Accidental Fiancé (Unintentionally Yours #5)

28. Julian

Chapter 28

Julian

M y heart stuttered to a stop the same way time had done when I punched Marcus. I huffed out a thin breath. Chloe was clever in her own way—I still had no idea how she knew the truth—but there were other ways to deal with her. Like making her seem incompetent.

With all the simulated concern I could muster, I asked, “Chloe, are you feeling well? Did you hit your head or something? You’re looking a little green.”

“I’m fine,” she said, a big gloating smile on her face. “You two are the ones who probably aren’t feeling well right about now.”

As much as I wanted to point out how wrong she was, I kept up the faux concern and looked at her boyfriend. “Eh, Marcus, does Chloe take any meds that you know of? Mood stabilizers or something similar? Did she miss a dose? Does booze interact with them? I noticed she’s been hitting the bar a little hard.”

He smirked a little at that. “Can’t say.”

“Hey!” She snapped her fingers at me for attention. “I am not crazy!”

“No, of course you’re not.” I smiled and patted her head, which made her jerk away. “We don’t use that term anymore. Undermedicated, mentally unstable, I’m not sure what the current acceptable word is.”

“It’s neither of those,” Apollo said.

I lifted a shoulder. “Whatever. I’m not feeling politically correct at the moment given what she just said about us.”

“Julian! Stop talking about me like I’m not here!” she demanded like a child.

“You can always leave and make that a reality. The door is right over there,” I said, pointing to it. “Pretty sure no one here would miss you.”

“Your engagement isn’t real! Everyone here should know the truth. How you can lie to your own flesh and blood like this is beyond me,” she rambled, trying to retain the spotlight. “It’s truly awful. But then again, what should I expect from the man who attacked two of my boyfriends like an animal?”

“Chloe,” Marcus started. “I know you’re upset for me, hon, but I’m fine. You don’t need to make a big deal out of this. Guys fight sometimes. We’re cousins, that’s just how we are.”

“No,” I cut in. “That’s not how we are. We’re not kids anymore, and mere words should not be enough to provoke me. I’m sorry I hit you. It won’t happen again.”

He shrugged it off. “I was out of line. I’m sorry I talked shit about… I’m sorry for what I said.”

I nodded once, accepting his apology. “We good?”

“You owe me a beer.”

“Deal.”

Chloe snipped out, “Oh, my God. Is no one here upset with these two liars?”

“I’d like to hear more about this so-called fake engagement,” Yaya said as she parted the crowd to come closer.

Shit. With that statement, Chloe’s bullshit had legs. I couldn’t ignore a request from Yaya. She was the matriarch of the family, the one everyone—including me—respected. If I lost her support on this, I was cooked.

I firmly told her, “Chloe’s a known liar, Yaya. She always has been. Don’t pay her any attention.”

“ I’m the liar?” Chloe laughed. “You two said you’ve been living together for months.”

“We have been,” I replied. “What of it?”

“Then why didn’t your daughter’s teacher meet Maggie until about three or four weeks ago?”

How the hell does Chloe know Etta? And why would Etta tell Chloe about me and Maggie? She is so fucking fired. Piper will hate going to a new teacher, but she is four, and she’ll get over it.

Maggie’s shoulders caved in at that, her resolve cracking. But she tried to play it off. “Etta doesn’t like me, so if she gossiped about me, I’m not surprised.”

“How I raise my daughter is none of your concern,” I snapped at Chloe.

“You rented a car for Maggie around the same time she first met Etta Pence, didn’t you?” she continued. “Why not just buy her one? It’s not like you don’t have the money.”

How does she know all of this?

Maggie’s chin went up, even as her voice wavered. “Have you been stalking us? Why are you inserting yourself into our lives, Chloe? Don’t you have one of your own?”

Chloe’s head swiveled like a bird of prey spotting a target. “Well, Maggie, that’s the thing. I hadn’t heard a word about you two being a couple before the reunion, and yet both of you were acting a little suspicious and cagey while you were there, so I did a little digging. After your bakery’s fire, you were about to be evicted from your apartment until you suddenly found yourself living with Julian almost a month ago, that is. But that doesn’t make sense with your engagement timeline, does it?”

At least I wasn’t being blackmailed anymore. Now that she had spilled the tea, she had nothing. I growled, “I’m done explaining myself to you, Chloe. So is Maggie. Whatever game you’re playing, it’s over. You should leave. Now.”

“I think Yaya and everyone else here deserves the truth.”

And maybe one day, I’d tell them. But this was not the day. “The truth is, you’re very tired and undermedicated and probably drunk, and I think you should stop embarrassing yourself and Marcus with this nonsense.” I turned to my family. “Everybody, let’s get this party back on track, shall we? Who’s up for shots?”

Half my family chanted, “Shots! Shots! Shots!” in response but Yaya’s eyes sharpened on me, causing my pulse to quicken. We’d be talking about this sooner than I had hoped.

“I have proof!” Chloe shouted over everyone in one last ditch effort.

Maggie squeezed my hand. I didn’t remember her taking it.

Chloe held her phone over her head but the screen was turned away from me. I could have easily grabbed it from her as close as I was, but if I did that, everyone would know I had something to hide. I had to wait and see what came next.

She handed it over to Marcus. “See that? Two million dollars deposited into my bank account over the past two days.”

“Where did you get that kind of money? I thought you were broke.”

She swallowed, irritated. “I told Julian I’d expose him if he didn’t pay me a million dollars a day during the week of this party. An innocent person wouldn’t pay if they had nothing to hide, nothing to be blackmailed with.”

Maggie looked up at me, shock and disappointment on her pretty face. “You didn’t tell me.”

“It’s two million dollars. Not a big deal.”

“Not a big deal?” she whispered as her cheeks flushed pink.

I couldn’t tell if she was hurt or angry. I hadn’t told her about Chloe’s blackmail and now I was acting as if that kind of money was nothing. Considering Maggie’s financial woes, it could have been either one. Whatever the case, I had upset her, and I fucking hated that.

Just as I was about to apologize, Apollo asked Chloe, “Did I hear you right? You just admitted to blackmail?”

She huffed at him. “It’s barely blackmail. It’s two million dollars. That’s practically petty cash to him, and besides, that’s not the point. Julian only paid up because he knew I could blow his lie apart.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Maggie asked me directly.

We couldn’t talk this out now in front of everyone. Not when I wasn’t ready to tell them the truth. I had to word this as carefully as possible.

“It was easier to pay her than to stonewall her. I wanted things to go as smoothly as possible this week, so paying her and not making a big deal of it seemed like the better idea.” I scowled at Chloe. “You could have held out for more. I would have paid it just to shut you up, not that your accusations hold any merit. Instead, you couldn’t hold your wad, and now, all you’re getting is two million. Happy?”

Her smug smile was hard to take. “I’m not un happy.”

“You should have told me,” Maggie said, her voice cracking. “I deserved to know.”

Chloe taunted me. “She’s right about that, you know.”

“I should have,” I admitted to Maggie. “That was my mistake, and I will spend the rest of my life making it up to you.” Was I proposing for real this time? I checked in with myself. There was no part of me that didn’t mean exactly what I said. I wanted to spend the rest of my life with Maggie Bryant, come hell or high water. I added, “If you’ll let me make it up to you forever, I mean. If that’s what you want.” A messy proposal, if ever there was one.

Maggie took a quick breath, her eyes lining with tears. “I don’t know about that.”

“Maggie—"

She pulled her hand from mine and stepped back, her eyes never leaving me. Then she turned and ran, my family clearing a path for her, concern on all of their faces.

I started to follow but Yaya’s iron grip caught me. “Let her have a minute, Julian.”

“I have to go talk to her.”

“That woman needs to be able to think, to breathe. You’ll do her no favors by crowding her.”

“If I don’t go to her now, I will lose her forever.”

Her cheeks lifted with her smile, lining her face with decades of past joy. She let go of my wrist. “Very well. Go on.”

I nearly ran ahead, but Yaya’s knowing smile unnerved me, stopping me in my tracks. “What was that about?”

“She needed a minute, and you would not have argued with me if you did not love her. By holding you back, she gets her time, and I learn whether this drama was worth it.”

“Yaya—"

“Now go.”