Page 23 of Seduced by Her Billionaire Fake Fiancé

Except when being a little more conscientious about pleasure-giving, Andie thought with warmth spreading through her, bringing a welcome reprieve from the ice of Emilia’s revelation.

“Andie?” Max was behind her then, his hands curving over her shoulders, squeezing a little. “Shall I show you the property?”

In truth, she needed some space away from his family to digest the awful truth she’d just been told, but she wasn’t sure that walking with Max counted.

“Andie?” His voice though brooked no opposition.

She tossed Emilia a grateful smile, stood, allowing Max to capture her hand, to lace their fingers together like lovers, and guide her away from the terrace, towards a graveled path with little lights on either side. It was late in the afternoon now and the sun was low in the sky, so the lights had turned on, casting a warm golden glow over the path. She snuggled into her fleecy jacket, enjoying the contrasting warmth of her body and Max’s touch with the cold air on her face.

Once out of earshot of his family, he spoke, without relinquishing his hold of her hand. Perhaps he didn’t realise they were still touching. “I was wrong, wasn’t I?”

“Yes.”

“My sister was speaking to you of Antonio?”

“She brought it up,” Andie promised. “It wasn’t my idea.”

He studied her face, nodded once, and she hadn’t realized until then how badly she wanted to know he believed her.

“What did she tell you?”

“Just the basics. It was in the spirit of how glad she is that you’re happy now. Because she was worried you’d never be happy again.”

He let out a harsh laugh. “How ironic,” he murmured.

“You are happy, though,” Andie pointed out. “She doesn’t need to know that your happiness stems from thwarting the Santoros, rather than having fallen head over heels in love with me.”

“That’s true.”

She didn’t want him to pull his hand away. She knew it was cheating, just like what they’d done in the car, but she liked being physically connected with him. Or maybe it was just that they’d created such a little bubble with their acting this afternoon, she wasn’t quite ready to burst it yet.

“What happened to his wife?” Andie asked gently.

“She didn’t get to that part?”

Andie’s brows drew together. “No. And I didn’t ask.”

“Megan,” Max said darkly. “Was Antonio’s widow.”

Andie gasped, stopped walking, stared up at Max. “Your ex-fiancé?”

“She was pregnant,” he responded. “And grieving. We both were. It made all the sense in the world at the time.”

Andie’s chest tightened at the picture he painted.

“I presumed you were in love.” That he’d at least been capable of love once upon a time.

“I loved her husband, her baby, the idea of supporting her however I could, for Antonio’s sake.”

“And what did she want?”

“For Antonio to come back. It was all we talked about. And on the one hand, at first, we both needed that, but then, it became obvious that we were each trapped by our grief. I still would have married her though. Hell, I would have given my life for her. I had taken her husband away, the father of her baby—,”

“You did no such thing,” Andie responded crisply. “You were driving a car when someone crashed into you.”

“I should have seen him coming. I should have heard him. But we were listening to music, talking, life was good. I wasn’t being careful.”

“Oh, Max,” she shook her head slowly and with her spare hand, she cradled his cheek. “If the last few years have taught me anything it’s that you can legitimately prepare for pretty much nothing. The really bad stuff that happens in life just…sideswipes you, right out of the blue. You couldn’t have stopped the accident.”

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