Chapter 46
Max
Later that evening, I pull out the letter from Sol’s desk drawer. She’d brought it up once, but then Carlos started his shit, and everything else got buried with it.
Honestly, I’m glad she didn’t open it alone. As I break the seal, I think about Jenna. Was she just as cunning as her husband? I read over the two-page letter, and I’m shocked, but more than anything, confused. I read it again.
My sweet Rainey,
Honey, you’re reading this letter because I’m gone.
I asked my attorney to wait a year or two after my passing to hand you this.
I know you’re grieving for me, and I wanted to give you time before this letter reaches you.
I know it sounds selfish of me. But what I’m about to tell you is going to rock your world.
You’re going to need to find Max. I know it sounds crazy, but you need him to fill the missing pieces for you. That’s if you haven’t already.
Your father and I were not always honest with you. We each had our own reasons for that. It has weighed on me. I was afraid that if I told you before I was gone, I would lose you. I can’t even bear to do it now while writing this on my deathbed.
Deep breath. Honey, you’re adopted. It’s true. Please keep reading. I know this was something we should have spoken about when you were younger, or in person at least.
We adopted you at the age of eleven. The reason you don’t remember is that you have amnesia.
Let me tell you how this came about.
A year or less before I adopted you— I can’t remember—I had met your mother. She had been working at a bakery my friend owned in downtown Vegas. My friend asked if I could go down to help her. I was there for two weeks.
Your mother worked long hours at the bakery.
She looked tired and unwell. I asked her what was troubling her.
She said she had lost her husband and had a medical condition.
I didn’t ask what she had, and she never said.
I comforted her and told her to go home, but she insisted on staying because she had a daughter to support.
Days passed, and I got to know her. Lisa was a kind and beautiful woman.
She showed me pictures of you. She was proud of you.
Always talked about you. Her biggest fear was the what-ifs.
What if something happened to her? Who was going to care for you?
The two weeks came to an end, and I left for home.
I thought of that woman. I felt bad for her.
When I returned, I had my own set of problems. Your father had been seeing another woman while I was gone.
It didn’t surprise me. It was always like this.
We fought about this for months. Your father was always worried about his public image.
To keep me quiet and busy and so he could become a sought-after attorney, he came up with an idea to adopt, since I was told I couldn’t have more kids.
After two months of paperwork and searching for a child who would fit into our family, we came up empty-handed.
Your father wanted a child with strong genes.
Then I received a call from my friend, telling me your mother had passed.
I asked her about you, and she simply said she didn’t know.
I begged Rowan to adopt you when I found out you were in a foster home.
He declined. He said you were too old and had too much baggage.
Two months had passed, and a social worker told me there had been an accident and you had amnesia.
I know this sounds horrible, but your father agreed to adopt you then.
It would be a fresh start. I became selfish, Rainey.
I wanted you to myself. I wanted to be the only mother in your life.
Dammit, I loved you. I’m sorry we lied. I’m sorry I kept secrets from you.
Your father didn’t want you to find out.
He said it was better this way. His plan was for you to marry Andrew, since you didn’t come from money.
I’m gone now. I know you love Max. You were so heartbroken when Max left you. It was because of your father. Max was in the same foster home as you. Only he can answer your questions.
I love you, Rainey. I hope you can forgive me.
Mom
She knew Sol’s biological mother. She knew her father was dead.
And she said nothing. I always knew they didn’t want her to regain her memory and to keep her in the dark, but this letter gives no answers—it just opens the hole wider.
If I can’t make sense of it, Sol won’t either, or she’ll make too much sense of it in all the wrong ways.
Cowards, both of them. When things got complicated, when the lies got too heavy, they just went with “Go find Max.” They kept me away until they didn’t want to deal with her.
Fuck them.
The lighter is cold and heavy in my hand. I hold the corner of the letter to the flame until it catches, watching the fire creep across the paper in a thin orange line, and then drop it into the fireplace.
Sol’s small footsteps are heard coming up the stairs. Her beautiful eyes graze over the letter already turned to ashes. “Oh,” she says softly. She knows what it means. Nothing she needs to know. I won’t confuse her more.
“Come here,” I say, beckoning her. Her steps are slow, but it’s worth watching her cute waddle. I bring her into my arms. “The letter was nothing of importance. I’m sorry if you were hoping for more.”
She shrugs into my arms. “Not really. It doesn’t surprise me.” She pulls back, and her hot breath licks the curve of my neck. “Thank you for reading it for me.”
“I’m glad I did.” So fucking glad. The aroma of home-cooked food fills the room. “Smells good.”
“I came up to let you know dinner is ready.” There’s a drop in her shoulders. I know she was hoping to get something out of Jenna. She did love her. Jenna might have loved her, but not enough to put her first.
“You look tired. I would have made dinner.”
“I wanted to. Besides, your dad helped.”
“You and my dad spend too much time together,” I tease, trying to lighten her mood.
One brow rises. “Max!”
I laugh. Thank god for my dad right now. He has been her taste tester and, at times, helps her in the kitchen. Pregnancy moods get the best of Sol, and she snaps at him. My dad’s lips go into a straight line. I hide my smile and walk off. Then I hear her say, “Sorry, Hector.” Better him than me.
“I’m joking,” I tell her. “It’s good he helps.”
“Yes, he’s doing well.”
I agree with her and slowly guide her to the bed.
“I’m hungry. We should go eat now.”
“After” —I lick the tip of my lip—“I have my snack.”
She lies on the bed, trying to get back up, frustrated. I know she’s upset. She’s wondering what was in that letter that I had to burn it. The last thing I want is for her to go downstairs angry and stab her fork savagely into her chicken.
“You can have that later,” she growls.
With a quick tug, her shorts and underwear slip off. I groan and bend, spreading her legs. I know what will make her feel better and distract her.
“Max, now’s not the time…your d—” She moans into her last words.
So damn wet for me. She always is. “Perfect time.” The tip of my tongue licks between her thighs. “Relax,” I tell her. “I got you.”
“The door’s open.”
“He won’t come up.”
“He’ll hear.”
“Then keep it down, Corazón.”
She squirms when my fingers move inside her, and my tongue laps around. Sol rocks into the movement of my tongue. Fast, hard, and desperate.
I know everything about my wife. What every moan and cry of pleasure means.
Her breath always catches when I curl my fingers just right, when I press my thumb in slow circles against her clit while she’s still clenching around me.
I know to slow down when her thighs start to shake, to keep the same rhythm when she grabs my wrist and holds it there.
I know the difference between the sharp gasp she makes when I first push inside her and the low, broken moan that starts building in her chest when she’s getting close.
I know to thrust deeper when she arches her back off the bed, to keep going when her heels dig into my lower back, and her fingers dig into the sheets.
I know when she’s right on the edge because her walls grip my cock in tight, rhythmic pulses, her whole body drawing me in.
She’s mine. I’ve memorized everything about her.
“I need more.” She’s already over the edge. She needs me to thrust inside her until I sate every inch of her.
“Tell me what you need, wife.”
“Just you…inside me.”
I’m already unbuckling my belt, my jeans falling to the floor.
Stroking the warmth of my hard length, I spread her legs wider, teasing her with only the tip inside.
Then I grab onto her thighs and thrust deep into her.
Fuck. Her pupils darken with desire. Her walls clamp around me tightly.
Moans and groans echo off the walls. I’ve been desperate to have her in every position possible.
Once she gives birth and she’s in the clear, I intend to fuck her desperately.
Right now, we have to compromise. The doctor did say sex was fine.
It could even help speed up labor now that she isn’t having a C-section anymore. The baby turned.
“Max.” My name is a breathless plea.
“Come for me, wife.”
Sol’s legs tremble against my hips, the muscles quivering and giving out.
I grip her thighs and hoist them up, hooking her ankles over my shoulders, her calves pressing warm against my neck.
The angle shifts everything—she gasps as I sink deeper, the new position opening her farther, my finger circling her clit, and she clenches tight around me, driving me insane as I thrust forward, my hips meeting hers with a firm, wet slap.
Her back arches off the mattress, fingers twisting into the sheets.
“Tell me, baby, who owns this?” I rub faster still, thrusting balls deep inside her.
She covers her mouth to cover her screams, then floods her release on me.
I’m so close, I keep going faster, bucking my hips, her beautifully flushed face staring into mine.
“You,” she answers. Her sexy, raspy voice sends me out of this world.
My body shakes with an eruption, violent and virile, leaving me gasping.
Still inside her, I say, “Look at me, amor.” She does.
Her silk black hair a beautiful mess. “Don’t let them steal your energy from you.
Those fuckers are not around, and they still want to drag you into the dark.
Don’t let them. You don’t fucking need them.
I’m your family. Our kids. Our future. That’s all that matters.
They have already taken so much from you.
You know this. Don’t let them have any more of you—or at least, try not to.
” A tear slides down, and I move to position myself beside her.
“Every time I see you sinking into the unknown, I’ll pull you out of it.
If I have to make love to you from dusk till dawn to distract that pretty mind of yours until all you think of is me between your thighs, I’ll do it.
Whatever it takes. If you want to go on a trip around the world, I’ll take you.
If that’s what it takes for them not to claw into your mind, I’ll do anything for you because you are the love of my life.
They don’t deserve you, baby. Not an ounce of your thoughts on them.
In that letter, all she said was to find me to tell you the truth.
That’s it,” I tell her. That’s all she needs to know.
She turns to her side. “I know there is more to the letter. I see it in your expression. Thank you for protecting me. You did as I asked, and I’m grateful for it.”
She doesn’t say it, but she wonders.