Loving The Temperamental Adonis
Chapter 295 - 33

Chapter 295: Chapter 33

Neil sat in his sprawling office on the upper floor of their New York penthouse surrounded by the city’s skyline shimmering through the floor-to-ceiling windows. The soft hum of traffic below was barely audible from this height, and the glow of city lights cast a warm ambiance throughout the room. Despite the luxury and space, the room felt cozy, especially with the sounds of family life emanating from the adjoining dining area.

Mia stood by the dining table serving dinner to their twins, Nolan and Noah, who were energetically trying to convince her to let them stay in New York for a few more months when they would be returning in a couple of days.

"Mom, come on, say something!" Noah pleaded, his lips pursed in determination as he looked up at his mother from where he sat at the dining table.

Mia sighed for the hundredth time. "You know we can’t stay here that long. Your father has to go back to running his company, and I have to go back to work too. We’ll come back here for another vacation if you behave."

Nolan’s face hardened in disapproval, his expression mirroring his father’s. "No way in hell are we waiting for another vacation!"

"Nolan!" Mia gave him a disapproving look for his language, which he’d picked up from his father. She’d always told Neil to watch his language around their children, but he always slipped.

Nolan immediately grinned up at her, his gray eyes twinkling with mischief. "Sorry, Mom. I just don’t get why grown-ups get so worked up about kids cursing. Dad says hell and the F-word all the time, so why can’t we say it too?"

"Because you are still a kid. You’ll be five in a few months, so act your age and stop trying to be a grown-up," Mia said, shaking her head as she’d noticed lately that her twins were beginning to act mature and hang around adults rather than their age mates. "Behave, and I’ll see that we return to New York next year."

She picked up Melissa’s bowl and walked towards Neil, who was working on his laptop with their sleeping daughter on his lap. As Mia arrived, Neil was just hanging up a call, his handsome face lit with amusement.

Despite the years that had passed, nothing about Neil’s features had changed. He’d recently gotten a new haircut in the city when he gone out with the boys yesterday and returned looking like a younger version of himself when they were still kids in Mirage Mesa, matching their sons’ styles.

Neil looked up as Mia approached. He stood from behind his desk, balancing their almost two-year-old sleeping daughter in one hand while leaning down to peck Mia’s lips.

"Hi," he whispered softly, using his free hand to massage her nape. He knew how hard she’d been working lately without much rest, especially since they hadn’t brought the nanny with them to New York and she had to take care of their children’s needs on her own and prepare their meals.

Mia closed her eyes in pleasure as Neil’s fingers worked their magic, massaging her nape and running through her scalp. "That feels so good," she moaned.

Neil smiled down at her, promising, "I’ll massage you all over when we retire to bed. How about that?"

Mia nodded, knowing that promise would come with more than just a massage. When his hands fell away, she opened her eyes and asked curiously, "What were you grinning about a moment ago when I walked in?"

Neil had a strong urge to tell her that he’d just spoken to Liam, who had finally found his other half. But he held back, remembering Liam’s request to keep it a secret for now. Liam wanted to surprise Mia with the news when they returned, that was if Rayne hadn’t already told her about her new relationship with the man she used to despise.

But he knew Rayne hadn’t, because if she had, Mia would have told him about it. Thus, he decided to do as Liam had said and keep his mouth shut to surprise his wife, who in the past, would always say it would be impossible for Liam to ever settle down with one woman with his habit of jumping from one to another.

Instead, Neil gently pinched her nose and said, "My curious little kitten. I just got off the call with Liam."

Mia’s eyes sparkled with interest. "What did Liam say that made you grin?"

Neil’s smile widened, but he kept his secret. "He’s got some exciting news, but I’ll let him share it with you when the time comes. For now, let’s just say things are looking up for him."

---

Rayne zipped her suitcase closed, carried it into the living room, and put it down next to her other suitcase. She’d gone over what she wanted to say to Max so many times that she was afraid it was going to sound like a well-rehearsed speech, even though she felt nothing but unemotional about the hurt she was about to cause him.

She couldn’t see any point in staying in a relationship that wasn’t progressing anywhere. She’d always thought she would never feel a real love connection with anyone until the day she met Liam in that restaurant.

She would never let the opportunity of knowing the feeling of being in the arms of the one you love slip by. Besides, she’d already intended to end it with Max even before she bumped into Liam.

With nothing else left to do, she stepped outside onto the terrace, and a sense of nostalgia and well-being began to bloom inside her.

Only a few days ago she’d stood in this spot, talking to Mia on the phone and feeding Eric strips of bacon.

The future had seemed so bleak that morning, and now it was dazzlingly bright and filled with hopeful promise. Everything had changed in three short days. She’d fallen in love with a man she’d never imagined she could love.

Smiling, she walked forward and ran her hand along the terrace’s stone balustrade while sweet memories drifted through her mind.

At the edge of the garden near the beach was the clump of palms she’d been standing under when Liam relented and came back to answer some of her questions. He’d wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to him.

On the terrace, exactly where she was standing right now, they’d danced together for the first time. She’d mistakenly thought he intended to kiss her.

’But I do intend to to seduce you,’ he’d whispered.

He’d really been outrageously frank about his intentions that night, but he had wanted her badly enough to change his mind and come back to her in the garden.

He’d been just as frank the next day in the suite at the El Jardín Escondido, Rayne remembered with a smile: ’In Zen, there’s an eligible man who wants to marry you. Here, in this room, there’s a man who wants to make crazy love to you until neither of us has the strength to move anymore. But it can’t go any further than that. It would get much too intricate for me and my life.’

A few moments later—a compromise. And when Liam compromised, he was utterly irresistible. ’Let’s get involved, Rayne...’

"Rayne?" Max’s voice made her whirl around in time to see him closing the door—a tall, fit, attractive man with blond hair and blue eyes who’d been part of her life for five years. A man she’d once thought she loved.

"How did you get the key to enter?" she asked, a little surprised that he’d entered without her hearing any sounds.

"Since you’re never here," he said, striding toward her, "I stopped at the front desk and—" His gaze fell on her suitcases and moved back to her face. "What’s going on?"

Nervously rubbing her hands on the sides of her pants, Rayne tried to smile as she nodded toward the sofa and said, "Come over here, and let’s sit down. We need to talk."

"Let’s go straight to the point instead," he said coolly. "You’re angry because I left you down here, and I’m just as angry because you paid me back by ignoring my calls and putting me through long periods of daily hell, worrying that your headaches were bothering you and thinking about things like brain tumors. Why the heck did you pack your bags?" he demanded. Without waiting for an answer, he turned on his heel and walked over to the bar.

And in that bizarre moment, when Rayne knew it was over between them, she watched him and understood the reasons he’d appealed to her in the past—his self-assurance, and his ability to go right to the heart of the matter and see it from both sides, and his ability to keep his head when everyone else was losing theirs.

She watched him take a swallow of his drink, and when he lowered the glass and scowled at her, she smiled a little and made a silent wish that he’d find someone wonderful right away to replace her.

"Why are you smiling?" he asked.

"I’m wishing you get exactly the woman you deserve."

"And why would you say such a thing when I already have you here?"

Torn between remorse and tears, Rayne bit her lip and looked down. She hated causing pain to someone, but she couldn’t keep staying in a relationship that wouldn’t progress to anything.

Max had been more than her lover; he’d been her friend. She was losing a friend and about to hurt him, too. Lifting her head, she drew a long breath and said softly, "I said that because I’ll no longer be yours, Max."

His hand stilled in the act of raising the glass to his mouth. With his gaze turned on her, he reached out and put the glass back on the bar. "What are you talking about?"

"I met someone I like here, and there’s something special between us. I have to give it a chance."

He was so still it was unnerving. "When did all this happen?"

"A few days ago," she said, avoiding his blue eyes.

"Who is he?" he demanded coolly.

"No one you know."

"Where did you meet him?"

"Max, please—"

"Help me understand how a man you’ve known for a few days can make you throw away a six-year relationship. Give me some details!"

"I’ve known him before; we just never had the chance to get to know each other personally. He’s not a stranger to me."

"What’s his name?"

"It doesn’t matter what his name is."

"It damn well matters to me. I want a name to curse in private!" he yelled. "He stole you from me right under my nose, and you want me to just let go without knowing who the bastard is?!"

"..." Tears stung Rayne’s eyes.

"You’ve already slept with him, haven’t you?" he concluded bitterly. "It took me five months to get you into bed, and he accomplished it in two days."

"I’d better leave," Rayne said, reaching down for her suitcase.

"Let’s have a name before you go."

"Liam Thompson."

An expression of utter disbelief froze his face. He then chuckled dryly. Why was he even surprised when he’d heard about her being with Liam Thompson?

"Liam Thompson?" he repeated. "So it’s true you’ve gotten involved with Liam Thompson down here?"

"You know about it?" she asked, taken aback.

"I’ve heard about him being on the island," he clipped. "That little fucker must be laughing his ass off now."

"What do you mean?" Rayne asked, relieved that something was distracting him from his hurt feelings.

"I met Liam Thompson at one of my business partner’s events a week ago in Zen. I specifically told him that my girlfriend and I were going to be down here, staying at the Island Club. He pretended not to have heard me because of the little difference between us. I’m Jason’s best friend, and he hated your brother.

"Forgive me for sounding paranoid, but I find it just a little strange that he supposedly ignored all the women at that event who were flinging themselves at him... and he hasn’t been able to find a single woman to suit him anywhere on any of these islands... until he ’happened’ to bump into you—in a hotel that he isn’t staying at—and while I’m away. This whole thing doesn’t look like a coincidence to me; it looks like payback."

"He has no idea I know you," Rayne interjected. "I’ve never told him your name." She’d never mentioned that Max Everett was her boyfriend.

"The villa you’re staying in is in my name," he retorted.

Rayne saw no reason to argue that insignificant point, but she was stunned that her decision to leave him was driving him to such confusing leaps of imagery logic. Just to hear what he had to say, she sighed.

"Payback for what?" she asked calmly.