Dirty Maverick (The Maxwell Family)

by Alycia Taylor

  It was a question I had asked myself a lot over the past few days, and I really could only come up with one answer.

  “I guess he has his memory back and realizes he’s not into me. I guess he’s doing what, so many guys do when they don’t know how to tell someone what they’re really thinking. I guess he’s just run away from his problems. That’s what guys do, isn’t it?”

  “Not all guys,” she said, and I knew she was referring to her own boyfriend.

  “Yeah, I know. But that’s the impression I get with Max. Like maybe he’s just sick of me. Maybe this whole thing was just a fling to get his mind off his problems, and now that it’s all over, he doesn’t want to be with me again. Which, let me remind you, is going to make things super awkward when we go back to work tomorrow. I’m definitely not going to be the one to bring it up.” I groaned at the idea of it.

  “You know, Madi, I know you’re upset with him right now, but have you ever considered that maybe he’s just completely stressed out by everything? It’s been a crazy few months for him, and maybe now that the court case has come to an end, he just feels overwhelmed. I’m not trying to stick up for him, but I have been in that situation before when all you want to do is be alone and clear your head. It doesn’t mean that he doesn’t want to be with me, but maybe everything has caught up to him, and it’s all gotten too much.”

  “Doesn’t make ignoring me right though,” I said.

  She nodded. “I have to agree with you there. It doesn’t make it right at all. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t deserve the benefit of the doubt. To be honest, I think you should ignore what I said earlier and just call him.”

  “Really? Don’t you think he should call me instead?” I felt slightly annoyed that my sister was sticking up for him rather than me.

  “I do. And usually, I would say that you shouldn’t call him. But after what he’s been through, maybe this should be the exception to the rule.”

  I nodded. “Maybe you’re right. I’ll think about it. Okay, can we talk about something else because I’m sick to death of thinking about all of this? I’ve done nothing but think about it all week. I have one more day before going back to work, and I want all the time I can with you.”

  She smiled. “How about we stuff our faces with cake and wine and watch stupid movies and play games, and just go back to life before we became adults.”

  I grinned. “Yes! That’s exactly what I want to do.”

  For the rest of the day, we did just that. I tried to push all thoughts of Max out of my mind and instead concentrated on spending time with my sister. We had a lot to catch up on, and it was so good to be around her again. She got me laughing again and made me forget about all my worries, at least for the day. I only left her house at the end of the day, after an entire day of doing nothing more than eat, drink and laugh. I stood in her doorway, and she gave me a big hug.

  “I’m glad you’re back. And I don’t want you to worry about anything. You’ve been way too stressed lately. It’s not worth it. And don’t worry about Max. He’ll come around. He just needs some time, that’s all. Don’t let it get to you and don’t take it personally. I know it’s easier said than done, but I just can’t have you stress like this. Otherwise, I’m going to spend all my time worrying about you.”

  I smiled. “Thanks, Lyndsey. You’re the best. I can’t even begin to tell you how much I appreciate having you around. Today was just what I needed.”

  “Do you feel better?” she asked.

  “I feel so much better.”

  “Good. It was great having you here. I love you, Madi.”

  “I love you too, little sis,” I said and gave her one more hug goodbye.

  I made my way home and thought about what she said about phoning Max. I almost did it too. I picked up the phone and put it down at least five times before finally making my mind up. It was late, and I was going to see him the following day anyway. I didn’t want to make things worse by calling him now. I would figure things out in the morning. Maybe my sister was right about Max anyway. Maybe he just needed some time to sort his head out. The more I thought about it, the surer I was that I had not imagined the feelings that the two of us had shared. It was more than just sex. Everything was going to be just fine. I put my head down that night and knew that I was finally going to have a good night’s sleep. Tomorrow was a brand-new day.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Max

  After the court case, I spent my days holed up in my apartment and trying to decide on whether or not to call Madison. I had put her through a lot of stress in the past few weeks, and because of me, she had almost died twice. I wasn’t sure if I could save her a third time.

  I also didn’t know what she thought of me. She’d been my partner for years, and nothing had ever happened with us. Why then were we suddenly together? Was it because I had lost my memories and she felt bad for me? Was I acting differently from the Max that she knew before? Did that mean if I changed back to my old ways that she would stop caring for me? Was I simply something for her to do while we were holed up inside the safe house? I couldn’t wrap my head around the idea that Madison was in love with me. If she was, then something would have happened a long time ago. And it was because of the fact that I was falling so deeply for her that I had to pull away. It wasn’t fair on either of us. If she got too close to me, then being around me could get her into trouble. After all, just because the boss was in jail didn’t mean that we were completely out of the woods in terms of our safety. If she didn’t want to be with me, but I wanted to be with her, then it was best that I pulled away now. No matter how much I looked into it, it always boiled down to me not getting too involved.

  I went to work with a lot of trepidation that day. I got there earlier than usual because I had asked the chief if I could have a meeting with him alone. The chief was always at work before everyone else, so he didn’t seem to mind at all. The moment he saw me, he called me in, and I closed the door behind me.

  “Welcome back, Max. I’ve got to say; it’s really good to have you here. How are you feeling?”

  “I’m feeling okay. I’m just so glad to be back. There was no way I could’ve stayed on at home much longer. I’ve missed being at work too much.”

  “You were always one of our hardest workers. That’s why I wanted to have you back so much. All these other guys look like slackers compared to you. Well, except for Madison of course. She’s just the same as you. Did you want her to be in this meeting too? I haven’t seen her yet, but we can wait if you like?”

  I shook my head. “No. I didn’t want her here. Actually, she’s one of the reasons why I called this meeting. I wanted to talk to you about her.”

  “About her and not with her. That’s unusual. Is everything okay?”

  I nodded. I was not going to tell the chief about what had happened between Madison and me. As far as I was concerned, that was just between the two of us, and nobody else had to know about it. I knew she wouldn’t take too kindly to me telling everyone about us sleeping together. That was something I tried not to think about myself too much either. It was better this way. I could just add it to a part of my memory that couldn’t be retrieved. It could become a ‘lost’ memory.

  I sighed. “Yes, everything is fine. I just think it would be better if I was transferred to another department.”

  The chief narrowed his eyes at me. “Transferred? Does this mean that you don’t want to be partners with Madison anymore either? Or does she want to be transferred too?”

  “No, I want to be transferred alone. Just me. I think, after everything that has happened, that I just need to do something different. I need a break from all of this.”

  “Okay, that’s fine, I do understand that. After what you’ve been through, I would probably be the same. But are you sure something hasn’t happened between you and Madison? This all just seems very sudden.”

  I nodded. “Nothing has happened between us. But I’ve put her through a lot
over the last year. She was by my side throughout the entire year acting as undercover cops, and then she was with me throughout the fallout. Nothing happened with us, but I think it’s best that we went our separate ways for a while. That way, we can both get over how traumatic this has all been.”

  The chief sat back in his chair and considered what I was telling him. “Well, I can understand why you want to do this. Yes, I’m sure that is probably the best thing. But, the two of you have always worked so well together. You always said that you didn’t want to be on a team with anyone else. I just find this a little strange. Have you spoken to Madison about it?”

  I shook my head. “I haven’t. I wanted to run it by you first and see what you thought. I just thought it would be good to take a break from what we usually do. We can always become partners again, but I think if we spend too much time together, we’re just going to constantly think about what happened. And the last thing we need is for this to get in the way of our current work.” I hoped that the chief wouldn’t see past my words. Thankfully, he was a lot gentler with me after what had happened. I decided to play those cards a bit more while I could.

  “The thing is,” I said to the chief. “The doctor told me not to stress, and that’s all I’ve been doing lately. I’ve probably stressed more now than I have in my whole life. Which is the complete opposite of what I should be doing. Being with Madison and being in the same department is just going to remind me too much of what has happened. I need a clean break for a while just to clear my head. I hope that makes sense, and I’m sorry to mess you around like this. I just really want things to go back to normal, and I think that this is the best way to do it.”

  I was glad to see the chief nodding along to what I was saying. Playing the sympathy card seemed to be working.

  “Only you know what is best for you. And I would way rather have you working with us and feeling comfortable than working for us and being stressed out. Let’s put you in another department and get you a new partner for the time being. We can assess the situation in a few months’ time and see if it’s working for everyone. Although, I have a feeling you will thrive no matter which department you are in.”

  I breathed out in relief. I hadn’t realized how tense I had been until that moment. It would be much easier to forget about Madison if I wasn’t on the same team as her. This was definitely the right thing to do, and I was glad that I had the chief on my side. I shot him a grateful smile and told him how much I appreciate him helping me out.

  “You’re going to be fine, Max. It’s been a crazy time, but you will be fine. This works for me. As long as you’re back, I don’t really mind what department you’re in.”

  “Thank you. I appreciate it.”

  “Oh look, there’s Madison. Wow, she’s in early today. You see, the two of you are just the same. Both workaholics. Your poor new partners are going to go crazy with you around. But maybe this is a good thing. I need some other people to work as hard as you. You might inspire them to do the same. All right, let me call her in so that we can discuss how this is all going to work going forward.”

  The chief got up and opened the door before I had a chance to stop him. I had hoped he would talk to Madison without me. But asking him to do that now would only make him think that something had happened. I groaned inwardly as I heard him call for Madison.

  “Madison, come on in. I have Max here. We want to have a quick meeting before the day starts.”

  Madison walked in, and I gulped. She looked so beautiful. Even in her uniform. Even with her hair tied back and not a scrap of makeup on. Madison was beautiful. I smiled tersely at her.

  “Morning,” I said.

  “Morning,” she said back and sat down beside me.

  Her perfume came drifting towards me, and I tried not to think about what it was like to be with her. No, I had done the right thing. Madison was not interested in me at all. I was doing us both a favor.

  Chapter Thirty

  Madison

  Getting ready for work that day didn’t feel at all like it had previously. I used to get up early, ready and willing to start my day. But today I woke up with a strange feeling over me. Like there was a dark cloud above me just waiting to release its rain on me. I had no idea what it was going to be like to see Max again. This was why I had never wanted to get involved with him in the first place; I didn’t want to feel this way every time I went into work. I felt angry at him for making me fall for him. Angry at him for making the first move. Angry at him for pulling away from me just when I thought that everything was going well. It wasn’t fair. I tried not to cry as I got changed. I wouldn’t let him see me get upset. If he didn’t have the guts to come and tell me how he really felt, then I didn’t want to be with him anyway.

  I got to work feeling more determined than ever. I would simply continue the way that I always had with him, and I would forget that we had ever been anything more than friends. Although I wasn’t even sure that we could call each other friends anymore. We were work partners, with a very important job to do.

  I made my inside and said hello to a few people. Some of them stopped me and asked how I was doing. They congratulated me on helping with the case, and I thanked them and quickly moved onto the next person. There didn’t seem to be much to celebrate anymore. Everyone told me how impressed they were at how quickly I had come back to work.

  “If I were in your shoes, I would’ve taken at least another week or two off,” one of my coworkers said.

  I chuckled. “Yeah, but did you expect me to take time off? Are you really surprised to see me here?”

  He laughed. “I’m not surprised in the least. If you did take time off, I would’ve been much more surprised. But I’m glad to hear that you got the guy. That at least must be something. I still can’t believe that we were dealing with such a high member of society all this time. Although, it’s not the first time that it’s happened. Doesn’t it make you wonder how many more people out there are demanding respect from the public and then doing something like this behind their backs? It’s a bit scary. Some people use their powers in the worst ways. Goes to show, you really can’t trust anyone anymore. And Peter . . . it’s hard to even talk about that.”

  I nodded. I was desperate to get to my desk, but everyone seemed to want a piece of me. “Yeah, it’s very scary. And I’m definitely going to be careful where I put my trust these days,” I said. I thought immediately of Blake and shuddered. I didn’t want to think about him anymore. The last time I had seen him had been in the safe house, and he’d been slumped on the floor in a pool of his own blood. Just a few seconds before that he’d been about to shoot both Max and me. It was not a memory I really wanted to relive. “Anyway,” I said brightly, “I better get going. I’m assuming I have a pile of work on my desk just waiting to be attended to. I’m looking forward to getting stuck in it.”

  “Good luck, Madison. It’s good to have you back. We all missed having you and Max around. It’s not the same without the two of you.”

  I smiled although I was certain my smile didn’t reach my eyes. “Thank you,” I said and quickly walked over to my desk. The moment I got there, I heard the chief call my name. I put my bag down, took my coat off, and made my way to his office. I was surprised to see that Max was sitting there. And once again, Max could barely look me in the eye. I couldn’t help but feel annoyed at this.

  “Madison, come on in. I have Max here. We want to have a quick meeting before the day starts.”

  I nodded and walked in. I looked at Max and tried to smile.

  “Morning,” I said.

  “Morning,” he replied. I noticed that neither one of us had said ‘good’ morning.

  I sat down and looked between the chief and Max. I could sense that something was up, but I couldn’t figure out if it was something good or bad yet.

  “Welcome back, Madison. It’s good to have you here again.”

  “Good to be back chief,” I said.

  “Now, before y
ou get back to work, there’s something I want to discuss with you.”

  “Is everything okay?”

  The chief glanced quickly at Max and then back at me. “Yes, everything is fine. Max has spoken to me about how stressful everything has been for both of you, and how he thinks it would be best if he is transferred to another department.”

  I looked at Max in surprise. “You want to us to go to another department? But why? I thought we were good here. We’ve been here for so long anyway. Which department were you thinking of going to?”

  “Uh . . .” Max faltered and looked at the chief for help.

  “The thing is, Madison, Max is going to be transferred alone. We’re more than happy for you to stay where you are.”

  “Alone? I don’t understand.”

  “Max will get transferred to a new department, and you will stay on here. If that is fine with you, of course. Max and I have only just spoken about it, so there is nothing set in stone just yet. We can discuss how best to move forward in a way that works for both of you. And, as I said to Max, we can evaluate the situation in about six months and see where we all stand.”

  “But, uh . . . why? I mean, I thought we worked well as a team?” I said to Max. So much for Team Maverick and all that bullshit he had given me not so long ago. Was everything he said to me a lie? It had all felt so real, but now I wasn’t so sure if any of it had been genuine. What a fool I had been.

  “Yes, we do. Of course, we do,” he said without any explanation to why he then wanted to give up on us.

  “Oh yeah?” I said and raised my eyebrows. “So, if we’re so good at this then why exactly do you want to be separated from me? That’s seems like a very strange thing to do to someone that you work so well with. That’s a very strange idea of teamwork you have. Had enough of me in the safe house, have you?” I asked.

  “No, of course not.” He had the decency to at least sound embarrassed.