Sex and the Billionaire Crime Boss - Season 2

Ch. 16: Tomorrow Always Comes

Something isn't right, and I'm starting to feel very uneasy. What could have happened between last night and right now to make this change in Max, this coolness?

I walk around and take a seat in one of the chairs, and Max pours me some coffee. I stir in cream from the little pitcher and try to get a sense of what's going on here.

Finally, when Max doesn't say anything, I ask him. "Did I do something wrong?"

He gives a short laugh. "Wrong? No, Hadley, you didn't do anything wrong. That would be my department."

"What do you mean?"

"I never should have allowed myself to make love to you last night."

Part of my brain registers that at least he's referring to it as making love, not just having sex. But the little bit of relief I feel from that is overpowered by my confusion about what exactly he's trying to say to me.

"You're the one who's been saying since we got to New York that you were planning to have me in your bed again."

Max nods. "That's true. Things have changed now."

"Why? What's so different now? I don't understand."

Max stares at me, then shakes his head. "As someone who broke up with me less than a week ago - for all the right reasons - I'd think you'd be relieved that I've finally come around to your way of thinking."

"Well I'm not," I snap. "Maybe things have changed now for me, too."

If he's annoyed at my sudden flare of temper, he doesn't show it.

"Eat," he tells me. "We have a lot to talk about, and there's no point doing it on an empty stomach."

The beautiful spread of New York deli-style bagels no longer holds the appeal for me that it did when I first saw it on the table. I pick up the top half of a lightly toasted bagel with swirls of cinnamon running through it and mechanically add cream cheese, lox, a slice of onion and some capers, then take a small bite.

Max nods his approval.

"You're not eating?" I ask him.

"I ate an hour ago."

"You could have woken me up."

"I could have," he says. "But I preferred not to."

"You don't get to call all the shots," I tell him.

"That's just the thing, Hadley. If you're with me, I do get to call all the shots. I decide whether you come with me on a trip, or if it's too dangerous. I decide just how much to tell you about my business, and how much to keep to myself. I decide where we stay, how we travel, and who we meet with when we get there."

"You're exaggerating," I tell him, fighting back the panicky feeling that's growing in me. "If an issue comes up we can discuss it. That doesn't mean -"

"I'm not done," Max says, interrupting me, and for the first time this morning there's an edge to his voice. For the first time this morning when I look at him I'm seeing the reputed Miami crime boss, not my lover. A man who speaks and people do what he says, without question.

Max leans forward, looks at me intently. "I will choose who your friends are, because some people might try to associate with you because of your association with me, and their motive could be to cause harm to my business interests or to my family. And if I tell you to stay away from someone, you'll do it. That even applies to who you take on as a client in your criminal law practice."

My widen, and Max nods.

"You didn't expect that one, did you? I won't have you manipulated by one of my competitors to take on a case that's just a vehicle for them to undermine my business, or put you in a position where your safety is at risk."

He leans back in his chair, watches me as I take all this in.

"Is that you want, Hadley? Is that what you expect out of a relationship?"

"Of course not. But I'm in love with you Max."

It's not the way I imagined saying it, but there it is. The words are out, and I can't take them back.

And Max is just staring at me, his eyes darkened to a deeper blue, but unreadable.

"I know what I said before," I tell him, opening my hands beseechingly, "but it's not that easy. I can't just shut off my feelings for you, Max."

"That's exactly what you have to do."

"Don't do this, Max." I scan his face, looking for some sign that he is wavering. And I understand now how he must have felt Monday night when I broke up with him. Because now he's apparently breaking up with me, and it hurts like hell.

"I don't want to give up on us."

Max sighs. "There can't be an us."

I shake my head. This is crazy. "You don't mean that," I tell him. "Last night you said there will only ever be you. I heard you, so don't bother denying it."

"I have no intention of denying it. How many times do I have to remind you that I will never lie to you?"

I stare back at him and, dammit, I have tears in my eyes. I try to blink them away, furious at myself for letting him make me cry.

His voice gentles. "Hadley, just because you are the only one for me doesn't mean I get to have you. That's the mistake my father made. And that mistake cost my mother her life."