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He hugged her back and offered his arm with a delighted smile and Maddie took it graciously. God, he looked good. There wasn’t a single spark of chemistry between them, but there was something about him that tugged at her heart. Aesthetically, she could look at him and appreciate how handsome he was and how well he sported his own black tuxedo. He was such a gorgeous guy, and so incredibly sweet. Still, he didn’t appear to have a date. Maybe it was too soon for him.
“Having fun?” Max asked her as he guided her up the stairs.
“Not really,” she answered honestly. “I’m not sure how you and Sam do this all the time.”
“Do what?” he asked curiously, stopping at the top of the staircase with Maddie on his arm, a quizzical expression on his face.
She released him and stepped back. “This. All of this.” She gestured generally around the room. “I guess I’m not exactly a socialite,” she said softly. “The only good thing about it is seeing all the handsome men in tuxedos.” She winked at him cheekily.
“One in particular,” he answered with amusement. “I saw the way you were looking at Sam. I doubt you knew there was another male in the room.” More seriously he added, “You look happy. Even if you are a little bored. You get used to it after a while.” He shrugged. “It’s pretty much an obligation that comes with the money. It’s a fair trade.”
Maddie shrugged, supposing that what Max said was true. There were certain parts of being a doctor she didn’t like either, but she’d gotten used to dealing with it. For Sam, she was willing to do almost anything.
“I’ll catch up with you later, Maddie. I need to talk to you about something,” Max mentioned casually as they parted.
She gave Max a small wave, heading toward the right to the ladies’ room while he went left, probably heading toward the men’s facilities.
Maddie quickly used the restroom and paused as she washed her hands, looking at herself in the mirror. She had tried to do a more elegant hairstyle, and her make-up was fine, but she was so…ordinary. And so incredibly different from all of the beautiful women present at this charity event. However, after talking to some of them, she didn’t feel terribly inadequate. She was a doctor—she could see plastic surgery from a mile away and some of the women looked downright anorexic. Although Maddie had tried to participate in the conversation, very few of the women could converse about anything other than social activities, fashion, or other mind-numbing topics.
Sam does need me. He needs a woman he can talk to at the end of the day. And he needs love. Desperately.
She dried her hands with a small sigh, knowing Sam had probably always tried to surround himself with people to hide his emptiness. It wouldn’t work. She had tried that trick herself, working all the time until she was exhausted, filling every hour of the day with work. But the vacuum had still remained, hidden but present, a void that only Sam had ever filled.
Pushing open the door, she stepped into the hall and walked toward the stairs. She heard the argument as she hit the first step, two angry male voices coming from the hall in the other direction.
“I know you’ve been calling her. That you took her to dinner. I want you to leave her the fuck alone. She belongs with me. She always has. I need her, dammit.” Sam’s angry baritone was easy to recognize.
“I want to be her friend,” Max argued, his voice firm.
“You want to fuck her. You have a thing for her and I don’t blame you. But Maddie is mine. She was always meant to be mine. I can’t fucking live without her. So find yourself another woman,” Sam growled loudly.
“I don’t want to fuck her,” Max replied, his voice coming nearer to the stairs, obviously walking away from Sam.
Maddie could see them coming toward her, but they didn’t see her. The two men were in a stand-off, shooting each other irritated and downright hostile looks.
“You want her in your bed and it isn’t happening,” Sam rumbled.
“Oh, for Christ’s sake, Sam. Pull your head out of your ass for a minute and listen. I’m not into fucking incest.” Max’s jaw was clenched, his hands fisted as he added, “Maddie is my sister. My blood relative.”
Sam appeared to be rendered speechless, because he didn’t reply. He just stared at Max in bewilderment.
Maddie froze, the two men only about ten feet away from her, but they were so engrossed in their conversation that they hadn’t noticed her.
Max exhaled deeply and ran his hair through his auburn hair. “We were separated. I was adopted, she wasn’t. I didn’t even know about her until I saw her at the wedding. She’s the image of our real mother. And she and I have the same fucking eyes. After I looked more into my adoption records, I found out she was my sister. I was going to tell her. I just haven’t had a chance. I really wanted to tell her first.”
Maddie tried to digest the information, her overwhelmed brain struggling to acknowledge the fact that she had a brother. But the notion was so surreal that she wasn’t sure how to react.
Joy.
Confusion.
Denial.
She had a brother, and she had never known it, a sibling she had never known existed.
Max Hamilton is my brother. No wonder I feel so connected to him.
She gasped loudly, the noise carrying through the cavernous area. Both men whipped their heads up to look at her. The intensity on their faces made her waver, her heel catching on the luxurious carpet on the stairs.