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“Max,” I choke as my legs give way, and I slide down the wall.
“Jesus, I’m so sorry, Eva,” Max grits, his dark brown eyes full of rage and regret as he crouches in front of me.
Before I can reply, Max is heading for Gerald again, who's picking himself up off the floor. Gerald doesn't even see the punch that knocks him back to the ground. He howls and grabs his nose.
“What the hell?” he shrieks, covering his face with his arms as Max goes after him again. He grabs him by the throat like Gerald did with me.
"You thought you could put your hands on her, frighten her, threaten her?" he growls, getting up in his face. “How does it feel when someone stronger than you makesyoufeel helpless?”
"Please!" Blood flows from Gerald's nose as he pleads with Max to stop.
"Mr Sutherland, we'll take this from here.” A hand lands on Max's shoulder.
I look up to see two police officers behind him, along with some of my colleagues and several customers. Seems we've drawn quite the crowd.
"M-Mr Sutherland?" Gerald squeaks, his eyes wide. "You'reMax Sutherland?"
"Yes, and your worst fucking nightmare. James?" Max holds his hand up to the smartly-dressed guy who accompanied him into Gerald's office earlier. James places Gerald's tablet into his open palm. "James is an I.T genius, and he took him all of thirty seconds to locate proof on this"--Max shakes the tablet--"that you’ve stolen hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of goods from Sutherland's and re-sold them for personal profit. You are relieved of your position with immediate effect, and these nice officers would like to ask you some questions down at the station."
Max releases Gerald so abruptly his head hits the floor with a thump. The police officers help him to his feet and cuff him before leading him from the building.
Good riddance to bad rubbish,as my mum used to say.
"Max."
My voice turns him around and carries him towards me as I push to my feet. I'm vaguely aware of one of the security guards clearing the crowd of people as Max gathers me up in his arms.
"That wasnotpart of the plan," I say shakily, burrowing against him.
"I'm sorry, sweetheart," he chokes, stroking his hand along my back. "If I'd thought for one second—"
I pull back and place my fingers over his mouth. "Stop. This isn't on you. It's on Gerald. Neither of us realised how unstable he was."
"Well, he won't be bothering you or anyone else anymore," he says gruffly. "I'll make sure my lawyers throw the fucking book at him."
I nod. "Good. Now, if I can just find my shoe, I'll get back to work."
"Oh, no, you won't. You're going home. You've had a traumatic experience," Max says firmly, bending to scoop me off my feet and into his arms.
* * *
Thirty minutes later,Max pulls into my driveway and carefully helps me inside. Monty is waiting, and the traitor takes an immediate shine to Max, rubbing against his legs and purring loudly—not that I can blame him. I was doing something very similar last night. And early this morning.
"It's not a luxury penthouse apartment. It's small, but it's well decorated, comfy and cosy," I say, hovering self-consciously in the hallway.
Max moves close, cupping my chin in his hand. "Don't. Don't do that, Eva. Being here, in your house, yourhomeis a privilege. You've fought hard for this place, and you should be proud of the life you've built for yourself since your mum died."
His words bring a lump to my throat, and the last few hours catch up with me. I crumble, and Max envelops me in his strong arms, cradling me against his chest as my tears wet his shirt.
"What do you need, sweetheart? Tell me," he murmurs.
"A shower. I need to wash the day off me. And then I need you. Just you."
Max's jaw clenches, and he presses a kiss on my forehead. "Come on."
Max helps me upstairs and into the bathroom, where he turns on the shower and adjusts the temperature. He cups my face, his eyes tortured. “I’m so sorry,” he says for the umpteenth time.
“Love, there’s nothing to apologise for,” I whisper, covering his hands with mine. “I'm a little shaken but fine." I summon a smile. "We Starling women are made of stern stuff."
