Page 24 of Maximus

“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 naïvely 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.

Chapter 8

After nearly three hours in the car, my ears had finally stopped ringing, and thanks to pain killers and a bottle of water Eva had bought during a pit stop so the kids could go to the bathroom, my head had stopped pounding.