Cheated (Mr. Control Freak)

XXXI. COULD'VE FOOLED ME

Our newest character to the top

VALENTINA'S POV

I went to my regular coffee shop after I got off from work, it was always extremely busy around this time so I was glad to find and empty table. I nursed my cup of iced coffee while scrolling down my Instagram timeline, enjoying the solitude. The chair across from me scraped against the floor from being pulled and I sighed, not bothering to look up. If I didn't make eye contact then maybe they'd get the message that I wasn't interested in talking.

"Do you mind if I sit here? The other tables are filled." A deep voice asked. It was man, or at least I hoped.

"I'm not gonna stop you." I replied.

He sat down without another word and after awhile, I forgot he was there. That is, until I looked up to take a sip out of my drink and realized how gorgeous he was. He was obviously fit and I couldn't fully assess his height since he was sitting, I doubt it wouldn't even matter though, since his face would make up for it. From what I could see he had blue, green eyes and a chiseled jaw that was coated with an amazing beard. His brown hair was curly, but a tamed curly if that makes any sense. He would've noticed me staring for such a long time if he wasn't so engrossed in his work.

"You came to a coffee shop to work?" I asked him. Now I wanted to talk.

"I'm actually on break right now." He replied.

"You could've fooled me."

"I take my work very seriously, I'm Tristan." He held his hand out across the table for me to shake.

"Valentina." I took his hand and firmly shook it.

We spent a good amount of time talking and he seemed like a decent person. Our conversation was cut short when he looked down at his watch.

"Shit, I have to get back to work. It was nice meeting you." He gathered his things and left in a hurry.

I left shortly after and dropped Miguel off at his play date. I'd normally stay for the duration but I didn't like the dogs' owner much. I wasn't worried about my baby though, if she did anything to him he'd indicated me.

"Max! I made a new friend today and he's insanely hot." I said walking into his spacious penthouse.

"What?" He made himself visible and my god, he looked scary.

His right eye was swollen almost shut, his lip was busted, and basically his whole face was bruised up. That wasn't all either, I could see another bruise on his chest, peeking out of his shirt.

"Oh my god, what happened to you?" I asked stepping towards him to examine his face better.

This is the second time I've seen him all battered up, except this time it was much worse. I can't help but wonder what he does to get himself in these situations.

"Nothing. What were you saying?" He said trying to change the subject.

"Dude it looks like you got tag teamed by Floyd Mayweather and Evander Holyfield." I told him moving to the kitchen to get him an ice pack. I found a pack of frozen peas and tossed them at him.

"It's nothing, I just couldn't talk my way out of a fight this time." I heard a tone of finality in his voice that let me know that he didn't want to talk about what transpired, so I dropped the subject.

Max was extremely quiet from that point on, I knew something was bothering him and he'd tell me when he was ready, or he'd get over it himself.

I spent my time texting my friend, we were currently making plans; I needed to spend time with people other than Max for a change, he's probably so sick of me. Well, as sick as one can get of Valentina Morales.

"Have you ever done something, thinking it was right at the time and it ends up not being so?" Max asked, turned to look at me.

"A mistake?" I asked him to clarify what he meant.

Max nodded in return, "Valentina, I made a mistake, and now other people are paying for it."

My prediction was: something happened at work and he's feeling guilty for it.

"What happened?" I scooted closer to him to hear him better since he was speaking so softly.

"I put Alec's mother in jail." He admitted.

I was stunned. I was never told why Alec had such an animosity towards Max but hearing this makes me understand.

"Why would you do such a thing?" I whispered. This made me see him in a whole other light but I was going to let him explain before I judged him.

He explained to me everything that happened and I was left confused. I don't know if it was just me or the way he explained it but it didn't sound like did anything wrong.

"That's not your fault, you were only trying to help your friend, it was Charlotte who put her in jail, it's not like you could've known what she was planning." I tried to get him to shed all the guilt he was carrying.

"I knew. I didn't realize it at the time, but I knew it all. Charlotte would ask me what I thought were random questions and make me run seemingly pointless errands. I was too blind to realize that I was shading in crucial details to a bigger picture. Even when I did realize that something was off, there wasn't anything that I could do about it." He told me.

"Why you do that to your best friend though? You didn't have to follow Charlotte's orders.

He took a deep breath like he was about get something big off of his chest. "Charlotte... She sexually abused me."

Holy mother of God.

I can't. I can't deal. Yet another bomb has been dropped and I can't do it.

Charlotte, the lovely old lady that only had a mean streak for Alec, abused Max, sexually. My brain couldn't process any of it. I was still coming to terms with the fact that Alec likes men and women.

"Max I'm so sorry." I said, wrapping arms around him in a hug. He probably didn't want my sympathy but I was about to cry for him. "Did Alec know?" I asked him.

Max shook his head, "I never told a soul. Hell at that point, I didn't even know. My parents were never really around, they were always working, which I appreciate them for, but I guess I never reached my quota of hugs since I didn't see them much and when I did, they weren't affectionate and my nanny wasn't shit. When I met Charlotte, I felt cared for, loved even, so when she started, I didn't like it, but I kinda just let her because I didn't want the affection to stop. She could ask me to do anything and I would foolishly do it. I felt disgusting for doing that to Alec, I'd apologize every time I saw him but he didn't think it was real after he moved in with his father and Charlotte because I'd still be around. I felt so used, I thought she genuinely cared about me."

I could see the torment in his eyes and I just felt so bad for both him and Alec.

"Max, I wanna say I understand how you're feeling, but I won't because I don't. But I do know that you need forgive yourself for this, you can't go through the rest of your life blaming yourself."

"I can't let it go, Val, I tried but I can't." He replied with hurt in his voice.

Seeing him like this and knowing how Alec felt during all of this made me angry. It made me angry at Charlotte for being such a b