Page 37 of Maximus

“Calm down.”

“Calm is a thing of the past, Max. Someone blew up my car. My boys…” I tried to yank my arm free but he held tight. “They could’ve…”

“But they didn’t. Right now, they’re down the hall asleep, something they’re not gonna be if you keep shouting.”

I clamped my mouth closed and stared up at Max—jaw tight, mouth hard, eyes narrowed. I was so sick and tired of being on the receiving end of his scowl.

“God, you’re always mad at me,” I blurted.

“Come again?”

“Never mind, it doesn’t matter,” I mumbled, and his scowl deepened. Time to move on. “Why did Tex think my car had a tracking device?”

“Eva?” Max’s hand tightened around my bicep before it trailed down my arm and he captured my hand and tugged me forward. I stumbled into him. My free hand shot forward and landed on an impressive hard, wall of muscle. It was either that or faceplant into his chest. “Tell me why you think I’m always mad at you.”

There was a lot going on in my muddled mind. I was raw from over-sharing, scared, emotional, and now I was utterly confused. Why on earth would he care what I thought? Max wasn’t with me to make friends. He was there to play bodyguard—as a favor to his friend, no less.

I seriously needed to watch what I said to Max.

Bodyguard. That’s all he was, all he’d ever be.

Chapter 12

I was very aware of Eva’s palm on my chest and her hand in mine. So goddamn aware, my body was reacting to her touch in ways I couldn’t explain. She was looking up at me with wide, scared eyes and damn, if I didn’t want to soothe the fear.

I probably should’ve found a better way to tell her about her car. I’d been told a time or a hundred I lacked finesse. Under normal circumstances, I found pussyfooting around a subject a waste of time. Shit was what it was, so why waste time sugarcoating it?

Life happens—you deal and move on.

But watching Eva’s face grow pale and her eyes go guarded churned my stomach. I should’ve found a way to break the news gently. And the mere recognition of that made me wonder what in the hell was wrong with me. I wasn’t a complete asshole but I dealt in facts, not emotions. And the fact was, her car had been used as a bomb. But fuck if it didn’t suck watching her take in that information and try to process it.

Of course her mind went immediately to her boys. They’d indeed been in that car not even thirty minutes before it exploded.

That thought ate at me. Why the fuck hadn’t I checked her car before we’d left Georgia? I knew better and my lack of attention to detail could’ve gotten them killed. I’d been too caught up in giving Eva what she wanted that I’d let her call the shots.

That shit had to end.

From there on out, I was in charge. No more bullshit games.

“It really doesn’t matter, Max,” she whispered. “Just please tell me why Tex thought my car was being tracked.”

“You keep saying it doesn’t matter, but it does. You said you weren’t afraid of me. So why do you think I’m always mad at you?”

“Because you’re constantly scowling at me. I know you don’t like me and I don’t blame you. I’ve done things I’m ashamed of. I’ve made more than my fair share of bad decisions. But I’m not a bad person. Everything I’ve done was in an effort to protect my kids. Everything, Max. Jay infiltrated my life and once he was in it, I couldn’t get him out. He was a cancer that ate away at my soul. I hated everything about him, everything about the person I had to become to get my boys away from him. But since Tex… I haven’t done one single thing that I’m not proud of.”

Her hand in mine tensed and her fingers flexed against my chest. Another reminder I’d pulled her close, and not because I didn’t want her to flee. I’d simply wanted all of her attention. And if I was being honest, I’d wanted to touch her since I’d walked into her living room. Even knowing what she’d done to Bubba and Zoey, I couldn’t help the attraction. And the truth was, that made me feel like a disloyal dick. Mark Wright was a friend and by extension, so was Zoey.

I should not want to touch this woman. I shouldn’t want her close, I shouldn’t want to make her feel better, and I sure as fuck shouldn’t want to lean down and kiss the hell out of her. But I wanted all of these things with an unhealthy desperation.

Maybe that’s why I was always frowning. Because I could not for the life of me figure out why I would be infatuated with Eva Dawson.

But there it fucking was—a spark of interest that I couldn’t stop. And the hell of it was, it was more than lust. Eva intrigued me. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to know I had mommy issues. I’d grown up with a shit mother, so maybe my infatuation had to do with how she was with Liam and Elijah.

Yeah, asshole, keep telling yourself that big honkin’ lie.

“I don’t dislike you,” I told her.

Disbelieving eyes met mine and a small, deprecating smile tipped her lips.