Maximus

by Riley Edwards

  Fire and ice. That’s what Max was. Ice-cold blue eyes that still somehow glittered with fire. And there wasn’t a damn thing friendly about the way he looked. Which was odd because if he hadn’t been frowning at me with narrowed eyes, he would’ve looked like a Southern California surfer boy. Not that I’d ever been to California, and there certainly hadn’t been any surfers in Alaska where I’d grown up. But, I’d seen enough movies to know that Max Brown looked like he should be on the cover of a DVD case for a surf movie.

  Did people even buy DVDs anymore, or Blu-rays for that matter? Weren’t all movies just streamed—

  “Eva?”

  “Shit. Sorry. I was…um…”

  “Daydreaming.”

  Now it was my turn to narrow my eyes on him. “No, I wasn’t,” I snapped.

  “Right,” he drawled. “Is Tex still on the line?”

  “Shit,” I muttered, the phone still up to my ear. “Sorry, Tex. Max is here.”

  “Gathered that, Eva. Please let him in. Talk to him and I’ll call you back within the hour.”

  “Fine.” God, I sound like an ungrateful bitch. “Sorry. Thank you for your help. I’ll wait for your call.”

  I disconnected and squared my shoulders. “Would you like to come in?”

  “That’d be good.” Max stepped inside and suddenly my small house felt smaller, stifling.

  “So, what now?”

  Max looked around my house, scrutinizing my space. It wasn’t much, but I was damn proud of what I’d been able to provide for my boys.

  Yes, I’d needed Tex’s help and he was the one to get me here and set me up, but after that, I’d refused all other help. There was no way I could take anymore money from the stranger than I already had.

  I worked. I made money. I paid my rent. I put food on the table.

  No more handouts—never again.

  “Where are your children?”

  “Why?” My question felt like an accusation but I wasn’t sure what I was accusing him of.

  What I did know was that I didn’t know this man, and I learned the hard way never to trust. Tex was an anomaly. But, then the man had proven himself worthy when he found my boys and returned them to me.

  “Whoa there, Eva. I was just asking.”

  “I don’t like people asking about my kids. They’re none of your business.”

  “They are, when I’ve been tasked to protect them.”

  Well, he kind of had me there, but I still wasn’t going to offer my boys’ location. Tex knew where they were every second of every day. They both wore watches that had some sort of high-tech tracking device he himself had invented. It made me feel somewhat better they could be tracked, but I didn’t think I’d ever feel a hundred percent safe when they were out of my sight.

  “Listen, Eva. I was asking because I wanted to know if they were home or if they’re still at daycare.”

  His question didn’t make me feel any better. As a matter of fact, my fists clenched.

  “Why? Have we met before?”

  Max’s gaze dropped to my hands before his eyes came back up to meet mine. “Why? Because I want to know if I need to watch what I say if they’re within earshot. Met? No, but I did go through your checkout line, and I’ve been following you for four days.”

  “Following me?” I screeched.

  I was trying my best to slow my breathing, stop my heart from pounding in my chest, but I couldn’t. Memories started to flood. Someone else used to follow me, but I hadn’t felt him, either.

  “Breathe, Eva,” he commanded.

  “I am!” I exhaled.

  “I’m not going to hurt you. Tex sent me to protect you.”

  “Yet, instead of making yourself known, you stalked me.”

  “Sure, if that’s what you wanna call it.”

  What the hell?

  “Well, what would you call following me without my knowledge?”

  “Recon. You didn’t know I was around so you behaved as you normally would. That means if there’s someone else out there watching you, I would’ve seen them.”

  “You don’t sound convinced,” I noted.

  Max shrugged his shoulders. “I’m not sure if Tex is even sure. He’s being cautious, and I understand that. But until I have more intel, I don’t know what I’m looking for. What I do know is, no one other than me has been following you for the last four days.”

  My body sagged with relief. That was good news. No, great news. Tex was being over-protective and Max would be on his way.

  “Then I don’t need protection.”

  “I didn’t say that. I said no one was following you, not that someone wasn’t planning on hurting you.”

  Well, that was just peachy.

  “You don’t beat around the bush, do you?”

  His cold blue eyes narrowed and I fought the urge to shrink away.

  Never again will I cower to a man.

  “Would you rather I blew smoke up your ass and let you go on your merry way, continuing to walk around with your head down, completely oblivious to what’s going on around you? So if there is a threat you don’t see it coming? Because I gotta tell you, you’re an easy mark. I could’ve snatched your ass from work fifty different ways and you would’ve never seen me coming. Which, after reading the report I have on you, surprises the shit out of me. You’re no stranger to trouble. I’d think someone like you would have more sense than to walk around in a haze.”

  Acid burned in my veins. Shame and guilt.

  He knew about my past. Knew what I’d done and what I allowed myself to get pulled into. That’s why he was looking at me with disgust when I opened the door. Of course he’d think I was an easy mark because I had been one my whole miserable life.

  But not anymore. Never fucking again would someone make me weak.

  Chapter 2

  Whatever was going through Eva’s mind looked painful. Not that I understood why she looked like what I said gutted her. Everything had been the truth.

  She needed to pay attention. And someone with her past should know better than to let her guard down.

  “And another thing,” I continued. “When you drop the boys off at daycare—”

  “Say again?”

  “Daycare, Eva. You need to park in the lot. Not on the street.”

  The change in her was immediate. Steel infused her spine, her yellow-green eyes fired to life, and she took a step closer to me.

  “You were watching my kids?” she growled. The sound guttural, feral, enraged.

  Holy fuck, this little slip of a woman was going head-to-head with me.

  She looked poised to attack, which was laughable, considering I could not only contain her, but take her out without effort. But there she was, in full-on mama bear battle mode.

  Christ. I wasn’t sure what to think. I didn’t trust this woman, didn’t know her—and what I did know I didn’t like—but damn, I was impressed.

  “I was watching you, which one could deduce means I saw you with your children. But my intent was to—”

  “Follow me. Right, I know. To recon. But what that really means is, you wanted to make sure I was keeping on the straight and narrow. You didn’t trust I wasn’t up to my old tricks.”

  Well, for someone who sucked at personal safety, she wasn’t stupid.

  “Yeah, that was part of why,” I answered.

  There was no point in lying to her, and as a general rule, I didn’t lie. Certainly not to save the feelings of an attempted murderer.

  “And did I pass?”

  “I don’t know, did you?”

  Eva stepped closer, and the sweet, fruity scent of her perfume wafted across the distance. Not at all what I thought she’d smell like.

  “You’re the one that was watching me.”

  “I watched you for four days, Eva. I don’t know what the fuck you’ve gotten yourself into down here. I know that Tex bailed you out of some serious shit. I know that Bubba and Zoey both felt sorry for you and didn’t press char
ges. I know you have a criminal record and you tried to kill a man I respect. So, while I might not have seen you do anything illegal in the past four days, doesn’t mean you’ve passed jack shit.”

  Eva’s wounded eyes slowly closed and I felt like a complete fucking prick.

  Fucking hell.

  “Eva—”

  “I did do all that.” Her eyes snapped open and her lips flattened and twisted. “I did it. And I didn’t ask Mark and Zoey to pardon me. I didn’t ask them to forgive me because what I did was unforgiveable. I didn’t ask Tex for help, but I will be grateful until my last breath on this earth. You can stand there and judge me, think I’m a low-life, look down on me, hate me, but you know what? I don’t fucking care. I understand what I did is…indefensible.

  “I know, because every day I have to live with it. I know what I did. From the moment I wake up until the moment I fall asleep, I remember. I’ll never forget the horror on their faces when I left them. The confusion in Zoey’s eyes. The anger on Mark’s face.

  “But you know what else I can’t forget? My son begging me to help him. My six-year-old telling me that the man who was supposed to love him, the only man he’d ever known as his daddy, had burned him. I listened helplessly as my baby cried in pain. So I will not apologize for what I did. You can take your trust, your judgement, your assessment of me, and shove them all straight up your ass. The only thing you need to know about me is, I would do it again if it meant saving my children. I would sink a knife in your back if it meant my boys would be safe.”

  Rage and fury built into a wild inferno.

  “That motherfucker did what?” Eva jumped at my outburst, some of the bravado waning, as her gaze roamed my face. Confusion marred her features. “Repeat that, Eva. What did Jay Dawkins do to Liam?”

  “He put his cigarette out on his arm while I was on the phone with him. He hurt Liam so I would hear and it would tear me apart. He used my son to get me to agree to do the job. I wasn’t gonna do it. I had a plan, I was speaking to the police, but then he started burning my son, and I had no choice. No time. I needed that money so I could pay Jay and he’d give me back my kids.”

  I had no idea what Tex had done to the bastard, but I hoped he hadn’t had him killed.

  I wanted that honor.

  “Fuck,” I snarled, and ran my hands through my hair.

  Tex had left that out of the report and I knew exactly why.

  Too close to home.

  “Let’s start over,” I suggested.

  “Why? It’s not like it’s gonna make a damn bit of difference. Tex is going to call back, tell us that he overreacted, and you’ll be on your way.”

  Tex didn’t overreact—not ever.

  Shit.

  “Before he calls back, let’s sit and talk.”

  “About what?”

  “About what’s been goin’ on since you moved here.”

  “I haven’t done anything wrong. I work and come home. I talk to nobody. I pick up and drop off my kids at daycare and that’s it.”

  “Eva, please.” I tried to gentle my tone as much as I could, but with all the hate that had taken root I didn’t think I accomplished it.

  Eva sighed and made her way to an armchair facing the couch with a coffee table between them. She wanted distance between us and I didn’t blame her. I’d been a dick, but then that was me. It was no secret within my team that I was the asshole.

  I waited until she was seated before I sat on the couch and continued. “That’s not exactly true. I saw you talking to the woman who dropped her wallet. And yesterday, you went to an elderly lady’s house to deliver groceries.”

  “Mrs. Wyman? She just had knee surgery and can’t get to the store. Her son comes over to take care of her but he works. She’s a kind woman. Since I work at the grocery store, I offered to make deliveries.”

  Why did I have the feeling that Eva would’ve offered even if she hadn’t worked at the store?

  “So, you do talk to people—”

  “I thought you were talking about…” Eva trailed off and I could imagine what she thought I was talking about, since I’d pretty much accused her of doing something illegal.

  “This is not an interrogation.” She didn’t look convinced, and instead of playing twenty questions I figured I’d just lay it out. “I’m trying to find out if the threat is recent or if it followed you here. In order for me to do that, I need to know who you’ve come in contact with. Even the woman in the parking lot, she could’ve been planted there to talk to you. Do you deliver groceries to anyone else? Has anyone been overly friendly? Has anyone asked you out on a date? A mom or dad asked the boys over? I need to know everything.”

  “No one’s asked me out.” Her cheeks dotted pink and something that felt like relief swept over me. “Not that I’d say yes, if anyone did. I think it’s safe to say, I will be alone for the rest of my life. And don’t you want to know if anyone has been mad at me or something like that?”

  “Right now I’m more interested in anyone who’s been over-the-top nice. But has anyone threatened you? Been mean or pissed?”

  “No,” she sighed. “No one’s been mad at me. And no one’s been overly nice, either. Mrs. Wyman is grateful. She tries to give me money but I won’t take it, so she bakes us cookies sometimes. I met her son while he was shopping with her before her surgery. He was pleasant but not overly so, and I saw him once at the house, but he paid no attention to me. The woman in the parking lot with the wallet, that was the first time anything like that ever happened. The daycare people are friendly, but they don’t pay special attention to me or the boys.”

  I leaned back, warring with myself, wishing that there’d been something I could focus on but pleased no one had fucked with her or her boys since she’d moved.

  “Anyone strange wandering outside the house? Following you?”

  Her brow went up and her lips curved up into a smile.

  Which was unfortunate, because she had a beautiful smile.

  “You mean any other strange men besides you? I don’t think so. Though you did point out I tend to walk around with my head down minding my own business.”

  “You have to stop doing that.” Eva’s smile faded and I wanted to kick my own ass for being so abrupt. “What I mean to say is, it’s dangerous. You need to keep your head up and your eyes scanning. You need to be aware of who is around and what they are doing.”

  She nodded but didn’t commit.

  Fucking hell, the thought of her wandering around not paying attention twisted my gut.

  “Any phone calls? Hang ups?”

  “No. Only Tex, the daycare, and my work has my cell number.”

  “No girlfriends or—”

  “I don’t have friends.”

  No inflection. No sadness. Matter-of-fact.

  She had no friends.

  Jesus Christ.

  I swallowed down my anger and tried to think of what else I should ask.

  “Why do you look mad?”

  Hell, she was seriously asking me that.

  “Tex wants me to bring you and your boys back with me to Maryland,” I told her instead of answering.

  “I told him no way!”

  “If there’s a threat, I can protect you better up there. My team can—”

  “I’m not uprooting my boys. They just got settled. No freaking way, Max, they’ve been through enough. And Tex doesn’t even know if we’re in danger.”

  Why did my chest catch fire when the woman turned fierce protector?

  And why, when she squared up—shoulders back, chin stubbornly jutted up, and eyes narrowed—did the crotch of my jeans get tight?

  I didn’t like this woman. She couldn’t be trusted—most women couldn’t be. My teammates had hit the jackpot with their women, but I knew that shit was rare. Women were after one thing and they used and schemed to get it.

  Besides, Eva admitted she’d sink a knife into my back if I made the wrong move.

  And I believed her.<
br />
  Chapter 3

  Tex needed to hurry up and call me back. Max had to leave.

  His presence took up all the space in my small living room. He sucked all the oxygen out of the room and made it hard to breathe. The man was larger than life, and the way he stared at me made me nervous.

  He didn’t like me, that much was obvious. Not that I could blame him, I’d done some horrible things in the past, things I was trying to atone for, but I knew I’d never achieve salvation. There was no way to erase the black marks on my soul. Even knowing that, I didn’t regret saving my boys. But I did regret having to hurt two innocent people in the process. I’d never forgive myself for that.

  Zoey and Mark.

  Thank God, they were alive.

  But then, I figured they had a better chance than most. Mark Wright was a Navy SEAL.

  Max’s cell rang and I held my breath. Please, let it be Tex.

  “Tex,” Max greeted, and relief washed over me.

  “Thank God,” I mumbled, and Max cut his icy blue eyes to me.

  Sweet Jesus, his stare was lethal.

  Even as he listened intently to Tex, his gaze never left mine—alert, assessing. Full of condemnation.

  In his mind, he’d already tried me, convicted me, and there’d be no changing the guilty verdict. Not that I cared, but I still felt the wrath of his censure.

  “Right,” Max spoke. “We already went through all of that. She’s got nothing useful.”

  Of course I don’t, because I’m useless.

  “Sure.” Max pulled the phone away from his ear, tapped the screen then continued. “You’re on speaker.”

  “Eva?” Tex’s voice boomed.

  “Yeah.”

  “I want you to go up to Maryland with Max. His team has a safehouse—”

  “No, Tex. The boys finally have stability—a routine. You know that. I can’t just disrupt that. No one has been bothering me here.”

  “I get it. Why don’t you come up to my place and stay with me and Melody?” he volleyed.

  “Melody?”

  “My wife.”

  “I didn’t know you were married.” Though the thought made me smile. Tex was a good man, very kind and giving. “I like that for you.”