Gone Too Far (23 page)

Kimberly wasn't sure how to react to such a statement, especially considering she was hearing it for the first time from someone other than Michael. “I'm not interested in talking to you about Michael's career or my family.”

Evan came out of the bathroom.

“Did you wash your hands?” Kimberly asked.

He frowned before turning around and going back in.

“Look, Kimberly.” Janet had to remember how much she needed Kimberly right now and had to stay polite. “To suggest that you and I could ever be friends is a waste of time. But we don't have to be enemies. I think what we've experienced with Evan has shown that we can coexist peacefully.”

“My relationship with Michael is no longer about you,” Kimberly said, feeling increasingly uncomfortable at Janet's attempt at humility.

“This isn't about me,” Janet said. “This is about Michael and his future. He has made the gesture, Kimberly. Now it's your turn to make him take it back.”

“I'm not going to do that.”

“You have to,” Janet insisted. “Steven is very upset over finding out that his brother was trying to destroy him. Now he's lost Michael. He can't take it.”

“He won't lose him,” Kimberly said. “He'll just not be working with—”

“I'm ready,” Evan said with glee as he came out again, holding his hands up.

“Good.” Kimberly smiled wide. “Let's go home.”

“Kimberly.”

“This is between Michael and Steven.” Kimberly held her hand out to Evan. “Let's just leave it between them.”

 

“Have you read my report?” Carter asked his father.

Steven was looking out the window of his home office, which faced the front of the house. The large half-circle, black driveway was empty except for Carter's Maybach.

“Dad,” Carter spoke up.

Steven turned back to his son. “I got you that car when you joined the board of Chase Beauty.”

“What about the new advertising agency?” Carter asked. “I'm concerned about some of their insurance policy terms.”

“Do you have any regrets?” Steven asked.

Carter leaned back in his chair, trying to figure out what was going on. “I regret coming over here to discuss business with you when I could be out by the pool with my daughter.”

“Will you be bringing Connor over to Kimberly's house to see Evan?” Steven asked.

Carter shook his head. “Kimberly just wants it to be a very low-key dinner. He's still on bed rest. Connor being there will just get him excited.”

Steven sighed, taking a seat in his chair. He folded his arms across his chest. “I have a lot of regrets.”

Carter's brows furrowed, as he found this very odd. Was Steven Chase admitting that he wasn't perfect? Was this one of the signs of the apocalypse? Studying his father's distracted expression, Carter tried to figure out how to gauge him. He was clearly upset over something.

“What's wrong, Dad?” he asked quietly.

“I was very happy when you agreed to join our board,” Steven said. “I had both of my sons a part of my dream. Of course, I hoped the experience would make you quit your firm and decide to come work for us full-time instead of just being our lawyer.”

“I already told you that wasn't going to happen,” Carter said. “Chase Law is my dream in the same way that Chase Beauty is yours.”

Carter felt at least that was one dream that he could make happen even if his most important dream never would come to fruition.

Steven nodded. “It's taken a long time, but I accepted that Chase Law would be yours and Chase Beauty would be Michael's. So now what do I do?”

“What do you mean?”

Carter was shocked as his father told him about Michael's resignation. He went over the scene, which had taken place in this office only days ago. Steven shot down any suggestion by Carter that it was more of the same from last year—just a leave of absence for Michael to get his head together. He relayed his own pleas for his son to change his mind. This was particularly troublesome to Carter, because he could never imagine his father pleading with anyone for anything. The fact that he had done so meant that Steven knew this wasn't temporary. Michael was really leaving.

“I'll talk to him,” Carter said. “He's just going through a lot.”

“No,” Steven said. “There is nothing you or I can do. You didn't see the look in his eyes, Carter. It was as if he was…”

Carter was extremely affected as he watched his father pause. He had never seen the man look so helpless. He was just human, after all.

“He said,” Steven continued, “that of all the regrets, the one he couldn't live with was losing his family. You see, he said that because he doesn't think of me as his family.”

“That's not true, Dad. He worships you.”

“He worshipped what I promised him,” Steven said. “Chase Beauty and I are the same thing to him. If I had been a better father, that wouldn't have been the case.”

“That doesn't mean he wouldn't have quit,” Carter said. “His decision is about Kimberly and the kids.”

“The point is,” Steven said, “if I had been a better father, he wouldn't have had to quit to keep his family.”

“He'll get Kimberly back,” Carter said, even though he wasn't sure of that. Although they had been best friends their whole lives, Carter and Michael had grown apart in the last year. He no longer knew absolutely everything there was to know about his brother. Despite that, he was shocked Michael hadn't told him about quitting.

“He's got some shit to work through,” he continued. “And when he does, he'll come back to you. It's just hard for him to concentrate on big things when he has Chase Beauty on the brain. It will just take a while. Probably a lot more time than any of us would want.”

Steven laughed softly.

“What's so funny?” Carter asked, confused.

“That's what I've been telling myself about you,” Steven said.

“Michael and I aren't the same, Dad. I thought you would have figured that out by now.”

“You're more alike than you think,” Steven said. “Look at where your families are. Michael and Kimberly and their kids and you and Avery and your—”

“Don't,” Carter said. “This is about Michael, not me. Most importantly, it's not about you.”

Steven nodded. “I take it you don't want to talk about Avery or Julia.”

“Julia is gone,” Carter said. “Avery is…”

“The mother of your child,” Steven said. “The woman you love.”

“Not anymore,” Carter said. “It's too hard to love her.”

“Does this mean you intend to continue on your quest for easy love?”

Carter smiled. “No, but I'm not on a quest to get hurt over and over again either.”

“So you're giving up?” Steven asked. “Do you really want to do that?”

“This isn't about what I want,” Carter said. “I have to get on with my life.”

“Can you do that without her?” Steven asked. “I mean, if you didn't have to see her or hear from her, you probably would get by. You'd have to make sure you don't date anyone who looks like her, reminds you of her or—”

“What are you trying to say?”

“Of course, none of that matters because you have Connor, so you won't be able to do that. This means you'll have to get on with your life with her in it. Can you do that?”

“I can do whatever I have to.”

“Exactly.” Steven's lips spread into an accomplished smile. “You can do whatever you have to. You're a Chase. The question is, what do you have to do to get on with your life?”

Carter didn't quite understand the question, but he stopped himself from thinking about it more, because he wasn't prepared to answer it when he did understand it.

“I'll talk to Michael,” he said. Yes, that sounded a lot easier.

 

Leigh was no fool. She wasn't about to get excited about how well the night had gone so far. After all, she remembered a little over a week ago how her family dinner started out so well. She didn't want to press her luck, but as she sat in the living room with Max and his parents, Eva and Douglas Cody, she was pretty pleased.

That she was going to stay in D.C. for a little while was a settled matter after Max kissed her. She was still upset with his decision, but Max was hard to resist, and she agreed to stay overnight. Her father's jet would pick her up in the morning.

This night almost hadn't happened. Eager to continue what he had begun, Max canceled the rest of his day and quickly took Leigh to his Capitol Hill luxury high-rise apartment, where they made love for two hours. It wasn't until they had showered together afterward that Max informed her they would be having dinner with his parents in their Silver Springs, Maryland, home.

After persistent pleading, and proof these plans had been made well before Leigh showed up in D.C., Max convinced Leigh to come along. He promised no pressure, even though for Leigh that would be impossible. She was nervous, but as soon as she arrived at the large colonial-style home, his family made her feel right at home. His father, Douglas, was a thin but distinguished older man with nutmeg-brown skin. He had the same dark, intense eyes that Max had but was more mild in temper. He asked very few questions and spent most of the night telling Leigh stories about Max's misspent youth. Now retired, Douglas used to run a very successful investment banking firm, which was behind the family's wealth.

Although she wasn't born into privilege, Max's mother, Eva, reminded Leigh so much of her own. She was a beautiful, bronze-colored woman in her early sixties, who had not a hair out of place or a wrinkle on her very expensive designer dress. She was excessively gracious, beautiful, and classy, and almost all of her questions revolved around the Chase family, its members, its charity, and its social club distinctions. As her questions persisted, the feeling of comfort Leigh had was replaced with trepidation. The questions made her incredibly uncomfortable, and she was appreciative for the times Max interrupted his mother and attempted to change the topic. This continued after dinner, as they all convened in the living room for a drink.

“Mother,” Max interrupted again as he sat on the sofa next to Leigh. “Leigh doesn't want to talk about Carter's engagement. It's a personal issue.”

“Not anymore.” Eva was sitting up straight on the sofa across the coffee table from them. “The young woman, Julia, is blabbing it to…well, certain people who don't have the respect for privacy they should.”

“That's usually because people keep asking them,” Leigh said. “I respect my brother's privacy too much to talk about it.”

“Of course.” Eva smiled as if she had just been complimented. “But we won't have to worry about that with you two, will we?”

“What do you mean?” Leigh scooted forward on the sofa.

“She only means,” Douglas said, while standing near a large mosaic painting that was twice as large as he was, “that you have both handled the gossips very well.”

“I do think it is time to make a formal announcement,” Eva said. “I was thinking we could coordinate with Max's office on a press release and—”

“Mother.” Max held up a hand to stop her.

“There isn't going to be a press release,” Leigh said. “This is a relationship, not a merger or a political campaign.”

“It's more important than either of those,” Eva said. “Which is why—”

“Why it won't be treated like them,” Leigh interrupted.

“What Leigh is saying,” Max said, “is that what we have is just for us.”

“You can't keep it secret,” Eva said.

“There is a difference between trying to keep something secret,” Leigh said, “and not making it public.”

“I agree with Leigh,” Douglas said as he approached his wife. “Right now is not the right time. The campaign will be starting at the first of the year. We should announce it then.”

“Of course!” Eva clapped her hands together in excitement. “Once it is announced, everyone will want to see you two together, and they'll pay whatever it costs to attend fund-raisers so they can see you.”

“You can't be serious?” Leigh asked her. She turned to Max, who was just shaking his head. “She isn't serious, is she?”

“Unfortunately,” Max said, “she is. Mother, we won't be using our relationship for political gain.”

“The election is next November,” Eva said, as if she hadn't heard Max. “We should announce an engagement in June. Everyone will want to see a wedding at the Governor's Mansion.”

“Mother, enough!”

Eva paused, raising her chin in the air. “I'm sorry. I get a little ahead of myself. I'm just very excited about what this partnership can do for the both of you.”

“Partnership?” Leigh asked angrily. “You talk as if we're already engaged.”

Max placed a hand on Leigh's lap. “It's okay, Leigh.”

“No, it isn't,” she said. “We should get something straight from the beginning. Max and I are in love with each other. There are only two people in this relationship, and only those two people will decide how this relationship goes.”

“For such a sophisticated young woman,” Eva said, “you are quite naïve. You act as if you are just two people in love. You are a Chase, and he is a senator and future governor. You cannot—”

“I'm leaving,” Leigh said, getting up from the sofa.

“Leigh.” Max stood up and took her by the arm. “It's okay. Mother gets a little carried away.”

“I didn't mean to offend,” Eva said, looking up at Leigh. “But I consider myself very realistic.”

“Realistic?” Leigh asked. “It sounds more like opportunistic to me.”

“Okay.” Max stood between Leigh and his mother, looking down at Eva. “This has been a nice evening. Let's not ruin it.”