Page 32 of Maximus (Gold Team #4)

Max’s boss, Zane, was not what I’d pictured—though maybe I should’ve—the man was just as good-looking as all the men he employed. Tall, black hair, and piercing blue eyes that were almost as beautiful as Max’s.

He also looked like he could snap a man in half and not think twice when he dumped the body. In other words, he scared the shit out of me. Max must’ve sensed it because he hadn’t moved from my side in the last five minutes.

What Zane did not do was scare Liam. My son took one look at the rather large, imposing Zane Lewis and asked him if he was friends with Tex, too.

When Zane confirmed he indeed was, Liam commenced asking a million questions.

I found it rather shocking that Zane indulged Liam and had made it a point to soften his features when talking to Elijah.

It was on the tip of my tongue to ask him if he had children, but after Liam’s third degree, I didn’t think Zane would be receptive to anymore questions.

After the introductions were made and Liam ran out of things to ask, the boys happily went into the bedroom to play with the bazillion new toys Max had bought for them. None of which I made him return.

What can I say? I was a sucker.

“Has Max talked to you about the plan?”

The ball of nervousness in my belly quickly grew into a boulder and I blindly reached out for Max, needing him to anchor me in the storm of uncertainty.

“No. He said we’d talk about it when you got here.”

And that wasn’t due to my lack of trying.

I’d asked Max to talk about it with me but he’d clammed up and gave me his signature frown and fiery stare.

When he explained he was pissed and needed a minute to get himself sorted, I stopped pushing.

It wasn’t like he was keeping secrets from me, and if he needed some time, I needed to give it to him.

And the fact he’d been honest about being upset and didn’t try to hide it made my decision to let it go easier.

Zane’s gaze skidded to Max and the two men locked eyes. Icy blue to cold-hard-steel blue. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that they were united in some sort of telepathic conversation.

“The plan is solid,” Zane broke the silence. “Tex and Bubba agree.”

“Mark?” I asked.

Max severed the stare and looked down at me and tucked me closer to his side.

“I’ve asked that in the future, Bubba is left out of any further communication.”

“You did?”

“You said you didn’t feel comfortable with him being involved,” Max unnecessarily reminded me.

“I don’t,” I confirmed just as needlessly.

“I’m afraid that’s no longer an option,” Zane cut in. “It would appear your son had quite the impact on Bubba. He’s made it clear, he’s down to help any way he can. ”

“I don’t want that.”

“Sometimes you don’t get what you want.”

“Careful, Zane,” Max growled.

“I fucking hate this part,” Zane shot back with the same snarly tone as Max had, only his wide smile belied his harsh words. When he was done grinning at Max, Zane turned to me. “Let me ask you something, Eva. Does it matter to you what Bubba wants?”

“Of course it does.”

“Then you’ll have to find a way to be okay with him providing us with intel.

His job prevents him from doing more than that.

He can’t just take leave and go to Alaska with you, but he can deliver valuable information.

He knows the players involved better than we do.

So I suggest we take him up on his offer and not offend the man. ”

Go to Alaska with you.

My heart felt like it was going to explode out of my chest. I vowed never to go back there—bad things happened in Alaska. The whole state was bad luck—unpredictable and unfortunate things happened to me in the ice box.

“But—”

“Eva,” Zane sighed, obviously losing patience. “This is something Bubba wants to do.”

“You said that,” I snapped. “What I was going to say was, I want to go.”

“What?”

“Fuck.”

Both men spoke at once so I wasn’t exactly sure who said what, but I could guess it was Max who nearly shouted the expletive.

“But won’t I be arrested?”

“We’ve already thought about the possible prosecution for your crimes. Tex is taking care of that,” Zane told me.

“Eva— ”

“It will have to be soon, before the boys start school.”

“No!” Max interjected.

“Max brought up the boys in our earlier conversation. I was thinking—”

“Enough,” Max once again interrupted. “You’re not going to Alaska.”

“I have to.”

“What the hell, Eva? No, you don’t.”

So, that may’ve been the moment when I started to fall in love with Maximus Brown. Or maybe that was the moment when I finally admitted that I’d fallen for a man I barely knew.

It wasn’t the outrage or vehemence in his tone. It wasn’t the way he’d tucked me close in an effort to protect me.

It was the fear I saw in his eyes.

He was scared for me. Big, bad Max Brown was worried about me. No one had ever looked at me the way he did just then.

His anxiety gave me the strength I needed to follow through with what I needed to do. I had to go to Alaska—I owed it to Bubba and Zoey.

“Please listen to me, Max.”

He started to shake his head, and when he opened his mouth in what I assumed was an attempt to argue, I cupped his cheeks and brought his face closer to mine.

“Please, Max,” I whispered. “Remember when you told me I had to let it go? I had to stop dwelling and move on? Well, this is my chance. The prosecutor’s office is looking for me for a reason and if they want me to testify, I’m going to do it. There’s something I haven’t told you.”

I sucked in a breath. It was time to come clean—about everything.

“I recorded the conversations I had with Tracy Eklund and Malcom Wright. ”

“You did what?”

“Holy fuck,” Zane sputtered.

I caught Zane’s movement out of the corner of my eye but my gaze remained fixed on Max.

“I’m not a complete idiot. I thought they might come in handy. Though Malcom Wright had me refer to him and Tracy as Boss when we spoke.”

“You hitchhiked to Alaska.” Max’s voice was vibrating with anger.

He was correct, I had. But after everything had gone down and Malcom and Tracy didn’t pay me what they owed me so I could get the boys back from Jay, I had to do something to get to Alaska.

“You needed money. You could’ve…”

“I could’ve what? I had no options. I needed to be close to Liam and Elijah. I needed to start working on a plan to get them back.”

“Why didn’t you tell Kenneth Eklund you had the recordings?”

“What? Why would I do that?”

“For money. You could’ve blackmailed him.” My hands dropped and I stepped away from Max, my heart shattered in a thousand pieces. “That came out wrong,” he stuttered.

“No, it didn’t,” I whispered.

I dodged his hand as he reached for me and fled as quickly as I could down the hall. I couldn’t go into my bedroom where the boys were playing with toys so I ducked into Max’s room and closed the door.

Of course Max would think the worst of me, why wouldn’t he?

With my back to the door, I slid down the smooth wood and landed on my ass, uncaring my rear end now throbbed from the impact.

After all, that was less than the pain that was eating my insides.