Vivienne wished she were a psychic healer to help Max. She could feel his pain and knew that she could do nothing to lessen his fear and despair but stay with him.

Max hugged her back, his strong arms snaking around her.

A slow clap resonated behind them. The smell of shifter dragon and traces of Aurore, a high-end perfume Vivienne had once tried at a Macy’s, reached her nostrils.

Vivienne turned in Max’s embrace, but he was faster, shoving her behind him at once.

“What do you want, Louise?” A calm fury seeped through his question.

Leaning to the side, Vivienne took a look at the newcomer. As she had imagined from his cold greeting, it was the Louise Dortmund, in the flesh, sneering at them from her high heels and powerful suit.

“Maximus Prize, the chauvinist pig, now defender of women,” Louise said, slow clapping again.

“What do you want?” Max repeated.

Instead of answering him, Louise tilted her head to the side to look at Vivienne. “If I were you, honey, I’d run away as fast as I could and forget about this lying piece of garbage.”

“Leave her out of this,” Max said, protectively moving to shield Vivienne as he reached behind for her.

Vivienne grabbed his hand and squeezed it to assure him she was fine.

“It’s just between you and me.” Max’s hold on Vivienne’s hand tightened.

“You care about this one,” Louise said. It was a statement and an accusation all at once. A maniacal edge tinged the woman’s words. “How the mighty have fallen.” She laughed, a cold, hysterical cackle that echoed in the night. “I will take so much joy destroying everything, everyone, important to you,” she taunted him.

Max tensed, ready to fight, but Vivienne wouldn’t let him fall for the woman’s antics. She pressed her other hand against his back and stroked him. The effect was immediate, and Max slowly relaxed. He turned to face Vivienne and said, “Let’s go back inside.” Without another word to Louise, he left her behind.

“You don’t walk away from me,” Louise spat, her voice shrill.

Vivienne clasped Max’s hand tighter when she felt him hesitate and slow his pace. “She isn’t worth it,” she whispered.

The woman’s deranged laughter followed them as they exited the colonnade and crossed the parking lot. Before entering the hospital, Vivienne looked over her shoulder and saw Louise standing in the rain, looking at them.

As soon as they were inside the Pediatric Ward, Max spun and took Vivienne in his arms. “Don’t believe a word she said. I won’t let her hurt you.”

“Don’t worry for me,” Vivienne said. Although she wouldn’t underestimate women like Louise Dortmund, Vivienne was done letting people walk all over her. Fate had already dealt her the most horrible of blows; now it was time to stand up again. “She is nothing more than a bully.”

“My brave wolf,” Max said, leaning down to brush a kiss on her forehead before softly kissing her lips.

It was a chaste peck, nothing more, but it touched Vivienne deep inside. When she leaned away a moment later, she felt the weight of malicious eyes on her. Sure enough, Louise was staring at Vivienne from the other side of the glass door. Even from several steps away, the expression on the woman’s face was impossible to misunderstand. The hatred in her gaze chilled Vivienne to the bone, and she knew that she had just made a powerful enemy in Louise Dortmund.

Vivienne also realized that she had been wrong in her previous assessment. Louise was much more than a bully, but she didn’t say anything to Max. Instead, she burrowed in his embrace to let her new enemy know that Vivienne Bosch would not just roll over and show her belly.

Max enveloped Vivienne in his warmth and rocked her slowly for a few seconds as if they were dancing to a tune only he could hear. She recognized his need for normalcy and hugged him back.

“My ray of sunshine,” he murmured against her hair.

His choice of words brought tears to Vivienne’s eyes.

“Did I say something wrong?” Max asked, worry etched in his handsome features.

She shook her head, trying to find the right way to express the tangle of emotions in her chest.

He wiped her cheek. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“You didn’t upset me,” she said. “What you said, it was perfect.” She took a long breath before diving into her explanation. “I’ve been living surrounded by darkness for so long,” she started. “To hear you say that I am your light, it’s more than I could ever hope.” She had to take a moment to regroup her thoughts.

Max caressed her cheek with his large hand.

“I am a giver,” she continued. “I’ve been a giver my whole life, but after the accident—”

He drew her closer to him, his hand leaving her face to stroke her back in long, soothing circles.

“That night, when I lost my baby and his father, my light died with them.” Vivienne moved in his embrace, leaning away to look at him. “I thought I didn’t have anything left in me to give.”

“Why would you think that?” Max looked puzzled. “Since the first moment I met you, you have been nothing but a giver. You cared for Amber Rose and defended her since the beginning. You stayed for her even though you despised me. You showed me kindness.”

“Showing kindness to a person isn’t a big deal,” she said with a small smile.

“It is when it’s freely given without any expectation of reciprocation.” He shook his head slightly. “Beside my parents and Wilson, I haven’t experienced much kindness in my life.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” Vivienne thought of how she had judged the billionaire before meeting the man and felt her heart ache for him anew.

“People are usually nice to me when they want something.”

“You deserve kindness,” she said, raising her hand to his face. The stubble on his jaw was dark and made him look unkempt and all the more beautiful for it.