Page 29

E arly the next morning, Max arrived at Sara’s place and she let him in.

Lily was back on the couch with Leo curled up on the rug in front of the fire that never seemed to go out.

“Thanks,” Max murmured when Sara handed him a cup of black coffee on her way to get ready for work.

Max made his way into the room and Leo lifted his head to acknowledge him. Instead of taking over the recliner, Max settled on the end of the couch and gazed at Lily as she slept.

Her eyes suddenly opened and he realized that she’d been awake all along. She’d probably heard him come inside.

“Hey,” she said, her voice husky with sleep.

“Hey,” he whispered.

She shifted so her cheek rested on the pillow, her hair spilled over the edge of the couch, almost touching the floor. Her blue eyes were tired, but alert. The bruises hadn’t begun to fade yet, but during the day, she applied makeup.

At the moment, though, there was nothing to take away from the injuries on her face.

Damn, he looked good. With faded jeans, a tight t-shirt that molded over his corded biceps, and black combat boots, Max was delicious. Her lower abs stirred and to keep from wanting to jump into his lap, she thought about getting up.

But it was too damned cold. “Can you get me a cup of coffee?” she asked.

“I can.” He sat his own cup aside and stood. She watched his powerful frame as he headed into the kitchen. His hips and ass drew her gaze until he disappeared behind the long island counter. Oh my god, Lily, get your mind out of the gutter.

Max was off limits. She couldn’t even risk having casual sex with the guy because she was holding onto her heart for dear life. If they went that far, she would be a goner.

Would that be a bad thing, she silently argued.

Who said they couldn’t get a second chance?

All she had to do was trust in Max.

That was the hardest part.

Returning to the room, Max placed a cup of coffee with rich creamer swirling around the top.

Just the way she liked it. He did everything the way she liked it.

Sitting up cross-legged, she took a long grateful swallow.

“About Thanksgiving day,” she began.

“I get it,” Max interrupted softly and her eyes swept upward.

And it was in that moment that she realized that she was happiest when she was with him. There was no disputing that fact.

“I’m not divorced yet.”

“I can wait,” he said, repeating what he’d said that day in her room and she knew that he would wait for her.

“What are your dreams?” he asked and she gazed at him, puzzled at first.

What the hell did she dream about? A husband, children, a family to call her own? Look where that had gotten her, but then she hadn’t picked a very good candidate to fill the role, had she?

She sighed. “Honestly?”

“Honestly,” he murmured.

“I dream of a happily ever after,” she admitted, keeping her eyes on him.

“I want to give you—”

A knock on the front door interrupted Max.

It was amazing to see the man go from relaxed to a lethal weapon in seconds. Coffee placed aside, Max was up with his gun in his hand.

Leo was up from the rug in front of the fire. The dog’s fur along his neck and back bristled and when Max strode to the door and opened it, the dog was glued to his side.

“What can I do for you, officers?” Max said and tucked the gun on the side table out of sight from the door.

Officers? Lily frowned, placed her cup on the table, and pushed the comforter aside.

“Maxwell Deckman?”

“Yes.”

“Please step outside,” a man said and Lily stood, making her way across the room.

Reaching the door, Lily found two officers standing on the porch. One had his hand on his holstered gun, the other had a pair of handcuffs.

Leo growled low and lethal and the closer cop took a step back.

“Leave the dog inside, please,” the officer with the cuffs said.

“Leo, down.”

The dog immediately shut up and crouched, ears alert, eyes locked on the closest cop.

“Can I ask what this is about?”

“Step outside.” The cop backed up.

“What’s going on?” Lily said impatiently.

“Stay back, ma’am.” the cop said.

Max ran a gentle hand down her arm and stepped past her onto the porch.

“We have a warrant for your arrest. Please turn around and place your hands behind your back.”

“Arrest for what?” Max said, refusing to move.

Lily was scared to death. What had Max done? She knew he was a walking weapon, but he wouldn’t actually hurt anyone.

Right?

“You’re our prime suspect in the murder of Blake Stevenson.”

Lily fell back against the door, unable to keep the strangled sound from emerging.

Max spun around and placed his hands behind his back. He held her eyes.

“Stay inside, call Levi to come over right now.” The man’s voice was a low growl. “And keep Leo by your side every second I’m away.”

“No!” Lily launched at him, hugging him around the neck. Max stooped over to accommodate her hold, but she didn’t care.

“It’s okay,” he murmured into the hair at her temple and brushed a kiss over the shell of her ear.

She shook.

“Step back, ma’am.” A cop took her arm and Lily let go even though it was the last thing on earth she wanted to do.

She couldn’t formulate any words over the lump in her throat, so she numbly nodded, holding Max’s eyes until he was taken down the steps. The three men walked away and Max was placed in the back of the car.

Tears streamed down Lily’s face as she watched the car drive away.

Had Max lost his temper and killed Blake?

“What’s going on?” Sara said, coming to the open door and pulling Lily inside before shutting the door.

“Are you heating Washington?” her friend teased and then grew concerned when she saw the tears.

“What happened? Where’s Max?” Sara gripped her arms and shook her slightly.

“He’s been arrested for Blake’s murder.”

“Oh my god, what do we do?” Sara asked shakily.

Lily lifted her phone and punched in a number.

“Hello?”

“Ana? I need your help,” Lily whispered and then she broke down.

Anastasia Dupont was a force to be reckoned with when she descended on the Seattle PD with a vengeance.

The lieutenant had dealt with her before on a case and he knew what to expect. She was one of the best criminal defense attorneys in the United States.

Ana was led into a room and Max was brought in.

“Where’s the evidence,” Ana said.

“Max had a fight with the deceased earlier in the week,” Lieutenant Tiller said.

“That’s circumstantial. Where’s the physical evidence that he committed the crime?”

“We haven’t found any. The apartment building surveillance camera shows a man entering the building around the time of death, but the perp is much smaller than Mr. Deckman.”

“Your arresting officers said they had a warrant for his arrest,” Anna snapped.

Tiller glanced away and cleared his throat. “That may have been an exaggeration.”

“So, falsifying an arrest warrant?”

“No, there was no warrant,” Tiller growled.

“They arrested him without a warrant.” Ana laughed, it wasn’t a pretty sound. “You don’t have a warrant. Why are you holding him?”

“I brought him in for questioning.”

“In handcuffs, without a warrant.” Ana wasn’t letting this slide.

“It’s not uncommon given his military background.”

“Did they even ask him to come in for questioning?”

Tiller blinked and Ana saw the truth in the man’s eyes. She hoped like hell Tiller tore them a new asshole.

“Mr. Deckman has a propensity for violence,” Tiller said.

Max scoffed and the cop’s eyes snapped to him. “Stevenson kicked in the door to the house, he’s lucky all he got was a punch to the nose.”

Tiller frowned at Max.

“I suggest you release my client right now. And just so you know, your city is going to have a lawsuit on its hands,” Ana said calmly.

Ana and Lieutenant Tiller stared at each other and after another moment, Tiller nodded to one of the officers, who stepped up and un-cuffed Max.

“Where’s Lily?” Max asked, rubbing at his wrists where the metal had bitten into his skin.

“She’s at home with Sara.”

“Ana,” Tiller began, and she shot him a scathing look. “A lawsuit? Do you really have to go this far?”

“You bet your ass I do,” Ana hissed.

“No,” Max put a gentle hand on Ana’s arm. “No lawsuits, but you need to train your officers better,” he told Tiller.

“Trust me, they’ll be suspended for this.”

Max nodded at the man and had to pull Ana away when she appeared ready to rip Tiller a new one.

“Let’s go. There’s a stalker out there who just killed Lily’s estranged husband,” Max growled and spun back around on Tiller. “Do your damned job and catch this son of a bitch.”

Tiller grimaced and headed toward the door of the small interviewing room. “You still need to be processed out.”

“Hurry the fuck up,” Max said.

“Let’s go.” Ana tugged on Max’s arm to ward off the man clocking Tiller, even though that was exactly what she wanted to do!

She wanted to smack Lieutenant Tiller’s handsome face, but that was the last thing they needed. “Please hurry,” she said following Tiller when he stepped into the hallway.

Ana had a tight grip on Max’s arm and he realized she thought he was going to hit Tiller.

She needn’t have worried.

He wasn’t going to hit the guy. First, the man was an officer and only doing his job and second, Max didn’t want to be detained.

There was a killer out there with his eyes on Lily.