Chapter 29
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Gwendolyn
A month ago, I thought we were going to lose Amelia. Now, I stood in the kitchen, watching her laugh at something Felix said, and the sound felt like sunlight pouring through open windows.
It started soft, almost hesitant, like she was testing whether she was allowed to be happy, but then it grew. She even nudged him with her elbow.
Felix gasped dramatically. “Sibling abuse. I’m reporting you.”
She snorted. “You’re so dramatic.” She rolled her eyes, and her smile stayed in place. There was a spark in her eyes that hadn’t been there a month ago.
Thankfully, she’d been willing to see a therapist once a week. Some nights she still had nightmares, but she talked about them instead of keeping them to herself. In the next few weeks, she’d be cutting back her sessions because her therapist thought she was managing well.
My beautiful, sweet girl was strong. But I loved that when she needed to, she came to someone in the family for help.
Felix had changed, too, though he’d deny it if I’d said it out loud. He was growing into a man—smart, caring, strong, and protective. The only thing that set him back was when he told me his crush had started dating someone else. Felix had pretended not to care, but I knew he did.
Now he was spending more time with Enzo and Cam. Max’s brothers treated him like one of their own. Enzo was always dragging him to the gym or into some chaotic side project, and Cam had taken to quizzing him on schoolwork like he was his personal tutor.
Felix thrived under their attention and care. It helped him feel like he belonged not only in their world, but in Max’s too.
He didn’t have much longer left at school, and college was just around the corner, which was scary for me because it meant I was closer to seeing him leaving the nest.
After Amelia’s ordeal, she’d transferred to a smaller school closer to home.
And safer because Max had made it so.
He hadn’t told me all the details, but I knew there were men positioned around the perimeter during drop-off and pickup. Unmarked cars. Rotations. Layers.
Max’s people were quiet and invisible unless you knew where to look.
I knew where to look.
I saw them when I pulled up to the curb, the subtle nod from one of the guards stationed near the café across the street, and I noticed the way Amelia didn’t have to worry anymore.
She just walked into school like every other girl.
And that was everything.
Later that night, the house was quiet. Greg was out with Valentina at some restaurant they’d wanted to try together.
It was good to see how close friends they were becoming.
I’d asked if there was anything romantic, but Greg shook his head and told me, “Her husband was the love of her life, and I’m happy to be just her friend.
” Then he’d smirked. “Besides, I have my other women who keep me busy.”
Felix was also occupied with Enzo and Cam. Apparently there was a “study session,” which I knew meant Enzo was cooking something questionable while Cam critiqued Felix’s exam prep.
Amelia was asleep. I’d checked on her twice, and when I’d come down the second time, I found Max in the living room.
He was leaning back on the couch, sleeves rolled up, tattoos on display, watching the news on television.
He looked up when I got close. His gaze warmed, which always made my heart stumble.
“Everything okay?” he asked.
“Yeah.” I straddled his lap. “I was just thinking.”
He grinned, sliding his hands to my waist. “That’s usually when trouble starts.”
I smiled. “Not always. But I was talking with Greg this morning.”
“And?” he asked.
My cheeks heated. “Well, you see… um, you and I are pretty serious about each other.”
“Completely serious,” he said with a cocked brow.
Nerves ate at my stomach lining. I nodded.
“Greg suggested he get a place close by on his own because he wants more privacy for his women friends to visit, and I thought…. Well, I thought that you could move in here with me and the kids, and then Greg can take your place or the other way around. That way we’ll still have Greg close, but he can sneak his women in without feeling weird with the kids’ rooms so close. ”
“Doll?”
“Yes, Max?”
“Are you asking me to move in with you?”
“Only if you want to. It was just an idea, and you’re practically over here all the time anyway.”
His mouth clashed with mine in a devouring kiss. He grazed his teeth over my bottom lip, which felt like a silent claim. I let out a moan, which he drank down.
“Was that a yes?” I breathed after.
“I would love to live here with you, Felix, and Amelia.”
I beamed. “Really?”
“Of course, doll. As long as the kids are fine with it.”
“They overheard Greg and I talking and were totally down for you being under our roof. You bring this sense of safety with you that they trust. Plus, they see how happy I am when you’re here. That’s if you’re not annoying me over something.”
He snorted, but then his amusement faded. “Was there something else you wanted to talk about?” he asked.
I already knew where this was going, but I tapped my chin and muttered, “Was there?”
“I spoke to accounting today,” he said carefully.
Of course he would have. The men in the organization were a bunch of gossips. “About?”
“You.”
Reaching up, I brushed invisible lint off his shoulder, smirking. “Go on, stud muffin.”
“You’re still on the payroll,” he said.
Until the end of the week. “I know.”
“But you asked to be removed.”
“I sure did.” I ran my fingers through his dark hair as silence stretched between us.
“Why?” he asked evenly.
I tilted my head. “Because I’m not your employee.”
“You work for the organization.”
“I now help the organization.”
His jaw flexed slightly. “You take assignments. You handle the hacking. You built half the digital infrastructure we rely on.”
“And I’ll keep doing that.”
“Then you should be paid.”
I leaned into him. “No. I shouldn’t.”
His gaze sharpened, his hands squeezing my waist. “Gwen.”
“I promise I won’t be working for anyone else,” I continued calmly. “I won’t freelance. I won’t take outside contracts. Most importantly, I’ll still be involved with this family’s business to assist you.”
“Then what is this about?”
“It’s about us.”
That made him still.
“If I’m on the payroll,” I said, “then technically, I work for you. You approve my pay. You sign off on my projects. You’re my superior.”
His voice dropped. “You know that’s not how I see you.”
“But it’s how it’s structured.”
He pinched my chin between his thumb and finger. “You earned that position.”
“I don’t want a position.”
He frowned. “You don’t want to be compensated for your work?”
“I don’t want to be your employee. I won’t build my life under you, Max.”
His eyes flashed at that, but it wasn’t anger. It was intensity.
“I’d like to stand beside you,” I continued. “Not beneath you. Not on your payroll.”
His brows pinched. “You think I’d ever treat you as beneath me?”
“No,” I said softly. “But this is just something I need, Max.”
“And how do you plan to get any other income?” he asked. “Not that you have to.”
“I’ll handle it.”
“How?”
“I’m finishing my game build,” I replied. “The app I’ve been coding on the side? I’ll polish it, package it, and sell it. There’s a market for it. I’ve already run projections.”
He studied me carefully.
“I don’t need a salary from you. I’ve saved enough for the kids’ college funds and then some. I’ll be fine until I get this game going.”
He looked thoughtful for a moment. Too thoughtful. And when a smug smile slipped into place, I knew he’d had an idea—but he didn’t voice it.
All he said was “All right, doll.”
I jerked back. “All right?”
“Yes.” He smiled.
I crossed my arms over my chest and accused, “You’re up to something.”
He chuckled and dragged me close, kissing me until my brain fried and then distracting me when he pulled his shirt over his head.
Damn him.