“Nothing,” Holly squeaked.
“Holly,” I said evenly, a note of a warning in my voice. “What is this?”
Holly slid off the stool and shook her head. “I shouldn’t have said anything. I thought… it doesn’t matter what I thought. It’s none of my business. Can you just forget I said anything?”
“No.”
“Max,” she half-groaned, half-whined. It was the same tactic she used when we were teenagers and she was trying to get away with something. “Just forget it, okay? You’re always saying I need to mind my own business. That’s what I’m trying to do.”
“You’re doing a shitty job of it. What did Janie text you about?”
My sister pouted. She knew she wouldn’t get away with this one. Where Janie was concerned, she couldn’t get away with anything. She sighed heavily. “She texted me last night asking where she could find Sienna.”
“She what?”
“I don’t think she’s actually going to go looking for her.” Holly laughed nervously. “Maybe she just wants to get a look at the bimbo herself.”
I shook my head and massaged my temples. This was not the kind of behavior I expected from Janie. This was my mess to sort out. She didn’t need to go injecting herself into my bullshit, especially where Sienna was concerned. The woman was unpredictable.
“What is she playing at?” I breathed.
“She’s not playing at anything,” Holly insisted firmly. “Get your head out of your ass. Janie cares about you. Did you really expect her to be able to sit back when she thinks someone is taking advantage of you? If Sienna is screwing with you, then Janie is going to get the truth for herself. And frankly? I think that’s a good thing.”
“Really?”
“Yes.” She nodded matter-of-factly. “At least Janie will get things sorted right away. She won’t worry and pace her living room thinking about what she should do, like someone we know.” Holly looked me up and down with accusing eyes. “She’ll handle her shit right away.”
I wasn’t sure if I should be flattered or concerned. I raked my fingers through my damp hair. “This is a mess.”
Holly shrugged and looked around. “Where is Janie, by the way? I figured she’d be here.”
“She went to spin class,” I said absently.
Holly snickered.
“What?” I asked.
“Are you actually that dense, Max? You know, for a guy who makes an obscene amount of money and runs the biggest tech company in the world, you have an uncanny way of missing the entire picture.”
I held up a hand. “Okay, okay.”
Holly planted her hands on her hips. “I’d bet money your girl went to track down your lying baby mama and put a stop to this nonsense once and for all.”
A pang of worry went through me.
Sienna was unpredictable. There was no way to know what would happen if Janie confronted her and things went sideways. How far would Sienna go to protect a lie? And how far would Janie go to protect me?
“I don’t like this,” I said.
“Janie can handle herself. I’m sure of it.”
“Sienna’s a loose cannon.”
Holly shrugged. “Well, if you want to hop in a car and drive down to Sienna’s complex, I’d be more than willing to join you.”
“I can’t drive. I’m still seeing stars.”
Holly grinned like it was Christmas morning. “You can ride shotgun.”
Chapter 19
Janie
Not pregnant.
The words chimed in my head like the first Christmas song of the holiday season.
Not pregnant.
There was no baby coming. There was no unborn child that would enter the world and belong to Max and this insane woman. There were no ropes binding him to her. No life-long commitment to stand by her and, as he had coined it last night, be a united front with a woman he didn’t even like.
Stress and pain melted off of me and the heat of the sun no longer felt like a punishment but a reward. The clouds in my heart had finally parted. I relished the heat of the sun on my back and, for good measure, rolled up the sleeves of my blouse and popped open a couple of buttons.
Sienna watched all the while with those pretty blue eyes of hers. “What did you say your name was again?”
“I didn’t,” I said.
She pursed her lips and peered up at me. “And you’re with what magazine?”
“I’m not a reporter.”
Sienna shielded her eyes from the sun before remembering her sunglasses were on her head. She pulled them down to rest on the bridge of her nose. “What are you talking about? Of course you are. What woman in her right mind would come to a pool on a day like this dressed like a soccer mom stuck at the office?”
Unable to help myself, I smiled at her.
Sienna sat up straight on the pool chair and swung her legs over the edge. “Who are you?”
“I’m a friend of Max’s. You know, the man you’ve been lying to all this time?”
If Sienna hadn’t been so tanned, I might have been able to see the way all the blood drained from her face. “You tricked me.”
“It was easy.”
“You sneaky bitch,” she spat. Sienna pushed herself up from her chair and stood in front of me. We were almost the same height, but I had about half an inch in my favor. She opened her mouth with her lips twisted in a sneer and I prepared for her to light me up. I almost craved it. But she hesitated. Sienna took a step back and rolled her shoulders before regaining her composure. “I don’t know what sort of games you were playing at but I lied. I am pregnant. I just didn’t want some no-good nosy reporter to be the first person who knew.”
“You can’t save yourself from your own lies with yet more lies,” I said. “What reason do I have to believe you?”
“I don’t owe you anything.”
“You’re right. You don’t.” The heat was becoming so unbearable that I had to take the hair tie off my wrist and use it to gather my hair up off the back of my neck. “But you owe Max the truth. Do you know how heavy this has been for him to carry around with him? He’s been so confused and angry and lost. And I’ve been there, watching the whole time, trying to help him. But the only thing that could help him in the end was the truth, and now that I have it,” I paused to let out a villainous laugh, “he doesn’t have to waste a second longer thinking about you.”
Sienna’s nose scrunched and lines pressed into her Botox-stiff forehead. “What makes you think he’d believe you over me?”
“I’ve never lied to him.”
“Everyone lies,” she seethed. “Maybe it just means you haven’t been caught.”
“I also didn’t take a baseball bat to his car.”
Sienna shut her mouth.
“Look,” I said, “either you can call him and tell him the truth right now, or I will. It’s your call. If I were you, I’d take the opportunity to redeem a sliver of my soul and tell him. Then again, I don’t think you have a soul left.”