Chapter 2 – MAKSIM
Two
MAKSIM
Ipace the length of the hallway, every step a war against the urge to tear through those doors myself. Sitting isn’t an option, not when she’s in there because of me. I have to be the first to know, the first face she sees when she opens her eyes.
And if she doesn’t—
I shut the thought down before it finishes forming. She was breathing when they took her. Unconscious, but alive. And that has to be enough. For now.
“Maksim.” Remi’s choked voice drags me from my pacing. Her hand lands on my shoulder, trembling. “I called everyone. They’re on their way.”
Her touch lingers like she wants me to hold her together, but I stand rigid, my jaw locked, heart thrumming too violently to offer more than a curt nod.
Tears streak down her cheeks as she drifts closer, arms now wrapped tightly around herself.
Her eyes cling to mine like I might have the comfort she’s searching for. But I don’t.
Despite the affection, despite the years I spent watching her grow, I’m not the kind of man who feeds lies or offers comfort I don’t believe in. A pang of guilt stirs, but I smother it.
“Have they given an update?” she asks, finally stepping back. Maybe she sees it now, that I’m not the same boy she remembers from childhood, not the one who once felt like family.
“Nothing. They took her back for surgery, but it could be hours before we know anything.” I rake a rough hand through my hair and curse under my breath.
Valentina.
She’s been a distant memory through the years I stayed away. But not like Remi. With Valentina, it was…different. We’d spent more time together, and somewhere in that chaos of childhood, I grew fond of her. Loved her like family. As annoying as she could be.
My little kolibri. My hummingbird.
Always in motion, always chasing life like it might slip through her fingers if she stood still even a goddamn second.
For a breath, a smile tugs at the corner of my mouth but vanishes just as quickly.
I try to recall the last time we spoke. Fuck.
How easily I let the silence grow between us, and how carelessly I left her behind.
I must have been wearing the anguish plain on my face because Remi’s hand finds me again—gentle, comforting in all the ways I’d denied her before.
“It’s not your fault. You weren’t driving. If I thought for a second it was, you’d have tasted my helmet too.”
The joke doesn’t quite reach her eyes, but I appreciate the attempt, strange as it feels. And somehow, I know she means every word. She would. She’s Amalia and Kai’s daughter, after all.
I don’t get the chance to respond as the double doors slam open, and a familiar face barrels through, his eyes locking on me like a predator sighting its prey.
Derek Cain.
The embodiment of if looks could kill. He might have terrified me as a boy, but I’m not that vulnerable kid anymore. The one who watched him murder my family.
That boy died a long time ago.
“You son of a bitch!” he snarls, hand inching toward his waistband. I go for my hidden piece, but Remi steps between us.
“No, Uncle Derek. It wasn’t him. I told you—his driver ran the light.” His gaze flicks to her, but he doesn’t back down.
“That’s enough, Derek…” Eva’s shaky voice slices through the tension. Only then does he twitch, letting his wife tug him back. “Not now. Our daughter is back there, and we don’t know anything. This isn’t the time for this shit.”
Derek’s throat bobs, his eyes glassy as he shoots me one last look before folding into Eva’s arms. She’s one of the few people alive who can disarm him. I saw it back then, as young as I was.
“Eva,” I say, stepping closer, lowering my tone. “She’s in surgery. Her leg’s broken, but she’s still here.”
Her frail smile wavers as she pulls me into a hug, and I let her. Always warm. Always trusting me with Valentina, ever since we were kids.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper, the words clawing out before I can stop them. She meets my eyes and pats my chest with quiet affection.
“You’ve gotten so tall, Maksim. It’s really good to see you.”
I nod, stepping back, too restless to sit, too anxious to do anything but lean against the wall.
Two teenagers round the corner and immediately throw their arms around Eva, their voices frantic with endless questions.
Then Mom and Silas rush in.
“Maksim, are you okay? How’s Vali?” Mom dashes straight to me, cupping my face like I’m the one who’d been hit. I catch her wrists gently and press a kiss to her forehead.
“I’m fine. No word on Valentina yet.”
Silas’s hand lands firm on my shoulder, and he gives it a squeeze. We don’t need words. Our greetings have always been silent. He and I were never the type for overt affection, but respect runs deep between us. He’s one of the few men I trust without question.
It isn’t long before the waiting room is full of family…my family. Though the words sound a bit awkward after so long.
Kai and Amalia sit by the window, anchoring a shaken Remi while their young son clings to her hand.
Kai’s gaze shifts to me, his smile tight and guarded.
Like Derek, he and I share a past, and there are nights I still wonder if the horrors I endured as a boy happened because of them, because of choices they made.
Even now, resentment coils in my chest like it never left.
Nearby sit the Leones. Athena, I remember her with a kind of quiet respect.
We’d kept a friendship through the years; a bond forged in trauma and shared scars.
Beside her, Santino cradles a sleeping little girl in his arms, their son pressed against his side, the picture of a life I can’t help but stare at for a moment too long.
What feels like hours crawl by without a single word, not even a whisper from behind those fucking doors. The silence gnaws at me until I can’t sit still, and anxiety drives me to my feet again.
I don’t even know why I feel it this strongly. Maybe it’s guilt. Maybe it’s the image of her lying broken on the pavement, burned into my skull. Knowing somehow I had a hand in it. The thought is irrational, but it digs its claws in anyway.
“I want the name of your driver,” Derek growls suddenly. I stop mid-step.
“Derek.” Eva’s voice is calm, but there’s a warning under it. She glances around at the young faces watching, wide-eyed yet unfazed. It’s clear they’ve heard pieces of these truths before. These kids were never sheltered from the darkness that this family was built on.
“He’s here.” Remi shoots to her feet, a scowl twisting her face. “Down in emergency, getting stitched up. Pussy,” she mutters. “I’ll go with you.”
“No, you won’t.” Kai catches her arm. “Sit, princesa. Cool off.”
With a huff, she collapses back into her chair, arms crossed.
“You let her handle that bastard and didn’t lift a goddamn finger?” Derek snaps.
“Really?” I throw back.
Derek is in front of me in the next breath, his teeth gritted. “They should still be scraping his ass off the concrete as we speak.”
“Derek!” Eva’s voice is sharper than before.
“No, fuck that. That’s my little girl.” His voice cracks, not enough for anyone else to notice, but I hear the raw fear in every word. So I let it slide, just this once, until he takes another step closer, his stance dipped in threat.
“We defend our own. We handle what needs handling.”
“Careful, Derek,” Mom interjects, her tone cool, but lethal.
I don’t need her to step in for me anymore. Haven’t in years. But seeing her do it now brings a strange satisfaction. If anything, then just for the look on Derek’s face.
Derek’s glare drifts from her back to me, the air bristling, thick with the weight of everything unsaid over the years, until a nurse pushes through the doors. Her eyes sweep the crowded room, and the sound of her voice breaks the tension.
“Family of Valentina Cain?”