All In (20 page)

“
L
et
’s get this out of the way right now,” Cass sat across from Marissa, her face calm and serious even as her nerves sat on edge. “I’m dating Maddox. He’s the most important person in my life, and I waited a long time for us to get here. So, I don’t know what game you want to play. I don’t know if you still love him, if he pulled out your heart…whatever. But know that I love him, and I’m not going to let you hurt him anymore. So shut down whatever devious little plot you’re designing and let’s just get this website done so I can go back to my life with Maddox and you can get the hell out of our business.”

Cass’ heart was beating out of her chest as the words tumbled out of her mouth. But her nervousness didn’t matter. What mattered was that she was madly in love with Maddox and she would never allow Marissa to ruin that. Cass was fighting off her own anxieties, trying to keep herself from sabotaging their relationship, and that was enough of a fight. Mad may have said he loved her, but doubt nagged at her all the time. Every moment she was fighting to trust him, to not run away, to keep herself together. She didn’t need Marissa’s bullshit mixing with her own.

So she decided it was time to just lay it on the table. Maddox hadn’t been too happy about it. He thought it was putting all her cards out there and giving Marissa the upper hand. But he’d said he trusted her, and it wasn’t like he had a stellar success rate going up against his ex-wife. So he’d told Cass he loved her and let her handle this. She knew it was hard for him, and she loved him just that more for allowing her to do this her way, on her terms, which meant telling Marissa just how it was going to go.

Marissa’s sharp eyes narrowed before a broad grin crossed her face. “About damn time.”

“What?” Cass gaped.

“I knew you were different,” she smiled, leaning forward.

Was this another game? What the fuck? She just laid it all out for this woman, calling her out on her game, and she’s happy?

“Look, Maddox didn’t break my heart. Not really. I cared about him. I knew what I was getting into when I got married. We had fun. We had amazing…well, that was fun, too. It was strong affection, but it wasn’t real. I didn’t even know I wanted real until I needed it.”

“I know.”

It was Marissa’s time to be taken aback. “Huh?”

Cass shrugged her shoulders. “Well, Maddox told me when you started to gain success that suddenly you became more demanding, less independent. I figured it had to do with you needing more support. Success can be tough, and going it alone is even tougher.”

Marissa lifted a perfectly sculpted eyebrow. “You sure you’re in the right field? That’s pretty damn astute for a web designer.”

Cass laughed. “Color me a natural.”

“Well, you’re right, and that’s when I started questioning if Maddox was the right man for me. When he wasn’t responding to my needs, at least in the way I wanted him to, I pulled away. It wasn’t a conscious decision, to fall in love with someone else. It just happened so slowly. Bob and I, we just…connected, and I felt so loved. He was there when Maddox wasn’t.”

“So you had an affair?” Cass’ smile faded into a tight line.

She at least had the courtesy to blush. “I’m not proud of it. I should’ve ended the marriage first, as soon as I felt the pull toward Bob. I’m a psychiatrist. I should’ve known better. I knew it was over, but I allowed myself to deny anything was happening. I was just an idiot.” Marissa stood and walked to her window. “I love Maddox. I was never in love with Maddox, but he is something special.”

“But you hurt him, and now you continue to hurt him.”

Marissa turned to Cass, leaning on the sill behind her.

“I keep him from hurting himself.”

Cass’ brow pulled together. What the hell was she talking about?

“Look. Maddox thinks love is absent in the upper echelon of the business world. And after meeting many of those executives, I know he’s right. Do you know how many times my ass was rubbed, my breasts ogled, or how many propositions I fended off? Disgusting!” She wrinkled her petite nose.

“But that doesn’t mean-“

“He kept picking the wrong women. Repeating his same mistake. He was finding all kinds of business success, and I was so proud of him, even if he wouldn’t let me tell him so. But he kept picking these stupid social climbers that would not only take his heart for a ride, but also his reputation and his pocketbook. He got lucky with me. I walked in with money, and I didn’t have the heart to go after his. But he’s stupid to think that any of those women would have left him rich and successful. They would have sucked him dry and moved onto the next rung of the corporate ladder.”

This woman was insane, but completely right. All of his relationships had bothered Cass, and she had felt the same way about the women walking in and out of Maddox’s life. Part of her relief when he dumped them, or when they left him, was mirrored in what Marissa was saying. Maddox was too good for them.

“Those women didn’t even put up a fight. They didn’t march in my office and stake their claim. Some of them ran as soon as I entered the room. All I had to do was hint that I was still interested—which I’m not, by the way—and they took off. I’d find ways to get Maddox to see their flaws. Asked men I knew to hit on them, and he’d catch them looking elsewhere. Hinted that they were just interested in his money. Highlighted their insecurities. It was easy to get into their heads and his.”

“Is that what you’re doing now? Getting into my head?” Cass questioned. “Because I don’t appreciate it.”

Marissa laughed. “Well, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t. I get into everyone’s heads. It’s in my nature. Had I not been driven by research, I probably wouldn’t have made my money by honest means,” she winked and went back to her chair. “But I’m not trying to push you away from Maddox, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“Why?” What made Cass so different? Or was she not different, and this was Marissa’s way of manipulating? Damn. This woman was confusing.

“You’re not like them. Not at all.”

“Because I’m not a skinny bitch?”

“Well, that’s a start,” Marissa smiled. “But no. Looks have nothing to do with it. You weren’t even curious about my relationship with him when we first met.“

“Because that would’ve been rude,” Cass mumbled.

“That meant Maddox told you about us, which he hadn’t done with the other women. Sure, they knew he’d been married, but he told you more than that. He told you to be careful around me. That means he’s actually serious about you. That you mean more than being a trophy on his arm.”

Cass nodded.

“And then you walked in here today and didn’t dilly dally before you laid down the law with me. And honey, no one ever did that before. You also said you love him, and none of those…what did you call them? Oh, yeah, ‘skinny bitches’ ever did that.”

“So, what does that mean?”

“It means, I won’t fuck with your head,” Marissa leaned back in her chair, a hint of mischief glimmering in her eyes. “At least not when it comes to Maddox.”

“Why does that not make me feel much better?” Cass grumbled, and pulled out her computer.

“So, we’re done talking about my ex-husband?”

“For now,” Cass agreed. “But if you start fucking with us, I’ll-“

Marissa put up her perfectly manicured hands in a sign of surrender. “Got it.”

* * *

T
he rest
of the meeting was smooth, and Cass found herself reluctantly enjoying Marissa’s company. The woman was brilliant, and she even had a creative eye when it came to Cass’ renderings. She agreed with Cass that the more daring design would not only bring them into the new internet age, but move them ahead of the competition.

She also discovered that she and Marissa enjoyed the same television shows and books, and found themselves lamenting the day reality television cemented its place in modern culture.

Cass really wanted to hate Marissa. She really, really did. She wanted Marissa to live up to the villainous ex-wife that she’d built up in her mind, but the Marissa she met didn’t quite match up. Did she hurt Maddox? Yes. Was she a little crazy for how she controlled Mad’s love life? Definitely. But they agreed that they wanted happiness for Maddox, and Cass wasn’t all that upset that all of Marissa’s manipulations had led Maddox straight into her arms.

Did that mean she trusted Marissa?

Absolutely not.

* * *

“
S
o
, how was your meeting with Cruella?” Lo asked as she plopped down in the chair across the table.

“Not as bad as expected,” Cass told her, dipping her chip in the salsa as if the meeting was no big deal.

“So, you’re not breaking things off with Maddox?”

“What?!” Cass choked on her chip. “What the hell, Lo. Why would you say that?”

“What? You said she was a pro at getting in people’s heads. And you and your issues, I figured you’d be easy pickings.”

“How are you my best friend?” Cass shot her a look.

“I’m your best friend, because, if you had walked in here saying you were going to break it off, I’d beat the shit out of you. That’s what we do. We beat reason back into those we love. So, I figured I’d get it out of the way right now.”

“I’m not breaking things off with Maddox. I have bigger problems.”

“And what is that?” Lo lifted an eyebrow.

“I might actually like the crazy woman?” Cass sat back in her chair. She did, too. And that was a problem, because she knew Maddox would never be okay with that.

“Well, you do love the crazy,” Lo laughed, waving her hand toward herself.

“She’s smart and witty, and she totally backed off about Mad when I told her to.”

“Maybe she’s like one of those sand spiders that builds a trap under all kinds of camouflage…and when you least expect it—BOOM! They eat you.”

Cass couldn’t help the unladylike snort at how Lo’s “Boom” drew all eyes to her.

“Oh, Lo. I’m sure she’s insane, and I’m not inviting her to my next birthday party or anything. I just like her, that’s all,” Cass explained and justified her reaction by rehashing her conversation with Maddox’s ex-wife.

Lo pursed her lips. “So, she’s doing this because she cares about him?”

“That’s what she says.”

“What are you going to tell Maddox?” she asked, using a napkin to wipe a stray bit of salsa from the table in front of her.

“Well, I might not share that I like her so much, but just that things went well.”

“Good idea. Maybe her idea of getting between you is to befriend you. If anything would freak Maddox out it would be his girlfriend and ex-wife being BFFs.”

Well, wouldn’t that be the truth?

* * *

“
I
hate New York
,” Maddox whined over the phone. “It smells, the people are rude, and all the stereotypes are totally true.”

“Then come home.”

“I wish,” Maddox sighed. “How did things go today with Marissa?”

Cass bit her lip. “It went well. I confronted her, and she said she’d back off.”