5
she replied, surprising herself with that answer. She hadn’t been ready before, but suddenly she couldn’t wait to have Max’s child, to see a child created with love grow inside her. Maybe she really had grown up.
Two women in the same body…again.
For some reason, she liked the woman she was now. “When I recover my memory, we can talk about it,”
she replied. “We do need some time after all that’s happened, but it would be nice to plan it.”
“I’ll be more than happy to do my part to help,”
Max replied, his voice intense and sensual, as though he couldn’t wait to get her naked.
“You’ll be my stud once I know what happened and we know everything is going to be okay?”
she asked teasingly.
“Baby, I am your stud. The only one you’ll ever need. And everything will be fine,”
he quipped arrogantly.
“We can’t exactly get started immediately, but you could practice,”
she dared him, heat gathering between her thighs and branching outward.
They’d used his car and driver, and he helped her into the back seat of the limo, closing the privacy barrier as he climbed in after her.
Grinning wickedly at her, he hit a button that opened a slanted storage compartment, causing condoms to pour out and onto the floor.
“You have condoms in the car? You really are prepared,”
she said, laughing as he tore open a random package.
“I was a Boy Scout,”
he informed her in a sinful voice.
Naughty Max was overwhelmingly seductive, and she had no defense against him. Not that she wanted any. She was more than willing to let him practice, and he did.
It was sixty-five degrees, but Mia was sweating. The beads of moisture were trickling down her face, one right after the other, her body trembling as she did as she was ordered and looked down the scope of the rifle, only to jerk her head back when she saw her husband’s head right in the center of the sight, vulnerable. “No! Don’t hurt him. I’ll do whatever you want. Just leave my family alone,”
she cried desperately, yanking against the steely grip restraining her.
The rifle slowly lowered, the maniacal voice holding her hostage declaring, “Easy shot. A few hundred yards. I could take him out in less than ten seconds and then go pick off both your brothers, too, before anybody even realizes what happened. The security of these rich pukes isn’t worth a shit.”
He could. Mia knew he could. Danny Harvey had always been a sharpshooter, highly skilled at hitting his target. “You won’t get away with it. The police—”
“Won’t do you a damn bit of good after they’re dead. And I doubt they’ll pay much attention before that. Everyone knows about the crazy Harrisons. They’ll never find me,”
he answered venomously. “Are you willing to take that chance?”
In a softer, crazy sing-song voice, he told her, “You don’t love any of them, Mia. Not like you love me. You want me. You married that rich suit as a substitute. I’m here now. Cooperate and we can be together again.”
She cringed as his large, grimy hand touched her cheek. “What do you want, Danny?”
“You. We belong together. We always have,”
he told her harshly.
“And my money,”
she added in a self-mocking voice. Danny would have no problem working his way through her trust fund now that she had access to it.
Grabbing a fistful of her hair, he slammed her head back against the tree he had been propped up against just a moment ago. “That’s just a side benefit. I love you.”
This isn’t love. It had never been love. It was insanity.
The blow to her skull making her dizzy, Mia shook her head, trying to clear her mind. Danny was right about one thing…she couldn’t risk it. And she wouldn’t. She had to figure out a way to get Danny away from her family before they all ended up dead like her parents. He was more toxic than her father had been, and even more deadly.
It’s my fault. I brought this bastard into my life, and now he’s threatening everyone I care about. I should have never married Max. I should have stayed away from him. He doesn’t deserve this.
A set of cold, slimy lips clamped down against hers, and Mia tried to choke down the bile rising in her throat, willing herself not to struggle. It would be a fight against a madman, and she’d lose. She needed to think. If she didn’t, Max and her brothers could die.
Focusing on thoughts of Max, she tried to block out everything except her husband until Danny had finally stopped grinding his mouth on hers, leaving her lip bleeding.
“I can think of a better use for that mouth,”
he said in his lunatic voice. He pushed her to her knees and ripped open the fly of his jeans, his member flopping out in front of her face. “Suck me. You know you want to.”
Tears flowed down her cheek as she eyed the flesh in front of her face, starting to gag from the noxious odor of an unwashed body and filthy clothing.
I can’t do this. I can’t do this.
But one thought of Max, the thought that he was about to board a plane taking him out of harm’s way, and she did the unthinkable, complying with what the psychopath wanted, blocking out everything except getting through the degrading act, giving Max enough time to be airborne.
She heard the revving of the airplane’s engine, giving her hope as she finally gagged, trying to pull away from the body in front of her, but she couldn’t move, the grip on her to hold her head in place relentless.
She gagged just as the plane moved down the runway.
And then she vomited, and for that involuntary reaction, she was severely punished.
Mia woke gasping for air, sitting straight up in bed, her hand to her stomach to fight her nausea, her body moist and the sheets wet with her sweat.
It was a nightmare. Just a horrible dream.
Still, she was panting as she slid her feet to the floor and stumbled to the master bathroom, completely naked. She closed the door and flipped on the light, staring at the terrified face looking back at her in the mirror. It was her, a person she recognized, no longer two women in the same body, but one woman who had changed in the last few years. Suddenly, she knew who she was, and all of the memories that had eluded her came flooding back in a rush of knowledge that overwhelmed her senses.
Shivering, she flipped on the shower, letting the water get hot before stepping inside, hoping the warmth would take away the cold chill running up her spine from the shock of recovering her memory. Fear spiked her adrenaline, making her entire body ready for flight.
Run. Run. Run. I can’t stay here. I have to leave. I have to protect Max.
Mia poured body wash into her hand, using it liberally, trying to scrub away the memories of her dream. Pain tore through her chest at the knowledge that she couldn’t stay with Max. Not if she really loved him. And she did. So much that it was tearing her apart.
Almost as if she’d willed it, Max was suddenly behind her, his arm coming possessively around her waist, his solid, muscular body supporting her.
“Miss me?”
he asked in a husky voice against her ear. “You should have woken me up and taken me with you.”
Oh God, she’d like to take him with her wherever she went, never having to be away from him again. Max was the other half of her soul, and the thought of being separated from him ever again nearly killed her. She turned and wound her arms around his neck, resting her head against his shoulder as she held him, skin to skin, against her. She wanted to memorize the feel of him, try to absorb his essence into her soul. “Bad dream. I was all sweaty,”
she murmured, hoping he wouldn’t ask too many questions. Not now.
“Then you definitely should have woken me up. I love being all sweaty with you.”
Taking her lightly by the shoulders, he pulled her back to look into her eyes, tipping her chin up with his strong fingers. “Hey. Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I’m good now,”
she lied hastily, wanting to cry as she saw the concern in his beautiful eyes.
I need one more memory. Something good to replace the bad.
Her fingers still slick with soap, she ran her hand slowly down his body, tracing every hard muscle of his chest, moving slowly down the sexy trail of hair that led to his groin. Without hesitation, she grasped his cock and stifled a moan, finding him already hard and ready. She wanted him inside her, but even more than that, she wanted to exorcise old ghosts, and she knew exactly how to do it.
Cupping the back of his head, she urged his lips to hers, desperate to feel his mouth locked with hers, his tongue thrusting, warming her as nothing else could. He responded immediately, his hands coming up to her head to hold it in place as he groaned into her mouth as he took it, his need already red hot from having her slippery fingers run over and over his engorged member, teasing but not really satisfying him. She opened to him, letting him plunder her mouth, master her senses. It was a kiss of desperation and need, and she gave in to it, savoring Max’s possession.
Finally, he moved his mouth from hers, leaving her nearly breathless. She slid down his body until she was on her knees, in the same position that she had been in her nightmare. But this…this was real. And this was Max. And there was nothing she wanted more than to pleasure him. She let the water wash away the soap as she cupped his ass with both hands and replaced her teasing fingers with her mouth, letting every thought slip away except the man she loved.
Max nearly came the moment Mia took him into her mouth, her blatant sexuality almost making him come undone. Jesus H. Christ! The feel of that velvety tongue on his cock, the friction of her enthusiastic sucking was enough to make him lose his mind. She was the sexiest woman he’d ever known, and she was becoming completely sexually uninhibited, which was driving him to the brink of insanity.
My wife. All mine.
He slapped one hand against the tiled wall of the enclosure to keep himself steady, the hot water hitting him in the chest as Mia attacked his cock with more enthusiasm than skill. But it didn’t matter. Every touch was exquisite, every movement erotic. “Mia. I won’t last.”
Nope. He wouldn’t. He wasn’t going to make it through the next minute without having a heart attack.
He speared his hand into her wet hair, gently guiding her head, and released a strangled groan that he couldn’t stop from escaping his lips. Looking down, he watched her take him between those gorgeous lips again and again, and the visual of the woman he loved pleasuring him made his balls tighten almost unbearably.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
Fire was licking through his groin. He was torn between urging her harder, faster—or hauling her up and thrusting himself inside her warm, welcoming heat. He had condoms in the bathroom drawer; he could…
Mia moaned, and Max watched, completely mesmerized, as she slid one hand up the inside of her thigh and slipped her fingers between her folds, touching herself with no other intent except to make herself come with him. It was the hottest damn thing Max had ever seen. Her fingers worked between her thighs as she brought her other hand up to work with her mouth to send him completely over the edge.
“Come with me, Mia,”
he demanded, gritting his teeth and throwing his head back as she moaned continually against his flesh, vibrating his cock until his head nearly blew off his shoulders. “Come with me.”
His orgasm was wild and volatile, his whole body shuddering as he groaned his release, Mia never taking her mouth from him as she trembled from her own climax.
Max scooped her up and pulled her pliant body against him, wrapping his arms around her, knowing he held his whole world in his arms.
He rinsed them both gently and shut off the water. After drying them both, he carried his wife back to bed and held her, wondering how he had been lucky enough to get another chance with the one woman who rocked his entire universe.
They fell asleep entwined together, two pieces fit together perfectly. Max fell asleep in a world of total happiness and contentment.
When he woke up in the morning, Mia was gone.
It didn’t take Max long to panic. He hadn’t been concerned when he’d woken up to find his wife was already out of bed. The worry had started to set in when he couldn’t find her anywhere in the house.
“Shit,”
he mumbled under his breath as he opened the door that led to the beach. “Mia,”
he bellowed, getting no reply. There was no sign she had gone outside. The back door had been locked, something she wouldn’t do if she had ventured out to the beach.
Grabbing his cell phone, he checked with his security team, but she wasn’t with them, and nobody had seen her leave the house.
Disconnecting, he hit another number, waiting impatiently as it rang.
“This better be important. It’s early,”
Kade’s rough, graveled voice answered.
“Mia’s missing,”
Max told him irritably. “Is she there?”
“Hell no, she’s not here. I was sleeping. What happened?”
Kade answered, sounding more alert.
Max released a disappointed breath before he answered, “Nothing happened. She’s just not here. Nobody saw her leave. Neither of the cars is missing.”
He froze as he entered the dining room and saw Mia’s phone, keys, and a piece of paper lying on the dining room table.
“Hold on. I found something,”
Max told Kade, cradling the phone between his shoulder and ear as he moved the keys and snatched up the paper. His eyes scanned the words quickly.
Max,
My memory finally returned and I remember everything. I left you voluntarily. I didn’t think our relationship was going well and I thought it was time to separate.
I’ll have divorce papers served as soon as I can.
Mia
“What the fuck?”
Max cursed violently into the phone, grabbing it as he tossed the note onto the table.
“What? What happened?”
Kade asked anxiously, totally awake now.
“She’s left me. On purpose. She doesn’t want to be married anymore,”
Max told him robotically, unable to comprehend the words Mia had written as he told Kade what was in the brief and impersonal note.
“Bullshit,”
Kade’s voice exploded through the phone. “She’s in love with you. You know she is.”
“I can’t make her stay if she doesn’t want to,”
Max answered, feeling like his heart was shattering. “She never wanted to be with me. She just didn’t remember.”
“You never gave up on her, man. Not once. Don’t give up now. There’s something going on that we don’t know about,”
Kade argued, sounding like he was getting dressed as he was speaking, his voice muffled.
“Nobody forced her to write that note. Nobody is forcing her to leave. She made her fucking choice. Twice. Obviously she remembered that she didn’t love me,”
Max uttered quietly, resigned. He’d spent years believing, never giving up, only to have her leave him once he’d found her again. To hell with her. He couldn’t do this anymore. He’d been deluding himself all along, thinking that Mia loved him the same way he loved her. She obviously…didn’t.
“Max, you know her. You know this isn’t Mia. We need to figure out what’s going on,”
Kade said urgently.
Max plopped onto the couch, everything he’d always believed completely shattered. At that point, he didn’t know what to believe. All he knew was that he was imploding, and his whole world was being torn apart. “Truth is, maybe I never really knew her at all,”
he replied brokenly.
He disconnected the call and stared blankly at the opposite wall, trying to bury his emotions, trying to force them deep inside until he was completely numb. He knew if he didn’t, he’d never survive.
Kade Harrison entered his brother Travis’ office at Harrison Corporation without knocking, shoving against the solid oak hard enough to make the door swing with powerful force and slam against the wall with a massive thud. Ignoring the sound, Kade focused on his brother, sitting behind his desk, buried in a mass of paperwork. Travis looked at Kade briefly, and then his eyes returned to his work, apparently unconcerned that Kade had nearly broken the heavy wood door.
Kade wasn’t surprised to find his brother in his office, even though it was Saturday. Travis was always in the office. He was pretty sure his brother had a secret apartment hidden away in this building where he slept a few hours before returning to his office again.
Dropping into the chair in front of his brother’s desk, he simply asked, “Where is she?”
Travis looked up again, his gaze narrowing as he met Kade’s scowl. “Who?”
“Mia,”
Kade hissed impatiently, watching his brother’s face. They were fraternal twins, Travis older than him by a mere twenty minutes, but they shared the same blue eyes. But while Kade was fair like his mother and Mia, Travis’ hair was as black as a raven’s wing, his features resembling those of their father. “She couldn’t have done this alone. And there’s only one person I know who could pull this off.”
Dammit, he knew Travis knew something. Mia was an intelligent woman, but she had to have had an accomplice, someone close to her to help her disappear so thoroughly for over two years. No one could cover their own tracks that well. And nobody was as painstakingly detailed and as cunning as his twin. This deed had Travis written all over it. “Two disappearances with no sign of her? Where is she, Travis? This is killing Max.”
Travis sat back in his chair, lacing his fingers together behind his head. “What do you mean…two? She’s back.”
“She’s gone again,”
Kade stated flatly, eyeing his brother’s expression for a moment, fairly certain Travis didn’t know she had fled…this time. The two of them disagreed on almost everything, but they were twins, and they could still read each other well. Sometimes too well.
“Shit. I brought her back. Did she recover her memory?”
Travis asked urgently, sitting up and placing his hands on his desk.
“Yeah. What difference does that make?”
Kade asked warily.
“It makes all the difference. I have something I needed to tell her as soon as her memory returned. I needed to tell her not to run. She doesn’t have to anymore,”
Travis said angrily, although Kade could see it for exactly what it was...fear.
Kade’s jaw clenched as he rasped, “You helped her disappear the first time?”
“Yes.”
“And you didn’t tell me she wasn’t dead?”
Kade wanted to get up and pound his brother to within an inch of his life. Travis, his own damn twin, had let him think his sister was dead. “Why?”
“She was in trouble. Her life was in danger and so were yours and Max’s. If keeping my mouth shut to keep everyone alive was what I had to do…I did it.”
Travis’ fist crashed down on the desk, making every item on the surface tremble and roll. “Do you think it was easy for me not to say anything, to watch everyone grieve? Contrary to what you might think, brother…I don’t enjoy seeing you or Max suffer.”
“You weren’t close to Max; you didn’t see how much he—”
“Because I couldn’t,”
Travis answered angrily.
Travis could be a coldhearted bastard when he wanted to be, but Kade knew he loved his family. Although he was still pissed, Kade had to know what happened. “Tell me everything. And start at the beginning.”
“We don’t have time for that right now. I’ll tell you everything later. We need to find Mia. She has to be scared. She doesn’t know the man who was threatening everyone’s life is no longer a problem.”
Travis stood and reached for his suit jacket, pulling it on in jerky motions, acting nothing like his usual calm, controlled self.
“And why is that?”
Kade replied, rising to stand beside his brother.
“He’s dead,”
Travis remarked with deadly calm. “Unfortunate accident.”
“You should have shared this with me. You’re my goddamn brother,”
Kade told him, his tone hostile. That Travis had kept this knowledge to himself for so long still made Kade want to throttle him. Travis always thought he knew what was best for everyone, spent more time trying to fix everyone and everything else except himself.
Travis turned to him abruptly, piercing him with a cold stare. “Why? What would you have done? Gone to find her, thinking we could protect her? Told Max so he could go find her?”
“Probably. She didn’t need to do this. We have security—”
“Agents who failed to protect her from a madman,”
Travis informed his brother bitterly. “Max was gone, you were gone…and I was left to make a decision. So I made it. So go ahead…beat the shit out of me for trying to protect our little sister, for never wanting to see her debased and abused again. Had you or Max gone after her, she would have never stayed hidden, never been safe. I’ll live with your hatred if it means you’re all alive,”
Travis finished with the ruthlessness of a man who had always done whatever he had to do, his blue eyes glacial and dangerous as he eyed his twin.
Kade flinched, hating it when Travis drilled him with that eerie, arctic glare. “I suppose I need to hear you out. I want to know what happened. You’ll tell me about it on our way to find Mia,”
Kade grumbled, knowing he wasn’t going to like what his brother had to say. Much as Travis could be a pain in the ass, he was the glue that kept their family together, the problem solver, the doer of dirty jobs that had to be done.
Travis nodded once curtly and walked toward the door. “I’m pretty sure I know where she is. We’ll have awhile to talk.”
Travis stopped at the door, his eyes traveling down Kade’s chest and torso as he mentioned casually, “That’s probably the most butt-ugly shirt I’ve ever seen on you. Congratulations on topping the puke green one with the ugly frogs.”
Kade grinned. “I knew you’d like it.”
He followed Travis out the door and to the elevator.
“Are you ever going to grow up?”
Travis asked blandly as he stepped into the elevator.
“Not if I can help it.”
Kade’s grin grew broader as he watched his twin’s disgruntled expression.
“You’re changing your shirt, right? I’m not traveling with you if you’re wearing that shirt.”
“Sure. I can change. We just have to stop by my house after we tell Max,”
Kade answered with a deadpan expression. “I can pick up some extra clothes if we’re going to be gone overnight to go get Mia.”
Travis looked relieved. “Good.”
Kade had no problem with changing his attire. He had a whole closet full of similar shirts at home that he could change into. Despite the urgency of the situation, he snickered quietly as the elevator doors closed.
Later that day, Mia arrived at her grandmother’s forty-acre ranch in Montana, exhausted and deflated, her heart completely shattered. Two weeks ago, she’d gone to Tampa because Travis had sent a team of security to get her, telling her he needed her to come back to Florida. She hadn’t even had a chance to find out why he had contacted her and wanted her to come back. She hadn’t had any contact with Travis, or anyone else from Florida for that matter, since she’d fled the state, bound for Montana, over two years ago. Not until recently, when she’d finally seen them again, not knowing that she hadn’t laid eyes on any of their beloved faces for over two years.
Coming back to Montana this time had been so much different from the time she’d come here to hide, to disappear. No one had been here for years before she had come back to the ranch over two years ago, and even Travis had needed to be reminded that she did have a home here.
She hadn’t been sent on Travis’ private jet in secrecy this time. She’d flown commercial under her own name, leaving a trail so obvious that anyone could find her. It had been done intentionally, to draw attention to the fact that she’d left Tampa. The media had uncovered the fact that she wasn’t dead, and she’d need to lead evil away from the people she loved. If that led malevolence in her direction, it was all for the best. It was better that Danny Harvey find her rather than someone she loved. Let him come after her. She no longer cared. If he knew that she wasn’t dead, he would find her, but it was better to be as far away as possible from her family. She’d be the bait, the lure that brought Danny here, far from Max and her brothers.
Even if Danny doesn’t kill me, even if he does something and goes back to jail…I’ll never be able to go back to Max. I’ll never put him in harm’s way again for something stupid I did in my past.
Mia exited her compact rental car, using the moonlight to find her way up the steps of the ranch style house, the place that she had called home for the last two and a half years. Digging in the dirt of the wilting potted plant next to the door, she grasped the key to the house, dusted her hands on her jeans and opened the door. She flipped on the lights, getting welcome relief from the darkness, thinking it was too bad that it couldn’t illuminate the dimness of her heart and soul. The house still looked the same: comfortable leather furniture in the living room, the stone fireplace that brought coziness on cold Montana winter nights, and tons of memories of the grandmother who had taught her to make her first piece of jewelry right here in this home. She’d found peace here; she’d found herself here. But now, she could feel nothing except a hopelessness that nearly swallowed her whole. There had never been a time when she hadn’t yearned for Max, but after seeing him again, the pain of separation was unbearable.
Dropping her purse and house key onto the couch, she made her way to the kitchen, glancing at the clock to make sure it wasn’t too late to call Maude and Harold, her closest neighbors. The ranch was small by Montana standards, a hobby ranch, but it still left her isolated. Maude and Harold watched the ranch when no one was here, which had been all of the time for many years before she had moved in over two years ago. She dialed their number, explaining that she was back and they didn’t need to come over daily anymore to care for the horses. It was something she actually enjoyed doing, and the reason her hands were rough and not manicured. And the exercise around the ranch had slimmed her body naturally. After a short chat with Maude, she hung up, exhausted just from trying to sound cheerful on the phone. Everything was an effort, and trying to pretend like everything was okay was painful. It wasn’t okay. Max was completely gone from her life, and it felt like she had lost part of herself, a portion that she’d never find again.
You’re Mia Hamilton. You don’t have to be Mary Peterson anymore.
She had been Mary Peterson to everyone except Maude and Harold, who knew exactly who she was from her visits when she was younger, when she had spent her summers here with her grandmother. They had been friends with her gran, and there was no way she could have fooled them. Even though it had been years, they remembered her, but they had kept her secret. There had been very few others who really knew her—even as Mary Peterson. She’d lived in isolation at this ranch, making trips to Billings only for supplies, to sell her jewelry, and for her counseling sessions.
It doesn’t matter if everyone knows who I am now. It’s not like I’m keeping any secrets anymore. I’m trying to lure Danny here, away from my family.
Still, it was unlikely that anyone would recognize her, even though she wasn’t planning to hide her real identity anymore. Her neighbors were too busy on their ranches to read social gossip from Florida, and she had always stayed out of the media as much as possible. Even when she went to Billings to see acquaintances again, no one would know who she was, who her parents had been, if she told them her real name. That was one thing she loved about living here. People here either liked her or they didn’t because of the person she was, not because of how much money she had or who her family was.
Mia walked back through the living room, down the hallway and into one of the bedrooms that she had converted into a workshop. As usual, the room was chaotic, exactly as she had left it. But the disorder was an organized mess. She knew where every stone, decorative bead, and piece of metal was located. In the absence of availability of the gems and metals she had usually worked with, Mia had started working on Native American inspired pieces of jewelry and had found her niche as she never had in working on fancy jewelry without any real meaning to her. Now, every piece she made was a labor of love, every article containing a part of her as she’d crafted each ring, bracelet, and pair of earrings.
Miraculously, her unique items had caught on, and she sold enough to make a living, never really needing to touch the money Travis sent.
That’s why I watch prices; I don’t overspend. I wanted to make my own way, and I did. The only time she had used the money Travis had sent was to buy her rather old pickup truck, a necessity when one lived so far from town.
Wandering aimlessly, she walked into her bedroom, her eyes darting to her dresser immediately.
It’s still here.
Without really thinking about her actions, she went to the dresser, picked up her wedding ring and slipped it on her finger. Wearing it brought in equal parts happiness and sorrow.
I should have never seen him again. I should have waited to talk to Travis and left.
“Now he’ll really hate me,”
she whispered to herself, her voice filled with anguish. But she’d needed to do it, needed him to hate her and never try to seek her out.
God, she’d missed him so much. There hadn’t been a day since she’d left him the first time that she hadn’t ached to see him, hadn’t felt like part of her was missing. While she’d had the hole in her memory, she couldn’t remember what it had felt like to be away from him. Now, she remembered, and it had hurt like hell. Her only solace had been that her family was safe.
She tried to take the ring off again, but she couldn’t do it. The weight of the platinum band and beautiful diamonds gave her a small measure of comfort. It wasn’t much, but it was something.
Walking back to the kitchen, she dialed Travis’ office number, but he didn’t answer. He’d apparently changed cell phone numbers during the last few years, and she didn’t know his current number. Trying Kade’s number, she got his voicemail, hanging up without leaving a message. Kade rarely carried his cell phone, a habit he had acquired from being in the public limelight for so long, his phone ringing constantly and leaving him with no peace unless he turned it off and left it at home.
Her hand hovered over the numbers on the phone, so damn tempted to call Max just to tell him how sorry she was, how much she loved him.
“No!”
she told herself harshly, putting the phone back in its cradle. “You can’t talk to him ever again. You need to separate yourself from him completely. You’re dangerous to him.”
There was so much Max didn’t know, so much she’d never told him. What would he think of her if he really knew how stupid she’d been, how very damaged she’d become from her past?
Two women in one body.
Now she knew exactly why she’d felt that way. She’d only remembered the woman she had been before she’d gone to counseling, before she’d found out how to deal with her past, and had actually begun to like the woman she had found underneath all of her dysfunctional self.
Max had fallen in love with an illusion, a woman who she’d tied in knots to please him, creating a persona that wasn’t real. Max didn’t truly know her at all. He never had.
I never really knew Max completely either, yet I loved him. I still do.
Mia slammed her thoughts closed, not wanting to think about the agony of still loving Max the way she did. He hadn’t revealed all about his emotions, but he wasn’t hiding the kind of secrets that she had never told him about, the horrible parts of her past. What would he think of a woman who had been stupid enough to be involved with a man who had no conscience, no qualms about killing anyone she cared about? Her father had been insane. Danny was a murderous sociopath.
Mia could hear the car coming up the drive before it arrived at the house, tires crunching over dirt and gravel as a vehicle made its way down her long, winding driveway. Her heart started to hammer and she ran to the kitchen to snatch the cordless phone, her hand trembling as she grabbed for it. Even though she was willing to sacrifice anything to keep Max and her brothers safe—and she intended to do just that—she didn’t look forward to the actual consequences of her actions. She could be dead long before the police arrived.
Peering through the window right next to the front door and switching on the porch light, she watched a sleek black sports car pull up next to her rented vehicle. A shadowy figure emerged—a very large, very tall figure. Unable to make out his face, she squinted to bring his features into focus as he entered the circle of light cast by the porch lamp.
He stumbled, taking an uneven step as he cursed and moved forward again, his entire body finally revealed. Mia’s legs practically gave out with relief, and then horror.
Max. Oh my God. No!