Page 46 of Maximus (Gold Team #4)

Minutes later, we were safely stowed in the third row of an SUV.

A man that was not Gabe was speeding away from the small private airport, Natasha was mostly leaning against me as I pressed a shirt a man had produced against her forehead.

Throughout this, I didn’t mention I was a tad squeamish when it came to blood and tried my best to breathe through my mouth so I didn’t gag.

I’d already puked once, I didn’t think any of the men would appreciate a repeat performance in the tightly confined space.

“What day is it?” I asked.

“Wednesday.”

Holy shit, I’d been gone more than twenty-four hours. I sucked in an unfortunate breath, a coppery smell filled my nostrils, and I started to cough.

Hold it together, Eva.

With my free hand, I felt my neck but couldn’t find the puncture wounds I was looking for as I searched my mind how many times Novak had injected me. Two that I could remember for sure. But there were a lot of blurry parts.

“I don’t remember getting here. I was passed out.” Gabe turned to look at me and now that he’d taken off his mask, I could see the creases around his deep brown eyes, and his thick eyebrows that matched his dark hair were pulled together in a frown. “Where are we?”

“Sheep Creek Trail,” Gabe answered.

So we were in Juneau.

Gabe looked away from me for a moment and when his gaze came back to me, he was smiling.

“Your man’s calling.”

Gabe swiped the screen and held the phone out. I may’ve been a little overeager and snatched the phone out of his hand with an overwhelming urgency to speak to Max.

“Max.”

“Thank fuck.” His exclamation was guttural and I felt it slice through me.

“Max,” I repeated.

“Are you hurt, honey?”

“No. I’m okay.”

“Thank God. Fucking hell, I’ve been out of my mind.”

I heard the hitch in Max’s voice and I lost it. All the stress and fear I’d pushed aside came rushing to the surface and I couldn’t stop the sob that escaped. Raw pain slipped past my lips in a rush of air that burned.

“I’m so, so sorry.” Next to me Natasha rested her head on my shoulder and placed an arm around my chest, pulling me closer. “I wasn’t paying attention. ”

“Shh, honey. Nothing’s your fault.”

The sadness in his voice cut me to the quick. God, how could I have been so stupid?

“You told me to watch my surroundings,” I reminded him. “God, I’m stupid. I almost…almost…”

“You’re killing me, honey,” he groaned. “You’re safe. That’s all that matters.”

“The boys! How are the boys?”

“They’re scared. But holding it together.”

“Can I talk to them or do you think—”

“I think you better talk to them or Liam’ll be pretty mad at me. We’ve been waiting twenty-seven hours for this call.”

Oh, God, he’d been counting the hours.

“Thank you.”

“Don’t know what you’re thanking me for. Tex and the team tracked you down. I’ve been pretty fucking useless.”

“I don’t believe that.”

“It’s the truth, Eva. I don’t know what I would’ve done without them. The boys and I… fuck, honey… it’s taken everything in me to pull my shit together for them.”

“You taking care of them means the world to me. I couldn’t even think about them because I was afraid I’d have a nervous breakdown. But I knew they were safe and I knew no matter what happened to me, you’d take care of them. That meant everything.”

“Hang on.” I heard rustling on Max’s end, then the sweetest sound warmed me from the inside out.

“Mama?”

I stifled another sob and cleared my throat. “Hey, little man.”

My son on the other hand couldn’t contain his. It took a few moments for Max to calm him down as my heart ached. I wished I was there, but knowing that Max was and he was consoling went a long way to soothing my pain .

“Are you on your way home?” Liam hiccupped.

“I am. It’s gonna take a while, but Max’s friends are with me and they’re bringing me home right now.”

“Max told us they were going to find you.”

That made me smile.

“I love you.”

“I love you, Mom.”

“Tell your brother I love him, too, and I’ll be home as soon as I can get there.”

“Okay.”

There was some more static then Max came back.

“You still there?”

“Yeah.”

“Good God, it’s so good to hear your voice. I think I lost twenty years off my life when you didn’t come home.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Please stop saying that, honey.”

“But—”

“You coming home is all that matters.”

“Okay. See you in a few hours?”

“The boys and I will be at the airport waiting for you.”

“I love you.”

“Love you, Eva.”

I hurried and disconnected the call and tapped Gabe’s shoulder. He turned and took his phone, but before he righted himself in his seat, he smiled huge.

“Everything good?”

“Everything is perfect. Thank you for finding me.”

“Don’t mention it.”

We were on the private plane Zane Lewis had arranged before I was formally introduced to the rest of the guys. And much like Max’s team, these men were all tall, muscular, and menacing. But they all looked a little older than Brooks, Thad, Kyle, Declan, and Max. They looked a little rougher, too.

After takeoff, Owen, the man who’d carried Natasha to the SUV, made his way to where she and I were sitting, knelt in front of her, and tenderly tended to her wounds while she gripped my hand to the point of pain. The poor woman was scared out of her mind.

“Natasha?” I called once Owen was finished and was picking up the medical supplies he’d used to clean her forehead and butterfly her gash closed.

“Yeah?”

“You’re safe with these men,” I told her. “They’ll help you get home.”

“I don’t have a home,” she whispered, and Owen’s intense gaze snapped back to Natasha.

“What do you mean you don’t have a home?”

“Novak bought me.”

A deep rumble emanated from Owen and Natasha jolted and squeezed my hand harder.

Good Lord, the woman was strong.

“Where are you from?” Owen asked.

“Nowhere.”

“What does that mean, darlin’? Where did Novak take you from?”

“Chicago.”

“We can take you back—”

“No. I can’t go back there. You can just drop me off wherever you’re going.”

“That’s not gonna happen. I’m not leaving you outside an airport.”

“Really— ”

“Not gonna happen, Natasha. Get some rest, we’ll figure it out. But I’m not leaving you stranded.”

It was safe to say, I really liked Owen.

“Glad you’re okay, Eva. You gave us all a scare.”

“Um…I’m sorry.” Owen chuckled like he found me amusing. “Thanks for finding me when you did, I was running out of things to talk to Novak about and I was afraid I’d have to crash the plane to get away from him.”

Owen’s features darkened but just as swiftly, he covered his irritation and cleared his anger.

“We were watching. You did a good job.” Then Owen’s face split into a shit-eating grin and he continued. “And I hope to God that shot you got on Gabe’s cheek bruises. I can’t wait to tell Max his woman got the drop on the Great Gabe CQB.”

“CQB?” I asked.

“Close-quarters battle. Gabe’s the best on our team at hand-to-hand combat. No one ever gets the drop on him. Well, that is, until your right hook.”

“Ohmigod. You can’t tell anyone that. I feel bad. I was a little crazy.”

“You shouldn’t feel bad. And besides, Max will be proud as hell to know his woman fought hard.”

That was weirdly nice. And since the last twenty-seven hours—not that I could remember all of them—had been filled with more stress and anxiety than I could handle, I decided not to think about Owen telling Max anything.

Instead, I sat quietly, holding hands with a woman I didn’t know, and watched the clouds fly by.

I was alive.