Total pages in book: 44
Estimated words: 41558 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 208(@200wpm)___ 166(@250wpm)___ 139(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 41558 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 208(@200wpm)___ 166(@250wpm)___ 139(@300wpm)
The mattress dipped as he sat down beside me. “You’ll feel better in a few minutes,” he promised, draping his arm over my shoulders.
I sighed and relaxed in his careful hold, content to be near him.
“You’re not going to work today,” he rumbled, as though forestalling an argument. “You need rest.”
I cringed, then groaned when the movement jarred my head. Max knew how important my internship was to me, and I was sure he’d expected me to protest.
Well, it had been important to me. Not anymore.
All the awful memories came flooding back: Mike’s hand on my thigh, his hot breath on my face. It felt like it’d happened weeks ago, not two days. The brutal attack by Max’s cousins had shoved the terrible incident from the forefront of my mind.
Now, my cheeks burned with something between rage and humiliation. Max curled two fingers beneath my chin, lifting my face to his. Dark eyes studied me, creased with confusion as he tried to puzzle out my expression.
“I’m not trying to be controlling,” he said. “I don’t want you to resent me. But I need you here with me.” The last was a desperate rasp.
He’d been shredded by his cousin’s attack. He’d faced the fire for me, had surely endured mental anguish and trauma that would’ve been far more painful than even the burns on his arms.
He needed to hold me and know that I was safe, that we’d both survived the nightmare. And I needed him to hold me, too.
“I know how much you care about your work,” he continued on. “But you need to heal. Don’t go. Not today.”
I placed my hand over his heart. “I’m not going anywhere,” I promised. “I’m not going back there ever again.”
His brow furrowed. “I’ll keep you safe. Whenever you’re ready to go back, I’ll protect you. I won’t let them get to you ever again,” he vowed darkly.
“I don’t want to go back.” My voice was sharp with anger. “There was a reason I texted you to pick me up early yesterday. I’m done with the U.S. Attorney’s Office.”
He tucked my hair behind my ear, black eyes regretful. “I don’t want you to be scared, Bambi. I’ll take care of it.”
“It’s not because I’m scared,” I admitted, confessing the awful truth. “Mike… He came onto me. In his office.”
“What?” Max’s features sharpened into something almost feral.
My fingers curled to fists as remembered rage surged through my system. “He tried to kiss me. Then when I told him what a sick bastard he is, he tried to blame it on me.”
All that time I’d spent in his office asking him questions about my father and the Mafia case, he’d been getting horny while I’d been crumbling inside. And he dared to say that it was my fault.
I gnashed my teeth, my hands shaking with the force of my ire.
“I’ll kill him,” Max growled.
I blinked at him, suddenly remembering his knife at Niko’s throat. The man I loved probably wasn’t speaking figuratively. His eyes flashed with fury, and menace rolled off him in waves.
Part of me wanted to unleash Max on the man who’d once been my personal hero. I didn’t want him dead, but I wouldn’t mind him taking a few punches for what he’d done to me. If Max could make him feel some of the pain that Mike had inflicted on my heart with his betrayal, the more savage part of me wouldn’t try to stop him.
But I shook my head. “I haven’t decided what I’m going to do about it yet.” I could report his behavior. I could get him fired. “You’re right. I need to rest and heal up. I don’t want to think about this right now.”
It was making my head pound, and I was tired of being in pain.
The rage drained from Max’s muscular form, and he held me gently. “Say the word, and I’ll handle it,” he promised, caressing my uninjured cheek. “I would do anything for you, Allie.”
I leaned into his tender touch. “I know you would,” I murmured. He’d walked through fire to save me. “Thank you.”
We sat in silence for a few minutes, and eventually the pounding in my head receded to a dull throb as the painkillers kicked in. Once I could think straight again, I said, “I’m done with trying to impress my father. I already quit my internship. I don’t need to worry about making him proud of me anymore.”
Max stroked my hair, letting me talk through my feelings as I re-envisioned my life path. “I’m still going to go to law school,” I decided. “I still want to help women who’ve been abused. I can do that without putting in years at the U.S. Attorney’s Office first.” I didn’t care about that prestige anymore. And I wanted nothing to do with my father’s corrupt choices. He’d leveraged his career to get in bed with the Bratva. Mom had been murdered because he’d worked with the Russians to take down their mafia rivals.