Page 25 of BillionHeir

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Maxwell

“What do you want?”

“How about signs of life? You have been holed up in that house so long that we were starting to wonder if you were ever coming back to the city.”

“It is called recuperating, Tristan,” I say deadpan.

“It is not like you got into a helicopter accident or anything. Isn’t it time you got back to work? Surely Banks International needs their lead man at his desk.”

I appreciate my friend finally feeling comfortable enough to taunt me the way our group of friends always has.

“Actually, it seems like Ethan has everything under control,” I answer, staring at the empty email inbox on the computer in my home office.

“You are just going to let him replace you like that? Take over everything that your father created and passed down to you?”

I know he is just trying to rile me up, but something about what he says hits a nerve.

I have been enjoying my recovery and the down time that I have had since I have been away from work, but I am certainly not ready to let another man take over complete control.

Maybe a call to Ethan should be on the agenda for the day.

“What do you want?” I ask, redirecting the conversation.

“Liam and I have some free time this weekend. We would like to drive up to Seabanks for a visit. If you will have us, that is.”

“Could I stop you if I tried?”

Tristan lets out a jovial laugh, completely ignoring my question. “There is the asshole I know. We will see you in a couple of days.”

He ends the call before I have time to answer. I set my phone down on my desk and stare out the window at the clear blue sky. The storm from last night is long gone and the sun is out and shining. It is almost as if it never happened .

But it did.

How am I going to tell the guys?

I will never hear the end of it if they find out that I actually slept with my nurse.

* * *

When I come downstairs after pretending to work all afternoon, Chloe has cooked a meal fit for a Michelin star restaurant.

Fresh salads are plated with small cups of dressing on the side.

Next to those on separate plates is a decadent-looking lobster risotto with grilled asparagus.

And she is placing the final touches on what looks like homemade macarons.

“Wow,” is all I can think to say at the spread that has taken over the island in the kitchen.

Chloe’s cheeks pinken slightly as she dusts her hands on her apron and reaches behind her to untie the knot.

I hastily close the distance between us and undo it for her.

Anything for the chance to touch her. My fingers graze the small of her back as I deftly release the knot.

My fingertips brush the side of her neck when I reach up to take the apron the rest of the way off, loving the way the blush in her cheeks deepens at the contact.

It would be so easy to push her against the counter and continue to undress her, but I am a gentleman, and she deserves a man who can control himself. I ball my free hand into a fist at my side as I hang the apron on the hook .

She is still my nurse and therefore my employee. It would be wrong. She came out here for work, not for a relationship. It would be best for everyone if we kept things platonic between us.

If only my dick could get the memo.

“Is everything alright?” Chloe asks after a quiet dinner together. “You were in your office all afternoon.”

I look up from my plate to see her brows knit together in concern.

“Yeah, everything is okay” I say, trying not to let her see the doubt in my eyes that will betray me. “I just had a few things that needed my attention.”

I reach over and place my hand on the back of hers. Even when I am questioning our relationship, I still can’t fight the urge to want to touch her.

“Do you need to work? I can take care of these,” she says, gesturing to the dirty dishes on the table.

I nod and wipe my face one last time with my napkin, trying to hide the deceit that I know is written all over my face. I don’t need to go back to my office, but under these circumstances, it is the best way for me to avoid Chloe.

* * *

Two rather uncomfortable days later, Liam and Tristan arrive. Tristan with his usual jokes and ridiculousness and Liam with his studious gaze that misses nothing .

What I didn’t expect is for them to dote on Chloe and treat her like the sister none of us actually have. They are cracking jokes, mostly at my expense, while we all sit by the pool with some drinks that Chloe made for us.

“You guys have to tell me how you all met. There has got to be a good story there,” Chloe says, opening up the door for a trip down memory lane that I am not sure she is prepared for.

Liam throws his head back as he laughs. “The three of us met during our first year at Exeter Academy. All of the kids there were well-off, of course, but it didn’t take long for everyone to figure out where they belonged in the hierarchy of wealth.

As it turns out, the three of us were from the richest families in the whole school, each of us destined to inherit a vast fortune.

Once we got over our egos and realized how similar the three of us were, we joined forces to rule the school. ”

“Kings of the campus, eh? I can just picture it now,” Chloe says, looking over at me and placing her hand atop mine.

Rather than enjoy the closeness, I can feel embarrassment rise in my cheeks as I quickly pull my hand out from under hers and look around to make sure the boys didn’t catch that.

Neither one of them are looking at us, but I have a feeling they saw.

I clear my throat and give Chloe a stern look, shaking my head in annoyance .

Chloe gasps quietly with a look on her face as though I just slapped her. Rather than apologizing to her, and explaining what is going on to my friends, I grit my teeth and look away.

“So, tell us the truth, Chloe,” Tristan says jovially as all the muscles in my body tense. “How bad has the notorious Banks temper been?”

I relax a little in my chair. I was worried that he was going to ask about our relationship. But my mood? That I can handle. I think I have been pretty well-behaved, all things considered.

Chloe’s eyes flit to mine hesitantly before shifting back to the boys. There is no sign of hostility on her face from my obvious dismissal, but hopefully she won’t make a scene.

We had an amazing night together, but we haven’t spoken about it since.

I will admit to feeling rather cowardly about the whole situation, hiding myself away to avoid talking, so I am a bit relieved, and maybe a little hurt, that she hasn’t mentioned our time together.

I don’t know what I wanted, but the calm, reserved nurse she has resorted back to over the past couple of days has been a stark contrast from the woman she was before we slept together.

I know it is completely my fault, and yet, I feel powerless to change it. I am almost fully recovered from my injuries at this point and no longer need a private nurse to wait on me hand and foot. But the fact remains that we are both still here, and I can’t seem to let her go .

“He was a bit ill-mannered that first week or so, but once I learned how to handle him, things went much more smoothly,” she says, giving them a sweet smile as she says it. “But he has been a bit preoccupied with work the last few days.”

That gets both of their attention.

“I thought Ethan was handling everything. You said your email was empty when I called,” Tristan says, oblivious to the fact that he is blowing my cover.

“Yes, well,” I say, scrambling for an excuse that will appease everyone. “A deal for a merger with a new company just came across my desk. One that I couldn’t pass up.”

“Tell us about it,” Liam says, leaning in for more detail.

Just as I am about to give them the specifics, Chloe clears her throat, giving the boys a polite smile and stands.

“I think I will get myself a cup of tea. That will give you gents a chance to catch up.”

Her face is tight as she gathers the empty glasses from the table, blatantly avoiding my eyes. I could swear I see her carefully controlled expression fall as she walks inside, but maybe that is just my imagination.

“Did you watch that basketball game last night?” Tristan asks when I turn back to look at them, totally unaware of the tension.

“What was that all about?” Liam asks far more observantly. Damn him .

A look of realization dawns on Tristan’s face as he looks back and forth between me and Liam. “Are you fucking her?”

I nearly spit out the sip of water I just took. “What?”

“It is pretty obvious, isn’t it?” Tristan says confidently.

“Poking the hot British nurse?” Liam asks with a laugh. “Good for you.”

Rather than tell them the truth, I dodge their question with one of my own. “You think I would sleep with the help?”

I immediately realize what I just said and check over my shoulder to make sure she didn’t overhear me. Thankfully, she is already inside.

“I don’t just think, my friend. I know,” Liam says, looking me confidently in the eyes.

“It is not like that,” I say, hoping to see her walk back through the door with her tea. Hoping against hope that I didn’t totally damage the tenuous relationship Chloe and I have formed.

But she never comes.

“So, what is it like then?” Tristan asks. “You are staring at that door waiting for her like a kid waiting for Santa on Christmas Eve.”

“Shut up,” I say, rolling my eyes. “We have gotten close, that is all.”

“That is all?” Tristan asks, his voice high pitched with a faux British accent doing his best Chloe impression .

“Okay, that is not all,” I say, throwing my hands up in exasperation.

“There it is,” Liam says victoriously as he and Tristan laugh.

“Seriously, dude. Did you not think this through?” Tristan asks once they have had their moment together.

I sigh. “I didn’t expect this to get this . . . messy.”

“Let her go, Max. Women are a dime a dozen for men like us,” Liam says.

If only it were that easy.

* * *

A couple of hours and a few beers later, the boys and I are still sitting outside shooting the shit. Chloe still hasn’t come back out. I have hardly been able to focus on anything else.

“Go and talk to her already,” Tristan finally says, sounding frustrated. “If I would have known that we would be walking into a lover’s spat, I might not have come all this way.”

“No, you still would have. You are too nosy to stay away,” Liam says, heckling Tristan.

“Okay, that is actually fair. But at least I would have come prepared with popcorn.”

The two laugh again as my annoyance with them and curiosity about Chloe motivates me to stand and walk inside without a word. I try to ignore them as they continue to tease me until I am too far away to make out what they are saying .

If my friends know anything, it is how to get a rise out of me. Tristan and Liam are like family to me. But like brothers, they are like sharks when they sense any weakness. Once they know that they have hit a nerve, they are never going to stop.

Chloe is not in the kitchen, which has quickly become one of her most frequented rooms of the house.

She has a passion for cooking, and it has become something I love watching her do.

She gets so into whatever it is she is preparing that she shuts out the world.

Seeing her with her guard down and her mind working is something to behold.

I search the entire downstairs. The couch where she likes to read with her tea in the late afternoons. The dining room where we have eaten together every night and had our first date. But she is nowhere to be found.

Next, I go upstairs. The house is eerily quiet, and the gravity of the situation starts to hit home. I don’t know why I was ashamed of her. There is nothing about her to be embarrassed about. In fact, any man would be lucky to have her.

I will just have to grovel extra hard when I find her. I have yet to meet a crisis I couldn’t talk my way out of.

I walk quickly down the hallway, pausing outside her bedroom before knocking. I don’t know what I am waiting for. Maybe I am just stalling because I am too scared to face her after my poor behavior. When I do bring my hand up to knock, the door pushes open on its own .

The room is dimly lit by the limited sunlight coming through the windows at this time of day. My eyes strain as they search the room for the woman I have hurt, but they never find what they are looking for. I struggle to understand what I am seeing.

The bed is made and the room is tidy. Chloe keeps the door shut most of the time, but on the few occasions I have seen inside, there have been clothes scattered here and there. Not messy, but lived in.

All of that is gone. In fact, I can’t really tell that anyone is staying in this room at all. Did she move her things to a different room?

Frustration and displeasure pulse through my body as I leave the room and stride angrily down the hall. I am not going to let her run from me like this. If she wants to move rooms, that is fine, but the least she can do is talk to me about it.

When I find all the other bedrooms on this floor empty, I go back to make sure that I didn’t miss anything. This time, I turn the light on and step into her room. That is when I see it. A folded piece of paper sitting on top of the nightstand where she used to leave a glass of water.

That can’t be good.

Maxwell,

It is time for me to leave. We both know you don’t need me.

xx The Help x x

I read the note a dozen times before the reality of what has just happened truly sinks in.

Chloe is gone.

She heard what I said about her, and she left.

I walk in stunned silence back downstairs and out the front door to make sure she is not still outside waiting for whoever came to pick her up. She is not there of course. Who knows how long she has been gone. She may have just left, or it could have been hours ago.

I pull my phone out of my pocket to call her. I scroll dumbly through my contacts before I realize that I never got her phone number. I sink down onto the marble staircase as I stare out at the long winding driveway that leads to the front gate.

I have felt my share of loss in life. I think that is what makes this one in particular so difficult to accept.

I know exactly how much this is going to hurt.