Chapter 24
MAX
The world was full of sick, selfish, irritable people.
I promised I’d never be like them, but my promises, it turned out, were just as empty as theirs.
I was sick, I was selfish, and I was very irritable.
I’d spent the past year becoming a prisoner to my mind and its capabilities, only to find out she’d been alive this entire time.
The woman I craved with a desperation that bordered on obsession was the same woman who could single-handedly shred my composure like a sheet of paper.
She tested every nerve I had. She lied to me, she deceived me, and she did it well. She’d almost gotten away with it too. Her efforts had been believable. She was the only woman to ever break my heart, and unfortunately, she could be the only woman to fix it.
The irony was a bitter pill to swallow, yet anger wouldn’t rise. Instead I was proud of her for running. I was proud of her for doing what she had to do to stay safe. It was exactly what I would’ve wanted her to do.
But I wasn’t someone she needed to be scared of.
Her fear had put a wedge between us, a misunderstanding that needed clearing. I wasn’t the monster she’d painted me as. I was supposed to be her safe place. But trust, once broken, was a fragile thing. It wouldn’t return with a single apology or a grand gesture.
Trust had to be earned, and make no mistake, I was determined to earn it—to earn her.
It wouldn’t be easy. It wouldn’t be quick. There would be nights spent rebuilding the foundation we’d once had. But the reward—a chance to hold her heart again, to see the trust bloom back in her eyes—was worth any fight.
I was going to be on my very best behavior for her. A paragon of manners, you could say.
Then the memory of what I’d done to Liam’s guard flickered briefly in my mind. I could still see the mess. His nose was caked in blood, bent at a ninety-degree angle, bloodied and battered, with a dent that seemed to have been carved by someone who was really good at using elbows.
Right. Best behavior. Starting . . . now.
The last drops of coffee swirled in the mug as I finished it off.
Mikhail sat where Rosalie had once sat, with a deadpan expression on his face. He was just as crazy as they said he was. He was crazy enough to help me anyway.
“Genovese is going to put a hit on you,” he said, his voice flat.
A humorless chuckle escaped me. “Nah,” I replied, leaning back in the booth. “I’m not sweating it. I’ve got a plan.”
If Liam’s daughter was involved, he wouldn’t step out of line. The only problem with my plan was that Giovanni wanted to stay far away from them.
The door to the diner swung open, and Giovanni stormed in. Broad and built like a bull, he lifted his gaze to mine as he took a seat in the booth next to Mikhail, grunting at the realization it was Mikhail next to him.
Funny, how life turns on a dime. I never thought I’d see Giovanni with a baby carrier strapped to his chest. Mira, who was just a few weeks old, had a head of curls that mirrored her father’s. Her head peeked out from the carrier, blinking owlishly at the bright lights of the diner.
“What the fuck is she doing here?” Mikhail asked, looking down at Mira.
“Don’t swear in front of my daughter,” Giovanni demanded.
“I didn’t realize we packed pacifiers and diapers with our guns.”
They hated each other, and I was starting to hate both of them.
“Why the hell do you keep inviting this guy?” Giovanni asked, giving Mikhail a strange look.
It didn’t take long for them to start an argument. Honestly, I should have known better. Coexistence between these two was nearly impossible. Giovanni couldn’t stand how reckless Mikhail could be, and Mikhail couldn’t stand how cautious Giovanni was.
“Can we focus?” I asked, interrupting their argument.
They both turned to face me as if I were the problem. Their bickering was starting to grate on my last nerve. Here I was, wasting time mediating their problems, when I could be spending my time with Rosalie.
Giovanni corrected his posture. “Right,” he said. “Tell me what’s going on.”
“Oh, go on. This should be good.” Mikhail chuckled.
I didn’t disappoint. I told him everything that had happened after Mikhail met me at Rosalie’s grave. I told him about my meeting with Liam and the new rules in place.
Liam knew the damage I was capable of inflicting. He knew rejoining the family wasn’t just the convenient option but the logical one.
He needed me.
Fighting me was a losing battle—one he wasn’t eager to initiate, especially with his daughter’s safety a concern.
The documents I’d got him to sign said enough. His profits, his network of contacts, his men, even the territories he controlled—they were all mine now.
Honestly, I couldn’t care less about the power grab. Money and influence were nothing new to me. This, however, ensured Liam wouldn’t have the necessary resources to take Rosalie away from me again.
She was all I’d ever wanted, and I wasn’t going to make it easy for anyone to take her from me.
Giovanni interrupted. “The Clarkes?” he spat. He’d always been quick to anger, so I’d seen this coming from a mile away.
A slow smile stretched across my face. “Just the one.”
Giovanni shook his head. “Are you out of your fucking mind?”
“Language,” Mikhail warned, pointing to baby Mira.
Giovanni rolled his eyes.
Maybe I was. The question had been swirling in the back of my mind for a while now.
“Probably,” I admitted.
“I told you to put an end to it,” Giovanni spat, throwing a few colorful words in my direction every now and then.
With a sigh, I glared over at Mikhail while listening to Giovanni ramble on about how bad I was making him look. Mikhail looked bored of listening to him drone on too.
“You’ll need to marry her,” Giovanni demanded, his tone leaving no room for argument.
As capo, his word was law. Disobeying him wasn’t an option.
I knew Rosalie better than anyone. Being pressured into anything was her kryptonite. I was going to have to find a compromise with her, otherwise Giovanni would have to deal with me.
I sorted through my options with Rosalie. I only had two: I could hate her, never forgive her, and never give her a reason to forgive me, or I could love her, forgive her, and give her reason to stay.
The choice, for better or worse, was entirely in my hands.
As long as she agreed to stay with me, I was going to try for the both of us—and hopefully, along the way, she’d try with me.
Loving a woman like Rosalie demanded a certain strength, a certain ego.
Without it, she wouldn’t spare you a glance.
She thrived on a challenge, on making you chase after her affection—a game she’d mastered from the beginning.
In a twisted way, I admired that fierce independence.
I found it sexy, especially now. She carried so much confidence that happiness wasn’t something she sought from others; it was a fire that burned in her soul, and I was a leech for that happiness.
I’d hardly survived without it.
“I’m working on it,” I informed him. “She’s not exactly thrilled by the idea.”
Giovanni, however, remained unconvinced. His gaze was threatening. I could understand why he was upset. The Clarkes weren’t exactly the easiest to work with.
“If she becomes your wife, she becomes part of this family. I won’t tolerate a Clarke causing chaos in my territory.”
“She won’t be a Clarke for much longer,” I pressed, hoping the sliver of time would buy me a way into her heart; a way to convince her marrying me wasn’t a prison sentence.
Giovanni grunted. “I need something drawn up for proof. A marriage contract. I don’t care what it is—just give me something solid to work with. You have until Wednesday. Then we discuss alternatives.”
Alternatives.
Rosalie was a loose cannon who could tear everything apart for me. I needed her cooperation, not her defiance. If she didn’t agree to marry me, Giovanni would make me face the repercussions.
“If this marriage goes through, I suppose we’ll need to have a contract set up with you, since your name is on everything,” Giovanni ordered. “Standard terms—you know the drill. Do we get access to the marina?”
I slid the signed documents across the table. “Liam handed everything over to me in order to save his daughter,” I said, showing him the papers Liam had signed. “He won’t attack as long as his family—specifically, his daughter—remains safe.”
Mikhail eyed me suspiciously. “But you wouldn’t hurt her,” he said, referring to Rosalie.
“Not a hair on her head.” Rosalie’s safety had never been in question. I was playing with Liam’s fear. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”
And I wouldn’t, even if she was a walking test of my patience.
It seemed like an impossible task for her to keep her lips off other men—a lesson I’d drilled into her thick skull three times now.
It wasn’t like I was asking for the moon, just a little bit of loyalty.
It was my turn now, and I wasn’t going to let her get away.
I wanted to be a better man for her, to do good by her, but she wasn’t making it easy for me.
“You’re a smart son of a bitch,” Giovanni admitted.
I wasn’t. I was just lucky.
“I’ll be heading to the marina in about a week. It’ll be early in the morning, so be prepared for that,” I told them.
“I’ll be there,” Giovanni said.
Mira started to fuss, her wails growing louder.
“I gotta go take care of her. Get this shit sorted out, Max. I’d hate to have to kill you.”