“What about our breakfast?” I asked.
He looked at me. “I’ll have to miss it. Sleep in while you can.”
“Maybe we can do dinner instead. I’ll be sure to make it on time.”
He seemed to like my idea. “You? Doubtful, but we’ll see.”
I rolled my eyes. “Where are you going anyway?”
“Chicago. Some dealings with the Callahan brothers.”
I didn’t have the slightest clue who they were. “Who are they?”
“The Americans. Your father was involved in their politics, and it’s left a lot of loose ends for me to tie up. I’ll have Enzo stay with you, switching shifts with Sean.”
I took a sip of coffee. “Perfect. Maybe they can help me pick out some colors for the wedding.”
This interested him more than I thought it would. “You’ve been planning it?”
“No, I’ve just been picking my favorites of everything Daisy sends me. She knows about weddings, not me.”
“And what kind of things has she been sending you?”
I shrugged, trying to downplay the chaos of it all, but in reality, my internet browser had a million tabs open onto what looked like the exact same shade of pink. Daisy swore they were all different shades, but they weren’t. Not to me.
“Everything,” I tried to explain. “The flower arrangements, dresses, cake flavors. You name it, she’s got it covered.”
A slight smile played on his lips. “Daisy’s thorough. That’s good. Do you think she could help you find a dress for an engagement party too? I’ve already spoken to Mikhail about using the yacht for it.”
“Oh, that’ll go over well, don’t you think?” I asked mockingly. “Trapping two families who want to kill each other on the same boat.”
“It’ll weed out the weak.”
“It just sounds like chaos. Someone is going to end up dead.”
“That comes with the territory.”
“All because you wanted something you couldn’t have.”
He smiled. “And now I have everything I’ve ever wanted.”
“And what is that?” I retorted, unable to mask the skepticism in my voice.
“You.”
“Again, not yours to have,” I argued.
“If you’d kept your lips off mine and followed the damn rules, we wouldn’t be in this mess at all, would we?”
He did have a point. The rules we’d broken, the lines we’d crossed—they all seemed so clear now, like a map of our mistakes leading us to this very moment. I wondered what would’ve happened if everyone had stayed blissfully unaware of who he really was. Would it be the same?
Despite everything Max had done to me, I still couldn’t shake the feeling he gave me. I was drawn to him. He didn’t seem like the awful person my father made him out to be.
All that meant was he was really good at deceiving people.
“What is your plan with me?” I asked, my voice steady but my heart racing with uncertainty.
“I intend to have you fall in love with me,” he said, his words carrying determination.
