Chapter 41 #5
A few teenage girls giggle as they steal glances his way while hurrying toward their family cars, their mothers slowing behind them to get a better look at the tall, handsome stranger, much to their fathers’ chagrin.
Lila’s breath catches. Max’s unexpected presence in her small town feels unreal, like stepping into a fever dream. He stands there looking only at her, ignoring everyone else. The corners of his mouth tug into that maddening smile, the one that always sends her heart into wild, reckless flips.
She was right: not even the best photographer could ever capture the brilliance of that smile in person.
Lila takes a moment to steady herself before she rises and walks toward him. Her hesitant steps quickly turn into a brisk run. She throws her arms around him.
“You’re here,” she murmurs, burying her face in his chest. She inhales his scent, letting the familiar mix of his signature cologne fill her lungs. It’s warm and grounding, and she doesn’t want to let go.
His arms close around her, steady and unyielding, the kind of embrace that makes the rest of the world fall away.
“Yes, I’m here,” he says calmly, as if it’s the most natural thing in the world.
She tilts her head back to look at him, her voice soft. “When did you get here?”
“About thirty minutes ago.”
“Why didn’t you call me? I would’ve come out sooner.”
“I didn’t want to disrupt,” he says gently. “You seemed to be enjoying a good book.”
Her cheeks heat as she realizes he must have seen her with the boy. “You saw that?” she asks quietly, her blush deepening.
Max’s mouth curves into a faint, knowing smile. “I saw everything.” His voice is low, almost teasing, but beneath it is something softer, something that makes her pulse quicken.
Lila’s breath catches again, caught between embarrassment and the strange comfort that comes from knowing he is always watching, always finding her, no matter where she is.
“Why are you here?” she asks.
“Why not?” he replies with a gentle smile. “There, there. Don’t cry, sweetie.”
She doesn’t even realize she’s crying until he says it. He shushes her softly, his hand gliding through her hair in slow, soothing strokes.
“I promised I’d take care of you,” he murmurs.
She looks away, suddenly shy, her gaze drifting toward the sleek, darkly tinted rental.
It’s a far cry from the Maybach back in New York that Sergei treats like his own prized possession.
Still, even with its lesser pedigree, this SUV might be the most expensive vehicle this town has ever seen.
It sits at the far end of the lot, isolated from clusters of aging sedans and rusted pickup trucks that define the place.
She swallows hard before asking, “Do you think I’m a bad person now?”
“No,” he answers softly, tilting her chin until she has no choice but to meet his eyes. The skin beneath them is puffy, her mascara smudged in faint tracks down her cheeks.
“Poor baby,” he murmurs, bending to kiss the top of her head. “He was a useless, violent leech. He deserved worse. Come, sweetheart. Let’s not talk about this here.”
He opens the car door and gives her a slight, firm nod to get in.
Instead of Sergei, as she expected, she sees Mason behind the wheel.
“Take ten,” Max orders, his voice cutting cleanly through the confined air of the SUV.
Mason doesn’t argue. He steps out, stretches once, and heads toward the church. To Lila, the word bodyguard feels like a polite disguise for what he really is: a henchman paid to obey and to shadow Max’s every command without question.
Before she can speak, Max pulls her over his lap, guiding her to straddle him.
Lila steadies herself, gripping his broad shoulders, the warmth of his body seeping through her clothes. He sets his sunglasses and cap neatly aside, then removes his jacket with deliberate care.
She doesn’t know what he plans to do, but knowing Max, she assumes it’s something indecent that will leave her flushed and humiliated if Mason returns too soon.
“I can’t,” she whispers. “Mason…”
“Is on break,” Max finishes smoothly. He leans in close, his voice low and rough against her ear. “He gets paid enough to crawl over broken glass just to lick the underside of my shoes clean. Do you understand? He does not care.”
Appalled, she shoves his chest. “Max! What the fuck?”
“Look at you,” he says quietly, ignoring her protest. His fingers curl into her hair, tugging just enough to tilt her head back.
He studies her face with unnerving calm, his gaze tracing the slope of her nose, the tremble of her lips, the hazel eyes flecked with amber that glare at him through tears.
“My, oh my,” he murmurs. “It’s only been a few days, yet it feels like I’m seeing you for the first time all over again.”
He leans in, his voice softer now. “I adore you. Do you know that?”
It hurts him to see how sad she looks. He’d move mountains to take that sadness away. She tries to pull away, but his grip keeps her anchored.
“I adore you. You’re my princess. You are all mine. I will always come for you.”
Her voice trembles. “Always? So, are you my knight in shining armor?”
“I’ll be whatever you need, sweetie,” he says gently, releasing her hair. He lifts her hand and presses a kiss to it, his eyes never leaving hers. “I shouldn’t have let you leave my side,” he murmurs, his lips warm against her palm.
Max strokes Lila’s hair as she buries her face into the crook of his neck.
“Your uncle skipped town. He has a habit of doing that—everyone knows it. He wanted to avoid being found guilty of violating the protective order his ex-wife filed against him. Maybe he just wanted to start over somewhere new, where no one knows his past. His truck wouldn’t start anymore, so he left it behind, the key still in the cupholder.
All we know is that we’ll never hear from him again.
Everyone’s better off without him. Your grandmother.
His ex-wife. Their kids. You did them all a favor. ”
After a few minutes, he asks, “Are you feeling a little better now?”
She nods. “A little.”
He leans close to her ear and whispers, “Do you want me to make you feel even better, baby?”
“How?” she asks, her voice tight.
Max finds it a shame that she’s put herself on birth control.
He envisions Lila with her flat belly rounded, her breasts fuller and heavy with milk.
When he saw her with that little boy, reading to him, a strange, unfamiliar feeling stirred in his chest at the thought of her carrying his child.
He’d never thought about having a spawn before, but the idea now feels like the most permanent mark he could ever leave on her.
It wouldn’t just change her body, it would bind her to him in a way that’s profound and irreversible, weaving their lives together so tightly that no one could ever pull them apart.
Nevertheless, the situation with her uncle has already forged an unbreakable bond between them, leaving no room for her to question his devotion. Besides, he doubts she’d ever want to make a child with someone who refers to children as spawn.
While Max couldn’t have foreseen exactly what would happen, he’s relieved he took precautions.
Having Gunther use his widespread connections to send men to meet her at the private hangar and discreetly shadow her each day had been necessary.
Max wanted to keep an eye on her at all times, even from a distance.
His gut had told him it was wrong to leave her to her own devices, even though she’d asked him to.
It wasn’t that he didn’t trust her. Lila, sweet and loving, had only wanted to fulfill her obligation to her grandmother by spending Christmas week with her.
But when it came to her family, trust had to be earned, and neither her grandmother nor her uncle had earned it yet.
Their history was questionable. They needed to be watched.
She might be hurting now, but he believes time will heal all wounds. What matters is that she’s learned to trust and depend on him when it counts most.
Everything is falling into place faster than he anticipated, and despite the painful night she endured, he can’t help the quiet sense of satisfaction curling in his chest at how things are unfolding.
“Get on your back,” he says. “Let’s fill you up before I take you back to your grandma.”
She groans, a flicker of annoyance sparking as he interrupts their tender moment.
Still, she reclines, letting her knees fall open as he settles between her legs, showering her face and neck with soft kisses.
Each gentle peck melts away the last of the tension coiled inside her.
The world beyond the car fades, leaving only the cocoon they’ve woven together in the warmth.
Suddenly, Matt’s question from that holiday soirée resurfaces.
Is this love? She isn’t sure what she feels for Max qualifies as love, but there’s no denying the bond between them.
He’s the only one who accepts her as she is, who prioritizes her above all else.
After all, isn’t love just a powerful attachment?
Maybe she’s never truly understood its meaning until now.
All she knows is that while she waited for someone else to recognize her worth, Max forced his way through her once-impenetrable walls and established himself as a permanent fixture in her life. A fixture she can no longer imagine being without.
He wouldn’t have it any other way.
What once horrified and repulsed her has shifted into something somber, something she’s learned to accept.
He’s the only one who wants to see her every day, no matter how she looks or acts, always ready to shower her with his twisted version of love and devotion.
He’s seen her at her worst and still chooses her.
She peers up at him and sees a man who always wants to be by her side, who sometimes acts as though he might fall apart and cease to exist without her there when he falls asleep or wakes.