“Hey, bud.”
“Where’s Mommy?”
“I think she’s in the bathroom,” I lied.
No way in hell was I going to tell the boy I’d hurt his mother’s feelings and she’d run from me.
“I’m thirsty.”
“Come on, let’s get you something to drink then.”
It was a crapshoot whether Eli would follow me into the kitchen or retreat to the bedroom. The four-year-old had warmed up to me but he wasn’t overly friendly, not like Liam was. I found it astounding that after all of the abuse Liam had endured at the hands of a man who was supposed to love him and protect him, the kid could be as sociable as he was. I credited Eva for Liam’s progress. She was open and loving with both of them. She’d done a great job putting her life back together.
I found the plastic cups Eva had been using for the boys and poured Eli some apple juice. The sweet scent filled my nostrils, making the ache in my chest intensify. I’d forever associate apples with Eva—the smell, the sugary flavor on her tongue the first time I kissed her.
“Max?”
“Yeah?”
“Are we going to live here now?”
I looked down at Eli and smiled.
If someone had told me I would be standing in a kitchen with a little boy, pouring him a drink, ready to take a leap into an unknown situation full of land mines that could obliterate my heart, I would’ve called them stupid. And if I was told that I’d find a woman who I could trust to guide me through those explosives, a woman who could teach me how to love and be loved, I would’ve called them a liar—right before the yearning to have just that set in.
Eva was everything I never allowed myself to have.
“That’s up to your mom,” I told him, then asked. “Do you like it here?”
The boy shrugged his shoulders.
“You don’t know?” I teased.
“I like the swings.”
Eli put his cup on the counter and rushed off before I could offer to take him out to the backyard. Which was probably for the best because I needed to finish up with Zane and talk things out with Eva.
Then after that, I was going to give her the day she wanted—the one free of drama, hitmen, and impending trips to Alaska.
I still didn’t agree with her talking to the authorities. I seriously hated the idea of taking her back to a place I knew would cause her pain. But none of this was about me and it didn’t matter what I wanted—this was about Eva and what she needed to do. All she needed from me was for me to trust she knew her own mind and to support her by way of protection. I’d make her safe while she did what she had to do in order to move on with her life.
I just hoped she was moving on with me.
Chapter 27
There was a tap on the door, and since I was still sitting on the floor sulking, I felt the vibration against my back.
“Eva. It’s Zane.”
Zane?
As quick as I could, I scrambled to my feet and stepped away from the door. Then I stared at it because I didn’t know what else to do.
It wasn’t that I was afraid of Zane. Once I’d gotten over the initial shock of how menacing he looked—and I suspected he did it on purpose—Zane Lewis seemed like a man who liked to have the upper hand—be in charge, if you will.
And even if he’d softened when he met the boys, I wasn’t fooled. Zane had the same lethal, self-assured presence about him that Max had.
The door creaked open and my annoyance spiked.
“Can I help you?” I snapped at the audacity.
Who opens a door without being invited to do so?
“You done?”
Jeez, that sounded familiar.
“Done with what?”
“Your…”
“My what?” I prompted.
“I don’t know what to call it. I would say your tantrum, but my wife tells me I need to work on my people skills and has informed me that most of the time I’m a dick.” Zane shrugged and stepped farther into the room. “Since I love my wife, and Ivy’s normally right, I find myself trying to… be nice.” The man looked positively ill.
“And this is what? You trying to be nice? Walking into a room uninvited and asking me if I’m over my tantrum.”
“Pretty much.”
“And you’re married?”
“Yep.”
Zane smiled and it transformed his whole appearance. His blue eyes danced with what couldn’t be misinterpreted as anything but love. And he had dimples. Holy shit.
“Well, I’d say your wife has taken on one hell of a task if she’s attempting to coach you into being a pleasant person.”
Unfortunately, my jab had the opposite effect I was going for and Zane tossed his head back and roared with laughter.
“I don’t see what’s funny,” I huffed.
“No, you wouldn’t,” he said when his laughter died down.
If I’d thought Max had the scrutinizing gaze down to a science, Zane had him beat by a mile. It was totally unnerving the way Zane’s inspection was more of a thorough examination of my soul. I was pretty sure he had super-human powers and now knew all of my secrets.
After his dissection, he weirdly nodded his head and said, “Max’s comment wasn’t meant to hurt you.”
“Well, it did all the same.”
“He trusts you.”
“Could’ve fooled me.”
Suddenly the sure and confident demeanor that Zane projected faltered.
“Go easy on him, Eva.”
“Go easy?”
“I’m not speaking out of turn or betraying him when I tell you, Max doesn’t trust anyone.”
“I’m painfully aware of that.”
“No, I don’t think you are. He trusts you. And for a man who has spent his entire adult life avoiding exactly what he wants from you, I’d say that’s a damn compliment. It also says a lot about you that he’s willing to put himself out there and risk getting his heart shredded. Something he has never, ever, done before. And since he’s never done it, he’s gonna stumble and fuck up. Go easy—he’s worth it.”
By the time Zane was done speaking, I was finding it hard to breathe and every insecurity I had barreled to the surface.
“But what if I’m not worth it? He should—”
“That’s not up to you to determine. That’s for Max to discover, and he has. He thinks you’re worth it and since he does, he’s decided to take a chance on you. Don’t let him down, Eva. Once you get past all his barbs and thorns, you’ll never find a better man.”
“There weren’t all that many,” I whispered.
“No, Eva, Maximus Brown has made an art out of being cantankerous. The mere fact that you’ve never seen that side of him tells me everything I need to know. So, please, go easy.”
Of course I already knew who Max was, Zane hadn’t told me anything new. But hearing Max’s friend confirm it made my heartrate spike.
“I wasn’t mad at Max,” I admitted. “I just needed a minute to get my thoughts in order. I know he was just curious—”
“No, Eva. I think Max was actually pissed that you were sitting on information that could’ve possibly made you a lot of money. For whatever reason, Kenneth Eklund still loves his wife even after she had an affair and conspired to commit murder. The woman is positively venomous. But he would’ve paid you to keep those recordings from the authorities.”
“Why in the world would he be mad I didn’t blackmail someone?”
“Because it guts him to know you were suffering without your kids. Not to mention, we all know where you were working to survive. Something you don’t understand is, even though Max didn’t know you then, now that you are his—the very thought of you living in a seedy motel taking your clothes off to make money makes men like us murderous.”
“That’s crazy.”
“Crazy or not, that’s just how we’re wired.”
Before I could tell Zane how insane he sounded, Max’s frame filled the doorway.
“Thought you had a plane to arrange.”
Zane’s mouth curved up into a smile, his dimples popped out, and his eyes danced with mischief.
Oh, no.
“I can multitask,” Zane shot back.
“Go multitask somewhere else.”
“Wouldn’t be multitasking if I wasn’t simultaneously chartering a jet and saving your ass, now would it? That’d be single-tasking or some shit.”
Chartering a jet?
“Then go single-task somewhere that isn’t in my bedroom with my woman.”
I didn’t have time to process Max calling me his woman and what his declaration was doing to my insides, not when Zane’s body started to shake with humor and he dazzled me with a playful wink.
I now totally understand why his wife puts up with him and his surly attitude.
“The Gladiator has spoken, I better be on my way,” Zane teased.
Zane strolled out of the room like he didn’t have a care in the world. It was the polar opposite of how Max trudged his way to me. His shoulder muscles were bunched, biceps swollen, his pulse throbbed on the side of his neck.
“Why are you smiling?” he probed.
“I didn’t realize I was. But I guess it’s because Zane’s funny.”
“Funny, haha? Or funny as in he’s a nosy prick?”
This time when I grinned, even if I hadn’t felt the muscles in my face tighten, I wouldn’t have missed the way Max’s gaze dropped to my mouth. And there was certainly no missing the lust in his eyes.
One passionate look from him had my panties on fire, and wasn’t that some cliché romance shit? But it was true nonetheless.
“Gladiator?” I started to giggle.
“My name,” he mumbled disgruntledly.
“I gathered that.”
“The story goes, my father wanted me to have a strong name, one that was fit for the heir that would one day take over his business. What he did was saddle me with a name that gave every asshole in high school something to make fun of.”
The darkness that invaded his features made my heart hurt for him. A sudden change in him, I understood all too well. There was nothing that could dampen my mood like thinking about my parents.
“What’s your name?”
“Maximus.”
“Your full name,” I pressed.
“Maximus Brown.”
“You’re being purposefully obtuse,” I sighed. “What’s your middle name?”
Max’s silence made it increasingly harder not to laugh. His facial expressions weren’t helping either—he looked like he’d chugged a gallon of lemon juice and the tart flavor wasn’t his favorite.
“Please tell me it’s not Spartacus.”
Max shook his head in the negative but still didn’t speak.
I tried to remember the Russell Crowe classic, Gladiator, but there were so many Roman names, most of which I couldn’t pronounce, let alone recall. I was at a loss for more suggestions.
“Come on, just tell me,” I begged.
“Ragnar.”
“Maximus Ragnar?”
“Yes,” he ground out. “I’m named after a Roman Emperor and a Viking that died in a pit of vipers. Lucky me.”
“I swear I’m not laughing at your name.” I waved my hands in front of me as hilarity bubbled. “It’s just… it’s the way you’re grinding your teeth like you’d rather have your toenails pulled out than say your name.”
“I would. It’s a stupid name. But then, if you knew my pompous, dick of a father you’d understand why he was so proud to introduce me as Maximus Ragnar to his associates. I was barely out of diapers when he started his rhetoric about how he gave me the name of a king. Of course something normal like John or Peter weren’t good enough for his son.”
All my humor fled at the tone of his voice. It wasn’t anger I heard, it was soul-deep pain.
“Fuck him,” I blurted out. “He may’ve given you your name for some arrogant reason, but he’s right about one thing, your name is strong and it fits the man you grew to be. A leader, a loyal friend, a protector. The best part is, you became that man. You—not him. And you did it on your own, despite his best efforts to turn you into the kind of man he is. Malicious and broken.”
I watched with laser focus as Max went solid. Every feature frozen, his arctic stare turned into a blaze of agony.
And when a rumble started from somewhere deep inside of him until the vibration finally verbalized in a single word, I thought I’d made a huge mistake.
“Fuck.”
“I’m—”
Max’s hands came up, one tucked a piece of hair behind my ear, the other curled around the back of my neck then he yanked me to him, and he smashed me against his chest.
“I’m so sorry I hurt your feelings. I didn’t mean for what I said to sound like I didn’t believe you’re a good person.”
Looking back, that was the moment I fell head-over-heels in love with Maximus Ragnar Brown. A mistrusting, cantankerous, mercurial, strong, beautiful man. A man who believed—in spite of what I’d done—believed I was a good person. A man who trusted no one, yet trusted me.
Yeah, I was in love with Max.
Chapter 28
It was not the words that Eva said that had set me on fire. It was the vehemence behind those words. The fierceness, the indignation on my behalf.
No one, not even my brothers-in-arms, had ever been so offended in defense of me.
There was no way I could tell her what her outrage meant to me, how it stirred something in my soul that I never knew existed. That by simply uttering two words, she’d sealed her fate.
Eva Dawson was mine.
She owned me.
As I held her, I waited for some sort of fear or apprehension to take over, but those feelings were absent. There was desire and longing and those two emotions flooded until there was nothing else.
“Sorry to interrupt.”
My arms tightened around Eva, not wanting her to pull away.
“Yeah?” I asked, irritated at Zane’s intrusion.
“Tex called.”
Fucking hell.
“He’s cleared the way for Eva to talk to the prosecutor but he still would like to hear what she has.”
“Now?”
“They’d like to meet with her tomorrow.”
Christ.
My chin rested on Eva’s head and she clung to me tighter. That was the only thing that made the situation bearable—Eva wrapping herself around me looking for comfort.
“The boys,” she whispered.
“I thought Anaya could go with you to help with the kids,” Zane offered.
“Babe?” I gave Eva a squeeze and waited for her to lift her head off my chest. “Anaya used to work with Missing and Exploited. What I’m trying to say is, I know you’ve only met her briefly but she’s good and knows how to handle delicate situations. She’ll be good with the boys.”
“I’m not leaving—”
“No, honey, we’re not leaving them. But Anaya can go with us and either she and the boys can stay at the hotel or they can come with us to the prosecutor’s office and wait there. But I’m not leaving your side, so they’ll need someone to watch over them while we’re behind closed doors.”
I really wished my team could go with us to Alaska—not that I thought we’d need backup, but extra eyes are always welcomed.
“Okay. We’ll talk to Liam and Eli.”
Eva started to pull away and I begrudgingly let her. When she reached for my hand and threaded our fingers together, a peace that only she could provide settled over me.
“I’ll give you my cloud information for you to give to Tex.”
Zane made a noise like he was stifling a laugh, and sure enough, when I glanced from Eva to him, he was wearing a smirk.
There were a few options as to what put the annoying grin on his face. My first guess was because I was holding hands with Eva. My second guess was because Eva had offered to give Tex the login information
to her cloud.
Which was cute she’d offer, but Tex didn’t need her password to get into her online storage.
Zane’s gaze dropped to our connected hands, then his eyes came back to mine. The smile dimmed and I braced.
“We’ll get this shit done and out of the way as quickly as possible.” And with a jerk of his chin, he turned to leave but stopped and looked back over his shoulder. “Kyle packed your shit up from the other house. He and Anaya will be over later, he said he’d bring it. And you should know this place is available to you for as long as you want it.”
“Actually, that was what I called you about this morning. I wanted to get the lease moved—”
“No need. Call it a job perk.”
“’Preciate it.”
“Don’t mention it.”
Zane was already out the door when Eva called his name.
“Yeah?” he asked and leaned back so he could look back into the room.
“Tell your wife to keep up the good work,” Eva told him.
And that was when I knew the hard-as-nails Zane Lewis liked Eva. His tough-guy exterior melted away, his head tipped back and he laughed. Which still wasn’t something I was used to seeing, and it had been years since he’d met his wife and she’d done the unimaginable—proved my boss was human, not just the animatronic warfighter we’d all thought he was.
“Yeah, Eva, I’ll tell her.”
“What was that about?” I asked.
“Let me check on the boys, then I’ll tell you.”
Eva rolled up on her toes, and in an all-too-brief press of her lips, she kissed me before I let go of her hand and she strutted out the door.
I didn’t follow.
Not because I thought she’d be coming back, but because I needed a moment alone.
There was still no fear. No apprehension. No second thoughts.
This was happening.
Thankfully, Zane left not too long after Tex called to tell us he’d listened to the recordings Eva had made of her conversations with Tracy and Malcom. I couldn’t remember a time I’d ever heard Tex so excited, but he sounded downright ecstatic when he announced, “Tracy’s fucked.” He also told us he’d been in contact with the authorities in Alaska and they’d offered Eva immunity.
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