I stand there trying to process what Smith is telling me. “I don’t date rich men anymore,” I mumble.
“Since when?” Mia scrunches her nose.
“Since I told myself that I want love.” I drop down onto the bench we have been trying to hide behind. Mia sits down next to me.
“Smith, girl talk.” She motions for him to move again. He takes about three steps away from us like that really makes a difference.
“I don’t know what I want anymore. How can my life be such a mess? I'm having a baby. I need to get my shit together, Mia. I have someone else to think about besides myself.”
“Don’t do that.” Mia bumps her shoulder with mine.
“Why did you go for Ethan that night?”
I lick my lips, thinking about that night. Thinking about how sexy he was, how something had drawn me to him as though I was meant to be his.
“He was different than my normal. I needed something different.”
“Yeah you did. Rich assholes are wearing.”
I snort a small laugh. “I thought if I could find him that maybe he and I could work something out. We could get to know each other, maybe eventually fall for one another.” I worry my lip between my teeth. To be honest, I think I might already be there but I’m hoping he will be, too, one day. Mia waits for me to continue knowing I’m still working through this in my own head. It's how I operate. I need time to process and form plans of attack.
“I was liking the idea of him being a normal guy since deep down inside I am a normal girl. Now I come to find out that he’s one of them. The kind of guy I told myself I was staying away from now.” Of course he is. Life is throwing me one curveball after another. I’ll start to think that I have it together and with a flip of a switch I am back to square one.
“I hate to break it to you, Amelia, but you’re far from normal.” I laugh because she’s right. I never do anything the easy way. The stolen license that’s in my pocket is strong proof of this. “How about you stop worrying about all the social things and concentrate on telling him that he’s going to be a father?”
I nod, knowing she’s right. The baby comes first and Ethan has a right to know. “I need to put my big girl panties on regardless of what the outcome might be for me.”
Mia nods her head in approval but an uneasiness settles in my belly. I’m not ready. I know deep down that I’m afraid that he’ll reject me. Wouldn’t that be par for the course? I might be spouting all of this bravado but I’m not exactly feeling it today.
“Smith! Let’s blow this joint!” I quickly get up, grabbing Mia’s hand as I pull her toward the car.
“I thought we were going to tell him. That you were wearing your big girl panties.” I keep walking. The only thing I can think about is getting to the car.
“I forgot that I’m not wearing any underwear today so it’ll have to wait until another day.” I hear Smith clear his throat from behind us before he reaches out and opens the car door. We climb in and I immediately relax.
“Okay. Maybe we should look into him a bit more before you tell him,” Mia suggests, putting me at ease.
“We’re going to need better spy gear, clearly.”
4
Ethan
“Don’t lose them,” I tell Brock, one of Kurt’s men, as he follows the black SUV. My cell rings as I go to call Kurt back. We have a plate number. We can start tracking her. I want to know every piece of information about Amelia now. I burst out of the building to see her crawling into the back of the SUV. There was a man with her that looked as though he was a bodyguard. It has me wondering who she is.
Why does she need a bodyguard? She was in the VIP area that night when I think back on it. It was a bachelorette party. Rage hits me hard out of nowhere. It couldn’t have been hers. She did slip out on me in the middle of the night. I clench my jaw. Is she married now? Do I even care if she is?
I should but it’s not going to stop me. She gave herself to me. That meant something. I know deep down that it wasn’t a one-night stand for either of us. The way that our bodies worshipped each other wasn't only out of lust but something deeper. Although unspoken, I felt it to my core.
I clear my brother’s call, knowing I can call him back later. I know his nosy ass wants more information but I don’t have much to give right now anyways. I hit Kurt’s number.
“What do you have?” I ask before he can even say hello.
“Car’s registered to a Maxwell Kennedy. Only thing listed is a business address. Says he’s recently married Mia Kennedy. Lists her maiden name as Montgomery.” My stomach sinks as I think about her already being married when I know she belongs to me. Could she have given me a fake name that night?
I know who Maxwell Kennedy is. No wonder he has security on her. Should have had it on her that night. I don’t see how he couldn't have. That doesn't make any sense to me. We are both rich men. When people find out you have a weakness they try and get at it any way they can.
“Forward me everything you have already. I want a full report on Mrs. Kennedy.” My phone dings two seconds later, alerting me that his email has hit my inbox. I know who she is immediately. I’ve watched the footage of the club's surveillance that night over and over of her.
She’d been with my girl that night. She must have been the bachelorette. That means my girl doesn’t belong to Maxwell Kennedy. Now that would have been a fight. The man can be as ruthless as me when it comes to business. I respect him. I’ve met him a handful of times.
I’m not surprised he settled down. The last time I saw him he talked about being restless. That work didn't hold the same thrill. I thought he was losing his mind but now I am starting to understand what he meant.
You can only open so many hotels before it all starts to blur together. After a while, you can basically do it in your sleep. You learn early in business to build a solid team to support you. The problem with that is that they get so efficient they pretty much handle everything themselves, which means less of a challenge.
This new information must mean that my girl is friends with Maxwell’s wife. I’m sure I have the man’s number somewhere. I fire off a text to Kurt to dig into Mia Maxwell. She has to be the one connected to Amelia. There is no way that I would have missed Amelia over the years if she’d been running in the same circles as me.
She stands out like a sore thumb and not in a bad way. In a way that makes men drop to their knees to beg her to love them. There is no missing her when she’s in a room. This has me almost certain that she’s a friend of Mia. I believe they said that there were two women outside of my building, so I’m guessing the other one who slipped into the SUV may have been Amelia. I missed them by seconds and I didn’t get a chance to see my girl.
We follow them for a while before they pull up outside a building that is older looking on the outside. The neighborhood isn't bad but it also isn't the best. I wouldn't want Amelia walking the street alone at night even if it is a busy street. Some people can go unnoticed but not my dollface; you'd have to be blind not to see her. I’ll have to put a security detail on her immediately. I can’t risk anyone trying to hurt what’s mine.