The Billionaire Playboy's Regret (Lark and Max)

Lark found Max sitting up in his hospital bed with his laptop and a beautiful older woman standing at his bedside. The woman waved her off and motioned Max was on a call. Max held up a finger to her but shook his head when she signalled, she was going to leave.

"Send me the design plans for the product and we can discuss the product launch. Also, after today, my VP of operations will be taking over the CEO duties indefinitely. I'll be checking in periodically with him, but we all know Friedrich can do this job with his eyes closed. He's been with me since day one. I know you'll do me proud Friedrich."

A man's voice floated into the room from the laptop, "of course, sir."

"Peaches will be in touch with the rest of the assignments and will be assisting Friedrich while I'm recovering from surgery. I'm only a text away but please for the love of God, in order to keep my mother off my ass, can you keep the messages down to a minimum?" he begged as they all laughed. He signed off and passed his laptop to Peaches.

"Thanks Peaches. Send the quarterly report to the CFO's office. Make sure the legal team has what they need for the latest patents. They will be working remotely so everything needs to be digitalized and encrypted before being sent electronically. IT will set up special parameters." He reached out and squeezed her hand, "thank you for everything." "It's a pleasure, Mr. Villeneuve." She lifted up a bag and tucked the laptop into and then left the hospital room.

"That was hot," Lark grinned. "Max Villeneuve acting corporate is sexy as hell."

He laughed and patted the bed, "very funny. How's your head? Johan sent me a video of you last night doing shots with your dad."

"Head hurts." She ruefully grimaced, "heart hurts more though."

"Yesterday was tough. I'm hoping each day without her gets easier." Max said softly.

It wasn't what she meant but she ignored his comment and made her way to sit beside him. She bit the inside of her cheek, "you look a lot better today."

"I feel better. I had a good talk with my own cardiologist here yesterday afternoon and again this morning." "Is it why you're taking a leave of absence?"

"Partly." He lifted her hand into his. "Mom was here before the sun was even up this morning." He exhaled heavily, "We had a bit of a hard chat."

"What's wrong?"

"She is my maman and I love her, and I owe her so much for all she's done for me and our family but she's overstepping and more importantly, she's running herself ragged. I don't want her in the next bed. I made a deal with her. I would listen to the doctors. I would take time off work to focus on healing. She needs to let me be an adult and back up."

"You're her son, though Max."

"I am but I am one of six children and I do not want her stretched thin. I can take care of myself. I'm a big boy. I need her to stop worrying so much about me when there are much more important things to worry about. Stop reading the wrong and incomplete storyline, jo b ni b.com has the correct and complete book. She is at the age where she should be looking forward to retiring in a few years and living child-free. My father and I talked a long time about it when he showed up here drunk after midnight. He is worried for her. She cries. A lot. I reassured her she is done raising me. I can take care of myself."

"I see." She wondered if she should tell him what Fallon blurted this morning. "I hate to say this, but the triplets are in some deep shit."

"I know. Ollie texted me. I let my father know."

"I know you have group therapy, so I didn't want to take too much of your time."

"I'm not going." He shook his head. "Mom needs to focus her time on the triplets and Margot. If she wants me to come for support, I can do this but I'm getting therapy on my own and while they are my family, I'm a grown man who lives in his own home. I don't live with them. They need to sort out their s**t. It has nothing to do with me. LJ's prejudices because he thinks I was handed a better life than him are his and my mother's, to sort out."

"What about your counselling with Ollie?"

"I'm continue with her. She and I are very co-dependent and we're needing to learn how to live our separate lives without dragging each other down. Counselling will help."

"You're a smart man, Max."

"I know, chère," he smiled at her. "I thought you would have popped by sooner."

"Ollie told me you were booked for a medical procedure this morning, so I took my time. What was the medical thing?" "It's called cardiac rehabilitation, but it wasn't a procedure. My first appointment was this morning. I'll attend daily for the next four to six weeks. I'll be able to move back to my condo in a few days so long as nothing untoward pops up after yesterday's flight and I'll attend the day program." "You'll be home in a few days? Who will be there with you?"

"Nobody." He laughed. "Lark. My heart is repaired and while it's still bruised and recovering, I'm fine." "You're not fine! You suffered a heart attack and needed bypass surgery. You told your mom you didn't want her hovering and now you're going home alone?"

"And I'm following all the protocols

put in place by my medical team. I'm listening to them. I won't be taking unnecessary risks. I'm a grown man, Lark." At the way her blue eyes flashed furiously at him he tugged her closer to him, "hey, people all over the world have heart attacks and go home after a couple of days and do exactly what I'm intending on doing. I'm not doing anything any other person would be doing."

"You'll be alone. What if you get sick in the middle of the night?"

"I'm not going to. I'm listening to my team. Lark. I'm not letting fear force me to move back into my mother's house," he gave an exaggerated shudder. "Lark, she was ready to give me a sponge bath this morning. It's a no from me."

"I'm worried about you Max."

"I know you are. I love you for being worried but you," he tapped her nose, "have more important things to worry about. Your sister is in a coma. Your family needs you there at her bedside." He stroked her cheek, "I do have my request for you though."

"Sure. Name it."

"I know I asked you before and you were hesitant, but will you come to couples counselling with me? Virtually for now?" "Why are you pushing this so hard?" she started to pull away.

"Because we have a lifetime of misunderstandings and it's clear I don't read social cues well, especially where you are concerned. I'm not good at expressing my feelings to you, not in a way which I make you understand. I think I'm being open, honest, and direct, and you think I'm being manipulative, sneaky, and coercive. I can't lose you again, Lark. You are far too valuable to me."

"You told Ollie you didn't want to marry me." She blurted it out unable to stop herself and was embarrassed at the look of shock on his face.

"I said no such thing."

"She told me."

"She twisted it and I'll give her hell for it later. You and I though, I think we need to talk."

"She's right." Lark wiped a tear off her cheek. "You're taking it back and you don't want to marry me. I was too bitchy yesterday and -"

"Shh," he gave a laugh as he pulled her close to him again and held her head against his chest. "Lark, take a breath. I never said I didn't want to marry you. If I had my way, you'd have rings on your fingers right now."

"Really?" she whispered pitifully. She was going to blame her hangover on being weepy.

"Yes, really. I love you. I want to spend the rest of my life, whether it's a short life or a long life, being with you. I want to raise a family with you and build a life together with you. It's what I've wanted since I was eight and you begged my dad not to make me move away. Do you remember? You barrelled into the hotel room and told him you didn't want him to make us move away?"

"I remember."

"I knew then I wanted to be with you forever. We were meant to be together forever."

"Yes, we are." She snuggled against him.

"But you aren't ready, Lark." He said against her hair. "I pushed you too fast and too hard. The minute we slept together I was ready for the entire lifetime package. I told Johan the morning after we were together, I was going to ask you to move in."

"Max," she protested his words.

"He told me I was pushing too hard

because we'd only been together a few weeks and you were rebounding off the relationship with Doug. I didn't listen and didn't respect the counsel of my best friend because I wanted so desperately for you to love me as crazily as I love you and it doesn't work this way. I was too pushy and too demanding. I'm sorry, chère. I didn't give you the time you needed to process, to think, to even grieve this f*****g week from hell. I pushed and you are right. I manipulated you. In the hospital room in Houston, everyone said I was extorting you and I thought your were all joking. I'm so used to them throwing out insults and jabs it never dawned they meant it. I thought it was what you wanted. I'm sorry. You deserve the world, Lark and I am so desperate to start providing it to you right now, I'm moving at the speed of light but it's my pace and not yours and its not fair to you."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I wasn't trying to bribe you with the house. I want to give you the house. I want to give you the family you wanted as a kid. I want to give you the neighborhood. I want to give you the supportive husband who wears a tie like you used to make me wear when we were kids. I want to give you the world. All the money in my bank account an want to spend every penny on you doing things which make you happy. None of it is meant to manipulate you but to spoil you. It's all. I only want to spoil you, but I went about it wrong and I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. So, we will wait. I'm not going anywhere. I'll be right here waiting with my arms open for when you are ready. I know I said I wanted us married within the month, but we will do this when you're ready and not a moment before. I don't want you to wake up one day and resent me for railroading your life. I love you, Lark. I'm ready to wait. So, when you come to me and tell me you are ready to set a date, I will be ready, but I want you to know there is no pressure from me."

"You'll wait?"

"Until forever if I must."

She looked into his eyes and the love he was showing her took her breath away. Her pushy, arrogant,

strong-willed Max was going to wait.