Page 8 of Maximus (Gold Team #4)

“Here!” Max shouted.

Liam flinched next to me, Elijah shoved in closer, and I fought the urge to cover my ears as I looked up from my boys to find Max passing back his phone to me.

I had a thousand questions; none of them I could ask because Max said he couldn’t hear. What the hell was that about? And he looked like hell. The side of his face had pebbles embedded in his flesh, and his forearms and hands were shredded to shit.

What the actual fuck happened? I heard the explosion but I hadn’t seen what blew up. Then bedlam ensured the restaurant turned to chaos. People were screaming, diving under tables, and running for the doors.

For a moment, I’d sat frozen, unsure what to do, and scared Max had left us. Then fight or flight kicked in and I decided on flight. Thank God, Max had found us in the kitchen, because beyond getting away from the crowd, I hadn’t thought about our escape.

“My password is seven-three-zero-nine-eight,” Max told me when I took his phone. “Tex’s number will be in the recent call list. Call him and tell him what happened.”

My hands were shaking so badly I fumbled with the phone a moment, before unlocking it and pressing Tex’s name.

“You find anything?” Tex’s voice boomed in my ear.

“It’s Eva.”

“Where’s Max?” Concern laced his tone.

“Driving. There was an explosion at the restaurant. Max says he can’t hear.”

Tex cursed a blue streak and I waited long moments until he got himself under control before he asked, “Are any of you hurt?”

“Well, the side of Max’s face looks like he got into a fight with a cheese grater, and his elbows, forearms, and hands are bleeding, and he can’t hear, so yes, Max is hurt. Me and the boys were inside. I didn’t see what happened, only heard it.”

“Tell Tex, he was right.” Max’s loud bellow filled the small space.

I caught Max’s stare in the rearview mirror, his cool blue eyes full of worry.

I wished he could hear me. I had so much I wanted to tell him.

We needed to stop so I could clean his wounds.

And he shouldn’t be gripping the steering wheel with his hands looking like they did.

I wanted to tell him how much I appreciated him finding us, getting us away from the danger.

But I couldn’t tell him anything.

“I heard,” Tex told me. “He must’ve been close to the explosion if he can’t hear.”

“What?” I whispered.

My chest tightened, my stomach felt funny, and my heart was beating too fast.

“I was afraid someone had put a tracking device on your car. I asked Max to go and check it out. ”

“Oh my God.”

Max was hurt because he was protecting us.

“I’m thinking there was more than a tracking device,” Tex mumbled. “Max needs to get you to a safehouse immediately. No more vacations, no more screwing around.”

“Okay,” I agreed instantly.

I may’ve wanted to give my boys normal, but I wasn’t stupid.

“You’re gonna have to find a way to communicate with Max. His ears are likely ringing like a son-of-a-bitch right now. I need you to tell him to head north. I’ll call you back in thirty minutes with a location. And tell him, I’ll call this in to his team. You’ll have backup soon.”

Backup. Holy shit .

“Okay.”

“Stay calm, Eva. And listen to Max—he’s one of the best men I know. I wouldn’t have sent him to you if I didn’t trust him. He’ll keep you and the boys safe.”

Staying calm was a thing of the past—no longer an option on this fucked-up adventure.

But, I could listen to Max, and weirdly, I did trust him.

“Mommy?”

“Hold on, honey,” I told Liam, then went back to Tex. “I’ll wait for you to call and I’ll find a way to explain things to Max.”

“Copy that.”

Tex disconnected and I took a moment to gather my thoughts. I had some explaining to do to my kids, but I didn’t know where to begin.

“Did Max save us?” Liam asked.

“Yeah, sweetie, he did.”

“I’m scared,” Eli whispered.

“I know, baby, I am, too. But Max is going to help us.”

“Where are we going?” Liam inquired .

“I’m not sure where. Max has some friends that are going to help, too. The man I was speaking to is going to find us a safe place to go.”

“Max’s friend is a nice guy?”

I didn’t have time to allow my guilt to consume me. I’d think about it later—why my six-year-old had to ask if every man he met was a nice guy and how utterly fucked up that was.

“Yes, Liam. We can trust him.”

“Okay.”

“I need to let you boys go for a moment and find something to write on.”

Liam disengaged and sat back in the seat, his eyes going to the window. Elijah held on for dear life.

“Baby, I’m not going anywhere. I just have to look around the car for a minute.”

“Is Max staying at the place?” Eli asked.

It took me a second to figure out what my son was asking, and when I did, my heart squeezed. “Yeah, baby, he’s gonna stay with us. You don’t have to be afraid of Max. He’s here to keep us safe. He’s a nice guy, too.”

“I don’t want him to go.”

“You don’t want him to go with us to the house?”

“No. I don’t want him to go without us.”

“Max isn’t going anywhere without us. He’s staying with us,” I reassured Elijah.

My son’s arms loosened and he, too, sat back in the seat. But he didn’t look out the window—he stared straight ahead, not taking his eyes off Max, like the man was going to go up in a puff of smoke and disappear.

I’ve made a lot of bad decisions in my life. There was a lot I regretted, but deep down I knew I wouldn’t regret trusting Max. He’d help us. I could feel it down to my bones.

I quickly glanced behind me in the cargo area of the SUV. There was a backpack but nothing else. I unbuckled my belt, scooted forward, and reached for the button to open the center console. Max jerked when my hand brushed against his arm and I pinched my lips at the blood now smeared on my skin.

Shit, his arm was seriously bleeding. When Max glanced at me, I slowly mouthed, pull over . He shook his head sharply in the negative and his gaze went back to the road. I opened the center compartment and found it empty.

Who in the actual hell doesn’t have random shit tossed in their center console?

I carefully shoved myself through the small space between the two front seats, mostly on my belly. I opened the glove box and hit paydirt. A small notebook and pen. I quickly grabbed them and scribbled Max a note.

Head North.

I shoved it in front of him and he glanced down to read it.

With a nod he continued to drive.

I wrote out another message.

Tex is calling your team. Safehouse.

I once again showed it to him and his gaze snapped to mine. I gave him a sharp nod of agreement and his eyes lit with approval.

There was one more thing I had to tell him so I yanked the pad back and wrote.

Thank you!

I held it up for him to read, then I swear to all things holy, my insides warmed when he turned a dazzling smile my way.

Sweet Jesus, he was pretty when he smiled.

Max Brown looked like a sexy Southern California surfer with a touch of naughty when he wasn’t frowning.

And his frosty blue eyes even thawed. Oh, boy, he was scary beautiful.

My eyes caught on the scratches on his face and I winced. He was hurt and it was because of me. Then I thought of something else I needed to say to him.

You’re hurt. Pull over. I’ll drive.

“In a while,” he bellowed. “I want distance between us and the restaurant.”

There was no use trying to argue. He couldn’t hear me and it was dangerous for him to keep reading my notes while he was speeding down the road. I eased myself back into my seat, buckled back up, and pulled my sons close.

“Everything’s gonna be okay,” I promised, hoping I wasn’t lying to my kids.

Neither boy said anything. It took a while, but with Liam and Eli both cuddled in tight, my nerves started to dissipate and I started to think clearly.

There was no more denying the reality of my situation.

It wasn’t that I hadn’t believed Tex when he told me someone had been hired to kill me.

It was that I na?vely had no concept of the reality that someone was after me right that very moment.

I’d only thought about it in the abstract: Tex found a threat and sent Max to neutralize it.

I never dreamed someone would get close enough to actually try.

I’d screwed up again. My good intentions had gotten Max injured, and worse, put my kids in danger.

A vacation? Was I stupid? I should’ve listened to Max from the start.