

“Being my father’s son.”

Honestly, I should have known I wouldn’t get a more descriptive response. Max was the king of avoiding answering questions. “That’s not vague.”

“I’ll explain later,” he promised, though I was willing to bet that wasn’t true and he was just hoping I’d forget about it, and nodded towards the side of the room. “There’s my mother.”

I followed the direction of his eye line to the picture of elegance wearing a dress I could only assume was made out of pure gold and sipping champagne as she chatted happily to another guest, pausing her conversation when she noticed us approaching and grinning widely as she took two steps forward to greet her son.

“Maximillian,” she leaned forward to kiss each of his cheeks, acting as though he hadn’t been at home for a majority of the day, “Thank you for finally gracing us with your presence.”

Max rolled his eyes, probably because it wasn’t as though he’d had a choice, but laughed quietly before removing his arm from mine to snake his arm around my waist and pull me into his side. “Mum, I’d like you to meet Evie.”

“Evie, it’s lovely to finally meet you,” she smiled softly, saving me the trouble of wondering whether I should shake her hand or hug her when she leaned in to kiss both my cheeks as well, “I’m Claudia Stafford. I feel like I already know you because Max talks about you all time.”

“Does he?” I lifted an eyebrow upwards and held back a smirk as I glanced at Max. It was one thing for his family to be surprised that he referred to me as his girlfriend, because honestly, I was still wondering how the hell that happened, but it was entirely another for them to comment on how often he mentioned me. Mostly because I didn’t peg Max for the kind of guy who told his family about the women in his life.

“Not that much,” Max assured me, though it seemed his cheeks had gained a little more color, “She’s exaggerating.”

Deciding not further her son’s discomfort, Claudia changed the subject, glancing down to take full appreciation of her gift to me and grinning widely when our gazes met again. “I’m so glad to see the dress looks perfect on you.”

“It’s gorgeous,” I gushed, knowing this dress was probably the most expensive and beautiful article of clothing I’d ever wear, “Thank you so much for sending it for me. You really shouldn’t have.”

“Oh, it’s nothing, dear,” she assured me, her piercing blue eyes warm and inviting, like the waters off a tropical island, and it took a hell of a lot of restraint on my part not to let my guard down. “Besides, it’s a special evening and Max’s girlfriend should most certainly shine the brightest of them all.” I didn’t have time to ask her what that meant because she leaned in to kiss both my cheeks again before doing the same to Max. “I should really get back to mingling. Evie, it was fabulous to meet you.”

And then she was gone, gliding away through the crowd on a mission to be an expert mingler.

“And that’s my mom,” Max let out what sounded like a sigh of relief, turning his body to face me fully.

“I like her,” I grinned widely, wondering what it meant that those words were entirely sincere. Claudia Stafford was definitely the kind of person you told your secrets to entirely by accident.

Stepping towards me, he placed both hands on my hips. “Yeah, she’s cool.”

“Very different relationship than you have with your dad, huh?” This probably wasn’t the best place to have this conversation, but I couldn’t help myself.

Max snorted. “You noticed.”

“It’s hard not to,” I admitted. Since I hadn’t had a chance to ask Claudia about her earlier comment, I decided to see if I could get the truth out of Max. And for once, I was gonna try the direct approach. “So why is tonight so special?”

If he thought I was being nosy, he showed no indication, simply shrugging and pulling me closer. “Because my parents only throw this ball once a year.”

That was a completely logical response and I couldn’t think of a reason to counter it, so I got lucky that he sensed there was something else I wanted to say and tilted his head to the side and furrowed his brow. “Why?”

“I don’t know,” I struggled to find a way to phrase it that wouldn’t sound like I was prying, “it’s just the way your mother said it made it seem like it had something to do with you.”

What I was looking for was some sort of acknowledgement of his father’s intentions to announce Max as the syndicate’s successor, but instead what I got was Max shrugging nonchalantly. “Nah, I don’t think so. Do you wanna dance?”

He changed the subject a little too quickly, but I knew that if I pushed him any further, he would start getting suspicious, so I smiled brightly and nodded. “I’d be honored.”

I allowed him to lead me to the dance floor, my clutch pressing against his back as he slid his arm around my waist and held my free hand in his and we began to sway lightly to the music provided by the string quartet. Seeing as dancing wasn’t something I was trained for at the academy, I felt a little out of my element, so I followed Max’s lead and after a minute or two, I couldn’t help but feel completely at home in his arms, even sighing contently and grinning up at him. “You know; this isn’t that bad.”

“No?” he lifted his eyebrows, as though he didn’t quite believe me, and I got the impression he was wondering if I was just telling him what he wanted to hear.

“No,” I assured him, feeling a bit guilty that I was doing just that. Though, in all honesty, thus far, this party hadn’t been nearly as boring as he’d made it out to be. “Thanks for bringing me.”

Smiling gratefully, he turned his head to press a kiss to my temple before pulling me closer to his body. We were only able to dance in comfortable silence for about thirty more seconds before we were approached by none other than Daniel Stafford.

“Max,” he nodded at his son before fixing me with a megawatt smile, “Evie, good to see you.”

“Hello again, Mr. Stafford.” I returned his smile in brightness, but more distance between my body and Max’s than was probably necessary.

“Do you mind if I borrow my son for a minute?”

Max fixed me with a glare that stated going with his father was absolutely the last thing on earth he wanted to do, but I knew that if there was ever a time to stand up to Daniel Stafford, now definitely wasn’t it, so shot Max an apologetic smile and nodded. “He’s all yours.”

Seeming to understand why I couldn’t just out rightly defy his father, Max sighed and kissed my cheek, whispering in my ear, “I’ll be right back, baby,” before dropping his arms from around me and turning to follow his dad.

It wasn’t until they had disappeared into the crowd that I realized they could be on the verge of having an extremely crucial conversation; one that could greatly benefit my final objective. So I set off to figure out where they were having their secret meeting, slipping out of the ballroom and into a side hallway and following it past a bunch of closed doors until I came to a room where the door was slightly ajar and I could hear two voices coming from inside.

Pausing in the hallway, I leaned forward to try and hear their conversation more clearly.

“s**t,” Voice 1 said. I didn’t recognize it as either Max’s or his father’s, but that didn’t mean this conversation couldn’t be helpful to me, so I decided to listen further.

“I know,” a second voice sighed.

The tone of Voice 1 was extremely frustrated. “This is a problem. They didn’t say how long until they’re ready?”

“They just said they’d call when the transportation was available,” Voice 2 replied, “What are we gonna do with the goods in the meantime?”

“We’ll have to keep them at Ricky’s.”

“For how long?”

“Until the transportation is available.”

“But we don’t know when that’ll be,” Voice 2 sounded extremely concerned. “Is it safe?”

“It’ll have to be,” Voice 1 sighed.

There was shuffling from inside the room and I gathered that they were heading towards the door, so I hurried back around the nearest corner, peering over to see two men exiting the room outside of which I’d just been eavesdropping. Since they didn’t bother to close the door when they left, I decided to enter the room and see if maybe I could figure out who the hell Ricky was or if there was anything else even slightly incriminating I could find.

The room in question turned out to be a study with an entire wall that was a bookshelf and tall chairs in front of a fireplace and a large wooden desk as the centerpiece. Figuring the desk would be the place to start looking for…whatever it was I was looking for, I shuffled over and began my search with the papers on top. There were three sheets lined up side by side and on them were handwritten various combinations of letters and numbers. I couldn’t make sense of it by just looking at it, so I reached for my phone to take a picture and try to figure it out later, but before I could snap open my clutch, a very deep and very unfriendly voice rang out from the open doorway.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

Inhaling sharply, I silently thanked the lord that I hadn’t started taking pictures and gripped my clutch tightly against my front as I lifted my gaze to see the largest man I’d ever laid eyes on in my life. I honestly wasn’t sure how even fit through the doorway, but I didn’t have time contemplate it because the hardness of gaze made me want to disappear on the spot.

“Um, yeah, I was just…,” I racked my brain for a non-suspicious sounding excuse while also recalling every fight training class I’d ever taken, “looking for the ladies’ room and this obviously isn’t it, so I’m just gonna go.”

“I’m sorry,” he blocked my way when I stepped around the desk and attempted to head towards the door. “I can’t let you do that.”

I should’ve known it wouldn’t be that easy. But I couldn’t let him know that I was scared shitless, so I turned to anger instead, crossing my arms over my chest and fixing him with my fieriest glare. If I couldn’t play sweet and innocent, maybe intimidation would work. “Really? Keeping me here seems a little unnecessary.”

“Just following orders,” he shrugged, seeming almost amused at my attempt at being mean.

That statement got me curious, so I immediately dropped my posture into one less menacing. “Orders? From who?”

My guess was that whatever was written on those pieces of paper was for private eyes only and if anyone else saw them, there was a strict protocol in place to handle the situation. Unfortunately, the very large man didn’t have time to comment, because a familiar voice rang out from the doorway.

“There you are! I’ve been looking for you everywhere. You turned right instead of left, didn’t you?” He breezed into the room, engaging me in conversation as though this wasn’t the first time we’d seen each other all evening and pausing to shoot the big man a casual smile. “What’s up, Lowry?”

“Trevor,” the big man, apparently named Lowry, looked just as confused as I felt. “You know this girl?”

Maybe I shouldn’t have been so surprised that it was Trevor who saved my ass. It wouldn’t be the first time.

“This girl?” he lifted his eyebrows, looking very offended at Lowry’s categorization of me, “Is that anyway to refer to Max’s girlfriend?”

“Max’s girlfriend?” Lowry’s eyes immediately widened in horror and he stammered over his next words, a change in demeanor that almost gave me whiplash, because who knew just being Max’s girlfriend was enough to incite so much fear, “I’m sorry, miss, I didn’t realize.”

“That’s quite alright,” I nodded haughtily, deciding to take full advantage of his sudden discomfort and narrowing my eyes as though I’d never been more annoyed in my life, “Can I go now?”

“Of course,” he all but whispered, stepping aside to let me pass.

“Have a good evening,” I nodded curtly as I strode towards the door, letting out a sigh of relief once I was halfway down the hallway with Max’s best friend at my side, “Thanks, Trevor. That guy is slightly terrifying.”

“Eh, Lowry’s bark is worse than his bite,” Trevor shrugged, placing a hand in the small of my back to guide me towards the ballroom. “What were you doing in Mr. Stafford’s study anyway?”

Despite knowing he was probably going to ask me that question, I bullshitted my answer. “Just exploring. This house is so beautiful and the door was open when I walked by, so I thought I’d check it out.”

“Find anything interesting?” From the looseness in his posture and jaw, it seemed he wasn’t at all suspicious, but merely asking to make conversation.

“Nope. Lowry interrupted,” I replied quickly, deciding it was probably better if I changed the subject sooner rather than later. “I didn’t know you were going to be here.”

If he sensed I was on edge, he didn’t show it, removing his hand from my back to stick it in the pocket of his charcoal trousers and laughing lightly. “Yeah, Max begs me to come every year so that he has someone to get absolutely hammered with. Though I guess this year that offer was extended to you as well.”

It made perfect sense that Trevor was there, seeing as he was Max’s best friend. And that explained why Lowry accepted Trevor’s reasoning for me being in that room without a second thought. If you gained the family’s trust, no one questioned anything you did, and wondered if being Max’s girlfriend meant I was extended the same privilege. After all, Daniel hadn’t hesitated at all in inviting me tonight. “Sort of. I think Max kind of felt obligated to invite me after his dad crashed our date.”

“Gotcha,” Trevor snorted as we reentered the main ballroom, reaching out to pull two flutes of champagne off a tray belonging to a passing waiter and handing one to me. “Well, that doesn’t mean you can’t still participate in the overindulgence of alcohol.”

“Thanks,” I smiled, taking the flute and bringing it to my lips to take the tiniest of sips. I had to keep my wits sharp tonight, so I couldn’t actually get drunk, but I also needed to give off the illusion that I was enjoying the party.

I expected Trevor to chug his entire helping, but instead he nodded towards one end of the ballroom, where Max and the rest of his family were standing beside the stage where the string quartet were playing. “I should probably go give some to Max. He’s gonna need it to survive his father’s speech.”

“I can do that,” I offered, trying to figure out the best way to hold two champagne glasses and a purse before deciding that I could grasp both glasses in one hand.

“Alright,” Trevor watched warily as I took the second glass from him, keeping his gaze locked on my hands to ensure I didn’t spill any on myself and nodding when he was satisfied with the security of the drinks. “Catch you later.”

Shooting him a grateful smile, I turned to weave my way slowly through the guests mingling on the dance floor until I reached the side of the stage where Max was standing, looking very tense. “Hey!”

“Hey, where have you been?” he asked, letting out what sounded like a sigh of relief.

“Around,” I replied vaguely, handing him one of the champagne glasses, “Here. Apparently you could use this.”

“You’re a goddess,” he said dramatically before taking the glass and chugging back the contents within in a matter of seconds.

I held in a laugh. “I take it whatever conversation you had with your dad didn’t go well.”

“You could say that,” he muttered, placing the empty glass on the tray of a nearby waiter and nodding his thanks.

It didn’t seem like Max wanted to go into any more detail at the moment, so I changed the subject, glancing to the right to see Daniel holding a microphone and whispering something into his wife’s ear. “He’s about to make a speech?”

“Yeah, it’s the same one every year,” Max explained with the world’s most bitter tone, “Just thanking everyone for coming and telling them their support is appreciated and that Stafford Incorporated is nothing without the people who always have our backs.”

That seemed like a pretty standard speech for this type of event, but the darkness in Max’s tone as he spoke had me a little frightened, so I reached out to squeeze his upper arm comfortingly. “Are you okay? You seem a little tense.”

“I’m fine,” he whispered, though his jaw remained sharp and his eyes remained narrowed. “I’m always fine.”

I parted my lips to comment, but Daniel tapped on the microphone to get everyone’s attention so I turned my body to face where he was standing on the stage, only to end up looking down in surprise when Max’s fingers intertwined with mine and he squeezed my hand tightly. I glanced up at him to see his gaze was still fixated on his father and because the situation seemed to demand it, I held my breath as Daniel began to speak.

“Dearest friends,” he started off, his smile wide and charming and his voice just loud enough to command silence. “On behalf of me and my family, I’d like to thank you for coming back to this ball year after year. Your endless giving is always appreciated and Stafford Incorporated would not exist without the generous and amazing people who always show their support.”

That was pretty much exactly the speech Max said he would give and I was entirely prepared to finally exhale when Daniel turned towards where we were standing and winked at Max before continuing. “And today happens to be an extra special day, because today is the day that Stafford Incorporated enters a new era. I am proud and excited to announce that I have officially named my son, Max, as my number two.”

And there it was. The announcement I’d been waiting for and dreading since the moment that car came to a stop at the back door of this mansion. And as much as I’d anticipated that this is what would happen, I wasn’t at all emotionally prepared.

It seemed that neither was Max. To be honest, I couldn’t really tell what he was feeling because his expression was completely stony. For a moment it seemed as though he’d completely lost the ability to move until he dropped my hand and walked robotically towards the stage to join his father, causing the crowd to erupt into cheers and clapping.

I wasn’t sure how long it lasted, Max standing beside his father, looking decidedly uncomfortable while everyone cheered, but I turned away to grab Max another glass of champagne because he was definitely going to need it now, only to see that he had disappeared when I turned back.

Furrowing my brow in confusion, I set down both champagne glasses on the nearest tray and stood on my tiptoes to see if I could locate a familiar head in the crowd, wondering how he possibly could have slipped by me in such a short amount of time. After spending five minutes being entirely unsuccessful, I turned towards Krista, who was standing to my side beside another gorgeous black woman I recognized as Max’s eldest sister, Annabelle.

“Hey, have you seen your brother?” I asked, directing the question at whichever one of them would answer. “He disappeared.”

“I’m not surprised.” It was Annabelle who spoke up first. “If I had to guess, I’d say he’s at the fountain.”

She said that as if I had any idea what that meant, so I did my best not to sound stupid when I asked, “The fountain?”

“It’s where he always goes when he needs to be alone,” the other sister piped up, stepping forward to smile at me warmly. “It’s Evie, right? I’m Annabelle.”

“Nice to meet you,” I grinned, thinking this definitely wasn’t the ideal time to be meeting more members of Max’s family. I wanted to find him and I was all set to march out to that fountain, wherever it was, and comfort him, but hesitated when I realized Annabelle said Max went there when he needed space. “So…do you think he needs to be alone?”

“No,” Krista smiled softly as she spoke and Annabelle laughed in agreement, “I think he probably needs you right now,” she turned her head to nod towards a nearby glass door which opened into the backyard. “Out that door, take a right, you can’t miss it.”

Flashing them a grateful smile, I did as they instructed, checking to make sure no one else noticed my exit before slipping out the back door and veering to the right to find that Krista had meant what she said about me not being able to miss the fountain. It was humongous and round and looked more like a three tiered pond than a backyard fountain, but just as the Stafford sisters predicted, Max was standing at the water’s edge, his hands shoved into the pockets of his trousers as he pensively watched the moonlit water flow from the smallest top bowl down the pool at the bottom.

“Max?” I approached him cautiously, speaking softly as not to startle him when I came to a stop by his side. “Hey, what are you doing out here?”

He only glanced at me for a moment before returning his sullen gaze to the falling water. “I just needed to get away.”

“So um, what exactly just happened?” I already knew the answer, but seeing as I wasn’t supposed to know anything about his family business, I had to act clueless.

“My life as I know it came to an end,” he sighed.

Well, that was dramatic. Which meant that the confusion in my response was completely genuine. “What?”

He turned to face me, removing one hand from his pocket to reach up and massage his lower lip. “You know how I told you that my dad and I have been fighting a lot about me taking over the family business? Well, he just told everyone associated with the company that I’m going to be his successor.”

“And that’s a bad thing, I take it,” I replied slowly. I still couldn’t really gauge his reaction. On one hand, maybe he was just a bit overwhelmed and would end up being happy about how everything turned out. But on the other, he could be utterly pissed off and just hadn’t snapped quite yet.

Sighing, he scratched at the scruff he’d grown out along his jaw. “I just wish I had the chance to make that decision on my own.”

“That makes sense.” I reached out with my free hand to touch his fingers, wondering if he was ready for physical contact and was pleasantly surprised when he proceeded to intertwine his fingers with mine. “Is that what you and your dad were talking about earlier?”

He nodded, squeezing my hand lightly. “I was trying to convince him to give me more time, but as usual, he thinks he knows what’s best for me.” Pausing, he widened his gaze and lowered the volume of his voice as though he was telling me a secret. “What if I’m not cut out for this?”

If there was ever a time for me to play the part of the supportive girlfriend, it was now. It just a felt a little weird doing so, considering I was telling him that he was gonna be an amazing crime lord one day. “Max, you’re the most irritatingly talented person I know. There’s nothing you can’t do. I’m sure you’ll be great at running the family business.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of,” he whispered.

That certainly wasn’t the response I was expecting. I thought he’d appreciate the comfort and show of support, but instead he looked like he could pass out at any moment. “I don’t understand.”

“This job,” he said shakily, having to inhale sharply every few words in order to get them out at all, “it changed my dad so much and I just don’t want that to happen to me.” I’d never considered that there was ever a time that Daniel Stafford wasn’t the man he was today, but apparently Max had memories of a very different version of his father. Eyes wide and his entire body visibly shaking, he gasped out words that I never thought I’d hear him say. “I’m so scared, Evie.”

It was such a profound statement coming from someone like Max, who was constantly the poster child for cocky confidence. But here he was, standing in front of me, on the verge of tears, looking more vulnerable than I’d ever seen anyone look in their life. And it occurred to me that of course he was terrified. Why shouldn’t he be? He didn’t ask for this, yet he was being forced into a position he didn’t even want simply as a consequence of his birth. It made perfect sense that he was scared that it would change him, because there was no way for him to become the leader of a crime family and not lose a part of himself.

“Okay, come here,” I said, detangling our fingers to throw my arms around his neck and pull him into a tight embrace, rubbing a flattened palm up and down his back. “It’s alright. Everything’s gonna be alright.” I continued the rubbing motion until I could feel his arms tighten around me and his breathing slow down. “Look, you don’t have to deal with this right now. I’m sure your dad doesn’t expect you to take over this second.”

That probably wasn’t the most comforting thing to say, but he seemed to be on the verge of a nervous breakdown and this wasn’t the time nor the place for that to happen.

“I know,” he inhaled and exhaled deeply, burying his face in the crook of my neck, a sensation I found extremely enjoyable. “I’m just a little freaked.”

“Do you wanna go somewhere else?” I could at least offer, even if it wasn’t at all feasible. Chances were that the party guests would notice Daniel’s number two was missing sooner rather than later.

“I can’t.” He stood up straight, breaking the embrace and allowing his voice to become stronger with each word he spoke. “My parents will kill me if I bail.”

“Then we can just stay out here for a little while,” I suggested, wanting to be helpful, “I’m sure they won’t miss you for a few more minutes.”

The corners of his lips lifted into a small smile and he considered that option for a moment before shaking his head and intertwining our fingers once more and tugging me back towards the mansion.

“Hey, Evie?” he said quietly, his gaze soft but direct as we walked.

I felt my breathing hitch and my heart rate stutter a bit because he was looking at me as though I’d placed each star in the sky just for him. “Yeah?”

Swinging his arm up, he brought mine with it and pressed a kiss to the back of my hand, his smile growing as he spoke. “I’m really glad you’re here.”

“Me too,” I whispered honestly, knowing that the next time I told Evan I had a handle on my emotions, it would be a big fat lie.

Shit.

I was in so much trouble.