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“I’m glad you’re here.” Her eyes moved from his face and looked at their joined hands. “Obviously I haven’t been living a life of leisure. My hands are rough.”
Max flipped her hand over, noticing her ragged nails and callused hands for the first time. “You’ve never lived a life of leisure. You’re the busiest woman I know.”
But her appearance was always perfect, always impeccably groomed and stylish.
The changeswereodd, but he wasn’t about to tell her that.
“Oh well. At least I’m thin,” she said wistfully.
Yeah. She was. Too damn skinny. Another thing that was perplexing. Mia always had herself on some kind of diet, and Max had hated it. She’d had perfect curves, and an ass that made his cock hard every time he got a glimpse of her swaying hips in front of him. “It’s nothing that some good Italian food won’t fix,” he told her with a grin.
She groaned. “Pasta is my enemy.”
“You love it,” he reminded her, wanting to laugh at a comment she’d muttered every time she’d put away a plate of fettuccini, usually followed by a healthy serving of tiramisu. Honestly, he didn’t care how she looked; in his eyes, she’d always be the most beautiful woman on the planet.
She pulled her hand gently from his and set her laptop aside. Twisting her hands nervously together, she mumbled, “I had them do a DNA test. My brothers provided their blood for me to have it done. It wouldn’t be as conclusive as it would be if my mom was still alive but—”
“Why? I know you’re my wife. You know—“
“I want you to know for certain. I disappeared for over two years. You deserve some sort of scientific proof.”
“I don’t need it. I have no doubts. I knew the moment I saw you in the park, Mia,” he replied, slightly annoyed that she felt she had to prove herself to him.
“I think my brother wants it,” Mia said quietly, the disappointment evident in her voice.
Bastard. I’ll rip his damn heart out.“Travis,” Max said aloud, his tone vibrating with anger.
“No. I think Travis believes me. But I’m not so sure about Kade,” Mia admitted, her expression vulnerable.
“Kade? Why the fuck does he want it?” Okay…Max could believe that Travis would want proof. He could be a coldhearted bastard who believed only in concrete facts. But Kade? “I’ll kill him,” he grumbled, thinking of the many ways he could torture his brother-in-law for asking this of Mia right now.
“He didn’t really ask. I offered. And I think it’s important that we get rid of any doubts for a lot of reasons. Kade just seems different, distant, and hesitant to accept that I’m really his sister.” Mia sighed. “Maybe it’s just from the disappointment of the accident and his girlfriend breaking up with him. But he seems uncertain, and I don’t want anyone to have any doubts.”
“I’m still fucking killing him,” Max answered irritably.
“I don’t think I’ve ever heard you drop the f-bomb before,” Mia said teasingly.
“Yeah…well…things have changed. I’ve changed,” Max admitted, knowing it was true. He wasn’t the same man she had known before.
“I’m different, too. I remember our life together before I disappeared, but I don’t feel like that same person anymore,” she whispered just loud enough for Max to hear her. “I’m sorry.”
“Hey.” Max stood and tipped her chin up so he could see her gorgeous eyes. “It doesn’t matter. I never stopped loving you. And I never will. We’ll start over, get to know each other again.” He’d take his time, let her recover, but Max was determined that Miawouldknow him.
He wanted to tell her that he knew how empty his life was without her, how his heart had bled each and every day that she’d been gone, that he wished he had died with her when he thought she was dead. But she wasn’t ready for that right now, and he ruthlessly shoved the thoughts away. Right now, he just wanted her whole, healthy, and happy.
“Okay,” she agreed breathlessly. “You should go home and get some rest. You look exhausted. Have you slept?”
He grinned at her. “Not much. And I’m not leaving until I can take you home tomorrow.”
“You need sleep. You look tired,” she murmured, worrying her lip again with distress, her expression troubled.
“I’ll sleep,” he assured her, hating to see her upset about him when she was the one in a hospital bed. “Here.” He patted the chair next to the bed.
She hesitated before asking haltingly, “Will you sleep with me?” Scooting over in the small bed, she gave him a hopeful look.
At that moment, all Max wanted to do was slide into the bed beside her and hold her, feel her breath against his skin to remind him that she was his again. But he couldn’t. “I stink. I haven’t showered and I’ve been in the same clothes for two days.”
Mia smiled and lifted her hand, pointing her thumb toward a door near the entrance of the room. “Bathroom is over there and Maddie brought you clean clothes. They’re in the drawer.”