At least that was what I tried to do.
Then Max spoke again. “So whose place will you two be staying at?”
I froze mid-step, a muscle twitching in my jaw, and turned just enough to glare at him, my fingers flexing at my sides as I processed whatever fresh hell had just fallen out of Max’s mouth.
What?
Valentina—still seated for once, which was practically a miracle—went completely still. For the first time since I’d met her, she didn’t immediately fire back some sarcastic retort. That alone told me neither one of us had seen this coming.
Max, on the other hand, was perfectly relaxed, sipping his drink like he hadn’t just flipped this entire agreement on its head.
I narrowed my eyes. “That wasn’t part of the agreement.”
He set his glass down slowly. “Yeah, that was before Jacob told me he saw Valentina with Sebastian. He also said you knew something about that.”
My jaw tightened.Shit.
The way Max phrased it wasn’t a question. He already knew. Or at least he knew enough to make this uncomfortable.
“You got proof?” I asked flatly, meeting his gaze head-on even though we both knew the answer. There wouldn’t be proof. No—becauseI’d spent hundreds on the damn photo Jacob had taken of her with Sebastian. Worst thing I’d ever spent my money on. And now? Now thatstupid decisionhad put me in a position I didn’t want to be in.
“Do I really need it?” he asked. “Suspicion is enough.”
“This is ridiculous,” Valentina scoffed, beyond irritated with Max’s games. I was too. “So what, now I can’t even be seen in public without getting interrogated?”
Max gave her a flat look. “No. You just can’t be seen in public with the one man who has the power to ruin this entire deal.”
Her jaw tightened the way it did every time someone told her something she didn’t want to hear. But, surprisingly, she didn’t fight it. Probably because she knew he was right.
Though that didn’t change the fact Max had completely changed our terms without warning. This wasn’t what we’d agreed on. Hell, this wasn’t even close.
“The deal was marriage,” I argued, irritation building in my chest. “Not playing house.”
“You want people to believe this is real, don’t you?”
“They will.”
He arched a brow, clearly unconvinced. “Will they? I’m not an idiot. The Callahans are already watching. Sebastian’s been sniffing around, trying to figure out what’s going on. You really think they won’t notice if you two keep living separately?”
I ground my molars. Of course Max knew what he was doing. This had nothing to do with appearances or credibility—it was about control. Control of Valentina, control of me, control of every damn variable he thought might spin out of his grasp. He didn’t trust Valentina to keep her mouth shut. Didn’t trust her to behave. And he sure as hell didn’t trust me—not anymore.
He was right about Sebastian though. The guy was annoyingly persistent, like a fly that refused to die, constantly hovering, waiting for Valentina to screw up again so he could swoop in. And, let’s face it, her ability to screw things up was pretty impressive.
But still, living together? That was a disaster waiting to happen.
“Let them think what they want,” I muttered, hoping to God it sounded more convincing to Max than it did to me. “You and I both know this isn’t about making anything look real.”
“Isn’t it?”
Valentina was staring at me again, eyebrows raised, eyes silently demanding I do something.
Maybe I should’ve fought harder. Maybe I would’ve, if my head were on straight. But lately, every thought I had was tangled up in Valentina’s reckless decisions and her smart-ass mouth, making rational thinking nearly impossible.
“So, what?” Valentina finally spoke up. “Am I supposed to be on house arrest or something?”
God, she really had no idea when to stop talking. Or maybe she did and she just didn’t care. Either way, we were both about to find out how deep Max’s patience ran—and judging by the look on his face, we’d already pushed him right to the edge.
“You’re supposed to be smart,” I muttered, letting every ounce of irritation bleed into my voice.
