Page 50 of Maximus

Damn, so it was just bad timing he heard me singing to the boys.

“Yeah, the kids and I like that movie. We used to watch it all the time.”

“It’s good they have that, the memory of watching that movie with you, and them waking up to you singing. Something they’ll always remember.”

I braced myself against the counter, my palms pressing into the sharp edge of the Formica, and I closed my eyes. God, I hoped they remembered us singing in the mornings and not the five-hundred shitty mistakes I’d made.

“We need to talk about what’s gonna happen today.”

My eyes remained closed and I steadied myself for a new kind of pain. Not the sweet kind that Max had just given me telling me my boys would always remember their mornings with their mom. No, this pain sliced deep and twisted in my stomach—a reminder I was a fuck-up and because of that, my kids were in danger.

“Eva,” Max called, but when I didn’t answer, the heat from his chest hit my back, and his arms came around me, his hands covering mine on the edge of the counter. “Everything’s going to be okay.”

“Don’t say that. Nothing will ever be okay.”

“I’m not gonna let anything happen to you or the boys.”

“I believe you’ll try.”

“I’m gonna do more than try, Eva. I’m gonna fix this.”

“Right. Fix it.”

Cold seeped in, even though I was trapped between Max and the counter, even though heat radiated from his body, even though he’d slipped his fingers between mine and held tight.

I wasn’t alone in the kitchen, yet I was alone.

And there I was, needing someone else to fix my life again.

“One thing at a time,” he told me. “Today, we’re gonna head up to Maryland.”

“Fine.”

“Fine?”

“Yes, fine.” I shrugged my shoulders. “Thank you.”

“Eva—”

“What? Did you expect me to argue? I’m hardly in the position to fight about where we’re going. You’re the bodyguard, I’m at your mercy.”

“You are not at anyone’s mercy, Eva.” His growl reverberated over my skin, leaving chills racing over my arms.

“Right, because I have a say in what happens.”

“You goddamn well do.”

“So, if I said I wanted to go back to Florida, we’d go?”

“No. If you wanted to go to Florida, I’d hear you out, then I’d explain why that’s not a good idea. Then I’d lay out all the reasons why going to Maryland is our best option. And I’d do that until you understood my reasons are sound, they’re smart, and they’re in your best interest. What we’re not gonna do is this bullshit where you clam up, lock your emotions down, and give me a line of shit that you’re at my mercy.”

Frustration and fear mingled until I couldn’t stop the tears from forming.

“We’re not going back to Florida, are we?”

“Probably not.” Max softened his tone. “When this is over, Tex wants to set you and the boys up someplace new. A fresh start.”

A fresh start. Right, how many times does one person need to start over—fresh?