Page 46 of Run, Little Rabbit (Blood & Bonds #1)

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Echo

T hings look moderately better after my power nap.

Veon is still shot, we’re still in the middle of nowhere, and we’re still being targeted.

But Sphinx managed to do something clever with coding that meant the phone was giving off a false location pin.

He tried to explain it to me, but I got lost within the first thirty seconds and asked him to stop, or I’d gag him.

He walked away from me at that point, mumbling something about me being a neanderthal when it came to tech.

So now I’m sat picking at the skin around my thumb while I watch my bodyguard sleep off a bullet wound.

“Here,” Max says as he holds out a cup of tea.

I take it and instantly feel the warmth from the mug settle deep into my bones. “Thanks.”

“How are you doing?” he asks as he settles into the spot on the sofa next to me.

“Fine,” I mumble, though we both know it’s an absolute barefaced lie. I am the furthest from fine I’ve ever been. It’s all my fault. I should have just walked away and should have listened to Veon in the first place and left Bennie alone. Then none of this would have happened.

I’d still be under my father’s thumb; I wouldn’t have started to mend the relationship with the twins, and I’d never have met the guys, but hey… Veon wouldn’t have been shot, Aurum would still be standing, and there wouldn’t be a pile of dead bodies to deal with.

“How are you?” I point to his shoulder.

“It’s nothing. It was only a bullet graze. Stings like a bitch, but it’ll heal quickly. Niki had a few stitches, though, which I think Angel enjoyed a little too much.” Max huffs a laugh and runs his hand through his dark locks. “Angel just had a couple of cuts and bruises, a bit like you.”

Thanks to Veon, I’d managed to avoid any real damage.

I had a couple of nasty bruises on my ribs and a couple of slices on my arms, but I hadn’t needed any stitches.

I wouldn’t say I was lucky. I know it was all down to Veon and how he protected me.

He took on the worst of the action to give me a better chance to survive.

My hands tremble around the mug as the image of him fading in front of me flashes before me.

When his eyes had rolled back in his head, I thought that was it.

I thought I’d lost him, and I’d never told him how much he meant to me or how grateful I was that he was in my life.

He is family, and I don’t think he knows that.

And, for a minute, I nearly missed my chance to tell him that.

“How’s the club?” I ask, needing to pull my thoughts from the rabbit hole of ‘what-ifs’.

Max sighs, the deep breath of air loud in the quiet space. “It’s a mess, but I can salvage it. I’ve got deep pockets, princess.”

“That’s not what I meant, and you know it.”

He grins, wide and bright, and God, he’s got a gorgeous smile. It changes his whole demeanour from the broody, intimidating leader to a warm, inviting man.

“You should smile more,” I comment as I trace the lines of his mouth with the tip of my finger.

“But I do the moody mafioso really well.”

I huff a laugh. “That you do, Max.”

He takes my mug from my hands and places it on the coffee table. “Come here.”

I let him drag me into his embrace, tucking my head under his chin and surrounding myself with him. His fingers trace patterns on my thigh, and the solid, steady beat of his heart grounds me.

“Don’t worry about the club, princess. I’ve got my little detective on the case, and he will make sure none of it traces back to us.”

“A detective?” I ask, impressed. The best my dad managed to achieve was a couple of beat cops happy to look the other way for a payoff.

“Yes, Detective Inspector Kodiak. He’s quite handy to have on the payroll. We all call him Teddy Bear. Which he hates,” Max says with a fond chuckle.

“Teddy Bear?”

“Well, his first name is Theodore, and Kodiak is a type of bear.”

“Oh, poor Detective.” It is a name that I vaguely remember. “Isn’t he the guy earmarked for the next Chief of Police?”

Max nods and snuggles me in closer. “That’s the one. He grumbles all the time, but he’s quite happy to work his way up the ladder with my help. Ambition is an excellent motivator. And he’s a pretty good detective as well. He’s also an old friend, though I think he tries to forget that sometimes.”

“I’ll bet,” I mutter, content to just sit with Max and watch the slow, steady rise and fall of Veon’s chest. Angel said he was lucky. A millimetre or two to the right and Veon wouldn’t have made it.

“Where are we?” I ask eventually. I wasn’t paying attention when we arrived. I have a vague recollection of a cul-de-sac in a remote suburban location, but if you put a map in front of me, I wouldn’t have the first clue where we actually were.

“Apparently, this is Sphinx’s safe house.”

The hell? That fucker !

He’s been living under my roof, but he’s had this property all along?

“That cheeky asshole,” I grumble, and Max tilts his head to look at me, a question in his raised brow. “I’ve been letting him stay at my mum’s old place when all the time he could have been living here.”

Max shrugs a shoulder. “He probably had his reasons.”

“Pfft, he’s clearly not short on money, though.

” This place wasn’t massive, but it was well kept.

Clean and tidy, like he paid someone to come in once a month.

Besides, if he’s got this place, I wouldn’t put it past him to have others dotted around the country.

Asshole . “I didn’t even charge him rent. ”

A chuckle rumbles against the shell of my ear. “Well, at least you know now.”

“I guess so,” I mutter. “Still going to kick his arse over it, though.”

Max presses a kiss to the top of my head. “I wouldn’t expect anything less.”

“Can I ask you a question?”

“Always, Echo. You can always ask me anything.”

I tip my head back so I can look in his eyes. “What do you think I should do with Bennie’s phone and all those secrets?”

He purses his lips and takes a deep breath. “Honestly, I’m not sure. You could keep it, use the data to eradicate the filth that’s on there, but then you run the risk of being a target for as long as you have it. Or you could destroy it. Then no one will be able to use it.”

“That’s what I’ve been thinking. I don’t think it’s right for one person to have this much information.” I agree, tracing my lips with my forefinger.

Max captures my hand and presses a kiss against my fingertip. “But do you know what I would do?”

“What?”

“Publish the whole lot in a public domain for the whole world to see.”

Well. Isn’t that a thought? “All of it?”

“Mm-hmm,” he hums. “And I’d give the phone to Teddy so he could do some actual good with it.”

“That’s a really good idea. Thanks, Max. You’re actually quite useful.”

He smiles again, but there’s a cheekiness about this one. “You do know I’m the head of a major crime organisation, don’t you?”

“Are you?” I gasp as my eyes widen. “I did not know that.”

He growls at me before rolling me over on his knee and swatting my ass playfully. “Behave, pet, or I’ll have to turn this lovely ass a very bright shade of pink.”

“I don’t think that’s quite the deterrent you think it is,” I say with a chuckle as he sits me back on his lap.

How did I get so lucky to find myself here, with this man who looks at me like I hung the damn moon?

I press a kiss against his lips, my chest aching with each inhale as we stare at each other for what feels like an eternity.

I know that time is passing, but right now, I couldn’t care.

I’m too wrapped up in the sensation of him.

His touch. His scent. His taste on my lips.

I am obsessed . And I don’t care one bit.

A soft groan from behind me breaks the spell and I turn to see Veon’s eyes fluttering open. I jump off Max’s lap and scramble over to Veon, grabbing his hand and brushing his hair back from his face.

“Feck,” he groans, an Irish lilt slipping through. Huh. I never knew he still had his accent. Must be the morphine making it harder for him to maintain his cool facade.

“You’re okay. I’ve got you,” I whisper as he drifts in and out of consciousness.

“Sphinx,” he mumbles, and my eyebrows hit my hairline. I turn to Max, who looks back at me with a knowing grin.

“Sphinx has been holding vigil by Veon’s bed, talking to him about code and all sorts of random shit. It’s quite sweet, really. Veon is completely oblivious to both his own and Sphinx’s feelings.”

I squeeze Veon’s hand as he drifts back under the spell of his morphine drip and reset his blanket across his torso. There’s a large bandage covering his abdomen, and a stab of guilt slices through me as I look at the wound.

Max steps beside me and pulls me into his side. “It’s not your fault, Echo. He knew what he was doing. We all did and still do.”

“Doesn’t make it any easier to stomach,” I grumble.

He grips my chin in his hand and forces me to look at him instead of the floor. “Now you listen to me, pet. This is not your fault.”

Fuck, that name does something to me and I instantly melt.

And his tone of voice… shit. My knees weaken and my core clenches with anticipation.

But something in his eyes makes me believe him and his words.

There’s a fierceness and sheer bloody determination in his dark grey depths that rocks me to my core, and I find myself nodding in agreement with him.

“Now, you’re not to worry about Veon. He’s going to be absolutely fine.

He might be a little grumpy for a week or two because I don’t imagine he’s the sort of person to lie still, but I’m sure Sphinx will keep him entertained.

You, however, are going to put a plan in action to get that phone as far away from you as you possibly can.

I don’t care what you do with it; I’ll support any decision you make, but please get rid of it. Do you understand?”

I nod and love how his lips twitch with the hint of a smile.

“Need your words, pet.”