Page 47 of Maximum Dare
“He came from humble beginnings. Your background is different.”
“You mean privileged?”
“Privilege only gets you so far. You’re proving you deserve to be here.”
“What do you think Mum saw in him?”
“Your dad? I’m guessing his thighs.”
“Shut up. I mean, he was obsessed with football.”
“She’s independent. Always has been.”
“Like you, Max. Even down to the killer good looks.” He flashed me a devilish grin.
Nick always made me smile. “Football is a sexy sport.”
“You don’t hate him for stealing your mum away from your dad?”
“I was very young.”Seven, but I remember everything.
Enough years had gone by for me to see it from Mum’s perspective. My dad had been a hard man to love. Our family had placed second to his passion for winning cases most lawyers wouldn’t take on. Mum had looked for love, and she’d found it in Nick’s dad—along with adventure, too, apparently.
A visit to England with her sister twenty-six years ago had changed our lives irrevocably. During a game at Wembley Stadium, Nick’s father had spotted her in the crowd. At half-time, he’d given her his number. The fact she was married hadn’t put him off. Then again, she’d been named one of Brazil’s most beautiful women. Most men had a hard time looking away from her beauty.
I changed the subject. “Everything okay at home?”
“Yeah, seems that way. Though I’ve not kept up with the family saga.”
“What saga?”
“You know what Mum’s like. Continues her social climbing. She’s joined some elite group that donates to the Royal Heritage. They meet once a week. I think she’s checking out the families to find you a potential wife.”
I leaned back, trying not to think of her scheming. “She just wants us to be happy.”
“Define happy.”
“Well, you are, aren’t you?”
He scraped his fingers through his hair. “Trying to be.”
“You moved in with Morgan?”
“Yeah, she has a penthouse. It’ll do until I sell my house and we buy something together. You should come stay with us. No more booking into hotels, okay?”
“I don’t mind it, but why the change of heart? You never had me over to your house when Daisy was there.”
He shrugged. “I should have. The place is just so small.”
“London is expensive.”
“I’m twenty-five. And you know what that means.”
“Access to your trust fund.” He’d never been short of money, though.
“I love the house in Bermondsey, but there are too many memories there. With Dad… you know. And Daisy and I living there.”
“Mum bought me my first place, too.” The mansion in São Paulo had a breathtaking view of the city. Just thinking of it made me homesick.
