Page 21 of Cherish Me Forever

"Please tell me he didn't get away with it."

I shook my head. "He didn't. I gave the interview instead. That way, no publication would be interested in his side of the story. He’d get no money for it."

"Sounds like a nightmare."

"It was. The press didn't stop hounding me after that. They’ve lost interest lately, thank God. Anyway, that's enough about me. Actually, wait... I mean, you probably know about the family, right?"

"Just bits and hearsay."

"Well, there are eight of us."

"Eight?"

"I have a sister, Kimberly, and six cousins." And also a baby half sister in London, but I didn’t want to get into that right now...

"And you all work together at Maxwell Hotels?"

"No, no. My cousin Tate runs Maxwell Wineries. Declan is a lawyer. Luke owns Skye Designs.”

“Tyler Maxwell plays hockey," he said as if he'd just remembered that tidbit of information.

"Exactly. Sam is a doctor. Travis is the one with the hotel. Kimberly and I work with him."

"Got it."

"We’re all very close. Malcolm knows that. By the way, in case it comes up, you’ve already met my family. That will kill him. I waited a long time before introducing him to them.”

Dom said nothing for a few seconds, then asked, "Are you trying to make him jealous or just get him off your back?"

"I don't know. I just want to annoy him right now. It feels good."

"Fair enough."

"What about you?"

"I studied at Harvard and lived in Boston for a few years before moving here and starting Waldorf Fashion."

"You grew the company exponentially in just a few years. I think that's fabulous."

"All I did was use the knowledge I acquired from business school."

Humble! Yet another thing I wouldn't have pegged him for.

"I married one year ago," he continued. "Worst mistake of my life."

"Can I ask what happened?"

"I don't think that's going to come up."

"Fair enough." The wound was obviously still fresh. And even though I’d felt an instant kinship with him, I remembered those early days after Malcolm's betrayal. I walked around feeling physically in pain, so I understood Dominic’s reluctance.

"Anyway, I think we've covered the basics," I said.

He looked at me briefly before focusing on the road again. I noted a glint in his eyes.

"Not yet. We should clarify what attracted us to each other."

“You think that might come up?”

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