Chapter 5 - Brooke

I could barely look at Max as he drove but kept sneaking peeks at his rugged profile. I was buzzing from the potent drinks and also the heady feelings he’d awakened in me. How did he do that so fast? I had been so focused on keeping things together since I got put on the street by my last foster family that there was never any time for a relationship.

In high school, I kept my head down, often shunned for having the most shabby clothes and for always being the new student when I was shifted to yet another family. The only boys who tried to show me attention back then clearly didn’t have good intentions, assuming I’d be easy to use and discard, so it was no problem to dismiss them.

Now, though… Oh, I couldn’t dismiss what just happened with Max.

The whirlwind day and night was impossible to keep straight in my tumbling thoughts. Dancing with a movie star! Making out with a… crime boss? It was beyond crazy and way out of my comfort zone, yet I was having the time of my life. I was so intrigued by what Max admitted he did for a living that it was on the tip of my tongue to ask him a dozen outrageous questions, but I was still a little drunk and didn’t want to have to hide in shame from him for the rest of the week.

Would I even get to see him again while I was here in LA?

We finally arrived at Katie’s house, and I was so flustered, wanting to kiss him again but fearing Jenna would jump out of the rhododendron bushes. He had barely stopped the car, and I jumped out, squeaking out a thanks and a goodnight before flying to the door.

Thankfully Katie opened it right away, as if she’d been waiting up for me, but really, she was just up and pacing with Alina, who was being colicky, whatever that was.

“Wow, that’s a gorgeous dress,” she said, looking over my new outfit. “We thought we might have to send a search party for you.”

I blushed, not sure how to explain accepting such an extravagant gift or coming home well after midnight when we were just supposed to take an afternoon tour of the city.

“I was having so much fun dancing to my favorite band that Max took pity on me and didn’t make me leave,” I said, thinking that sounded innocent and plausible. “I’m sorry for missing dinner,” I added when she kept peering at me with concern.

“That’s not what I was worried about,” she said, then let it drop, showing me to my room.

It was the same one I got to spend the night in at Christmas time, and I sank into the plush bedding and stared at the ceiling, trying not to think about that wild kiss with Max.

We’d just… gone for it, thrown ourselves together with complete and utter abandon. It kept me from getting any sleep, even though my eyelids felt like lead. I had danced with my favorite movie star, so why was that kiss still plaguing my thoughts?

I woke up the next morning with only a slight headache that went away as soon as I chugged some water and took a long, stinging, hot shower. It was a little embarrassing to see it was almost lunchtime when I went down and found everyone outside, already enjoying a fun family day around the pool.

Since Katie’s backyard pool area could have rivaled a five-star Hawaiian resort, with all sorts of alcoves and shaded spots, it was easy to get Jenna aside for a private word or two.

“So, is there one more secret you’ve been keeping from me?” I asked when she was settled next to me on a wooden swing surrounded by palms and plumeria flowers.

She rubbed her small baby bump and looked confused until I told her I knew how the Fokin family had built their empire. She coughed, coming up red-faced and apologetic.

“I wasn’t trying to keep it a secret so much as trying to keep you… you know, safe,” she said, blushing bright red. “Not that you’d be in danger, but you might be. I mean, not from any of Lev’s family. Oh, I know it’s hard to understand.”

She was so flustered I put her out of her misery. “It’s fine. Really. I get that some people might freak out. I think Max expected me to when he told me. But I know what kind of person you are, and you’d never marry someone who wasn’t a good man at his core. You certainly wouldn’t have a baby with him.” And I’d witnessed the way they acted with each other. No family that was that loving and close-knit could truly be bad, could they?

“Thanks,” Jenna said, relaxing. “I’m surprised Max told you anything. They’re normally pretty tight-lipped about it.”

Yeah, what could that mean? Did it mean anything? As much as I wanted to grill Jenna about Max, I didn’t want her to get suspicious of me having a crush on him. Which I didn’t. Jenna started to change the subject, but then Max himself appeared in our little spot in the garden, looking like a Greek god with low-slung swim trunks and no shirt. He was tan and trim-waisted, with rippling abs I had to force my eyes away from or else start drooling.

“Why are you two still dry?” he boomed.

“Oh, Lordy, you’re about to be bombarded now,” Jenna said, heaving herself up. “Don’t even think about it,” she told Max. “I just ate half a watermelon so I’d sink to the bottom, and I’m so huge no one could drag me out.”

I gave her a playful shove because she was barely showing, and as soon as she waddled away to find Lev, saying it was past time for her daily foot rub, Max was on me. With a fierce gleam in his eyes, he picked me up and slung me over his shoulder. I barely had time to shriek out a demand to be put down, and we were at the edge of the pool.

“No, not in there,” I said. “Don’t you—”

My next words were drowned out by the clear, cool water surrounding me. He’d actually tossed me in. When my head popped up, he was in the pool beside me, circling like a shark. I swept a wave of water his way, but it barely hit him in the chest.

“Now, who’s still dry?” I said, ruthlessly splashing him until he was soaked and his dark hair clung to his forehead in dripping waves.

We swam around, ducking under the little waterfall feature and resting our eyes from the bright sun. Suddenly, it was too close, too dim, and he was way too big and handsome. Jenna and her sister and Max’s brothers were all on the other side of the waterfall, and they’d already been teasing us about our antics in the pool. Feeling much too hot, I dove under the falls and emerged on the other side. Even with the sun blazing, it was cooler without his much too tempting proximity.

Katie got in with Alina in a duckie pool float. Aleks smoothly dove in to emerge next to his infant daughter, making her shout with surprise and then crack up with infectious baby laughter.

“Okay, we get it, family time,” Max said, heading for the nearest ladder.

I followed, shocked that my fingers and toes were shriveled since it seemed like we’d only been in for ten minutes. A lunch was spread out under the veranda, and we made a beeline, sitting down with Lev and Jenna half asleep with iced teas in their hands.

The whole rest of the afternoon, Max hogged my attention, telling me there was going to be dinner and a movie later on in the mansion’s theater. My cheeks were sore from smiling and burning from his constant compliments that brought on the teasing from his brothers and Katie and Jenna. An outsider would have thought we were the third couple in the equation, not people who barely knew each other.

He couldn’t possibly be serious with his flirtations, but I loved the attention, something I wasn’t used to at all. As the sun started getting lower and everyone was talking about taking naps or getting changed for the dinner and movie night, I headed up when Jenna did to get a shower. I refused to think too much about what I was going to wear, not wanting Max’s attention to get me off kilter. Or more off-kilter, because I was tilting fast.

In my room, my forgotten phone had several messages from an unknown number.

Where are you?

We have unfinished business.

Call me!

What the heck? It was obviously a mistake, and common sense told me to delete them and block the number, but I had spent the last two days in a glorious fantasy of acting out of character, so just shot off a quick message back.

Who is this?

My boldness paid off, and I’d barely put the phone down on the bed when an answer pinged.

It’s Luca.

I yelped, my finger hovering over the phone, wondering how to respond. I didn’t have to, because next thing I knew, it was ringing. He was calling. Luca Ross was calling me.

Utterly amazed and feeling like Alice in Wonderland, I answered. “How did you get my number?” I asked.

“Don’t you know who I am?” he said in his famous teasing tone. “There’s nothing I can’t get if I want it badly enough. And I want to take you to dinner, Brooke.”

I stood up and turned in circles until I had to plop back down on the bed. Luca was asking me out? My first thought was of Max, his disapproving look, and his warning of the night before. We’d had such a perfect day together, and he’d also had me in stitches this whole afternoon. What about movie night?

Was I getting so attached to Max that I was thinking about giving up another opportunity to tell my future grandkids about going to dinner with a world-famous movie star? As for Max’s warning, I just couldn’t make myself believe Luca could be all that bad, and it was probably just jealousy on Max’s part. He’d acted like a real caveman, hurling Luca off the dancefloor, and then admitting he wasn’t exactly one of the good guys, either.

Now, I was smiling over that memory, as if it was good and not mortifying. I liked thinking Max might be jealous, way too much for comfort. He was a player, a professional flirt, and if I let myself get attached, I was done for.

“Are you still there?” Luca asked.

“Yes,” I said in a breathless rush. “Still here, and I’d love to go out to dinner.”

“Great, I’ll pick you up wherever you are.”

Feeling giddy at all the excitement this vacation kept bringing, but also wanting to avoid an uncomfortable scene, I told Luca to pick me up at the crossroads at the bottom of the hill below Katie’s house. It was a quick little hike and worth it to avoid any confrontations.

“I’ll see you then. Can’t wait,” he said, ending the call.

I stared at the phone for a moment, expecting the text messages to disappear, and realized I had dozed off, but I was still awake. This was real, and I had to get ready for my date with a movie star. Then, I had to sneak out so I wouldn’t upset the mob boss who’d been toying with my affections all day.