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In that moment, the house had been taintedforever.
Max had started looking for other houses a month after the fire, when it had become obvious Abby would never be truly comfortable in the old house again. It didn’t matter that it would have to be almost entirely rebuilt, that any house replacing the old one would essentially be a newstructure.
It would never be the same forher.
So Max had entered every fixer-upper and hovel around the city, looking for one that whispered Abby’sname.
This was it. This was theone.
But Jason had ruined that too. Max had committed himself to hunting Jason for the rest of his life if necessary, but he hadn’t expected him to walk back into Vegas, bold as ever, like a king reclaiming histhrone.
Now buying the house felt like a jinx. Like Max would be daring the universe to upend his plans to marry Abby, to build a life with her in the town they both calledhome.
Would she even want to stay if Jason stayedtoo?
WouldMax?
It was hard to imagine an eventuality where Jason would be able to walk away from the shooting at the Tangier. Nico and Max had been witness to Jason’s killing of Fredo DeLuca and his guard, and while they weren’t exactly eager to cooperate with the FBI, neither was Max willing to let Jasonwalk.
His Board of Directors couldn’t be eager to have him back at the helm after everything that happened. They might accept his return in the short-term, but Max was willing to bet they were already looking for someone to stage a hostile takeover of thecompany.
And yet if anyone could find a way out of the situation, it was Jason. He had an uncanny knack for finding opportunity, for taking the smallest advantage and turning it into a game-changer. He’d done it by being friends with Max, by taking advantage of the mentorship offered by Max’s father, by stealing Cartwright Holdings and using it as collateral for the lines of credit he’d needed to start his owncompany.
It wasn’t as far-fetched as it should have been to imagine Jason surviving the currentcrisis.
Which brought Max back to thehouse.
He turned away from the fields and looked up at the faded exterior. If worst came to worst, he could resell it, but it still felt like a moment of truth. If he bought it, it would be a commitment to a future for him and Abby in Vegas, a claim staked on their town and their lives together init.
His resolve hardened. He didn’t know what the future held, but he refused to make decisions about his future with Abby with Jason in mind. He wouldn’t give Jason that power over them. They were in control of their lives. They always had been, and he’d be damned if Jason was the one to changeit.
He headed for the side of the house and made his way toward the front. He didn’t need to look anymore, didn’t need to think aboutit.
“Are there any questions I can answer, Mr. Cartwright?” Concern for a potential lost sale was written all over poor Zach’s face. “Anything I can do to put your mind at ease before we make anoffer?”
“Yeah.” Max stalked toward him. “You can get me apen.”
