Eighteen #3
My heart lurches. I want to move but the aftershocks of my orgasm keep me trembling around him.
“What are you talking about, Maxim?”
He lifts his head. His eyes are red-rimmed, shining with unshed tears. He swallows hard, nostrils flaring.
“I gave you everything, and you fucking betrayed me.”
Tears spill down my cheeks without permission.
“What are you saying, baby? What betrayal?”
He presses the barrel harder against my temple, teeth clenched.
“Don’t fucking play games with me. I know everything.”
I slowly lift my hand and cup his face. “I swear to God, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
For a second his eyes close. And then something happens that shocks me more than the gun. A single tear slips from beneath his lashes and rolls down his cheek.
Maxim.
Crying.
His chest heaves like he’s fighting for air. For one second, he leans into my touch, then he shifts the gun so the muzzle rests right against my forehead, voice raw with both fury and pain.
“God fucking damn me. God damn me because I can’t kill you, Ava.”
“Maxim…”
“Fuck me for letting myself get this poisoned by one woman.” His voice cracks. “Fuck me.”
The next instant the pressure of the gun lifts. He pulls out of me and climbs off the bed, heading for his clothes. I sit up, still naked, still shaking, tears streaming as I watch him dress. When he’s done he looks at me once more.
“You’ve got one day to pack your shit and get the hell out of my life and my daughter’s.”
Then he leaves without giving me a chance to speak.
Hearing Aurora’s name snaps my crying short, and it takes a few beats to process his words.
He’s taking my daughter from me. My little, innocent Aurora, ripping her away over a sin I didn’t even commit.
I scramble off the bed in a flash, not caring that I’m naked, and chase him down the stairs.
I catch up at the landing and grab his arm, claws digging in.
“Maxim,” I sob, “I swear to God, I don’t know what you’re talking about. I didn’t betray you. I didn’t do anything. You can’t take Aurora from me. She’s my baby.”
With a gentleness I don’t expect, he pries my hand off his arm.
“You should’ve thought about that before teaming up with Leonardo.”
He turns to go again, and this time, in desperation, I drop to my knees at his feet.
“What are you saying? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
He bends down and grabs my throat, not hard enough to cut off air, just firm enough to force my eyes to his.
“I’m talking about the secret phone you hid from me,” he growls. “The one you used to talk to that filthy piece of shit, Leo.” His grip tightens the smallest fraction. “I’m talking about the fucking bug he gave you. The one you planted in my house, right under my goddamn nose.”
Panic crashes through me so violently I can barely think. I claw at his wrist, trying to force the words out.
“I bought the phone just to piss you off,” I rasp desperately. “I never used it, Maxim, I swear. I never betrayed you. I don’t know anything about any bug.” Tears blur my vision. “I swear on Aurora’s life—”
“Don’t swear on my daughter’s life. Just one day, Ava.
One day. If you’re still here tomorrow, Carlo’s dogs will tear you to pieces…
and I’ll be forced to kill every last one of them because I can’t stand the thought of anyone hurting you.
Then you know what happens? We both end up dead and Aurora goes to an orphanage.
If that’s what you want, stay right here. ”
He releases my neck and storms out of the house with long strides, his footsteps echoing through the hall. I push myself off the floor with shaking arms and drag my trembling body up the stairs.
My hands are shaking so badly it takes forever to pull on a pair of jeans and a simple blouse. Even slipping on my shoes feels like a struggle.
I tug them on and head down the stairs when I spot a man standing in the living room. The only thing on my mind is racing to the hotel and scooping up Aurora, so my brain doesn’t flash any red flags about what this stranger is doing in my house.
I make it all the way down, and that’s when I get a clearer look at his face. He’s older, maybe in his fifties, but broad-shouldered and strong for his age, black eyes, salt-and-pepper hair, dressed in black jeans and a gray sweater.
“Who are you?” I ask.
His gaze is sharp and cold, sending a chill down my spine. “I’m one of Maxim’s men. He told me to drive you wherever you need to go.”
“Where’s Alex?”
“Right outside.”
“I want to go to the hotel to pick up my daughter,” I say, giving him another once-over.
The corner of his mouth quirks up. “No problem. Let’s head out.”
Something about this guy just doesn’t sit right. I can feel it already. But when I see Alex standing in the yard by my car, I let out a relieved breath and start toward the back seat, until the stranger’s voice stops me cold.
“Not there, Ava.”
I turn to him, startled. He pops open the trunk and flashes a grin.
“You’ll sleep here until we get to our destination.”
A sharp sting pricks my neck, burning through my skin, and the world starts to tilt. His cruel eyes are the last thing I see before everything fades into darkness.