jason’s lover~ I agree with you wholeheartedly. Max is arrogant and calculating but I’ll be damned if he’s not amazingly hot while being so! Thanks for reading.
frenchkiss70~ You’re definitely on the right track (I think I was too obvious, lol, but I wanted you guys to have an idea). Everything will be answered, and I’m glad you’re reading! Trust me, Max really is a good guy. But Liz will DEFINITELY give him a hard time.
purpleant~Thank you! Your questions are definitely good ones, I hope you stick around long enough to get them. Hope you enjoy this part!
alana~I’m really glad you’re liking my story, I always love your feedback. Coincidentally, my grandmother happens to watch Mexican soaps (I can’t speak Spanish to save my life so I don’t even bother, lol). I did get the idea from her, but I’m not sure that my story is going to resemble the soap further then plot. Not only because she only told me the basics (Guy thinks a Girl is evil and wants revenge, marries her and ends up falling for her) and I don’t know what happens. So, even though this won’t resemble the soap much, I hope you’ll stick around, and glad you’re liking Max—I promise it will get better!
kay_b~ Yup, yup, and yup. Would I ever really let Max hate Liz? The boy just thinks he does, lol. And I’m definitely going to try posting a lot, but who knows? Thank you so much for your feedback.
DramastarOF06~Thank you! You will see. All I’m saying is Eleanor’s not a very nice young lady. At least, not in regards to Elizabeth.
icequeen~ My prayers are with you and hope you are safe during the hurricane. I am from there and family is there also, so I hope you stay tight. On the other hand, I’m thrilled you’re liking my story. Thanks!
marteloise~Glad you think this is interesting. I’m going to try and make it better!
anonymousarfan~ Yup. Max is going to be very arrogant, very stubborn, and very merciless at the beginning of this. I just can’t help finding him so sexy, lol. All questions will be answered.
Alien614~ I’m here, I’m here, new part and everything!
roswelluver~ I’m afraid Max isn’t up to anything good—he’ll learn his lesson!
MilesToGo99~ Thank you, I’m honored you think so!
I’m glad everyone’s asking the same questions, because sooner or later Liz will ask them herself. Hope you stick around and enjoy this next part.
dreamer19~ *sigh* Arrogant Max really is hot, isn’t he? Glad you’re not hating him! I’m trying to make him interesting, not card-board evil.
Thanks everyone for their awesome replies. I’d like to thank my awesome beta,
burningchaos because she rocks!
CHAPTER #2
The manner in which Max Evans maneuvered himself, the elegant coolness and devastatingly regal grace, was enough to
demand the attention of everyone in the room. He was six feet tall, with dangerously stunning looks, a man, a creature too beautiful for words. The ball had not yet fully begun, and already he had enthralled, and compelled each and every female’s eyes toward him. Many already were smitten with nothing but a courteous bow and a small, devious smile.
The party was, in itself, a bore. While he had been raised to circulate and attended galas of the same caliber, Max still preferred a small group of friends and
real entertainment. At this precise moment, he strode towards Laurent Benoit, the only person that he knew fairly well. Max did not particularly trust Laurent Benoit, the middle-aged man that had served as his father’s personal confidante for many years, but the man had accompanied Max from Europe to attend the festivity, and he’d be rude not to indulge Laurent in small chit chat.
As Max walked from one end of the room to the other, it was almost as if the time lapse had ceased to exist. Silence hung in the air and ricocheted off the walls, the ladies held their breath as he did so, it was magnificent, the stature and beauty that this man possessed. They all knew too well, however, that Maxwell Evans was cruel in his beauty.
Max’s eyes drifted towards Laurent’s arm, which was in a cast. Not two weeks ago had the man taken a bullet for Max—his
padrone. Max was born in Italy, but raised in the States. His main occupation was his firm. but living in Italy for the last five years, Max owned a small town near a Riviera named
Porto Encantata—Enchanted Harbor. He was involved in the import/export of tropical fruits and coffee—the business his father had given to him and Michael. Having the biggest piece of land with many coveting men surrounding him, not to mention Max had screwed plenty of them over cruelly over the years, he was a fairly easy target—Max had enemies to spare.
“Why did you do that?” Max finally asked while motioning idly towards Laurent’s injured shoulder.
“I wanted to prove my loyalty to you,
padrone,” Laurent answered with a shrug. Max could see, even without effort that Laurent was blatantly lying. “I wanted you to trust me. I want to work for you, show you the ropes as your father would have wanted me to.”
“I choose my workers,” Max burst, his tone unyielding, his eyes emotionless. Laurent could not tell if he was pleased or unconvinced. “I choose who I trust. I cannot, however, choose my family.”
Laurent’s eyes darkened. “You needn’t remind me I’m the bastard brother of your father. That I deserved as much of the family estate that he was granted, but could never be as privileged.”
“I will remind you as many times as I have to. You need to remember your place. You are my servant, not my equal. I give the orders. I thank you for your…
act of loyalty,” Max answered, his tone anything but grateful. “I will rethink the matters. I’ll find a position for you in my
terra.”
Laurent regarded Max for a moment. “Are you really going to marry one of the Parkers?”
“Whether I marry or not is none of your business,” Max cut, dropping his champagne glass and turning back to Laurent. “I don’t see much use for you here, and you might as well go home. Get some rest, check that shoulder pad. I’ll see you later in the evening, Laurent.”
Laurent nodded his head, silently walking away while Max regarded the people around him. He could tell many wanted to approach him, ask of his family, his business, his life after law school, his love life, and the thought of being bombarded with insolent questions left him annoyed and suffocated. Subtly, he made his way outside, thankful for the breeze that met his face the moment he opened the parlor doors.
Max was taken aback as he saw a rope land right in front of his eyes. Looking up, he smirked as he saw nothing but waves of red satin dress, as the small person slowly descended from the rope.
“Escaping the party from hell?” he quipped.
Liz looked down at him. Her shock made her let go of the rope as she was twenty feet from the ground, falling to the floor with a loud thud.
Max, not showing his satisfaction, moved to help her.
“Thank you,” Liz murmured, the pink flush in her cheeks showing her embarrassment.
“Bored?” he asked amused.
“Slightly,” she answered, her hands wiping at the dirt of her dress. She’d liked it far too much to have it ruined now.
Max bit his lip to keep from making an asinine comment—he was good at that—and reminded himself Liz still did not know of her father’s agreement. She’d be shocked, and he preferred she have a first good impression on him. It served his purpose well.
“I’m Max Evans,” he introduced, his hand going to gently grab hers.
“Elizabeth Parker.”
“Ah, you’re Nancy and Jeff’s daughter,” Max acted aloof.
“Yes. I – um, I wasn’t trying to escape or anything.”
“Clearly.”
She bit her lip, eyes guilty. “I sort of had to meet someone.”
His eyes flashed interest. “Indeed?”
“Yeah. I was going to sneak back in.”
“You could have fallen from a higher altitude, you know. It was not very safe.”
“Oh, that’s okay. I’ve climbed down my window thousands of times before. I’m an expert on it,” she answered, waving his ‘concern’ off.
“I don’t think you’ll want to leave, Elizabeth,” Max recommended. “Who knows? You might get some… interesting news.”
He stared at her for a minute, taking in her features, her eyes—they were so telling, a person’s eyes. He saw mild innocence, hidden fire, which only went to show him she was a very good actress, or she still hadn’t made the connection. Whichever the reason, he continued gazing at her.
Liz tugged at her dress subconsciously. “What?”
He tried to make his smile genuine. “Nothing… you’re a very beautiful girl, Elizabeth.”
“Liz. Please call me Liz. And… thank you.”
Their staring match lasted only for a minute, because Alex opened the doors and made his presence known by clearing his throat louder then he needed to.
Max kept his eyes on Liz as she turned to her brother. “Yes, Alex?”
“Our parents would like to speak to you. Father says it’s urgent.”
Max tried keeping his victorious smirk to himself.
Liz frowned, looking back at Max. “If you’ll excuse me.”
“Oh, by all means,” Max answered, giving her a reassuring smile.
She was walking towards the door, which Max was coincidentally blocking. And while he moved slightly, it still was close enough to have bodily contact with her. He edged closer as she passed by him, noticing her unnerving glance towards him. He said nothing, just continued staring at her intensely.
Max stared thoughtfully after Liz’s small departing figure, his jaw set in a tight line, his hands balling into fists. He quickly wiped away the lone tear that had managed to escape his eyes. He brushed at it furiously, cursing the diminutive emotion he’d let pour out of him. If this was going to work, his veins would have to turn to ice. Max turned his cold amber eyes looked up towards the sky. “Rest in peace, my brother.”
~*~
Liz tried to maintain her calm, maintain her peace. But she could not find anything but immeasurable rage, violent and uncontrolled, piercing through every bone in her body. At first, the shock of her parents words had left her numb and disbelieving. Now it had passed, there was nothing but grief. Gulping down the lump of pain and despair through her throat, she stared at her father. If she was going to convince either of them to back out of this stupid agreement, she’d have better chances with her father.
“Daddy… you can’t do this.”
She sat in the couch next to Alex, who was holding her, and across from Eleanor, her beautiful red dress was now ruined with dirt, wearing her mask of coldness like a penchant. Her black eyes were hollow, void of anything and everything. She couldn’t believe… her eyes raised themselves to meet her father’s, but he wouldn’t look at her. He was off, staring at the window, aware of the music and the laughter and the ruckus that had ended two hours ago. The party had ended two hours ago, and in that small amount of time they’d found her a husband?! Her heart turned to steel just thinking about it. Didn’t they care that she’d live a miserable life? That she would have to pretend, walk through the motions in life and never feel them anymore?
“Oh, stop being such a melodramatic, Lizzie,” Nancy Parker spoke up, rustling with her gown towards her youngest daughter. “It’s not as if it would be punishment. “He is tall, dark, handsome. Who wouldn’t want to wed that man? Plus he is so charming and intelligent, such power that radiates from him. You should feel like a very lucky lady, marrying such a beautiful man with so many ferocious traits.”
“I don’t know him!” Liz cried out in rage, standing up. “Where is this coming from? Just today in the morning you couldn’t stop talking about searching for
Eleanor’s husband. When did the attention focus to me? When have you ever cared about
me?!”
At that moment Liz didn’t know who she was. She hadn’t the vaguest idea. She had always considered herself someone who knew what she was about. Knew what decisions to make, who she loved and who she didn’t, what was right and what was wrong.
“Dad, tell her she can’t be seriously thinking of doing this. Please Daddy!” Liz begged.
“Your father was the one who spoke to Maxwell Evans, Lizzie,” Nancy declared.
She stared at her father with wide indignation and furious shock.
“Who knows? You might get some… interesting news.”
Max’s deep, velvety voice came back to Liz’s ears. That idiot! He knew all about it, had come into her house a lightning bolt, and had proposed a contract and he hadn’t had the decency of informing her! Alex was right… Maxwell Evans was a heartless bastard. “Why?” she asked in a small whisper, shaky and filled with unshed tears. “Why would you do this to me?”
“Stop the theatrics, Elizabeth Regina!” Nancy scolded with frustration. She didn’t have time for her little tantrums. She was so good at them. “We have already made the decision, and you’ll understand sooner or later it will be for the best.”
“You want Max’s money, don’t you?” Liz accused her mother. “That’s all you’ve ever cared about! You ragged on Daddy, begged him to win more money then he could ever make until he gave everything and came back with nothing!”
“You listen to me young lady; you stop that disrespecting manner right now!” Nancy yelled. “Why do you think we’re so tied up and close to being kicked out of this house? You think your fancy boarding schools paid for themselves?”
“Now it’s my fault?” Liz whispered fiercely. “I never wanted to go! I wanted to stay here with my family; I was just a little girl!
You were the one who kept sending me away, each and every school pricier then the last just so you could tell your friends all about it! Why do you love Eleanor enough to give her free will, but tie me down to a prisoner?”
Nancy turned her eyes towards Liz’s disdainfully.
“Why do you hate me, mother?” Liz asked softly, staring at her with confusion, doubt, anger… and much sadness.
“Alex, Eleanor, please leave the room. Your father and I must speak to Elizabeth in private,” Nancy ordered, opening the door, leaving no question to her mandate.
“Lizzie…” Jeff sighed, rubbing his forehead with fatigue. “There’s no other way.”
“But how can you just give me up like that? I’m your
daughter,” she cried.
All her life she had been alone. She couldn’t remember the last time either of her parents wrapped their arms around her, ever told her they loved her. Couldn’t remember the last birthday she had actually been in Roswell and not in one of her many boarding schools. She’d always get into as much trouble as possible, tried getting kicked out so she would be forced to go back home… but they’d just always send her to someplace else. Years and years of loneliness, of pent-up anger and resentment… She always had to walk into every single situation with her eyes open, because she wasn’t a risk-taker. She didn’t like surprises; she had to know every single aspect of her entire existence. How could they just plan something like this and expect her to go along with it?
Tears fell to her eyes as she grabbed at her father’s shirt. “Dad, dad… please I beg of you, think this through.”
“Elizabeth, you won’t sway your father in our decision!”
Liz turned towards her mother, who had never held any compassion or love for her own daughter. She hadn’t expected the cold woman that was her mother to show her any sort of soothing warmth—Nancy had never given her much love. But her stupid foolish heart had let itself hope, had desperately wanted the embrace of her mother, had needed to feel as if she were her mother’s daughter, to weep in her arms like a child. “How am I supposed to do this?” she asked helplessly. “I don’t know how I’m going to live like this.”
Nancy Parker’s eyes were cold and unyielding.
“You’ll learn.”
~*~
Italian words:
Terra: Land, ranch
Padrone: Sir, master
