Accidental Fiancé (Unintentionally Yours #5)

27. Maggie

Chapter 27

Maggie

I lazed in bed as long as I could stand it before I got up. I was too excited. Julian and I were finally going to talk about things and clear the air. Nora was right. I had to make a choice to pick a path. I wanted Julian on that path.

I wasn't sure when it happened, but I was a woman in love.

I cleaned up and dressed for the day then hunted Piper down in the kitchen having breakfast. She was humming along, singing a waffle song to her pancakes with her other cousins. What one had to do with the other, I didn't know. But she was happy, and she grinned with a mouthful of pancake when she saw me.

The breakfast kitchen was bright and sunny, painted in yellow with white daisies everywhere. The friendly staff tended to the children’s needs, while the caterers kept a large breakfast buffet full with a vast variety of choices.

“We're gonna swim after breakfast,” she said between bites. “Will you come swimming, too?”

“Of course.” I was just happy to be invited. I made myself a plate of pancakes and sat next to Piper. Apparently, she had saved me a seat.

I knew the situation with Julian was complicated. We had some things to work through. But Piper was not one of them. I had never seriously dated a dad before. In fact, it was something I usually tried to avoid. Sitting with Piper, however, made me wonder if I had just been waiting for the right dad with the right kid to come along. We simply clicked.

After breakfast, we changed into our swimsuits and jumped in the pool for a little while. The lifeguards were already at their posts. I assumed they stayed in the pool house to be close by during the week of the party. As we began another round of Marco Polo, Piper’s cousin Sophia and the other kids joined us, their mothers close behind.

And Chloe.

But she was easy to ignore because she didn’t get in the pool, which made it feel like a safe zone. After an hour or so, though, the illusion of safety was shattered.

“What the hell?” Chloe barked as she stood and ran to meet Marcus. As he and Apollo approached, I noticed Marcus had an icepack on his face.

I couldn’t hear anything they were saying from where I stood in the pool, so I excused myself. “Piper, Sophia, I’ll catch up later.” They continued to play as I climbed out and quickly walked over to the trio.

I could see that Marcus had a black eye forming where the icepack didn’t cover. Apollo looked fine. “What happened? Is Julian okay?”

“He’s fine,” Apollo quickly replied. “Marcus had a little accident.”

“How?” Chloe demanded.

Marcus rolled his eyes at himself. “Talking shit.”

“Talk shit, get hit,” Apollo teased.

“It was Julian, wasn’t it?” she accused.

“Yeah, but?—"

She whipped around to face me, pointing against my chest. “I told you, Maggie. I fucking told you. Julian is a menace! He was in high school, and he still is now!”

“Lower your voice. His daughter is right over there.” I jerked my chin toward Piper subtly.

“You think I care? He savaged one of my boyfriends, and now, he’s going after his own cousin! She deserves to know her daddy is a monster!”

The mothers on the pool terrace had been watching our drama with rapt attention, and now the kids were too. I was not about to allow that.

I snatched a towel from a nearby lounger and wrapped it over Chloe’s back as I forced an unnatural smile onto my face and firmly gripped her shoulders. I forcibly guided her into the house, keeping my tone jovial. The guys followed us inside the lounge. “Here we go, dear, you wouldn’t want me to get all mama bear on you now, would you?”

Chloe tried to shake my grip and failed. “Let go of me!”

I waited until the door closed before I released her. My fingers nearly became cramped in the process. “Now, you’re welcome to say whatever filth you want, but you will not talk shit about Julian in front of Piper, do you understand me, Chloe?” I came in close, intentionally invading her space. “Because I want to make sure you understand exactly what I mean by that, so there isn’t any confusion.”

“Your fiancé has attacked two of my boyfriends, Maggie. I will say whatever I want?—"

I held a finger up to silence her. “Not in front of Piper, you won’t. You can either keep your mouth shut around her and swallow your pride, or you can swallow your teeth. Which will it be?”

The three of them stood there in stunned silence before Chloe scoffed a laugh, trying to deflate me like a souffle pulled from the oven too soon. “You’ve always been such a kidder, Maggie.”

“I’m not kidding.” I stepped even closer. This was one fight with Chloe I was not going to back down from.

“Okay, ladies,” Apollo said, cutting in. “I’ve already failed at breaking up one fight today. Don’t make it two.”

Marcus laughed, then whined, “Fuck, dude, don’t make me laugh. It hurts.”

That stole her attention and she turned to him. “Let me see.”

He lifted the icepack, and while I couldn’t tell if his nose was broken, it was certainly swollen. He’d wake up with a healthy shiner in the morning. “I’ve had worse.”

“From me,” his brother teased.

Marcus slugged his shoulder but didn’t disagree. “It’s no big deal, Chloe.”

“Like hell it isn’t!” She faced off with me again. “Is Julian obsessed with me or something?”

“Huh?”

“Maybe that’s why he’s attacked two of my boyfriends.”

“Can’t speak for the other guy,” Marcus said, “but I kind of earned this.”

“Shut up, Marcus,” she ordered. “No one was talking to you.”

Apollo’s eyes widened at that, and he smirked but said nothing. He didn’t have to, his face did it for him.

Marcus tried again, “Uh, Chloe, listen?—"

With her eyes on me, she put her hand in his face to shut him up. “Julian is obsessed with me, isn’t he, Maggie? That’s why you put on this little show, right?”

I blinked at her. “What show?”

“The mama bear comment? That thing in the closet, as if he can’t keep his hands off of you? Showing up here to make me jealous?”

“We didn’t even know you’d be here!” Though, with the way life had been screwing with me lately, I should have expected it.

The others returned and crowded the lounge. Julian walked in next to an older man who had to be Marcus and Apollo’s father. When Julian saw me standing with the three of them, his face sank.

But as Chloe smiled wide and evil, every scrap of heat left my body. She loudly proclaimed, “Your so-called fiancé is obsessed with me. That’s why he tried to make me jealous at the reunion by using you. Have some self-respect, Maggie.”

“You are out of your mind.”

“I’m not the one pretending here,” she said confidently as she folded her arms under her breasts.

“Julian doesn’t give a shit about you!” I shouted at her.

She kept her evil grin trained on him as he joined us. “I think he might disagree.”

“Chloe.” He stood tall, glaring down at her. “I think you need to back off.”

“Why? What will you do? Hit me too?”

“Hardly. But I still think it’s in your best interest to go to Marcus’ room and cool off. Maybe you could tend to your boyfriend’s wounds.”

“The ones you gave him, you mean?” she said snidely.

Marcus flatly interjected, “I’m fine, Chloe, thanks for asking.”

She barely rolled her eyes at him as if that was more effort than he was worth. “We’re not done here.”

“I think you are.” Julian subtly stepped between me and her. He lowered his voice. “No one wants more of a scene than what has already happened. Especially you.”

Why especially her?

“Is that a fact?” she asked, smirking up at him. “I’m pretty sure you’re the one who doesn’t want a scene, and besides, I’ve already made enough money from this deal anyway.”

“Chloe,” he growled.

“Money?” I directed my question at Julian.

But he didn’t look at me. He only glowered at Chloe. “Don’t.”

The sneer on her face sealed his fate. She became animated as she spoke. “Don’t what? Tell the truth?”

I knew it. I knew she knew the truth. Fuck. I said carefully, “Chloe, I think we’d both do well to go and cool off, don’t you?”

“No, I don’t. I think you’d feel better if we got some things off our chests. Why don’t you start?”

All eyes were on me. No matter what happened, I wasn’t about to say a peep. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

The lounge door that led to the pool area opened, and some of the moms joined the group which only made things worse.

“Well, if you don’t want to start, I guess I will,” Chloe began. “These?—"

“Chloe, can I talk to you in private?” Marcus interrupted.

“No.” She returned her attention to the rest of the group. “I’ve been sitting on this for far too long, and I respect your family too much to keep it inside any longer.”

“Then get on with it,” Marcus’ father said. “We haven’t got all day.”

“I had planned on something a little longer, but for you, Daddy Dino, I’ll keep it short,” she said flirtatiously. Then she pointed at me and Julian. “Their engagement is a lie.”