He just needed to make sure that Sophie was safe for now. He knew that once Frank thought he and Sophie were done, he would be secure in his position of ultimate power and hierarchy over Max. And once he read that letter and confirmed with Nicholas that he and Sophie were now together, he would believe it. Max hoped that all went according to plan because he was laying it all on the line so that he and Sophie could have a normal happy life together. He could only hope that her love was strong enough to forgive him leaving without telling her the plan. But he knew he couldn’t tell her the truth, he needed her pain and emotions to be real and vulnerable. He needed Frank to look at photos of her, Max knew he was having her followed, and to see the gut-wrenching sadness in her eyes and face. This had been the only way. “Well, we’re here.” He pulled up to the club and turned to a frantic Alexis. “You don’t have to go through with this. Frank’s not worth it, Alexis.”
“I’m going in.” She opened the door and stumbled out of his car and Max sighed. This was a part of the plan that he didn’t want to deal with.
Chapter 19
Sophie
She had been lucky to find a babysitter at the last moment. She hadn’t wanted to leave Jacob but there was no way she wanted to take him to the club with her. And there was no way that she wasn’t going to go. She had been a bad friend in the last couple of years, ignoring the signs that Ella needed help. At first it had seemed innocent and exploratory when Ella had spent the night with different men, but as the numbers had increased Sophie had been worried that there was more going on than met the eye. She had been worried that Ella was a sex addict or had emotional issues but she had never been sure how to bring it up. And she had been too obsessed with her love for Max to bring it up to him. She knew in her heart that she had failed Ella as a friend but starting tonight, she was going to change that.
As soon as Ella had told her she was going to ‘The X Club’ and that Joseph was accompanying her, Sophie knew she was in trouble. Ella was in a downward spiral and Sophie didn’t want anything bad to happen to her friend. She arrived at the club and took a deep breath before going in. This was a much different set-up than ‘The Games’ and she felt overwhelmed and slightly scared. She missed Max. She didn’t know where he was or what he was doing but she just wanted to talk to him, to tell him what was going on, to let him know that she loved him and missed him. She wanted him to hold her close and tell her everything was going to be okay. Because she was scared. Really scared. Not just because she wasn’t sure if she would ever see him again. But because she was scared she was going to make a bad mother. She had already missed an important doctor’s appointment. She couldn’t afford to do that again. She couldn’t afford to miss any more meals. She couldn’t afford the stress. Not when there was another life at stake. She owed it to her baby to be strong. She needed to think of the baby first now. And she was scared she didn’t know how to.
Her eyes adjusted to the light and she looked around for Ella and Joseph. She sighed as she looked at all the people in various stages of copulation. It didn’t seem sexy or adventurous now. She felt sick and embarrassed. And she was mad, she was mad that she had to be here. What did Ella think she was going to do when she got here? Just march up to Frank and tell him to leave her family alone? She decided that she needed a plan; she was going to walk around the room from left to right and look in each door that she came to, hopefully she would see Ella somewhere.
It was the fourth door that she came to when she felt her heart beating strongly. She knew before she even walked in the dark room that Ella was in there. She walked slowly and stopped by a bed. On it she saw a na**d Ella and Joseph and she wanted to scream and cry. She didn’t understand why Ella just couldn’t seem to say no.
“Ella get up.” She kept her voice friendly and calm but now she had found her friend all she wanted to do was to get out of there.
“Sophie?” Ella frowned and blushed as she covered herself up. “It’s not what it looks like.”
“I’m not here to judge, Ella.” Sophie smiled weakly at her friend. “But get your clothes on so we can leave.”
“Sophie, why are you here?” Ella’s voice is panicked. “You shouldn’t be here.”
“Ella, we can talk afterwards.”
“But Joseph is sleeping.” Ella pulled on her top and skirt.
“I don’t care.” Sophie grabbed her friend’s arm. “You need to forget about him, Ella. Please.” She stared into her friend’s eyes. “You need to get help.”
“Help for what?” Ella turned away from her and Sophie sighed. This wasn’t the time or the place for this conversation.
“Let’s just go.” She pulled her friend with her to the door.
“Okay, okay. Just hold on.” Ella sighed.
They walked quickly back through the club and that was when Sophie felt another odd feeling. “Hold on.” Sophie stopped and walked back across the club to another room and opened the door slightly and peeked inside. She saw Frank and Alexis arguing and she cringed as she watched them. She was about to close the door when she saw a slight movement from the corner of the room. It was Max. Her Max. She was about to rush into greet him, when he walked up to Alexis and put his arms around her. She cried out in shock as she watched him kiss her hair and she trembled uncontrollably.
“Sophie and I are done, Frank.” Max sneered at him. “I’m back with my true love Alexis now.”
Frank stared at Max with fury. “Why would you want that two-bit whore, Max?” He laughed. “She came here begging for me and now you want her.”
“I’ll have whatever part of her that she’ll give me.” Max pulled Alexis closer to him. “She’s a special lady Frank and I feel sorry for you if you can’t see that.”
Frank rolled his eyes. “You never did get it, did you, Max? It’s not about the women or the money. It’s about the power. It’s about the control.”
“No Frank, I think you don’t get it,” Max snarled at him. “I’m going to be raising your son, Frank, don’t you care about that?”
“If he’s my son.” Frank looked at Alexis in disgust. “If you want to take care of a whore and her child, that’s up to you.”
“Let me be clear about one thing, Frank.” Max pushed his face into the other man’s. “I have videos of you, me, Alexis and Gina and photos. I also have a signed legal statement from Alexis that you are Jacob’s father. If I ever hear that you are coming after me or my family again, I will release everything to the media and you will be ruined. Your wife will leave you, you will lose your position and you will never be President.”