Page 3 of Maximum Risk (The Andrades 3)
Chapter Two
In the backseat of an island taxi, Maddy turned and took both of Tara’s hands in hers. “You’re a genius. I knew I was right to hire you. You played that perfectly. He’s intrigued; I bet he calls you.”
Tara pried her hands out of Maddy’s and clasped them on her lap. “I wasn’t playing at anything.”
Maddy smiled. “You know what I mean. I couldn’t have prepped you better for how to flirt with him. Now just reel him in. Get him to come to New York.”
With a frown, Tara said, “I’m not reeling anyone anywhere. Is that why you put me in this ridiculous dress? You were hoping he’d like me? He mentioned some matchmaking bet. I didn’t sign up to be part of anything like that.”
Maddy wrinkled her nose unhappily, then waved a hand in the air dismissively. “I wish he didn’t know about the bet, but don’t worry, none of that has anything to do with you. My cousin’s wife, Nicole, and I lined up the perfect women for him to meet, but we’ll pursue that after I find out what’s going on. All you need to do is help me get him back to New York.”
Well, that’s both reassuring and insulting at the same time. “So why does it matter if he’s attracted to me?”
As if explaining something that should have been evident to Tara, Maddy said, “Max is a man. If he likes you he’s going to lower his guard to you. You’re the PI here. Isn’t that something you could use to your advantage to get information out of him?”
Tara looked out the window of the taxi. “As I told you, my business has consisted solely of tracking and photographing. I don’t like lies. I’m not comfortable with manipulating people.”
“A little flirtation is harmless. You might even enjoy it if you relaxed a little.” Maddy tapped her fingers on the door of the cab and said, “You didn’t find Max attractive at all?”
Tara met her eyes. “I’ve never met a more arrogant, self-serving, overconfident ass.”
A grin spread across Maddy’s face. “That must have been some talk the two of you had when I stepped out of the room.”
“If you must know, the lost cousin you think you need to coddle offered me a few hours at a local hotel. I haven’t received a proposition that easy to turn down since some guy in a bar told me he had a six-pack in the trunk of his car and wanted to know if I’d go for a drive and share it with him.”
Maddy’s eyes widened. “That’s surprising. Max is usually so smooth with women.”
“Is that what gave him his enormous ego? I personally found nothing attractive about him—at all.”
Maddy groaned. “Oh, no. I know that tone. Listen, normally I’m all about people hooking up. And I like you, but we need to stay focused here. Max is only one of the people I want you to get close to. Luke is also single and just as in demand with the ladies. You can’t go getting moony-eyed over either one of them. It’d be better if you looked available to both of them. At least until we figure out what’s going on. Agreed?”
“I just told you I couldn’t be less interested in Max.”
Maddy studied Tara’s face and shook her head. “Dammit. Plan B. Stay away from Max. Don’t try to lure him anywhere. Just focus on getting to know the rest of the family.”
The taxi pulled up to the island airport, cutting off what would have been yet another denial about feelings for Max. She followed Maddy onto her private jet.
Tara wasn’t about to bring up the subject of Max again, but she was tempted to explain to Maddy exactly why she could never have any feelings for Max’s type. Tara didn’t make the same mistake twice. She’d already dated someone like Max in college: good-looking, cocky, and wealthy. Ted had said he loved her, and she’d believed him. They’d moved in together right after college, and Tara had thought she’d found her happily ever after, even if sometimes she’d felt like it wasn’t exactly as she’d imagined it would be. It had been good, but looking back, she wouldn’t describe it as ever having been great.
While job-hunting, Tara had remembered her childhood dream of being a private investigator and, for fun, had decided to follow Ted. She hadn’t expected to see him go anywhere besides the gym he practically lived in. Seeing him drive to another woman’s house and watching her greet him at the door with a kiss changed Tara forever. At first she hadn’t believed what her eyes had shown her, so she’d taken a picture of him with her phone. She’d taken another photo of him the next night when he’d taken another woman to dinner. The day she’d left him, she’d printed out the pictures and laid them on the counter. No argument. No need to talk it out. Unlike men, photos didn’t lie. The evidence had freed her.
Soon after that, a friend had asked Tara to trail her potentially unfaithful husband. Tara had and then presented the evidence of his betrayal in full color. Tara’s unexpected career had taken off, growing solely by word of mouth. She’d named her agency New Holmes because she liked to think that what she brought people was a truth that, although it hurt to hear, brought the person a chance to start over with a guilt-free, clean slate. And if, by doing so, she gave women the ammunition to stick it to a few cheating, rich husbands who thought they could hide their money and their girlfriends—that was just gravy.
Once a playboy, always a playboy.
So, no, Max was not her type. Not at all.
***
A week later, Max sat in the living room of the penthouse suite in his London hotel, answering work emails. Dale reported the family on Slater Island had accepted their low counteroffer and their lawyers could close on the property with his okay. He told Dale to move forward with it but to hold off lining up the demolition crew, then slammed the laptop shut.
He blamed jetlag for his miserable mood, but the truth was he’d been in a funk since he’d left Rhode Island. He’d made the mistake of walking around the island after Madison and Tara left. It was a quaint, mostly underdeveloped, mini-version of Martha’s Vineyard. People greeted him as they passed him on the street. A few stopped and asked him where he was from and if he was staying for long. They were disturbingly open and friendly. He wanted to tell them: “Hey, don’t be so fucking happy to see me. I’m about to change everything you like about this place.”
His walk had taken him back to the row of exquisite homes he was about to purchase. He stood there, looking out over the water again, thinking about the Andrade wedding he had attended on Isola Santos. That island had been in his family for generations, and seeing so many of his relatives gathered for his cousin’s wedding had brought back painful memories he thought he’d effectively shed long ago.
He remembered visiting that island as a child with his father and brothers and always feeling like an outsider. According to his mother, the uncles had never accepted her and, because of that, would never accept her sons. What he knew of his uncles, Victor and Alessandro, and what he felt when around them never matched. They spoke of family and loyalty but had betrayed him and his brothers when they’d needed family the most.
Max had been a teenager when his father had died. Back then, he hadn’t known his father had started a new family in Venice while still married to his mother. Gio had discovered that secret shame when he’d gone to retrieve their father’s body but had kept it to himself.
After their father’s death, his brothers had fought viciously. Max couldn’t remember why. It never took much. Finally, Uncle Victor had intervened and invited them to spend a summer with family on Isola Santos. For a short time, Max and his brothers had gotten along and had felt accepted by that side of their family. But it hadn’t been real. None of it. His uncles had covered old lies with layers of new ones.
Like a house built on an old garbage dump, a life built on lies eventually begins to rot from the inside out. Gio had been the first to leave. He’d been furious when he’d left, but he’d refused to say why. He pulled away from everyone, claiming he was overwhelmed with his responsibilities at the family company.
Nick had followed and joined Gio at Cogent for a short time, then had taken off to party with his friends.
Max and Luke had stayed with the Andrade uncles the longest. They’d even traveled with them. Wherever they went, whomever they met, Alessandro and Victor introduced Max as family, and the title held importance. Uncle Victor often said, “You’re an Andrade, and to an Andrade, family is everything.”
Max had believed them and, for the first time in
his life, could remember being proud of his family. For a short time, he’d felt as if he’d belonged somewhere.
Until Gio called and told Luke and Max they needed to come home. He claimed nothing was as it appeared. The uncles had manipulated them, betrayed them. None of George Andrade’s sons had or would ever truly be accepted in that family. Gio’s proof had been how they’d stolen Gio’s inheritance—the island.
Recently, Gio had flipped the story and now claimed the uncles hadn’t stolen anything, but it was too late. Max had spent years overcoming what had been another loss to him. He wasn’t angry. He didn’t allow himself to feel one way or another about much when it came to people. Caring was a waste of time and energy.
Which was why he refused to be moved by the friendly welcome he’d received on Slater Island. For all he knew, it had been staged as an attempt to make him reconsider his plans. Tossing his laptop onto the couch beside him, Max decided the sooner he leveled the homes on Slater Island the better.
He didn’t like that he couldn’t stop thinking about the island.
And Tara.
He wanted to call Madison and ask for Tara’s last name, but he told himself she had made her choice. Even if Tara suddenly became interested in him, the fact that she was Madison’s friend should have been enough of a turnoff. Being with Tara would be complicated, and he avoided complicated. Yet there he was, sitting in London, wondering where Tara was and what she was doing.
He took out his phone and called Luke.
“Max, hey, this is a surprise. Hang on, let me close the door.”
Max felt a little guilty at how happy Luke always sounded to hear from him. “If you’re at work we can talk later.”
“No, I’m finishing up paperwork. Surgeries are done for today. Where are you?”
With Luke it was always best to be vague. “You know me, traveling for work. I was wondering if you still talk to Madison.”
“Absolutely. What’s up?”
Max hesitated. “Have you met her friend Tara?”
