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Chapter Fourteen
Max
It had been over a month since Sloane walked out of Max’s life. She moved from her apartment and changed her cell phone number. He didn’t know what had happened. Why did she walk out on him? They had just started something incredible. He felt her absence every day.
Foster and Gutter Mouth would only confirm that she was all right. The few times he saw Bella, she scowled at him before leaving the room. That was something she had never done before.
What the hell? Did he do something wrong with Sloane? He replayed the last 24 hours they spent together over in his mind for the hundredth time. He couldn’t think of one thing except letting her leave. Why did he let her go? After the third day with no word from her, he knew it was over. His heart ached for her. He had never loved anyone before, and he never would again.
He tried not to think about his heartache as he entered his mother’s living room.
“Hey, Ma.” He wrapped his tiny mother in his arms. She was small and fragile.
Her thin eyebrows pinched together as she pulled away from him. “What is it, Max?”
“It’s nothing, Ma.”
“Don’t lie to me, boy. I’m your mother; I know when something is eating you. You look like you’re being devoured from the inside out, right now.”
Max sighed, scrubbing a hand over his face. “I met a girl—it ended before it could really begin, and I don’t know why. It’s got me mixed up inside.”
His mother looked surprised. “A girl?”
“Yeah.”
His mom smiled at him. “Is she pretty?”
“Beautiful, but didn’t you hear me? It’s over.”
Her expression sobered. “Why?”
He shook his head in defeat. “I don’t know.”
“I’ve never seen you like this over a girl, Max. Do you love her?”
“Yeah, Ma, I do. I love her.” A wide grin stretched across her face. “Why are you smiling?” Max asked suspiciously.
“It’s not like you to give up anything without a fight.”
“She moved and changed her number. What am I supposed to do?”
Now the crazed woman was belly laughing at him. His own mother. She actually had tears in her eyes, she was laughing so hard.
“What the hell, Ma?” Max was getting pissed. He came here for a little comfort, not to have his pain laughed at. Especially not by her.
“Oh honey, I’m sorry, but you’re a private investigator for crying out loud. It’s your job to find people that don’t want to be found. What are you waiting for?”
“I don’t know what I did to make her leave in the first place. Until I can figure that out, how can I fix us?”
“All’s fair in love and war. Play dirty. Don’t give this girl up without fighting for her, Max. You’ll never forgive yourself. You’ll always wonder ‘What if’ and that’s no way to live. Understand me?”
Fight dirty, she says. Yeah, he could do that. Max knew just where to start too. With his resolve in place, he kissed her forehead. “I understand. I’ve gotta go, Ma. I have an idea.”
“That’s my boy. Now go get that girl back. I wanna meet the woman that stole my baby’s heart.”
After leaving his mom, Max drove straight to Foster’s house. He was getting some answers this time. He walked with confidence up to the front door. Bella answered after the second knock.
“Max. What are you doing here? Foster is at work.”
