Page 70 of Boss from Hell

“Are you here alone?” Dahlia asked.

“No, I came with Max Frost,” I said and glanced around to look for him. I spotted him talking to a woman. No one needed to tell me she was Paige.

Chapter 39

Max

“It’s so nice to see you again, Max,” Paige said, drawing me to one side, a little away from everybody. She had trimmed her blonde hair and become even thinner, a look that did not suit her at all. She kept her hand on my arm.

“Your mother told me you would be coming, but I could hardly believe it. What? Max at a party like this? No way,” she said flirtatiously and moved too close to me.

I took a step back, which somehow caused her to lose her footing, and she started to fall forward. Instinctively, I caught her. As I righted her, I realized she was smiling, a secret victorious smile. She had let herself fall on purpose. Immediately, my gaze searched for Lillian.

She was staring at us, a look of unspeakable hurt on her face.

Frustration welled up inside me. I hated women who played games. I remembered now what I hated about Paige. She played games. All the fucking time.

All the way to the restrooms I’d endured people who wanted to indulge in meaningless small talk about the people we had in common. People I cared little or nothing for. I’d grown up with the majority of these people, but I had a completely differentoutlook on life now. Almost all of them lived off their parents, or trust funds from their grandparents.

It sickened me to see people wasting their lives in such a manner and I wanted no part of it. All I wanted to do was go back to Lillian. Away from this conniving little bitch.

I looked beyond her to where Lillian was standing with Zane and Dahlia, seemingly happy. I should have been glad they were keeping her company, but I found it hard to trust any man near Lillian. Let alone a man like Zane. He was not like the highly cultivated, ultimately weak hot- house-flower type of men at this party. Zane was electrifyingly virile. A killer. Even though I’d never seen a man get so crazy for a woman, as Zane had for Dahlia, I still felt threatened if he got too close to Lillian.

“Have a good night, Paige,” I said through gritted teeth and started to make my way towards Lillian.

She locked eyes with me and began to walk towards me too. I’d never seen her look so lost and unhappy, like she was about to burst into tears. We stopped a foot away from each other.

“I’ve been waiting to dance with you,” she whispered, her eyes enormous.

The band was playing so I took her hand and led her to the dancefloor. I held her tightly and we swayed to the beat. Slowly, I felt all the tension in her limbs evaporating. I nuzzled her neck as we danced, peppering kisses on her skin, and inhaling her scent, which oddly made me feel as if I’d finally come home.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“Yeah.” My fallen angel looked up at me, her face vulnerable and sad. “Did you want to go with Paige?”

I froze. “What? No. I came with you and I’m going back with you.”

She nodded but looked unconvinced. “I’m contemplating whether or not to tell you about the conversation I had with your mother.”

“Tell me,” I commanded. I could feel my insides clenching. If she had said anything, anything at all to hurt Lillian…

“But I don’t want to cause any trouble between the two of you.”

“Tell me or I’ll get it out of her and that won’t be pretty.”

She sighed. “Okay. She told me that you and Paige were in love for a very long time and she thinks that you’re still carrying a torch for her.”

I was too furious to speak. This kind of bullshit was exactly why I left Connecticut.

Lillian forced a smile, but it only made her look more wretched. “I told her not to concern herself with me as I wasn’t a threat to the great love between you and Paige.”

I took a deep breath. “This nonsense has gone on long enough. I never loved Paige and I only…it doesn’t matter. It was a long time ago. I’m only interested in one woman here tonight. And that woman is you. Paige may be the woman my mother wants me to marry and start a family with, but it’s certainly not the woman I want, and she knows better than to try and interfere in my life by telling you a bunch of lies. I’ll have a word with her tomorrow.”

“Please don’t say anything to her. It’ll only make her hate me more,” Lillian begged worriedly. “Promise?”

I stared at her, still furious with my mother. “I can’t not say anything, Lillian.”

“Please just leave it. It’s fine,” she pleaded. “What we have is casual, we have no claim on each other, and I’ll probably never see her again.”