Chapter 35
Max sat in the quiet of his office, staring at the papers on his desk without really seeing them, when the door swung open.
Luca Bernardi walked in first—tall, broad-shouldered, his charcoal suit cut to fit the kind of body that had been built for brawls long before boardrooms. His dark eyes held the lazy amusement of a man who knew he could break you in half and still make it look like an accident.
“I see your inner goblin has taken over,” he said with a smirk, settling into the chair across from Max as though he owned both it and the air Max breathed.
Dimitri De Luca followed, every inch the Northeastern kingpin—thickly muscled, with the heavy, deliberate movements of someone who didn’t need to rush to be dangerous. His white dress shirt stretched faintly over his shoulders as he claimed the third seat, chuckling low in his throat.
“The man’s not wrong,” Dimitri said. “Just yesterday, I heard that you were tossing around words like wedding and forever. Now you’re brooding like you just lost your territory to a bunch of amateurs.”
Max muttered a colorful curse and slouched back, watching Dimitri head for the cabinet and pull out a bottle of scotch like he owned that too. “Shut up, Luca.”
Luca smirked, accepting a glass with golden liquid while Dimitri poured two more glasses. “I’m just saying—this is textbook sulking.”
“I’m not sulking.” Max took the glass and stared at the liquid, wondering why the hell he’d called this meeting.
“He’s sulking,” Luca told Dimitri, who nodded solemnly.
“Classic lovesick sulking,” Dimitri confirmed.
Max’s scowl deepened. “I’m not lovesick either.”
Luca’s grin widened. “Uh-huh. And I suppose she’s not ignoring your calls, avoiding your house, and generally treating you like the plague?”
Max slammed his glass onto the table hard enough to make the bottle jump. “She’s in love with me,” he said flatly. “But she’s scared. Thinks I’m trying to control her.”
Dimitri raised a brow. “And you’re not?”
Max gave him a glare that could strip paint… then, with a resigned shrug, admitted, “Not in the way she thinks.”
The humor drained from Luca’s expression, replaced by a sharper focus. “What happened?”
Max leaned back, exhaling slowly. “You remember Lexie? I mentioned her last year.”
Both men nodded.
“She came to me because some lowlife was blackmailing her, threatening to ruin her career. I handled it. But she’s terrified of my world—terrified of the power I wield. This morning, she walked out.”
The room went quiet. Luca and Dimitri exchanged a glance, their banter dropping away.
“She’s afraid you’re like her father,” Dimitri said.
Max nodded once. “Exactly. I know what that bastard did to her—on the streets, he was brutal, used force when he didn’t need to, got off on intimidation. I don’t want her to think I’m cut from the same cloth.”
Luca swirled the amber liquid in his glass. “Women like her? They’re not like the ones we’re used to. She doesn’t want to be kept or impressed into submission—she wants to stand beside you, not under you.”
“I know that,” Max said, sharper than intended. He dragged a hand over his jaw. “I just don’t know how to make her believe that protecting her isn’t the same as locking her in a cage.”
“You don’t tell her,” Dimitri said. “You show her. And give her the space to figure it out.”
Luca’s smirk returned, though his voice held sincerity. “For what it’s worth, I think she’s already got you exactly where she wants you. And I’m enjoying the hell out of watching you squirm.”
Max shook his head but didn’t argue. “Lexie is everything to me,” he admitted quietly. “I just don’t want her thinking she’s trading one prison for another.”
“Then prove she’s not,” Dimitri said. “We’ve got your back.”
Max gave them both a nod—the closest he came to gratitude. “Thanks.”
Luca lifted his glass. “To Lexie—may she realize she’s got the most stubborn bastard in the Pacific Northwest wrapped around her little finger.”
Dimitri chuckled as their glasses clinked. “So, what did you promise her in return for your undying protection? Marriage? A ring? Blood oath?”
Max shrugged, grim but certain. “She’s the one.”
Luca and Dimitri both paused, caught off guard by Max’s sudden declaration.
“But marriage?” Luca hissed, as if the very word tasted wrong. “Why the hell would you go that far?”
Max rolled his eyes. “Because she’s perfect for me.” He stared into his glass, the amber liquid catching the light. “And don’t either of you want kids? A legacy?”
“A son,” Dimitri grunted, nodding as if Max had just proposed an excellent business merger. “That’s a good plan.” He glanced at Luca with a sly grin. “Maybe our friend’s onto something. We should think about marrying, building our own legacies.”
Something flickered in Luca’s face then—too raw, too sharp to be anything but pain. It hit like a sudden squall and vanished just as fast, replaced by the smooth, charming facade he wore as easily as his tailored suit.
“I don’t think so,” Luca said lightly, though there was an edge buried in the words. “I’d rather groom a successor. Less paperwork. And fewer headaches than dealing with a wife who might stab me in my sleep.”
Max caught the momentary crack in Luca’s mask, his gaze narrowing slightly. But he didn’t press. Luca would talk when he was ready—or not at all. That was the unspoken rule between them.
Dimitri, however, let his eyes linger on Luca a beat longer, unreadable. But when Luca leaned forward and shifted the conversation, Dimitri allowed the subject to drop.
“Speaking of rats,” Luca said, the light tone not fooling Max for a second. “What’s this I hear about the Yakuza nosing around? You’re our first line of defense against the Japanese gangs. What’s the plan?”
Max filed away Luca’s earlier slip for later. “They’re testing boundaries. Small incursions, checking for weak spots. Nothing direct yet—but they’re building up to something.”
Dimitri growled low. “We don’t need their poison spilling over here. They can barely manage their own streets.”
“Agreed,” Max said, his voice hard. “I’ve already sent a message they won’t misinterpret. If they push further, we’ll make an example out of them.”
Luca’s easy charm gave way to cold calculation. “Good. Keep us updated. If they even twitch in the wrong direction, I’ll send reinforcements. We’ve worked too damn hard to let them upset the balance.”
Silence settled over the room for a moment, the weight of the threat hanging between them. Max’s mind drifted briefly—not to the Yakuza, but to that fleeting look of pain on Luca’s face. He’d circle back to it. Eventually.
For the next three hours, they discussed strategy, hammered out contingencies, and ate a meal prepared by Max’s housekeeper—phenomenal, as always. Still, Max kept thinking of the last time he’d shared dinner with Lexie, how relaxed and beautiful she’d been that night.
Where was she now? Was she grading more papers at her tiny home? Maybe with a blanket over her legs and that god-awful herbal tea she loved so much?
As the meeting wrapped, Max turned to Luca. “You mentioned hiring a great marketing person recently.”
Luca nodded. “Brilliant woman. Every product she’s touched has jumped in revenue by at least twenty-five percent.”
“If I flew her out to Seattle, think she’d talk to some students?”
Luca’s brow lifted. “Like a career day thing?”
Max hadn’t thought of it that way, but it was perfect. “Yeah. Exactly.”
Luca shrugged. “I’ll ask. She’s busy, but she likes kids.”
Max’s lips curved faintly, a plan taking shape. “Good.” He clapped Luca on the arm. “If you think of anyone else—experts in any field—let me know.”