“I’ve got it,” said Swan, rushing over to clean up the broken glass on the tile floor.
“Ready?” Ranger asked.
“No. Yes. No.”
He leaned close to me. “Glad we cleared that up,” he whispered, making me smile. “Let’s do this.”
As I feared, Maxim stood at the door when I opened it. He’d arrived early and alone. When he stepped forward as though he intended to embrace me, I took two steps back. “I was surprised when William called and said you wanted to join us today.”
“Hello, Maisie. It’s good to see you too.”
“I didn’t say it was good to see you, Maxim.”
His eyes scrunched, and he lowered his voice. “Is this how you intend to play this?”
“Play this?” I seethed. “If this is some kind of game to you, I’ll go ahead and ask you to leave now.”
I could feel Ranger approach behind me. “Hello, I’m Owen Messick, Miss Jones’ partner.” Ranger held out his hand, but Maxim didn’t.
“No need to stand on formality. Maisie and I know each other quite well.”
I wanted to throat punch the smarmy bastard, but probably not as much as Ranger, who stepped between us, did. “I missed your name.”
“Maxim Edwards.” This time, when Maxim held out his hand, Ranger ignored it.
“You’re a guest of?”
“William Schilling.”
“I see. Given Mr. Schilling has yet to arrive, you can wait here.”
Ranger didn’t invite Maxim to take a seat or come farther into the room, so I didn’t either.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered when we were on the other side of the suite and around the corner.
“Absolutely nothing for you to be sorry for. It’s all on him. Like a stench, in fact.”
I put my hand over my mouth to stifle a giggle. Ranger pulled it away and kissed me instead. “I love you, Maisie.”
“I love you too.” I raised my head and saw Maxim standing almost directly behind Ranger.
“Partners, is it?”
“What it is, is none of your business,” I spat under my breath. “I think you should leave.”
There was another knock at the door, and I brushed past him. I knew he and Ranger had words, but I couldn’t hear them.
“Is Maxim here already?” asked William when I offered to take his coat, something I hadn’t done for the other man.
“Yes, but I believe he’s leaving.”
“Maisie, is this William?” Ranger asked, walking up next to me. “Owen Messick. Pleasure to meet you.”
The two men shook. I’d always liked William and was relieved when, a couple of days ago, Ranger had said there was no evidence he was mixed up with Maxim’s securities fraud.
“What’s this about you leaving?” William asked.
“Misunderstanding.” Maxim looked at his watch. “I thought I had a conflict, but it’s been resolved.”
I wouldn’t look at Ranger now, but obviously, he had a reason for wanting the asshole to stay.
The four others we were expecting arrived, and we gathered around the suite’s large table, where Ranger’s colleagues were already seated. Ranger introduced everyone and explained the other people in attendance were brought in as potential investors as well.
Maxim cleared his throat. “I hope you have room for a few more.”
“You’re this anxious already without even seeing the prospectus?” William laughed. Maxim glared at me, and I glared back. Maybe Ranger expected me to handle this more professionally, but I couldn’t. Seeing his arrogant mug made me hate the cheater all the more.
“Shall we get started?” Ranger asked. I took it from there.
Maxim interrupted several times with questions I would eventually answer, and Ranger asked if he would be kind enough to wait until the end of the presentation. I almost laughed, but continued.
When I reached the last page of the prospectus, Diesel and Buster both started talking before Maxim could, asking many of the same questions he had but worded differently.
Finally, Maxim stood and spoke over the rest. “Maisie, you are what? Twenty-six? While you graduated from Tuck like many of the rest of us, I question your experience level. Why should anyone invest the kind of money you’re asking for?”
I’d anticipated a similar question, but not worded quite the same way. Rather than letting it unnerve me, I leaned forward and rested my palms on the table.
“The answer to your question lies in the document you barely skimmed. Instead, you attempted to disrupt my presentation. Please take your time reviewing the information provided. Once you have, either my partner or I will respond to appropriate questions.”
I looked around the table at the five other men I’d gone to grad school with. There wasn’t a single one who didn’t return my gaze with pride.
“Look, Maxim,” said William, rubbing the man’s shoulder. “We’re all friends here, or we once were. Let’s knock off the stilted formality and get down to it. If you’re not prepared to negotiate, you can set up a meeting at a later date.” William looked at the others. “I’m ready to move forward. How about all of you?”
I’d really hoped Maxim would get up and leave, but he didn’t. He studied me while Ranger studied him. He wasn’t the only one. Diesel never took his eyes off the man.
“I want someone on him around the clock,” Ranger said after everyone who came for the meeting left, including Maxim.
“You got it, boss,” said Buster, typing something into his phone.
“I’m sorry, Maisie. There’s something about him that doesn’t sit right. Couple that with the charges that vanished into thin air, and my intuition is screaming at me that there’s a lot more to this than what we’ve been able to find out.”
“I feel the same way you do.” And if I weren’t surrounded by people—including my husband—who I knew would do everything possible to keep me safe, I would be as unsettled as Ranger. Maybe even frightened.
William and the four other men in attendance had asked me to send investment agreements to them as soon as I was able. Each had offered a stepped or tiered offer of money. The amounts were more than I’d hoped for.
Unfortunately, rather than feeling relieved that I’d come face-to-face with Maxim and it was behind me, I felt more unsettled.
“I’m in no hurry to get back to the lake,” Ranger said after Diesel led the others out of our suite and he and I were finally alone.
“I’m not, either.” Yes, my grandparents had eloped too, but they’d been together longer than the week we had been. In my heart, I knew getting married was the right thing for us, but my brain wasn’t one hundred percent on board.
Whenever I thought about telling anyone what we’d done, I worried about their reaction. Each time I “acted it out” inside my head, whoever was on the other side of the conversation appeared aghast rather than happy for us. The longer we spent away from home, the longer we could just enjoy our honeymoon without anyone casting shade on our marriage.
We decided to spend several more days in Lake Placid, given its close proximity to other big tourist draws.