"I was, except I heard there was someone at my friend’s house that I didn't want to see. So I kept my flight. But you weren't on it. How come?"
Shit. "I took a later flight. Sam and I've been talking about building a club in Las Vegas, so I thought maybe I'd stick around a little bit. But then I changed my mind. I'm thinking maybe we should build one in the South. Atlanta, maybe."
Vivie thought on that as she sat in the chair Dax just vacated. "Or Miami."
"I wonder how often the hurricanes cause problems down there?"
"Not enough to stop millions of college spring breakers from showing up." She studied me for a moment. "Are you okay, Max?"
I rolled my shoulders. "Sure. Why?"
Her intense gaze told me she didn't believe me. "You seem tense and unhappy. Mom and Dad noticed too. And Sam, he had some choice words to say about you before he and Kate took off on their honeymoon."
"I'm fine. There's just been a lot going on."
She pursed her lips together, which told me she didn't believe me, but she wasn't going to continue to press me.
We chatted for a bit longer, and then she left, leaving me to stew about my inability to hide what was going on with me. I definitely needed to pull my shit together. Until Dax gave me information that I could use to stop Amelia and her family, I would have to pull off the role of a lifetime. I have to be as good an actor as Amelia was an actress when she made me fall for her.
CHAPTERTWENTY-SIX
Amelia
Every second of every minute of every hour of every day for the next couple of days, I waited for my father to bring the hammer down on me. My father's only virtue was patience except that he used it for evil. He knew that I'd be squirming and anxious, waiting for him to exact his punishment. By the time he popped up and said boo to me, I'd probably stroke out. That's how on edge my nerves were as I sat in the office of Archer Graves of Saint Security with my brother.
I explained what happened with Max and me, and James filled him in on the other details about the type of man my father was.
Archer sat across from us, listening and taking notes. When we finished, he said, "It sounds like your father has a stranglehold on Las Vegas."
"He does," James and I said together.
He looked at his notes, tapping the paper with his pen. "I'm having a hard time seeing how your father benefits from your being married to Max Clarke."
Every time he said Max's name, I winced, knowing I was breaking the promise we made not to tell anyone about our marriage. But at this point, the only way I could protect me and my baby was to be honest with someone who could help, like Archer.
"Your being married to Max gives you a financial benefit, but what about your father?" Archer finished.
"It's not clear to us either, but you can bet my father has a plan," James said. "The possibilities are endless. The first would be that Max Clarke is now his son-in-law and he would use that to benefit himself, whether it's to generate more business, to expand out of Las Vegas, or maybe just to hit Max up for loan."
I nodded. "Our father doesn't do anything that isn't going to benefit him in business, whether that’s more money or power and influence."
"What is it that you’re wanting us to get for you?" Archer asked.
"I want you to get my father out of my life. Or at the very least, out of Max's life,” I said.
James put his hand over mine. "I'm not a lawyer or cop, but it seems like what my father did to Amelia and Max Clarke is against the law, right?"
Archer nodded. "From what you’ve told me, I see a few things, including kidnapping and fraud."
"He needs to go away for that,” James said.
"These crimes are fairly over the top. It’s surprising that he hasn't been arrested sooner." There was something about Archer's demeanor that was making me lose hope. Did he not believe us? Or did he think he wouldn’t be able to help us?
"That's because he's very good at covering his tracks," I said.
"I'll admit, it's going to be hard to get to him if he has a lot of people on his payroll who are willing to lie and cheat and steal. And those who aren't usually owe him something, or he has something on them."
James squeezed my hand, making me think he was feeling dejected too.