Chapter 2

Max

Something kept buzzing in my ear. My phone maybe? I rolled over in bed, my arm grazing a naked pair of tits in the process. The girl didn’t stir, thank God. I’d messed up by staying the night as it was.

I wrapped my hand around my cell, squinting an eye open to look at the number. It was local but unrecognizable.

“What?”

“Max?”

At the sound of her voice, I shot up in bed. “Lee-Lee. You good?”

“No. I’m not good. I need a loan.” She took a breath. “Bail money.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose and sighed. “What happened?”

“Nothing you need to worry about.”

Instead of questioning her like I should’ve, I stood, grabbed my jeans off the floor, and yanked them over my hips. “I’ll be there in ten. Hold tight.”

I ended the call, but my hand stayed clasped around the phone. I wanted to throw it across the room or stomp on it. If I did that though, I’d wake the sleeping woman behind me.

It was better this way, me sneaking out. This is what I did—how I worked things. I never went in for seconds when it came to the ladies I hooked up with. A woman had only one rule to remember with me, and I always made it known up-front: don’t give what you know you won’t get in return.

Didn’t mean it was right.

In the car, I turned on early morning talk radio, forgoing the classic eighties I’d rocked out to the night before. I needed to clear my head, focus on what I was doing, and reason out why I was so damn excited that Lia had called me and not Colly, her brother and my best friend.

Carinthia County Jail was only two blocks away, but the drive felt a hell of a lot longer. By the time I got out of my car, I was a ball of nerves.

After posting bail, I was directed to a holding room. Inside the white walls, I pressed my hands against a counter and stared at the cop seated on the other side. “I’m here for Lia Montgomery.”

He squinted at me. “You are…?”

“Max Martinez.”

“The boyfriend?” The guy scooted his chair back, one eyebrow raised in question.

I shook my head, not sure why that mattered. “I’m a friend.”

He nodded, then started to fill out some paperwork on a clipboard before setting it on the counter. “Bail’s been posted already.”

No shit, Sherlock. I folded my arms. “What’d she do anyway?”

“Not really my place to say.” He reached beneath the counter and brought out a basket, setting it next to the forms he’d just written all over.

Curious, I pulled the edges back with my thumb, taking a quick peek. Lia’s purse, along with her boots, sat inside. “Why’s she not wearing her boots?”

He yanked the basket back and glared at me. When he opened his mouth to say something, a voice behind me cut him off.

“Because my feet hurt.”

At the sound, I turned, eyes narrowing as I took in Lia, or more so her clothes. Black miniskirt and a hot-pink, skintight tank to match her hot-pink hair… She looked like a punk-rock goddess, a style that was all her own and sexy as hell.

“That so?” I quirked a brow.

The sleeve of tats covering her right arm looked bigger than the last time I saw her—three weeks and two days earlier, to be exact. It was an endless stream of black rose petals with interwoven hot-pink vines and thorns. The thing was fucking gorgeous, just like she was. My gaze ran the length of her holey stockings. The woman had legs for miles, and not a day went by that they weren’t running through my head.

She pressed her hip against mine, ignoring me as she leaned over the counter. “Thanks for everything, Mitch.” She grinned at the cop.

I whipped my head back toward the tatted-up man, finding his eyes flaring as he took her in and nodded. Jealousy stabbed at my gut, but I couldn’t blame the guy. I’d always known Lia was the sexiest woman in Carinthia. Now it seemed like I wasn’t the only one who thought so.

“Take me home, Soldier Boy.” She grabbed the belt loop of my jeans and winked at this Mitch dude from over her shoulder before tugging me toward the door. Wordless, I let her, the only woman I’d ever be a slave to.

On the way to her apartment, I didn’t bother talking, which wasn’t my norm. My head was spinning though. I was dying to know what had happened—what she’d done, why she’d done it, and if I had to kick someone’s ass because of it. Out of all the girls I knew, other than my best friend’s daughter and my half sister, Charlotte, Lia was my number one priority.

“What’s this?” She jerked her finger toward the radio, leaning forward to change the station. “You turning old man on me?” She grinned as her heavy metal blasted through the speakers.

“Jesus, I haven’t even had my coffee yet.” I winced, shutting it off.

She shoved my shoulder. “You’re such a girl.”

“Touch me or my radio again, and you’ll be sorry.” I glared at her from the corner of my eye, my lips twitching at the same time. I couldn’t stay mad at her, no matter what kind of trouble she’d gotten herself into.

Ignoring my threat, she rolled down the window and leaned her head partway out. It was raining, but she didn’t care. In a lot of ways, she reminded me of, well, me. Free-spirited, didn’t give a shit, but packed with a world of secrets she’d never spill.

“I love the morning air, don’t you?” Her shoulder-length pink hair blew around her face, sticking to her lips.

“No. I don’t like mornings. I like to sleep in, like to drink my coffee in bed, like to—”

“Get early morning blow jobs?”

I shrugged. “If the occasion arises, then yeah, a good-morning cocksucking is fine by me.”

She pulled her head back inside and leaned it against the headrest, facing me. “S’pose I messed that one up for you this morning, didn’t I?”

Had she? Probably. Did I regret it? Hell no. Again, my best friend’s little sister would always come first—good cocksucking or not.

“Yup.”

“Sorry.” She reached over and squeezed my thigh. Our eyes locked, then held for another second, until she finally drew her hand away. An apology lit up her pretty face along with something else I couldn’t identify.

Regret?

Pain?

Fear?

She’d looked away too fast for me to figure it out.

I cracked my neck and focused back on the road, just as the stoplight turned green. Lia was an enigma—had been that way since I’d met her nearly five years back. I shuddered just thinking about that night, wishing I could block the memory, knowing I never could.

* * *

It was a couple days before my two best friends and I were to be shipped out for our first tour of duty. Since Gavin and I didn’t have anywhere else to go, we decided to stay with Colly in Carinthia.

Instead of hanging out at the bar and watching the Cubs play like we’d planned, Collin had some sort of ESP moment, thinking his little sister was in trouble. So, the three of us hopped in his car and drove to her college town. Colly claimed he wanted to make sure he wasn’t just being paranoid, but I knew the truth. He’d already had a crap night knowing he’d have to leave Amy—his daughter’s since-deceased mama—and didn’t wanna leave any other stones unturned when we left the States.

Macomb was only an hour away. “We won’t be gone long,” Colly had said. When we got to Lia’s apartment, her roommate said she was out at a party, but she had no idea which one, where it was, or who Lia was with. Collin was terrified and about scared the roomie to death with his inquisition. Said his sister, good girl Leanne Montgomery, didn’t do parties.

Not knowing where to start, the three of us had split up, going from frat house to frat house in search of her. Neither Gav nor I had ever seen Lia before, other than a few pictures Collin had shown us during boot camp. I’d swiped one and stuck it in my pocket when he wasn’t lookin’. I was a sick motherfucker, yeah, but I also couldn’t help myself. From that picture alone, I could tell she was pretty—far too innocent for someone like me. Long brown hair, big blue eyes, and a sweet smile that said the world was hers to control if she wanted the job. I didn’t know it then, but I do now: Lia had me before I even met her.

We finally located her at the biggest frat on campus. It was a moment that’ll stick with me for the rest of my life. I walked inside that house like nothing else mattered, my first—and to this day, most important—mission as a man.

The place was loud, crowded, and smelled like sex, pot, and all things party. Nobody knew the girl in the picture when I showed it around and asked if they’d seen her. Hell, nobody gave me so much as a second glance as I tore through the house on the hunt. But I refused to quit searching, not until I checked every room and every face.

Up the stairs I’d ran, searching rooms, slamming doors, shoving dudes off chicks in beds, just to make sure one wasn’t her. The last room I went into was quiet, dark, and exactly where I found her.

Sitting in the closet with the door wide open—passed out asleep, clothing ripped, hand bloody—was the girl who had given me purpose I’d never known before. Purpose I’d never understood until the second I scooped her into my arms and carried her out of that house. From then on, I’d vowed to protect Leanne Montgomery like a sister—especially from me.

* * *

“Java Java opened five minutes ago. Caffeine rush on me this morning?” The crack in Lia’s voice broke me from my thoughts. Little pieces of her wild hair still covered her temple, and big, sleepy, haunted-looking eyes blinked at me.

“Nah, I’m good.” I cleared my throat.

She might have been seducing me with coffee, but I wasn’t gonna be swayed. Something had happened last night to land her in jail, and I needed to know what. Most of all, I needed to know if she was okay.

“You good? Wanna talk about anything?” I pulled into the parking lot of her apartment complex a minute later.

“You’re not really going to turn down my mocha, are you, Maxwell?”

“I am.” I gritted my teeth, hating how she ignored my question. Once I shoved the car into Park, I turned to face her, still clutching the wheel. “Now tell me: Are. You. Good?

She rolled her eyes. “Jeez. You’re really pissed that you lost your morning BJ, aren’t you?”

“Damn it, no. I just picked you up from County. Sex is the last thing on my mind right now.”

She huffed. “You don’t have to be such an ass. Take a joke. I’m fine.” A shrug. “Just got into a little trouble is all.”

I squeezed my eyes shut, white-knuckling the wheel. “Yeah, sure, a little trouble.” I shook my head. “Just…go inside, would you? Sleep off whatever issues you’re dealing with.”

She snort-laughed. “Whatever. Thanks for the loan. We’ll talk repayment later.” She reached to open her door, but I locked it, not willing to let her go just yet.

“That came out wrong. I’m sorry,” I said.

She focused on the roof. “If you ask me, you’ve been spending too much time with Collin. I already have one controlling big brother. I don’t need another.”

“Maybe he’s not enough anymore if you’re getting yourself locked up. Maybe you need to talk to someone again. I know this doc who—”

“No, damn it.” She clamped her eyes shut and groaned. “I don’t need another doctor, and I sure as hell don’t need an additional brother.”

My gut grew tight, my hands wet against the wheel. I dropped them to my jeans and rubbed both back and forth as I tried to gather my words. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt her feelings—hurt her. But when you’re in love with the one person you know you can’t have, you don’t put yourself through the pain of being with them when you don’t have to be. That’s why I said what I did next.

“Fine. But we’re not through talking about this.”

She didn’t move this time. Instead, she turned to study me. Sad blue eyes worked over my face as she said, “It’s going to be like this for us now, isn’t it?”

“Like what?” I asked, though I knew exactly what she meant.

“You pushing me away, me drawing you back in…”

“I don’t know how things are with us anymore, Lia.” Other than the fact that I wanted her in all the ways I shouldn’t.

For the forty-millionth time, I had to remind myself I couldn’t go there. This was Collin’s little sister, the girl with issues who’d probably never fully dealt with them. I’m guessing that was why she was working in some nasty dive bar, living in a shit-hole apartment at the age of twenty-five, and making decisions that had her losing herself along the way.

Not that I was the king of moral standards.

“All right then, glad we got that settled.” She plastered on a fake smile, looking past me, not at me. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to grab an Uber, get my car from Jimney’s, then go to Java Java’s for some tea.”

She reached for the lock this time, but I clicked it shut again. “No.”

“No?”

I nodded once, wordless again. I’ve used sarcasm to make it through life for years. Doing the serious thing wasn’t something I had down pat yet.

She rolled her eyes to the heavens, a nasty smirk on her lips. “Jesus, Max, when did you turn into such a bossy—”

“Adult?”

“No, I was going to say asshole. Adult implies you understand that I want Java Java’s and will do and say whatever I want to get it.” She flicked open the door lock, but I locked it once more.

God, I was a pussy.

“Unlock the door, Max.”

“Not ’til you talk to me.” I swallowed. “Tell me what happened to you last night.” Then I whispered in a last-ditch effort, “Please, Lee-Lee. You’re scarin’ me.”

She blew out a breath and leaned back against the seat. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s none of your business, that’s why.”

I flinched, the meaning of her words cutting deep.

She didn’t want me in her life anymore.

She was cutting me off, just like I’d done with her.

I’d messed up by pushing her away these last few months. But I’d do anything to turn back the clock. To the time before I’d decided that being away from her—and serial screwing a bunch of women—was better than being with her as a friend but wanting no other woman except her.

I missed her. I missed us. The way we’d once hung out, drunk beers, watched cheesy talk shows, and done a little innocent flirting when we could. It was safe then. Fun. Nothing like how I felt now. Like I’d die if I didn’t get to kiss her lips, hold her hand, make her mine.

The whole Absence makes the heart grow fonder bullshit was damn painful—and true.

“I deserve to know, Lia.” No, I didn’t deserve to know. But I was gonna do or say whatever I could because that’s what a brother would do. “Especially since I’m the one who just bailed you out.”

She laughed, the sound bitter. “Just because I’m indebted to you financially doesn’t mean you deserve to know what’s going on in my life. You’ve barely looked my direction the past two months. What gives you the right to go all family on me now?”

Fuck. Me.

I deserved that. Every bit of her tongue-lashing. But I couldn’t tell her the truth about why I’d put distance between us. Not when it might ruin everything that was good in my life.

When I didn’t answer, she sank lower in her seat and kicked her feet on the dash. “Fine. If you really want to know, then here you go. Travis—”

“Is he messing with you?” I stiffened. I’d kill the guy if he was hurting her. Then Collin and Gavin would bring him back to life to do it all over again. “I swear to God, Lia, if he hurt you—”

“No. He didn’t hurt me.” Her gaze flickered toward the window. A sure sign she was lying to me. “At least not physically.”

I dug my nails into my palms and growled, “Tell me what he did.”

Normally I didn’t have a temper. Most of the time I prided myself on staying calm, keeping my head clear, and looking at all sides of things before passing judgment. But when it involved Lia and this rat bastard, everything was fair game.

“Travis and another girl happened, so I got pissed. Slugged him in the nose. He filed charges, end of story.”

I cringed. “He’s a piece of trash. I’m so sorry he—”

“Don’t.” Her lips flattened, and she pressed her hand against her throat. Her gaze was like a sliver of ice shooting through the windshield. “I’m fine with it.”

I stared at my lap, my jaw clenched. If that punk were here now, there was no doubt I’d shove my fist against his face too. Lia deserved the universe, not dickheads like Travis.

“I should’ve been there,” I whispered, more to myself than to her.

“I handled it fine.”

I shook my head. “You call getting arrested fine?”

Lia was tough—another thing that drew me to her. She’d taken up boxing for fun, had taken self-defense courses at the gym, and also did yoga on top of that. I’d always known she could protect herself, but I still worried about her. Likely always would.

“What else was I supposed to do?” she asked.

“I don’t know… Maybe you could’ve called me, or Collin even? Hell, Gav would’ve messed him up for you in a heartbeat. Travis has been on our hit list since the day you hooked up with him.” Mine more than anyone else’s, but I had my selfish reasons for that. Travis was a punk, piece-of-shit Brit with no job and no direction.

Again, not that I was one to talk life direction or jobs.

I’d worked construction for a good three months right after I got out of the marines. Even worked a few weeks at the Gap during the weekends. ’Course neither of those positions panned out. Hell, I barely kept a job more than two to three months at a time. Nowadays, I jumped from restaurant to restaurant, moving from fill-in chef to waiter to host. It was all mundane work that didn’t keep me satisfied.

I wanted more outta life. I just didn’t have a clue what that more was. My indecision had a lot to do with the fact that my father had died and dropped a lump sum of money into my bank account fifteen months ago so I didn’t have to work if I didn’t want to. I wasn’t lazy, more taking my time until I figured out what I wanted to do.

“Please.” She scoffed. “If I did that, then you might as well strap a collar around my neck and call me a dog. I deal with all my own issues. I don’t need a man for that.”

Unable to help myself, I moved in closer. “Lia…” I tipped her chin up and pulled her face toward mine. She didn’t flinch or pull away this time, but my hand tingled where it touched her skin, and I quickly yanked it back. Limits, Martinez. Set ’em.

The urges were growing harder to avoid every time I saw her. More than anything, I wanted to keep my fingers on her skin, trail them over her cheek, her neck, across the curves that I’d never allow my fingers to touch…

“I’m so sorry that he fucked you over, Lee-Lee.” I cleared my throat. “But at least now you know, right? We’ve always told you he was no good for you.”

Her dark brows furrowed in thought. When she didn’t say much else, I asked, “Wanna talk some more?”

Innocence lit her eyes as she looked at me. I swallowed hard, taken aback by the honesty in her usually guarded face.

“No,” she finally said, that look slipping away. “But I am gonna be a good little girl now and go to sleep like you asked.” She leaned over and poked my bicep. “Thinking I might even have some tea inside.”

“Forget about an Uber. We’ll get your car later, yeah?”

“Sure.”

“Then run along inside.” I leaned back against my seat again, gripping the steering wheel. “And shower too, because you smell like a liquor store.” No, she smelled like roses. Always roses. “And if you listen to what I say, then maybe I’ll keep this a secret between us.”

“You’re kidding, right?” She glared at me.

I winked. “I don’t kid.”

“You used to.” A strange look passed over her face, one I didn’t recognize, just before her hand shot toward the door handle again. This time, she got it unlocked and shoved open. She slid out, only to slam the door with the sole of her bare foot.

I watched her go, my jaw tight with regret.

I didn’t even get to say goodbye.