A Deal With the Devil (22 page)

Jake reached for her hand, raised it to his lips and planted a gentle kiss. Then he flashed a devastatingly sexy smile and lead her down the hall to the bedroom.

Chapter Twelve

manda pulled into the tree-lined drive and, as she rounded a bend, the Lowell estate came into view. She gaped at the enormity of the stone and brick structure. She’d never seen the place in the daytime and the word magnificent didn’t even begin to describe it.

She parked in the alcove next to the front entrance and got out, gazing up at the two story castle-like front door as she climbed the wide stone steps. She rang the bell and waited, pulling her coat more tightly around her to protect herself from the blustery November wind.

A butler opened the door and took her coat.

Amanda gawked as she entered the palatial foyer. It had been a year and a half since she’d visited Max at the house and she’d forgotten its old world grandeur.

The butler motioned for her to follow and she tugged her skirt down and ran a hand over her hair as she followed him into the living room. She tried to compose herself—tried not to look awestruck—even though she felt like a field mouse that had accidentally wandered into the country manor.

Max sat in front of the fire and looked up as she entered. He stood, his smile crinkling the corners of his eyes. “Thank you for coming.”

She kissed his cheek. “It’s wonderful to see you.” She settled into the chair across from him.

“Jake called this morning to tell me you’ve decided to have the wedding soon.”

She nodded. “We haven’t set an exact date yet, but it’ll be sometime in the next few months.”

Max reached over and patted her hand. “I’m so glad you’re not waiting.” He stood. “I’d like to show you something.”

They strolled down a wide wood-paneled hallway in the back of the house until he stopped in front of two ornately carved doors. He opened them and stepped inside to switch on the lights. Then he turned to watch Amanda’s reaction.

As she gazed about, she couldn’t imagine a room more exquisite existed anywhere, even at the finest of luxury hotels. The room soared three stories and the entire front wall was floor to ceiling windows. Cream silk draperies framed the view of a charming flagstone-tiled courtyard with a fountain in the center, surrounded by lush gardens that looked absolutely lovely, even in November. Overhead, a pair of enormous chandeliers dripping with crystals cast a warm glow on the rich, caramel-colored walls.

The room screamed old world elegance and grandeur but at the same time, was so inviting. “It’s incredible,” she said, unable to mask the hint of reverence in tone. Kate would die.

“Winnie and I hosted all our business and charity events here, but since she passed three years ago, it hasn’t been used. I couldn’t bear it.” He turned to face her. “Jake’s parents married here. You’re under no obligation, of course, but I thought you might consider this room for your wedding.”

Her smile froze as she scrambled for an appropriate response. If their wedding had been the real thing, she couldn’t imagine a more perfect, more meaningful setting. But she liked Max too much to stage their fake wedding at his home. She felt badly enough lying to him about their relationship and refused to take it further. Still, in order to avoid the bigger deception, she had to tell a little fib. “That would be wonderful.” Her smile felt stiff. “I can’t wait to mention it to Jake.” She had zero intention of mentioning it to Jake.

“Wonderful.” Max looked pleased. “Gigi Malone is my personal event planner. She runs Exquisite Events and does all the occasions for Lowell Media. She’s more than capable of handling the preparations for your wedding if you’d like. I hope you don’t mind, but I gave her your number. She’ll call you tonight.”

“I’ve heard of her,” Amanda said. Who hadn’t? Gigi Malone was the hottest event planner in Chicago and a fixture on the social circuit. Every event she touched consisted of a veritable who’s who of Chicago society. If this had been a real wedding, working with Gigi Malone would have been like a fantasy come to life.

“She’s quite talented,” Max said. “She’ll make it easy and you’ll get exactly what you want. I’ve already paid her fee as my gift to you.”

“Thank you,” she squeezed his arm. “I could certainly use the help.” But inside, her stomach clinched. This whole thing was starting to get out of control.

Max closed the doors and they strolled back to the living room where they settled in front of the fire. He reached for a cigar and held it up. “Do you mind if I smoke, dear?”

She shook her head. “It’s fine.”

He lit the cigar, took a few quick pulls and then sank back in the chair, slowly expelling a long plume of smoke. “I’m sure you’re curious about my reasons for asking you to come.” His bright blue gaze locked with hers. “And why I asked you not to tell anyone.”

“I am a little curious,” she admitted. And given her afternoon with Jake, she felt more than a little guilty for the deception. She still couldn’t believe what she’d done and still wasn’t sure how she felt about it. She knew how she should feel about it. She should be deep in self-recrimination mode, vowing not to ever repeat the mistake—especially since Jake had made it all too clear their encounter meant nothing to him but a little unfinished business. He had kissed her forehead, mumbled something about seeing her soon and bolted out of her apartment as if the devil himself was in pursuit.

She’d expected as much, but still.

Amanda shook her head and forced her attention back to Max as he said, “It’s no secret Jake and I have a difficult relationship. I wanted to explain why.”

“You don’t owe me any explanations.” She definitely didn’t need to get further wedged between the two men.

“I want to.” He paused and drew another long pull on his cigar. After he exhaled, he said, “What do you know of Cal?”

Amanda thought back to what she’d heard about Jake’s father. “I only met him a few times. All I really know is what Jake told me,” she said. “As I recall, Jake’s father” —she searched for the right words— “had a challenging personal life.”

Max’s smile didn’t quite reach his eyes. “A very delicate way of putting it,” he said. “Cal married four times and had several regrettable relationships with women who weren’t . . . his match, shall we say?”

“Jake doesn’t speak of his father very much, but I think it’s sad,” she said. “It doesn’t sound like he lived a happy life.”

It’s always sad when someone neglects to live up to their true potential. But despite the way things turned out, Cal was once extremely happy. Unfortunately, his first wife, Emily—Jake’s mother—passed away shortly after Jake turned three.”

Amanda tilted her head and regarded Max thoughtfully. “Jake never mentions his mother. I knew she passed away, but he’s never spoken of her.”

“That’s because he doesn’t know much about her. Calvin and Emily met and married young. She exerted a tremendously positive influence on his life; she calmed his wild streak. They were very happy. She inspired the best in him.”

Amanda frowned. “So why wouldn’t his father ever speak of her? I would think it would be important to him to keep her memory alive.”

“Cal wouldn’t allow anyone to discuss her. He considered her loss too heartbreaking. You see, the accident occurred with Cal behind the wheel. He survived. She didn’t.”

In an instant, the fuzzy picture of Cal’s troubled life came into sharp focus. “He blamed himself for her loss.”

Max nodded slowly. “Cal buried her along with his heart, his hopes and dreams for the future. He spent the next thirty years running away from the memories, and especially from Jake, who was a constant reminder of what could have been,” he said. “I thought his pain would fade in time, but he never got over it. He never forgave himself. Her death haunted him every single moment until the day another accident claimed his.”

Amanda shook her head sadly. She didn’t know what to say; couldn’t think of the appropriate words to express what she felt. She didn’t want to sound judgmental, but in her view, hiding the truth about his mother from Jake only made a heartbreaking tragedy even worse.

“Jake only sees what he experienced with his father—a man who drank too much, never made time for him and couldn’t make a commitment to anyone, including himself. He never saw the man buried beneath the pain, the one with so much potential.” Max raked a hand through his thick silver hair, reminding her of Jake.

“When I saw Cal going astray, I tried to get him on track. I kept him busy with work, limited access to his trust. I tried everything I could think of to protect him.”

Amanda reached over and squeezed his hand. “I’m sure you did. But you can’t make someone move forward. They have to want to. And it sounds like he couldn’t find the strength.”

At the same time, she wondered why he couldn’t see himself repeating the very same mistake, but this time with Jake. Had she known him better, not feared overstepping her bounds, she would have said as much. But she didn’t.

“For the past year, ever since Cal died, I’ve been concerned Jake would suffer the same fate. I had planned to spend time with Jake after the funeral to try to repair the relationship between us, but he shipped out a few weeks later.”

“Jake couldn’t be more different than Cal.”

A ghost of a smile touched Max’s lips. “The one trait the three of us share is that we’re all risk-takers. I channeled my risk-taking into business. Jake chose the Navy and his fearlessness made him perfect for the SEALs. I’m so proud of his accomplishments there. Cal had tremendous promise in business, but he lost his north star when he lost Emily and his tendency for taking risks became focused on the wrong things. That’s when I, we all, lost him and it happened long before his actual death.”

Amanda grew quiet as she took it all in. But from the look on Max’s face, it was clear the conversation had taken a toll on him. In an attempt to reassure him, she said, “Jake would never follow the same destructive path.”

“Given his family background and without the structure of the Navy, I’ve been concerned Jake would lose his center.” He flicked ashes into a crystal tray.

She couldn’t envision Jake in the role of hard-drinking, serial-marrying playboy. He only drank socially and, given his status as poster child for commitment-phobic men, serial-marriages didn’t seem too likely a scenario either. Heck, she couldn’t even get him to spoon for fifteen minutes.

“You have nothing to worry about. The playboy lifestyle isn’t his thing.”

“I couldn’t have envisioned Cal doing so either, but look how his life turned out.” Max expelled a long sigh and said, “Jake witnessed a very troubled relationship between Cal and me for most of his life. He didn’t understand the complexity of what really went on so he made his own interpretations and now, he views me as the enemy.” She could see the regret etched into his features. “He blames me for how Cal’s life turned out.”

Max was right, but she wasn’t about to acknowledge it and so instead said, “Talk to Jake. Tell him what you’ve just told me.”

“The direct approach won’t work. He won’t listen.”

“Honesty is always the best approach.” Even before she’d finished the sentence, she felt like a fraud. After all, she’d just said them to the man she was contractually obligated to lie to. Nice.

Hypocrite
.

She looked down and brushed a piece of imaginary lint from her skirt, afraid Max would be able to see the deceit in her eyes.