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She turned her attention elsewhere, not wanting to intrude on the lovers, and there was no doubt they were in love. Slowly she ambled through the throng of guests, the laughter and excitement of the evening contagious even though it had been the last place she’d wanted to be this evening, especially after Max told her he wanted a divorce. It just made her feel physically sick, but the prospect of going back to her flat and being alone with her mother’s words ringing in her head was far worse.
Across the other side of the room, she saw Max talking to some of his team players and their partners. They all looked very glamorous. The women looked sassy and exciting in their cocktail dresses and the men handsome in their tuxedos, but Max stood out. Like the lion who led the pride, there was no doubt he was the ultimate alpha male. Maybe that was her problem. He could never allow her into his heart because he kept it so well hidden in his pursuit of complete dominance and superiority.
‘Penny for them?’ A cheeky female voice at her side stopped that train of thought dead.
‘Angelina.’ Max’s sister had changed since she’d last seen her, over six months ago. She looked at the tall, willowy young woman, whose hair was even darker than Max’s, she realised how much she’d missed her. From the greeting she’d been treated to, it was a mutual feeling. ‘It’s so good to see you. Happy birthday.’
Angelina held her champagne glass in one hand, and tilted her head to the side, a big smile on her face. ‘So is it true?’
‘What?’ Lisa smiled with a frown, wondering what was coming next, because if there was one thing you could guarantee with Angelina it was complete honesty.
‘You and Max are back together.’ Before Lisa could say another word, Angelina hugged her with one arm, holding the flute of champagne at a precarious angle. ‘I knew it.’
‘We spent Christmas together.’ Lisa sketched around the truth, avoiding the reason that had brought her and Angelina’s brother back together. While Angelina would have to know her brother was going to make her an aunt, it was up to him to tell her. Just as it was up to him to say he was the one who now wanted to go through with the divorce.
‘And I hear congratulations are in order. That you are expecting.’ Angelina raised her brows at the elderflower cocktail and stood back, smiling at Lisa, then her expression turned more serious. ‘How’s Max taking it?’
‘Max? Taking it?’ Lisa couldn’t work out what Angelina meant, but she was going to find out. ‘What do you mean precisely?’
‘You don’t know, do you?’ Shock filled Angelina’s face, the light and fun mood of moments ago slipped away as if they’d walked out of the party, and if Lisa wasn’t mistaken there was pity in her eyes too.
‘No, but you are going to tell me right now,’ Lisa demanded. She’d get the truth from Angelina, but would she really want to hear it?
Angelina finished her champagne, deposited the flute on a nearby table and took Lisa’s arm and guided her away from the fun and laughter of the party. She stopped when they reached a long and very grand corridor. The noise of the party was subdued as the doors closed behind them and Lisa wondered what it was that was coming next that needed such drastic action. She looked at Angelina as nerves took flight in her stomach, bringing back the nausea she’d been struggling to keep at bay since she’d got up this morning.
‘My mother, Max’s mother, died when I was two years old,’ Angelina began, but Lisa’s patience was wearing thin.
‘I’m aware of that.’
‘Has he also told you that she was diagnosed with cancer while she was carrying me and that she delayed treatment, for me?’ Angelina swallowed and Lisa knew this was affecting her far more than she was letting on. That she too hid behind a mask of being the bubbly life and soul of the party to hide her pain and that she was telling her this most guarded secret because it affected Max, affected her.
‘I’m so sorry.’ She reached out and touched the young woman’s arm and for a moment the two of them were lost in their own world. ‘That must be hard on you.’
‘It is, yes. Mostly because it made Max into a dominating brother, always insistent that I do things his way. The arguments he and my father had over everything from what school I should attend to what I should eat or wear were impossible.’
‘I have an older stepbrother who doesn’t care one jot for me.’ Lisa couldn’t help confiding in her.
‘I’d much rather that.’ Angelina laughed, lightening the mood. ‘Please don’t let on that I told you. I just thought you would already know.’
