"I'll hire someone to help." James was normally a smart, practical man, but his confidence in stopping my father was irrational.
"Who are you going to hire that would help us? Dad has his tentacles and minions everywhere."
"I'll find someone somewhere else. I'll find a security firm out of state."
I sagged against my brother, feeling emotionally and physically exhausted. "Thank you for your willingness to do that, but I really think I am fucked."
"We may not be able to stop Dad from doing whatever he's going to do. And maybe Max won't see you for who you really are. But you have me, Amelia, and I'll do whatever it takes to protect you from Dad, even if it means destroying the company."
I tilted my head to look up at him. "You can't ruin your life trying to save mine."
He gave me a cocky smile. "I'd be willing to lose my career to watch Dad crash and burn. I think it would be a worthy trade-off." He checked his watch. "It's going to be January first pretty soon. I know you don't have a lot to look forward to and can't have champagne, but we can be here together."
I sank against him again. "I don't know what I'd do without you, James."
He tugged me close and kissed me on the top of my head. "You’ll never have to find out."
CHAPTERTWENTY-THREE
Max
I woke up the morning of January first wondering if this was the first day of what was going to be a shitty year. The new year was usually a time of excitement, of new beginnings, but not for me. I was still married to a woman who got herself pregnant in an attempt to get access to my money. Worse yet, because today was a holiday, I couldn't submit the papers Amelia served me so that the court could set a date to see the judge and have him sign the annulment. If the judge was reluctant to grant the annulment because being drunk wasn't a good enough reason to claim incoherence, then I would file fraud charges against Amelia. I remembered reading on the Nevada State government’s website on annulment that fraud and deception were legitimate reasons to get an annulment. Maybe after that, the judge would have her arrested.
Even as I thought about sending Amelia to jail for what she did to me, the image of her staring up at me in horror as I threatened to send her to prison and take the child haunted me. What if I was wrong? What if she really was a victim like she said she was? My heart rolled in my chest, wanting that to be true. But I had no way of knowing the truth, and I wasn't going to take the risk to find out. If I decided to believe her and it turned out she really was in cahoots with her father to gain access to Clarke family assets, that would make me a bigger fool than I already was. There was a saying about once bitten, twice shy, and when it came to Amelia, that was true. Plus, it wasn't like I hadn't been bitten before. Amelia was the third woman to make me look like a fool.
I would've liked to stay in bed all day, but as part of my brother's wedding plans, he and Kate had scheduled a brunch for family and close friends this morning. Why they hadn't flown off into the sunset to have wild sex like rabbits, I didn't know.
Because he and Kate were expected to be there, I knew I needed to go as well. Not showing up would make everyone suspicious and I'd have my mother hovering over me more than it already felt like she was.
So I dragged my ass out of bed and took a shower. I had gotten the impression that this branch would be casual, so I slipped on a pair of jeans, and while I really wanted to wear a Henley, I put on a button-down shirt just in case it was nice casual.
I shaved and took an extra minute to study myself in the mirror. I looked normal, right? I practice a few smiles as a warmup to hiding all the turmoil going on inside me. I didn’t want my family to know that my life was so fucked up.
I headed downstairs to the ballroom where the brunch was scheduled. Instead of the full room like we had yesterday, a divider had been pulled down the center, making it a smaller, more intimate room. Rolling my shoulders and stretching my neck, I plastered my smile on and continued into the room. I strode over to my brother who was standing with his arm around Kate, looking like the happiest man on earth. They were talking to a couple who technically weren’t family, but close enough. Kate didn’t have much family, and her girlfriends were like sisters. Plus, Harper, along with her husband, Noel, were my brother’s neighbors. Harper played a significant role in helping Kate and Sam reconcile, so it made sense that they were there.
I sidled up to my brother, patting him on the back. "I'm surprised to see the two of you up and out of bed this morning."
Both Sam and Kate blushed.
"Well, we might still have been except Kate tells me the baby is hungry." Sam looked down at Kate’s belly. Her hands pressed over it. She wasn't showing, at least not that I could tell. My understanding was that she was only eight or nine weeks long.
The hair on the back of my neck stood up as I realized that could be how far along Amelia was in her pregnancy. I kicked that thought out of my head. For all I knew, she wasn't pregnant at all. But that thought didn't sit very well either, so I pushed out all thoughts of Amelia and focused on my brother.
I looked over toward the wall where a buffet was set out. "It looks like the baby has a lot to choose from. Are there pancakes?" I looked at Sam pointedly, enjoying joking with him about his obnoxious love of pancakes.
He grinned. "Of course."
"You know, on Christmas, Mom made French toast. There wasn't a pancake in sight."
Sam feigned an expression of horror. "That had to be the worst Christmas ever."
I gave myself kudos for maintaining my smile even though his words were right. It had been the worst Christmas ever.
Kate excused herself to go serve herself a plate. Sam watched her go but didn't follow her. Instead, he turned to me. "Who was that woman with you yesterday at the reception?"
Jesus fuck. He noticed her? "What woman?"
Sam gave me a look like he knew I was giving him bullshit. "The woman with the papers?"