Page 49 of Oh My Secret Christmas Baby
He flicks a glance around us to see who is watching. I provoke him again. This time I speak low too, not wanting anyone to hear it either.
"Yours? She didn't feel like she belonged to you when she was in my bed." I take a step closer, glaring down at him. "My babies are inside of her." I'm sure he knows by now we know the babies are both Candy's and mine. Why else would she have run to me?
"That's not what our contract says, nor Dr. Matthews. You have no standing in this." Maxwell's eyes flick back to Candy. "Don't do this. You have no idea who he is. There is a reason he left the city."
"I left the city because I was tired of playing with vultures. It was pointless." That is the truth. It was dirty and messy and a game I was wealthy enough to walk away from.
"You left the city because of me. You tried to come for me, and I came right back at you, only I was better at it." He smirks, but it doesn't meet his wild eyes. He is vibrating with anger.
“Stop this,” Candy hisses at him. “You should just leave. Walk away from all this before you?—”
“Before I what?!” he snaps, louder this time. “I made you. You’d be nothing without me.”
"There you go, Maxwell. Show her who you really are.” He jerks back, trying to rein his temper back in. Good, pull it back; keep bottling it up. It will make for a better show once it blows. Believe me, it’s only a matter of time. He’s a ticking time bomb, and I plan on pushing every button until he goesboom.
“Before you make an utter fool of yourself, dummy.”
“Dummy? Jesus fucking Christ, Gwendolyn. Grow the fuck up.” If he thinks he can provoke her into a person she is not, he’s dead wrong. Maxwell would get off on getting her to utter a curse word. There is nothing wrong with them, but that’s not who Candy is.
“It’s Candy! And If anyone needs to grow up, it’s you. You think you’re so dang smart with your manipulation, but you’re not. You’re nothing but a stupid fool. One that is going to endup alone and miserable for the rest of his life.” Candy raises her chin. I want to pull her in for a kiss, but she’s on a roll.
“I’m the fool?” Maxwell throws back his head and laughs to be condescending, but the laugh is more hysterical than anything, drawing attention.
“Yes, a fool! First you think you can get away with all your crimes and?—”
“Crimes? You have no idea what you’re speaking about.”
“If you didn’t cut me off, then maybe you’d actually hear what I’m speaking about.” Candy huffs out a loud, annoyed breath. “You got a doctor to lie and do things that are highly illegal and unethical, I’m sure.”Veryillegal.
“You have no proof of that.” He really is a dumb fuck. He also isn’t denying it either.
“It doesn’t matter. I just want you out of my life and out of Hollis’s life. I know what you did there too. You’re a horrible, pathetic human.” My girl is on a roll. I thought I'd be the one provoking Maxwell, but she's doing a bang-up job on her own. She's really catching him off guard. He thought he'd be able to come in here and bully her back to the city. She’s proving that he didn’t know her at all. I’m loving every damn second of it.
“Again, no proof with these wild accusations.”
"Whatever! You lose. Hollis is the man you dream you could be but will never be able to, and you know what? Thank you for your crazy little plan because it led me here. To the man I love and adore. The father ofmybabies. To this town filled with the nicest, warmest, and most welcoming people I’ve ever met.” Maxwell's face turns redder.
"Dream of being him!" he bellows. "Look at him. Who do you think sent him running from the city with his tail between his legs after he thought he could expose me to my family? I showed him what happens when you fuck with me. The evidence is on his face. I didn't lose shit."
A circle has started to form around us on the dance floor, everyone paying attention I'm sure because I'm also enjoying the show.
"You're a psychopath, you know that? A spoiled brat that can't live up to his family name even when everything is handed to them. You still can't hack it without lying, stealing, and trying to hurt others. You're disgusting."
Maxwell is about to blow. I pull Candy behind me as he tries to lunge forward. One hard punch stops him right in his tracks, flinging him backward onto his ass.
It's then he takes notice that the music has stopped and everyone has been watching and listening.
"It's lies, all of it," he sputters to say, sounding full of shit. "He's the monster; look at him."
"We're all looking at you, dumbfuck," Kindred says, making Maxwell's nose flare. Not only one woman but now two pushing back.
"Are these things true?" Mark Heath asks. He’s one of the many people I'd invited. I'd told them they'd likely want to be here tonight to bear witness to what was going to unfold for themselves. All of them have some sort of investment with the Holmberg family.
In our circles, not all press is good press. In fact, it's best to not have any press at all. Stock crumbles, and investors run for the hills. Banks start to yank loans of any kind. One thing is supreme in that world: money, and with money comes power.
“Of course not.” Maxwell struggles to get to his feet. When he does, Sheriff Hudson is right there along with two FBI agents. “What is this?”
Panic radiates from Maxwell.
