Maximus

by Riley Edwards

  “It’s good.” He smiled.

  I chose to ignore the dancing eyes, the smirk, and humor in his tone. Instead I focused on how grateful I was that I was holding Eli. I had a feeling if we’d been alone he would’ve said something seriously embarrassing.

  “Great. I’m happy to hear that,” I mumbled and Max’s smile broadened.

  Good Lord, he was good-looking.

  Time to move on.

  “Has Tex called?” I asked.

  “Yeah, talked to him about an hour ago,” he told me and shook his head knowingly.

  “And?”

  “After breakfast.” Max jerked his chin and his eyes slid to Liam. “You want some apple juice?”

  “Yes, please.”

  Max grinned at my son and moved to do his bidding gratefully, taking him across the kitchen and away from me.

  Yeah, last night was a huge mistake.

  “So, you’re a fan of Singin’ in the Rain.”

  “Huh?”

  “The musical.”

  I knew that Singin’ in the Rain was a musical, I just didn’t understand why Max was asking.

  It was after breakfast, the boys were still in their pjs sitting on the couch watching TV, and I was in the kitchen cleaning up the dishes. Max had disappeared into his room to take a call but now he was standing behind me asking me this question that was so bizarre, even after consuming two cups of the strongest coffee I’ve ever had, I still couldn’t comprehend why he was bringing up a musical.

  But more, Max didn’t strike me as the type of man who’d know that Singin’ in the Rain was a musical.

  “I know what it is, I just don’t know why you’re asking.”

  “Heard you singing to the boys this morning. The Good Morning song.”

  “Were you eavesdropping again?”

  “No, babe,” he snickered. “I was walking by the door to grab a shirt. I figured you wouldn’t appreciate your boys waking up and coming out into the kitchen seeing me shirtless.”

  No, I wouldn’t have wanted my boys to see him half-naked, but I was sure sorry I’d missed the experience.

  Damn, so it was just bad timing he heard me singing to the boys.

  “Yeah, the kids and I like that movie. We used to watch it all the time.”

  “It’s good they have that, the memory of watching that movie with you, and them waking up to you singing. Something they’ll always remember.”

  I braced myself against the counter, my palms pressing into the sharp edge of the Formica, and I closed my eyes. God, I hoped they remembered us singing in the mornings and not the five-hundred shitty mistakes I’d made.

  “We need to talk about what’s gonna happen today.”

  My eyes remained closed and I steadied myself for a new kind of pain. Not the sweet kind that Max had just given me telling me my boys would always remember their mornings with their mom. No, this pain sliced deep and twisted in my stomach—a reminder I was a fuck-up and because of that, my kids were in danger.

  “Eva,” Max called, but when I didn’t answer, the heat from his chest hit my back, and his arms came around me, his hands covering mine on the edge of the counter. “Everything’s going to be okay.”

  “Don’t say that. Nothing will ever be okay.”

  “I’m not gonna let anything happen to you or the boys.”

  “I believe you’ll try.”

  “I’m gonna do more than try, Eva. I’m gonna fix this.”

  “Right. Fix it.”

  Cold seeped in, even though I was trapped between Max and the counter, even though heat radiated from his body, even though he’d slipped his fingers between mine and held tight.

  I wasn’t alone in the kitchen, yet I was alone.

  And there I was, needing someone else to fix my life again.

  “One thing at a time,” he told me. “Today, we’re gonna head up to Maryland.”

  “Fine.”

  “Fine?”

  “Yes, fine.” I shrugged my shoulders. “Thank you.”

  “Eva—”

  “What? Did you expect me to argue? I’m hardly in the position to fight about where we’re going. You’re the bodyguard, I’m at your mercy.”

  “You are not at anyone’s mercy, Eva.” His growl reverberated over my skin, leaving chills racing over my arms.

  “Right, because I have a say in what happens.”

  “You goddamn well do.”

  “So, if I said I wanted to go back to Florida, we’d go?”

  “No. If you wanted to go to Florida, I’d hear you out, then I’d explain why that’s not a good idea. Then I’d lay out all the reasons why going to Maryland is our best option. And I’d do that until you understood my reasons are sound, they’re smart, and they’re in your best interest. What we’re not gonna do is this bullshit where you clam up, lock your emotions down, and give me a line of shit that you’re at my mercy.”

  Frustration and fear mingled until I couldn’t stop the tears from forming.

  “We’re not going back to Florida, are we?”

  “Probably not.” Max softened his tone. “When this is over, Tex wants to set you and the boys up someplace new. A fresh start.”

  A fresh start. Right, how many times does one person need to start over—fresh?

  I nodded but didn’t say anything because there was nothing to say.

  “If you want to go back home, I’m sure we could talk to Tex, see if—”

  “I don’t have a home.”

  Max’s fingers tightened painfully around mine and his whole body turned to stone. The vibe in the room turned suffocating, and once again, Max’s mode shifted.

  “We’re gonna fix that, too,” he growled and stepped away. “Get you and the boys ready. We’ll leave in an hour.”

  Then he was gone, leaving me frozen, chilled to the bone, and alone.

  Chapter 16

  Ten hours in a car with two kids was too damn long. Against my team’s advice, voiced the loudest by Declan, our team leader, I decided to break up the drive and stop in North Carolina.

  That leg of the trip should’ve been five hours, but between bathroom breaks and stopping for lunch, it was closer to seven. My ass was sore, my eyes heavy, and my head was throbbing from the constant memories of Eva telling me she had no home.

  What the fuck?

  Between that and her admitting she was lonely, my head was in a weird, fucked-up place.

  It was something else we had in common, though I wouldn’t admit that to her. I’d already shared too much. Came way too close to explaining exactly why I didn’t trust women.

  Then, as if to fortify my belief that all women were out for themselves, I lay in bed torturing myself, vacillating between thinking about Eva and Pam. The two women were worlds apart in their motives. Eva was trying to protect her children. Pam had no such excuse, she was simply a scheming bitch. Yet I was still comparing the two.

  More than ten years later, I still remember the lessons Pam taught me. I was nothing more than a good time. The boy from the wrong side of town as far as she knew, since I lived with my aunt and uncle by then—going nowhere, good for nothing except a quick walk on the wild side. She’d taken my virginity, gave it to me regular, sucked me off anywhere, anytime, essentially leading me around by my dick. And yeah, because I didn’t want to lose being able to fuck her anytime, anywhere, her mouth wrapping around my dick whenever I wanted kept me oblivious to the fact she was a scheming bitch.

  She was a good girl from a middle-class family that had no problem slumming it with me, getting off on it. But when the time came, when we graduated and I wanted to marry her, she had no issue telling me I wasn’t good enough, I was going nowhere, and the Navy wouldn’t be enough for her. She was going places, and those places included a nice house, nice cars, designer shit, and she had no fucking issue telling me I wouldn’t be able to afford to keep her in all of that on Navy pay.

  My bank account balance proved she was wrong about me not being able to afford a
ll that shit. But she was right about one thing—I was nothing more than a good-time guy. A quick and dirty walk on the wild side.

  “This place is too nice,” Eva mumbled, pulling me from my thoughts.

  I glanced around the lobby of the Greensboro Marriott, taking in the white marble floor and the wide carpeted staircase that came to a landing and split in two directions, each leading to guest rooms that circled the entrance. I did this thinking that the hotel was indeed nice but it wasn’t luxury. Then I thought about how Eva likely had never been able to stay in a hotel where the rooms were two-hundred dollars a night.

  My gut twisted.

  “Come on, let’s go up and decide if we’re ordering room service or heading down to the restaurant.”

  “We should’ve grabbed McDonald’s. It would’ve been cheaper.”

  Fuck, another kick to the gut.

  “Babe, we had fast food for lunch. There’s only so much grease my stomach can take before it goes on strike. And considering we got another five-hour drive tomorrow that will likely turn into seven, where we’ll be stopping for grease-laden junk, we are not eating McDonald’s for dinner.”

  “Well, I get that, but the boys and me can eat—”

  “You and the boys are eating a real meal.”

  “But—”

  Careful not to let the boys hear me, I leaned in until my mouth was close to Eva’s ear and I continued. “Babe, you got a sweet body. Tight, toned, just enough ass that it’s a handful. But you are too thin. You need to eat and I’m gonna make sure it’s something somewhat healthy. Best I can do while on the road is sit your ass down in a restaurant that’s sure to have some sort of vegetable. But mark this, Eva, you’re gonna eat.”

  Eva stumbled and my hand wrapped around her forearm before she could take a header.

  “I…I…” she stammered.

  “I know why you’re so thin,” I told her. “I know you’re too busy taking care of your boys, making sure they eat well so you don’t watch what you’re putting in your body. I also know you’re watching your money, so I’d guess you go a lot of nights not eating at all. But tonight, you’re eating, and you’re eating well.”

  “I don’t like that you know that.”

  Sometimes Eva’s honesty shocked the hell out of me—no games, no bullshit, no denial. She didn’t eat because she was making sure her boys did and money was tight. Straight up, totally open, she didn’t bother trying to deny it.

  “I’m sure you don’t. And I’m not mentioning it to make you feel bad. One more thing I’ll add, I wish like hell when I was growin’ up I had a mom that cared enough to make sure my belly was full, I was eating healthy, and I was getting what I needed. Something you give to your boys. They might not recognize it now, but one day they will, and they’ll appreciate it.”

  “I don’t want them ever to know we were so poor I couldn’t feed them and myself.”

  “Why not?” I jerked us to a stop and kept my eyes on the boys.

  “Because it’s embarrassing. Because—”

  “There’s not one damn thing embarrassing about loving your kids, Eva.” Then for some strange reason, I told her the truth. “My dad was filthy rich yet I was the poorest kid on the block. We had nothing, because behind the walls of that nice house, was an abusive asshole who raised his fist to my mother every damn day, and when he got bored beating his wife, he turned to the next best thing—me.”

  “Max,” she whispered.

  “Money means not a damn thing when it’s coated with evil. I would’ve taken being homeless if it meant I had parents that loved me. Your kids aren’t growing up poor, Eva, they’re growing up surrounded by your goodness, and that means more than the balance in your checkbook and what’s on the dinner table.”

  Needing to get us up to our rooms and away from Eva’s sweet, soft eyes, I tugged her forward and caught up to the boys patiently waiting at the elevator. We rode the elevator up in near silence and when we made it to our adjoining rooms, I handed Eva her key and waited for her and the boys to go in before I let myself into mine.

  In a minute, I’d open the connecting door, but my emotions were too raw, I needed time to get myself sorted.

  “Thank you for dinner,” Eva said.

  We were standing outside of her room and she’d already thanked me three times—it was starting to piss me off. She’d reminded the boys to say thank you as well, which I understood—she was teaching them manners—but good God, it was a hundred-dollar meal, not a vacation to the Alps.

  “You said that, babe,” I reminded her.

  “Yeah, well, I really appreciate everything you’re doing for us. I want—”

  “I know, Eva. Go on and get in the room. The boys look like they’re sleepin’ on their feet.”

  “Okay,” she whispered and opened the door.

  Once again, I waited for them to be safely locked away before I went into my room. The adjoining doors were closed but unlocked. After I knew they were all asleep, I’d open them up before I went to bed.

  That was after I checked in with my team, but I needed to talk to Tex first.

  I pulled out my phone and checked the time—early enough I wouldn’t wake Melody or their kids.

  “I was getting ready to call you,” Tex greeted.

  Of course he was, the man was dedicated to the cause of saving the world. That was, when he wasn’t dedicated to making his pretty wife happy.

  “Whatcha got for me?” I asked.

  “We got Chris Peters in custody. He’s a tool. Total amateur hour, which only solidifies my theory there’s a second contract.”

  “So, what, you think Peters was being set up?”

  “That’d be my guess. I think the person hired to kill Eva put the contract out as a way to cover his ass. From start to finish it’s sloppy, easily found, but I can’t trace the source.”

  “What the hell does that mean?”

  “It means the person who put out the bid is smart and covered their ass while leaving Chris Peters swinging. The authorities could easily find the contract that Peters accepted but not who put out the bid. And considering Chris Peters is currently singing the blues, confessing to all kinds of shit but has no idea who hired him, I’d say he’s the patsy for the real hit.”

  Fucking hell.

  “Find anything else at her house?”

  “Nope. Not a damn thing. Whoever rigged it was good.”

  “Not good enough to wait for her and the kids to be in the car before he blew his load and blew it up empty,” I reminded him.

  “I don’t think that was a mistake. Though whoever blew up the car miscalculated your distance from it.”

  “You think I was the target?”

  “Yep. With you out of the way, he’s got a clean shot at Eva.”

  “Fucking Christ, Tex, you’re saying someone wants her alive?”

  “Before her car turned into a bomb, I thought someone wanted her dead. Now I’m thinking they just plain want her. Not that I think she’ll be left breathing at the end of whatever’s in store for her.”

  “No one’s getting their fucking hands on her or the boys.”

  “Why do you think I sent you?”

  “Yeah, about that, Tex. Why did you send me and not Dec or one of the other guys?”

  “You haven’t figured it out yet?”

  What the fuck?

  “No, I haven’t. But I have to tell you, it’s something I’ve thought a lot about.”

  “Because I knew, once you got to know her, you’d understand.”

  Could he be anymore cryptic?

  “Understand what, Tex?”

  “Why she did what she did. Why she doesn’t trust anyone. Why she is the way she is.”

  “She seems to trust me just fine. I’m sure—”

  “If she trusts you already, then I absolutely made the right choice sending you in.”

  “That makes no sense. She would’ve trusted—”

  “If you think that, Maximus, you’re a fuck
in’ idiot. She doesn’t trust anyone. Other than you, I’ve never met someone so distrusting in all my life.”

  Maximus? Christ, no one calls me by my full name—ever.

  “I think you’re wrong,” I noted.

  “I know I’m right; as a matter of fact, when all this shit blows over, you and I will sit down, have a beer, and you can tell me all of the ways I’m right.”

  Tex had lost his mind.

  “You inviting me up to Pennsylvania to have that beer?” I asked.

  I’d only ever seen Tex in person a handful of times in all the years I’d known him and he rarely invited anyone to do anything with him.

  “Sure am, but that invitation is only valid if you bring Eva and the boys.”

  “What the hell?”

  “I’ve heard a lot about Liam and Elijah.”

  “They’re good kids,” I told him.

  “I’ve heard that. Get this shit done. Get your shit sorted. Then get their asses up to my place and we’ll share a beer. You can stroke my ego, tell me how smart I am—”

  “I’m not stroking anything of yours, friend.”

  “Right.” Tex laughed. “Stay sharp.”

  Tex disconnected before I could explain to him that once this shit was over, I wasn’t taking Eva or her kids anywhere. They’d be safely tucked away someplace new, starting over, and I’d never see them again.

  Damn.

  My hand went to my chest to rub the phantom ache that thought caused.

  Then I dialed Declan.

  “Yo,” he answered.

  “You busy?”

  “Nope.”

  Hopefully that meant he wasn’t at the home of a woman he had no business visiting. No, fuck that, hopefully that meant he’d stopped seeing the woman altogether before everyone else found out where he’d been going and all hell broke loose.

  Declan was the very definition of a ticking timebomb. Between his past—most of which I didn’t know because the man was a vault of secrets, but what I did know about his childhood made mine seem normal—his time in the military, then going on a long cover on a covert mission for the CIA and whatever the fuck happened there, he was the perfect recipe for disaster. Hence, I wasn’t all that surprised he was skirting the line of death around Thad and our boss, Zane Lewis. Because if those two men found out, Declan’s balls would be in a vise.