Page 21 of Maxim (The Syndicates #12)

I hear 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, Сонечко. 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.”

The movie plays, but I’m not really paying attention. I can’t stop thinking about the other day. The perfect day at the park. Maxim went above and beyond to give me an afternoon of normalcy.

Then he kissed me.

My first kiss.

In the dark of night, in the quiet of my bedroom back at my father’s house, I used to dream about what my first kiss would be like. I expected it to be soft and gentle. A lingering peck at most, where we would smile at each other after before going our separate ways.

Maxim took that dream and shattered it. He blew it into a million little pieces when he placed his rough hands on my face and then devoured my mouth. It was everything I didn’t know I needed. His kiss lit me on fire. It tore me apart and rebuilt me all at once.

I loved it, and I want to do it again. So much so I can’t stop thinking about it.

Maxim shifts on the couch, pulling me out of my thoughts. Discreetly I shake my head and look back at the TV.

“Wait, did they just add candy to popcorn?” I ask as I look at the screen.

Maxim hums. “Yeah, people add all sorts of shit to things nowadays.”

“But why? What’s wrong with plain popcorn?”

“First off, I hope when you say plain, you mean with butter. Second, some people just prefer a mix of salty and sweet.”

“Do you do it? Add things to your popcorn, I mean.”

Maxim turns toward me. “No, I don’t, but that’s not what you really want to talk about, is it?”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

The corner of his lips tip up. “You’ve been distracted. Are you ready to talk about it, or do you need more time to work yourself up?”

I both love and hate how he reads me so well.

“I—”

“Don’t bother lying. I can read you like a book. Does it have something to do with our kiss? Did I overstep? We never talked about it.”

“No!” I shout.

I feel my cheeks heat as soon as the words leave my mouth.

“Talk to me, Сонечко.”

I blow out a breath and look down at my lap. “I liked it,” I say softly.

“You liked the kiss?”

I nod, keeping my head down. “A lot.”

“Good. I’m glad, and for the record, I liked it too. More than I should have.”

“What do you mean?” I ask, finally looking at him.

Maxim sighs and places his hand on the back of the couch. He reaches out and starts playing with a strand of my hair.

I like it. God, why do I like it so much?

Nothing about it is seductive in the traditional sense, but it’s effective, nonetheless.

“I care about you, and I know you have feelings for me as well, but I’m worried you only feel this way because of the situation we find ourselves in. I don’t want to take advantage of you in any way. You’ve had enough people manipulate you in life, I don’t want to be another.”

And that right there is what makes Maxim so different from any other person I’ve ever met. His intentions are pure when it comes to me. Well, hopefully not too pure…

I think back to some of the scenes I’ve seen on the shows we watch. I can feel my cheeks heat.

Definitely don’t want him to be too pure.

“You don’t think I know that?” I turn and face him completely.

“That’s one of the reasons I like you. You saved me before you knew me because you’re a good man.

You’ve proven yourself over and over again.

I don’t have feelings for you because of some altered state of mind.

I like you because I see you, and you see me. It’s as simple as that.”

His eyes soften the longer I talk.

“You say that now, but I’m all you know. What if I get you out of here and you realize this is all situational?” he asks.

“I can’t say that won’t happen. I don’t know how I will feel once I have my siblings with me.

I’ve never lived my life thinking about tomorrow, though, and I don’t plan to start now.

I’ve been deprived of so much in my life.

Are you going to deprive me of this too?

The one slice of joy in my otherwise dark world? ”

“You really mean that, huh?”

“I do, but if you don’t feel that way about me, it’s okay. I can take it.”

My heart races as I wait for him to respond. If he rejects me, it will crush me, but I’ll be okay. I’ve lived through worse, but the idea of living without him when this is all over is crushing. I can’t imagine it.

The way she braces for the rejection fucking eats at me. The last thing I want to do is walk away from her, but it’s the right thing to do, right? This was never supposed to happen. Then I saw her, and everything went sideways.

I scrub my hands over my face.

Goddammit.

“I want you, Olena. Never doubt that, but that doesn’t mean it’s right. I’m afraid you have Stockholm syndrome.”

“What’s that?”

“It’s when a hostage or someone who’s been abused develops feelings for their captor. They no longer view the person as bad and start to believe they are in love with them.” I point to myself. “I saved you, and now you have feelings for me.”

She rolls her eyes. “Humble much?”

“I’m sorry?” I ask as I shake my head.

She bites the corner of her lip as she tries to find the words to explain herself.

“Okay, we both know Szymon has feelings for me, right?” she says.

Just hearing his name makes my stomach twist.

“Yeah.”

“In all the years he had me under his thumb, not once did I ever wonder what it would be like to be with him. For him to kiss me. Yeah, there was one time when I wondered if ending up with him would be the worst thing to happen, but not once did I want it to become reality. Even when he would bring me gifts or do nice things for me. So I think it’s safe to say this isn’t whatever syndrome you mentioned.

If it was going to be with anyone, it would have been him. I found him creepy instead.”

Relief flows through me.

Thank fuck.

I knew I wanted her, but I don’t think I realized how badly until this moment.

“I just want you in my life. Anyway I can have you,” she says softly.

“Come here.”

I reach over and pull her into my arms. She sits across my lap and buries her face in my neck. Having her in my arms feels right. Like she’s meant to be here and nowhere else.

“I want you, Сонечко.”

“Yeah?” she murmurs softly.

“Yeah, but you call the shots. Okay?”

“I don’t know what that means.”

“It means that we do this at your pace. You’re the one who decides what happens when. If you need me to take control, I will, but I won’t rush you.”

“Really? So if I wanted to kiss you?”

My blood heats at her innocent question.

Fuck, I used to tease Dimitri for the way he loved that he was all of Ivanna’s firsts. I get it now. I fucking get it. It’s a heady feeling.

“Then you kiss me,” I rasp.

Do it. Make the move, Сонечко.

She picks her head up and stares at my lips, making my cock twitch. It’s safe to say she doesn’t miss it by the way her eyes dilate with desire.

Olena leans in and lightly brushes her lips against mine.

I want to take control but don’t. I meant what I said.

She’s in charge. When she comes in for a second kiss, pressing her lips harder against mine, I can’t help but squeeze her hip.

She makes a tiny noise in the back of her throat, making my cock twitch once again.

Shit.

I pull away and press my forehead against hers.

“Why did you stop?” she asks, breathlessly.

“Because I promised you that you were in control, and I was about to make a liar of myself.”

“You liked it? Kissing me, I mean.”

If she were any other woman, I would worry she was being coy, but I know she really wants to know. She needs the reassurance.

“Сонечко, I didn’t like it.” Her face falls before I can finish. “I fucking loved it.”

Her eyes light up. “Really?”

“Really.”

Her tongue sneaks out and brushes over her bottom lip. It takes everything in me not to lean forward and suck on it.

I adjust her in my lap, not trying to hide the fact that I’m rock-hard.

“Now, we finish our movie and hang out.”

“And if I want to kiss you more?”

“Then you kiss me.”

“Okay.” She tucks her head under my chin and faces the TV. “So what’s this movie about?”

“No fucking clue. I just picked the first thing I came across when we sat down. I was hoping you knew,” I confess.

Olena’s giggles set my soul on fire, and rightness settles in my chest.

“I have no idea. I wasn’t exactly paying attention.”

“Oh? What had you all distracted?” I tease.

She playfully slaps my arm. “Stop fishing for a compliment.”

“I would never do such a thing.”

I’m going to hell. I’m having more fun with her right now with our clothes on than I’ve had in a long time.

“Should we find something else to watch since neither of us knows what’s going on?”

“If you want, that sounds good to me.” I pick up the remote from the arm of the couch and hand it to her. “Here, you find something to watch, and I’ll order us dinner.”

I reach under her legs and work my phone out of my pocket. “What sounds good?”

Olena turns her head, and her lips brush my neck. “You choose.”

When she’s done speaking, she kisses my skin.

Jesus Christ, I’ve only had her for maybe five minutes, and I’m already addicted.

“You like that,” she states.

“How do you know?” I ask.

“Because I felt your heart rate pick up, and you twitched under me.”

I shiver at her words. “You’re going to be a pain in my ass, aren’t you?”

She pulls back and winks. “One of your making.”

“Be a good girl and find something to watch while I find us something to eat. Are you sure you don’t have a preference?”

“Nope, you know what I like, and I trust you.”

Having her complete and utter faith in me is inconceivable. I don’t know if anyone else trusts me the way she does. Nikolai trusts me to protect him and Lia. He trusts me to get whatever job done but this kind of trust is different and one I won’t ever take for granted.

“What did you order?” Olena asks a few minutes later when I set my phone down.

“It’s a surprise.”

For the rest of the night, we eat, pretend to watch whatever comes on the TV, and make out.

Despite the simplicity, it will go down as one of my top ten favorite days ever.