Page 72 of Maxim

“Wh-what was that for?” she asks breathlessly.

For once, I don’t have a good explanation.

“For business and for pleasure. Now come on, let’s get home before it gets dark,” I say as I open the door.

Ihear the door open and then close, before doing it all over again. I can’t help but frown as I stare out the window. It’s early. Maxim shouldn’t be home yet, and Thea wouldn’t just leave me.

Oh god. What if someone found me and broke in?

My heart races as I pick up the hand towel and dry my hands.

As quietly as possible, I head down the hallway toward the living room. Almost as if he heard me approaching, Maxim turns toward me when I peek around the corner.

“Hey, ???????. How was your day?”

“Good.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah…”

“You okay?” he asks with a frown.

I shake my head. “Yeah, sorry. I just wasn’t expecting to see you yet. You usually work later.”

“Let’s just say I needed to get out of there before I did something I would regret,” he confesses.

“Hey, I get it.”

I do. My father is a complicated man on the easiest days. When he’s in a mood, though? All bets are off.

Oh god. I’m not there to take his wrath.

“The kids,” I whisper.

Maxim walks toward me and places his hands on my shoulders. “The kids are fine, I promise.”

My heart settles a little. I still remember him replaying his conversation with Daryna over and over again to bring me comfort several weeks ago. He would tell me if he saw them again.

“Are you sure? When he gets in a mood…”

Maxim shakes his head. “No, he was his normal self. I had to get out of there because I was afraid I couldn’t keep it together for a minute longer. If I could explain it, I would.”

I sigh and relax. “Thank God. You had me worried there for a minute.”

“Sorry, that wasn’t my intention.”

“No, I know that. I’m sorry for thinking the worst.”

“It’s okay. Now what do you think about watching a movie and hanging out? I could use some downtime.”

“That works for me.”

We move to the couch and sit down. Maxim takes control of the remote and starts looking for something to watch. The entire time, I’m aware of his body next to mine. We aren’t sitting on top of each other or anything, but we’re close enough that I can feel the heat coming off of him.

“Does this look good?”

Blindly, I look up and nod. “Sure.”