Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 80564 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 322(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80564 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 322(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
Max pulls away when he feels me tense up. “I’m sorry, Kitten,” he says, helping me bring the arm back down. It might be just three stitches, but I guess the placement of them, or whatever, makes them hurt with every movement. It’s either that or the fact I refused the meds that Ride warned I would need. “Tess, I have to give you the option. Marcum and the boys can make sure you go back to your life. The police will release a statement saying you were held against your will, and that I only released you once I had jumped the border. You won’t need to worry about anything and your life can go back to…”
It’s me who stops him this time. I put my fingers against his lips.
“You said that earlier. No, Max. I don’t want to go back to life before you.”
“Tess.”
“Do you want me to leave? Is that it? Would you rather I wasn’t a part of this?” I ask, afraid of the answer, but needing to know, regardless.
That’s when Max surprises me. He gathers me in his arms, careful with my bad arm. He sits me in his lap while somehow pushing us back on the bed so he can recline against the headboard. Then, he places a kiss against my temple and situates me so I’m lying against his heart, and the beat of it is drumming in my ear.
“I don’t want to let you go, Tess. Ever. What we started out as, has nothing to do with what you are to me now.”
That one sentence from Max takes my breath.
I hold her close. Marcum’s speech hit me hard. He and I spent time hashing and rehashing what paths I had before me. He made it clear what he would choose. I, on the other hand, didn’t agree. Regardless, I have choices, but the problem is that each selection has some fucking huge consequences. How do I choose? Do I take Tess with me? Doing that, means, never coming back. I may not be super close to Marcum, but I would still miss the sorry fuck. Do I let her go back to her world without me and still say goodbye to everything? Can I accept that? Can I let Tess go? Just the thought of it curls me in knots.
“I don’t want to let you go, Tess,” I repeat.
“Then don’t.”
“It would be better for you,” I feel obligated to tell her.
“Last I checked, I was an adult, and I say it wouldn’t be.”
“We could try your route, Tess. Turn myself in, and wait to be together.”
Her body stiffens under me, and I kiss her again on the top of her head. I would be willing to do this for Tess. If I knew she was waiting for me, I would try it. Marcum would swing his influence out there; like I wouldn’t let him before. The waiting would be hard. The unknowing would almost kill me, but I would. For her, I would.
“No.”
The one word is quiet, but firm.
“It’s what you wanted, Tess.”
“It’s not the same now. They want your head, Max. They want to make an example out of you. It’s even more dangerous now.”
“You’ve been watching the news.”
“Some, yeah. The result would be too unknown now, Max. I’ll support whatever you decide, as long as you make me a part of your end game, but I think getting the hell out of dodge is the best answer.”
“You could live like that, Kitten?”
“With you by my side, yes.”
Her words do something crazy to me. My chest contracts and this nervous energy runs through my system. For so long I’ve been a dead man inside, and Tess has been bringing me back to life. The fact that she wants me beside her…me… Fucking hell.
My fingers dive into her hair, and I bring her face up to mine.
“I care for you, Tess. This is not just about fucking you. You need to be sure.”
Something flashes in her eyes, but it’s gone quickly. Maybe I imagined it. She doesn’t respond with words. Instead, she gives me her lips. A sweet kiss. A promise.
“We won’t be able to leave for two days. Marcum wants to let the dust settle and let his contacts start some smokescreens. It will make it easier for us to get away.”
“What if they find us again?” She asks, her voice filled with fear she doesn’t bother to hide.
“They won’t, Kitten.”
“You can’t be sure, Max. They found out about us somehow. Maybe we should leave here now, we can’t be too careful.”
“It’s being handled.”
“Max, you can’t be sure…”
“We know who the informant was,” I tell her. She goes still, and those green eyes search my face. Fuck, if I blushed, I’d be doing it now.
“That cum-guzzling, whore-bag, rubber-band, saggy-assed cunt…”
I laugh, I can’t help myself. “Rubber-band, saggy-assed cunt?”