Page 29 of The CEO's Revenge

There had to be some sort of explanation for her actions. I should at least give her the benefit of the doubt. I should give her a chance to make things right and explain why she deserted me in my hour of need. Even if she was a gold digger, one call would have not hurt. So why not?

My curiosity peaked. I needed to know what had happened.

I left my office and drove to my favorite watering hole. But even a few drinks could not dampen the need to know what had caused Savannah and me to fall apart so suddenly. I thought we had had something strong and unshakeable. But clearly there was a breach somewhere.

I ordered one last drink, followed it with some strong black coffee and prepared for the drive home. The Friday night liveliness of the bar was lost on me. Such a scene could not be enjoyed in my current state of mind.

When I left the bar, it was minutes to eleven and it had started to rain. I was soaked to the skin by the time I got to my car. I drove carefully in the driving rain, my thoughts on Savannah and every possible way I could find to get her to talk to me. Send her flowers? Nah. That had never been her thing. Then a crazy thought crept into my head. I checked the clock on the dashboard.Don’t do it, Max.But before I could talk myself out of the idea, my hands were already spinning on the steering wheel. The car’s wheel skidded on the wet road.

The rain was now coming down in sheets and the wipers were going at top speed.

I parked and dashed into the lobby. Too revved up to wait for the elevator I took the stairs two at a time. A rush of adrenaline sped through my veins as I walked down the familiar corridor and knocked on that old door. What was the worst that could happen? She could call the police and have me arrested? A bitter laugh rose into my throat. Go for it, Savannah. Been there, done that.

I raised my hand to knock once more, but the door swung open. She stared at me in disbelief. I felt my shoes squelch as I stepped past her.

“We need to talk. And we need to do it now.”

12

SAVANNAH

Ihad always loved rainy nights and tonight was no different. I had sat by the kitchen counter looking at the streaks of water running down the window pane, until I heard someone knock on the door. Probably a wrong food delivery again. That would be the second time tonight. But when I had looked through the peephole and seen Max I had almost fainted.

I closed the door and stared at Max. I blinked a few times. Should I pinch myself? Maybe the random thoughts that had been popping into my head all week about him had crept over into my waking moments. But no. This was no daydream. This was reality.

There he was, soaked from head to toe, and dripping all over my carpet.

“Stay there.” I turned on my heel and went to the bathroom to find the biggest towel I had. I returned to find that he had actually obeyed and not moved. He was staring at me in a strange way. I was surprised to see he wasn’t shivering. What on earth was he thinking to be out in weather like this? I stepped over to him, the towel over my shoulder.

“Strip.”

His eyebrows rose with surprise, then a look of amusement filled his eyes.

My mouth tightened. “Don’t go there,” I warned tightly.

Wordlessly, he pulled off his tie and shirt followed by his shoes and socks and pants. He was about to carry on with his boxers when I lifted a finger to stop him. Though they were soaked and left nothing to the imagination, they had to stay on. I was not going to have him butt naked in my house at this time of the night.

I tossed the towel towards him and he caught it. Then I picked up his wet clothes and went to put them in the dryer. The days of him having clothes at my apartment were long gone. I had donated all his things to Goodwill after he went to prison.

When I returned, he was sitting on the couch using one end of the towel to rub his hair. He looked so alive, so at home, so unconcerned, and so damn delicious, I felt anger stir in my blood. What right did he have to come here and restart my suffering?

“What the hell are you doing here?” I frowned down at him.

He looked up, pinning me with those oh so bright blue eyes of his.

“We need to talk, Savannah. We need to get some things out in the open and cleared up now.”

I blinked and my mouth dropped open in shock. “Now? It’s almost midnight and raining cats and dogs in case you haven’t noticed. Pneumonia is not something to play with and you of all people should know?” I caught myself just in time before I went on to remind him that he was prone to catching colds. There was no need for him to know I remembered that. It might come across as me actually caring about him and that was a message I had no wish to send.

He grinned ruefully. “I guess there’s no time like the present. If there was a blizzard raging outside, I would probably still be here right now. It’s been gnawing at me all week, Vannah. And now that I have your attention and we don’t seem to be spitting venom at each other, I’m going to make good use of the opportunity.”

My breath caught as he used his special name for me. I sank into an armchair across from him. “What’s there to talk about?”

“For one, I need to get to the bottom of what happened to us four years ago.”

I shuddered at the painful memory of those photos and dropped my head to hide my expression.

“Why did you disappear just like that? Not one visit. Not one court hearing. Not even a phone call. Silence. For four years I’ve been angry with you for abandoning me. Were you with me just because of my financial worth and potential? Was it just my money?”

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