Page 19 of Maximus (Gold Team #4)

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 all 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—”