Indiscretion: Volume Three (Indiscretion #3) (11 page)

I sipped my champagne. “They seem to really dislike each other, don’t they?” Shit. I shouldn’t have said that, but it just slipped out.

She sighed. “It has to do with me.”

“With you…” I blinked a few times. “I don’t understand.”

Her frown deepened. “Back in college, Winston Richfield pursued me, but I had no interest. He may have had money, but even then it was clear that he was going to be a cut-throat business man and a workaholic. I wanted someone that wanted more out of life than simply putting together the next deal. I found that in my husband.” Her gaze flickered behind me where I suspected she was looking at Mr. Cullen since her eyes grew warm and she smiled to herself for a moment before turning her gaze back to me. “When Winston found out I was dating my husband, he went ballistic. He didn’t understand how I could choose someone else over him. To say Winston had a healthy ego is an understatement.” She chuckled. “In the end, there was a party one night and the alcohol was flowing. They ended up getting physical as young men do sometimes when emotions are running high. Since then there has been an ongoing feud between them.” She pursed her lips and shook her head.

“Wow. I had no idea.” The thought of Mrs. Cullen and Winston Richfield together just seemed…wrong. Like a python and a puppy together. Good Lord.

“Please don’t tell my husband I told you.” She reached out and gave my arm a squeeze. “I know you found yourself in the middle of it a few weeks back, so I think it’s fair that you understand why.” She gazed at me with a sympathetic look.

I nodded. “Thank you for sharing that with me.”

“It’s ridiculous.” She shook her head and sighed. “Winston has been happily married for more than thirty years. As far as I’m concerned, it’s water under the bridge, but you know men.” She rolled her eyes. “When they get their egos bruised, they don’t let that go easily.”

“I suppose not.” When I’d found out about their distaste for each other, I had just assumed it was business-related. I was shocked that it had anything to do with Mrs. Cullen.

“Enough about that ugliness, though.” That warm smile returned to her face. “I see in the program that you’ll be singing tonight? I didn’t know you sing. Are you nervous?”

No, the Cullens weren’t exactly regulars at Geddy’s, so they’d have no way of knowing. “I sing and play guitar at Geddy’s every Friday night. I don’t get nervous anymore because I’ve been doing it for so long.” I glanced around the ballroom. “Though I’ve never done it in front of this many people, or with a brass band behind me, so that’ll be different.” I pressed my lips together.

“Well, I’m sure you’ll be fabulous. I’m really looking forward to seeing what kind of local talent we have here in town,” she said, patting my shoulder.

There were a handful of people in attendance tonight that would all be performing. We wanted to do something a little different this year, something fun, and this was what we had come up with.

I finished my conversation with Mrs. Cullen, and then continued to make my rounds, careful to always stay on the opposite side of the room as Max. I still hadn’t seen his dad arrive, though I was sure I hadn’t missed it. There would be a lot of attention on him when he showed, and I was sure people would be clamouring to have a word with him.

Eventually, the time came for me to head to the stage to prepare for my performance. I’d chosen to do something a little different than my usual since I had the big band backing me up. Standing at the side of the stage, I was waiting for them to finish their song when I saw Winston Richfield walk in.

The man oozed power and success. His grey hair was slicked back, his height and strong jaw reminding me of his son’s. He walked through the room with an air of utter confidence about him, like he knew everyone in the place and had seen them all a million times before. Heads turned to follow his progress. So powerful was the draw to focus on him that it took a moment before I noticed the beautiful woman trailing behind him.

She had a slender build and long brown hair flowing down her back. She was glancing around as she made her way behind Mr. Richfield, and when she turned to look at the stage, I saw her blue eyes and pouty lips. This certainly wasn’t Mrs. Richfield—she was about thirty years too young. Could it be Max’s sister? No, he’d told me he didn’t have any siblings.

Mr. Richfield finally spotted his son in the crowd and beelined in his direction. I held my breath for Max, nervous for some reason now that he and his father were in the same room. When Max noticed him join the group of gentlemen he was speaking with, he reached out to shake his father’s hand, smiling. To anyone else, his smile probably looked sincere, but I knew better. It was strained. And when he saw the brunette come around from behind his father, Max’s entire body stiffened, confusion on his face as she leaned in to kiss his cheek.

My stomach hardened, and I clenched my teeth when I saw her hands on his upper arms after she pulled away from the kiss. There was something about her body language that told me she was familiar with Max. This certainly wasn’t a first meeting. Jealousy and suspicion, like the insidious beasts they were, wormed into my brain just as the band leader called my name.

I managed to smile back at him and make my way to the stage, taking a deep breath to compose myself. At least for the next five minutes. I pushed the thought of who the brunette was from my mind and began singing the lyrics to ‘At Last’. I was no Ella James, but I could hold my own enough not to be embarrassed.

Against my better judgement, my eyes flickered over to where Max had been standing, finding only Mr. Richfield there talking to the group now. I scanned the crowd and found Max quickly making his way to the exit, holding the hand of the mystery woman. He didn’t even spare me a glance. My chest felt heavy and I inhaled deeply to try to get enough air into my lungs to continue on with the song.

I tried to push the unwelcome thoughts from my mind as I finished up, but it was near impossible. My voice sounded shaky in a couple of spots, but I didn’t think the audience would notice. When I finished, the entire room erupted in applause. I took a small bow and made my way off the stage.

At the bottom of the stairs, one of the waiters handed me a folded piece of paper. “For you, Miss.”

“Thank you.”

He turned and left, and I opened the paper to see a handwritten note.

What the hell?

I was relieved. Clearly, whatever silly scenarios I’d started creating in my head were an overreaction. I smiled to myself, then went to find Jess to let her know I would be back shortly. She was chatting with Kurt again and waved me off.

I tried not to look too eager as I rushed down the hall toward the glass doors at the rear of the property. When I’d finally made my way there, I opened the doors into the night. It was warm with a light breeze coming in off the ocean. The pools were lit from within and lanterns, each a few feet apart, hung along the outside of the building, casting an ethereal glow over the entire area. I inhaled the salt water air, the ocean bathed in darkness below.

I didn’t see Max anywhere, but that made sense. If he’d wanted to sneak off with me, he wouldn’t be standing in the middle of the patio, waiting for me. I walked a few steps to my right, and that’s when I saw them.

Max and the brunette were behind one of the large potted plants. He was standing with his back to the wall of the building, and she was in front of him. I couldn’t hear them, but they were so deep in conversation that they didn’t notice me.

I watched as she leaned in to kiss him on the lips and palmed his cock over his tuxedo. Max didn’t pull away, from her lips or her hands. No, instead his hands dove into her hair.

Before I could witness any more, I spun around and ran back the way I’d come. Tears were already streaming down my face. It was as if I was being ripped apart from the inside. My heart turning into shards of glass, cutting, wounding the deepest parts of me.

As I stepped back inside, the muffled chatter finding its way to me, I carefully wiped away any evidence that I’d been crying. I couldn’t let anyone else see me like this. Straightening my back and lifting my chin, I stepped back into the full room.

Whatever we’d had was over. I was done. To fool me once was one thing, but for me to let it happen again—I was such an idiot.

Never again. Never.

TO BE CONTINUED…

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Elisabeth has a soft spot for happily ever-afters and a hot spot for alpha males. If she’s not curled up somewhere with a romance novel in one hand and chocolate in the other you can probably find her typing madly on her keyboard creating her next story. She currently lives outside Toronto, Canada with her husband, two small children, and a killer cat.