Infect The World
Max
“Stop!” Fiona pushes me away.
No. “I thought we were past this and into the kissing part of our relationship.”
“The nonnas are telling everyone.”
Can we just stop talking and get back to kissing? “Yes, isn’t that what you wanted?”
“They’re telling everyone.” She pushes me even further away. “I’ve got to go before Daria hears through the gossip mill. She’ll be hurt if I don’t tell her.”
That’s what I love about this woman. “Go talk to your sister.” I give her a peck on the lips and let her free.
She rushes off.
I guess it’s time to tell my daughter and see how Dash is doing. Maybe we’ll go to the park again.
Won’t the little matchmaker be surprised.
As I enter the bakery, I’m not surprised to find out the addicts have been eating this whole time, nor does it surprise me to find Sasha Kamenev sitting at a table near them with three tattooed men. His father sent security as well, it seems.
“Maximus Rage,” Maddox calls out from the table a few feet from the boys.
I don’t stop myself from rolling my eyes at him, but I do sit down at his table. “The dead man is still walking.”
“Good to hear.”
“Not well after Fiona was done with him.” My woman’s righteous indignation was a sight to behold.
Maddox smirks. “She trains with Dyce.”
The world knows Dyce is just a little bit terrifying in a don’t mess with me kind of way. “Are you trying to scare me off?”
“No, just warning you not to make Fiona mad. It goes without being said not to hurt her. Because whatever I would do to you, Dyce would do twice as bad. And it won’t matter one bit who your father is or how much you're worth.”
“I would die before hurting her.”
Maddox nods. “I was pretty sure you were going to kill Canyon before you and Fiona figured things out.”
Wait! What? “You knew?”
“He’s my brother. An Adder never lies to their brother. Nor does he not tell them the juiciest gossip. It’s in our by-laws.”
They knew. “You knew.”
Maddox raises an eyebrow at me.
Canyon has the nerve to saunter in with a Cheshire grin on his face.
Time to show him my appreciation. Before he can get to the counter, I step in front of him.
“You caught her.”
In every sense of the word. “Yes.” I hold a hand out to him. “Thank you.”
He takes it.
Then I pull back and punch him in the gut. “That’s for touching my woman and making her cringe.”
The idiot has the nerve to laugh. “We square now?”
Hardly. “Yeah.”
Canyon nods. “I’ll expect an invite to the wedding. And a kid named after me.”
Cheeky. “We’ll see what we can do.” Now isn’t the time to picture having kids with Fiona…Hope always wanted siblings.
On to the next problem. One that I can’t kill.
Sasha Kamenev.
Fiona doesn’t know that I probably couldn’t have killed him anyway.
He refused to touch my daughter or even date her. That thought is terrifying. I walk over to his table and give his minions a look.
Sasha takes one look at my face and says, “Оставьте нас.”
The men get up and walk to another table.
I sit in one of their spots. “Thank you for coming to take care of Hope.”
He nods. “That filth shouldn’t be allowed in here. My men will happily take care of them for you.”
“Maddox believes that they can be reformed.”
Sasha snorts. “Maybe the small one. The others enjoy what they are. It wouldn’t be anything for them to do what needs to be done.”
This is the kid who’s in love with my daughter. “I’ll let Maddox know your services are available.”
How could Hope have fallen in love with the son of the Bratva King? This boy has known my daughter since birth. He’s been her constant companion and a self-appointed protector. “My daughter can be quite stubborn.”
“Yes, she can be.” Sasha stares at me impassively.
“She will try to get her own way in everything.” I’ve spent years loving and hating the fact that little girl is smart enough to try to work things into happening the way she wants them to.
“I’m aware.” A corner of his mouth lifts. He enjoys her antics.
Fiona’s right. This kid doesn’t just want a childhood fling. He wants her for more than forever. “She’s still a child.”
“That fact hasn’t gone unnoticed.”
“It will be a long while before she grows up.” Why am I even saying this when all I want is to kill him and move on?
“Waiting is an honor.”
I really want to hate him. “Then I’m going to go get Dash and leave her in your care.”
He nods. “I shall see her home safely.”
That I don’t doubt.
Now, to tell my daughter that I’m in love. Most parents worry about their children disliking their new significant others. My only concern is that she’ll be upset that her matchmaking plans were thwarted.
She’ll just have to deal with the fact that Fiona and Gabe would never have worked. They weren’t meant for each other.
As I step into the kitchen, the room gets quiet, and all eyes turn to me.
“Dad.” Hope squeals and runs towards me. “It finally happened!” She flings herself at me.
Careful not to smush Dash between us, I hug her. “What happened?”
“You and Fea. Bisnonna called me. We were working so hard, but I was starting to lose hope that you two would get together. Bisnonna told me not to worry, but I couldn’t help it.”
What? “You were trying to get her and Gabe to fall in love.”
“Nah. That was just so you wouldn’t take forever figuring things out. I’ve been waiting for you to find someone for years. You’re old. You don’t have any more time to waste. Bisnonna said I should expect my second sibling within the year. Just so you know, I’ll be the best babysitter.”
My head hurts. It’s definitely an aneurysm building up in my brain.
***
“Does that kid really need to be here while we’re working?” Everett glares at Dash.
“Yeah, I have him for the rest of the afternoon, but we’ve wasted enough time. We need to get some work done.” And I want to spend every minute with Fiona that I can. “Do you want to build the virus or the code to make you two disappear?”
“Wait. You’re asking me to build a virus.”
“How else are we going to keep you two safe? And I don’t want a virus.
I want you to build THE virus. One that spreads globally and is completely invisible.
While you do that, I’ll add the code that removes all references to you and Mom permanently.
It’ll be like the two of you never existed.
” The only time I did anything similar to this before was removing images of Hope from the internet.
I spent months on that after Hope was born to assure her privacy.
“You know, people are usually discouraged from building viruses.” Everett stares at the laptop I just handed him.
“And?”
“It isn’t usually safe to do them on a laptop in case they escape before they’re ready.”
Like I don’t know that. “You do know I created some of the first viruses ever coded.”
“Brag, old man. That just means you’re getting closer to being obsolete.”
A smile spreads across my face. “You wish.” I pull two more computers out of my bag.
“Why two? With those hands, I doubt you’ll be able to type fast enough on the one.”
“You should worry more about yourself than me. And this one isn’t to type. Dash and I are learning ASL today.”
“Huh?”
“American Sign Language. Your new aunt communicates using that, so we’re all going to learn.”
He tips his head to the side. “Which one? I don’t remember one that signs.”
“Fiona’s sister, Daria.”
“Fiona’s…You two are...Really? You and Fiona? No way. She’s fire. Like literally fire. How did you convince her to date you? Wait, you said she has a sister? How old is that sister? Wouldn’t it be cool if we dated sisters?”
Idiot. “I thought you weren’t ever going to date?”
“Well, if they were as hot as Fiona, it might be worth dying for. Plus, you’re letting me create a super sick virus to make sure I don’t die.”
Don’t roll your eyes. Kids don’t like that. “You could be even safer if you told me who the enemy was.”
“Nope. This virus is a much safer idea. It’s not like you’re going to run into them. They almost never come out of their bunker.”
A bunker…Everett was trapped underground in a bunker. That’s a clue. A big one.
Not that there aren’t lots of bunkers hidden around the country and globe. But it’s one more clue to the people we’re looking for.