Page 2 of Maximus

And there she was, the woman in question—Eva.

And once fucking again, she wasn’t paying attention as she came out of work. Christ, the need to shake some sense into her became harder and harder to control the more I watched her.

“She has tomorrow off,” I told him something he knew—after all, it was Tex who’d given me her schedule. “Call her tonight and tell her I’ll be at her place tomorrow at ten.”

Tex’s exaggerated sigh came over the phone. “Fine.”

My attention went back to Eva as she loaded some groceries into the trunk of her car. Nothing fancy, an older model sedan, likely courtesy of Tex.

“While you’ve been watching, have you seen any sign of a—”

“Threat? No. Are you ready to explain why you want me playing bodyguard to a woman who nearly killed Bubba and Zoey?”

“Nope.”

“Do Zoey and Bubba know you bankrolled the woman—”

“Yes,” he huffed. “They were given the option to press charges. Both declined and they understand why I helped her.”

“She’s on the move. Call her and I’ll check in after I meet with her.”

“Keep her safe.”

My grip on the steering wheel tightened. Tex sounded almost… desperate. Very unlike the man. He didn’t get anxious—he was cool, calm, calculating. He saw the problem and solved it.

What the fuck is going on?

Five minutes later, Eva pulled in front of a crappy house that was not hers and parked. I sat in my SUV and watched. The more I followed her without her knowledge—something else we would be discussing because Eva should’ve seen me, I wasn’t trying to hide—the more I felt like a stalker.

Hunting and watching my prey was something I was used to, something I was good at. But Eva wasn’t my prey, she was my… fuck, I didn’t know what she was because Tex was being vague.

I had no clue who or what the threat was and I was beginning to think the cyber genius didn’t, either. Which might’ve been the reason he was so worried.

Eva knocked on the door with the grocery bags looped over her forearms. She was not looking around. If she had, she would’ve seen me sitting across the street, watching.

Goddammit. The woman had a death wish.

An older woman answered the door and smiled brightly. She said something before Eva leaned forward, kissed her cheek, and then both women went inside.

Thirty minutes later, Eva came out sans the bags and tromped to her car.

You guessed it, not paying a lick of fucking attention.

Shoulders hunched, sadness burned her features, sorrow clear as day.

And for the briefest moment, I felt sorry for Eva.

Chapter 1

“Tex, I appreciate everything you’ve done for us. More than you know.”

He couldn’t know, and not because I hadn’t thanked him a hundred times, not because I hadn’t broken down and poured my heart out to him, but because there were no words strong enough to express what his help meant to me.

Tex had saved me. What’s more, he saved my boys.

He rescued them from a vile, evil man—my ex-husband.

Jay Dawkins—liar, abuser, drug-dealer extraordinaire. The devil himself.