chapter twenty-four
Lily
THE CAB MOVES SLOWLY through the city, the streets clogged with traffic, horns honking, brakes squealing. We’ve been in this car for over twenty minutes and I assume we’re still nowhere close to our destination. I didn’t choose it, Max giving the driver an unfamiliar address before he settled his large frame right beside me. There’s a narrow strip of space between us but not enough. Though the Grand Canyon could be dividing us and I’d still feel his presence, smell his intoxicating scent, the warmth that radiates from his big, strong body.
I’d also want to reach out and touch him, despite knowing how wrong that is. I hate him for what he did to me. I want to do violent, graphic things to his body that involve pain and blood. Bruises and scrapes and maybe a broken bone or two. I want him to hurt and suffer as much as I did, because I can’t stand him. He wronged me in the absolute worst way possible.
That’s what I keep telling myself, my hands clenched into fists and resting on my knees, my teeth gritted, my breath coming in ragged exhales.
For most of the ride, I’ve kept my head averted, my gaze locked on the window, but I don’t see anything outside as we pass. My thoughts are as hazy as my vision, everything within me total chaos. It’s hard for me to wrap my brain around what just happened.
Max is beside me. The man who double-crossed me, who worked for fucking Pilar, is sitting next to me and wants to tell me … something. Lots of somethings. After the initial shock of seeing him in such a different environment, in my freaking bedroom like some sort of criminal breaking and entering, I couldn’t help but be worried at his appearance.
Wan complexion, thick stubble covering his cheeks and jaw, hollow eyes, dark sweatshirt and jeans, he looked like a criminal. My first instinct was to ask him if he was all right.
So. Stupid.
Then I got good and angry. That’s what I focused on for all of about two minutes, my anger. The fight seemed to go out of me in an instant and I practically collapsed in his arms, feeling like a complete failure.
And so incredibly weak.
The tension seems to thicken between us as every minute passes, and I chance a glance at him out of the corner of my eye to find him watching me. He’s leaning into the corner of the seat, his legs sprawled wide, his right arm propped on the window ledge of the door. His other arm is stretched out along the back of the seat, his hand disturbingly close to me, and I scoot closer to my side of the car until I’m practically crammed into the corner.
He lets out a sigh, his broad chest lifting with the movement, drawing my attention. For that brief, shining moment when I rested my head against his chest, I had felt … safe. I wanted all the lies and the deceit to be forgotten so I could rely on this man. He’d rescued me countless times already.
But why? When he was working for Pilar … he should have left me to fend for myself. He didn’t.
I don’t get why. That’s the theme running through my head. The same word, over and over again.
Why, why, why, why?
“I hate that you hate me so much,” he says, his deep voice rumbling over me, making me turn and look at him.
“I don’t see why you care,” I toss, hating how shaky my voice is. I clear my throat, curling my arms around myself.
Pain flickers in his eyes. “I care more than you know.”
We stare at each other in silence and I’m dying to ask why. But I don’t. Right now, he’ll say anything to get in my good graces once more. I think of everything we shared while on Maui and wonder how much of it was a lie.
All of it?
Probably.
We say nothing else for the remainder of the drive and I’m relieved to escape the car when we arrive at the restaurant Max chose. It’s more like a pub, the exterior a dark, rich wood, the interior much of the same, with rough-hewn brick walls and dim gold lighting. He speaks to the man who greets us as if he’s an old friend and the gentleman escorts us to a table tucked away in a back corner of the restaurant, pulling out my chair before he hands each of us a single-sided menu.
“Our lunch menu is rather simple, but I hope you find something you like, miss,” the man tells me, his gaze twinkling before he turns his attention to Max, giving him a look of—approval?—before he leaves us alone.
“You know him,” I state flatly once the man is gone.
“I knew his son,” he clarifies. “We served together in Afghanistan.”
“Oh.” I drop my gaze to the menu, uncomfortable with talking about his past. So he must have been telling the truth when he told me about his tattoo. “You said … knew.”
“Yeah.” Max keeps his eyes fixed on his menu as well. “He died in combat.”
That nice, friendly man has suffered the loss of his son. I can’t imagine what that must be like. And he’s so cheerful, so upbeat. “I assume the food is good?” I ask to change the subject.
“The best,” Max confirms. “Their hamburgers especially, though you probably wouldn’t eat one.”
“I would love one.” My stomach growls and I realize I’m starving. I never really ate that muffin from earlier and a breakfast of coffee isn’t filling. I set my menu onto the table. “With cheese. And fries.”
He lifts his surprised gaze to mine. “Their onion rings are amazing.”
But then I’d have onion breath … not that I’m going to kiss Max. I still think he’s an asshole. At least somewhat of an asshole. “I love onion rings,” I say with a smile.
“Me too.” He sets his menu onto the table, too, and studies me. I feel like we’re having some sort of standoff and it’s weird. “Burgers and onion rings it is.”
“And a Coke. With lots of ice,” I add, getting warmed up.
“Diet?”
“No. Full-tilt.” I doubt I need all that sugar coursing through my frenzied veins but I don’t care. I’m feeling like I need to prove something to Max—what, I’m not sure, but here I am, all bravado and cheeseburgers, onion rings and sorrow over what I could have had with this man.
Sorrow for the man who lost his friend in battle, for the man who lost his son. Sadness for what I lost, too.
Myself.
Max’s mouth curves into a faint smile. “I missed you, Lily.”
His words remind me of what he’s done and I sit up straighter, all the bravery and sadness fleeing me, replaced by anger. “What did you want to discuss, Max?”
The owner reappears and takes our orders, his mood jovial, even when Max asks him for privacy. He promises to bring our drinks but otherwise, won’t return until our lunch is ready.
The moment he’s gone I shoot Max a look, my eyebrows raised. I’m done with the bullshit and I definitely don’t want to take a stroll down memory lane. It’ll hurt too much.
“Where do you want me to start?” he asks, as if he can read my mind.
“At the beginning. When did Pilar come to you?” I want all the dirty details. So I can hate him even more? Possibly.
He blows out a harsh breath, smiling up at our new waiter who materializes out of nowhere, delivering our drinks before he vanishes as quickly as he appeared. “A couple of weeks ago. She said that she wanted me to tail someone, someone who took something from her. And she wanted it back.”
“So you thought the laptop belonged to her.”
“I’m not that stupid.” He sends me a look. “I figured out pretty quick that what she wanted didn’t belong to her. I started investigating, doing my research as I usually do, and then Pilar called me, letting me know you’d left. She wanted me to follow you to Maui, so I did.”
She hired Max within days, if not hours, after I sent her that email. The one from her own Fleur in-box to her personal account, when I taunted her that I knew what she’d done.
Closing my eyes, I grip the edge of the table, remembering what a fool I’d been. How arrogant. What did I think she’d do once she saw that email? Cave in and let me tell Daddy what exactly she’s been up to these last few months?
I’d only been referring to her dalliance with Zachary. The seemingly harmless email conversations with Felicity Winston from Jayne Cosmetics.
She called me, threatening me with bodily harm, accusing me of being a meddling, home-wrecking little slut. And that’s when I ran like a coward.
Opening my eyes, I stare unseeingly at Max as he talks and gestures. I release the edge of the table, reaching for my drink so I can take a calming sip. The ice-cold, sweet soda hits my tongue and I swallow hard, trying my best to listen to what Max is saying, but it’s as if my ears are stuffed with cotton.
“What is it that you do exactly, anyway?” I ask, interrupting him.
He stops talking and tilts his head, studying me in that coolly assessing way of his. It makes me uncomfortable and I want to squirm in my chair. “Are you all right?”
I shrug, trying to play it off. But my head is spinning and I swear to God, I’m seeing spots. Gripping the edge of the table once more, I tell him, “I’m fine. Could you answer my question?”
He doesn’t even protest. I think he wants to stay on my good side. “I’m, ah, a private investigator. I run my own company, do investigative work for a variety of clients.”
“Like Pilar,” I add.
“Yeah. Though truly, she’s unlike anyone I’ve ever met.” He shakes his head, his lips quirked into a weird little smile. I like those lips. Especially when they’re kissing me …
No. I can’t think like that. Remembering the way he kisses me is the path straight back to danger.
“How so?” I ask, taking another drink of my Coke. It feels like the sugar is swimming in my veins and my head is still woozy. I blow out a calming breath, trying my best to steady … everything, but it’s not working.
I feel like I’m walking on a rocking ship and we’re headed for even choppier waters.
Max schools his expression. “Lily, let’s be real. She’s bat-shit crazy. And if you want my opinion—I’m afraid for your safety. And Violet’s. Hell, your entire family is at risk when it comes to that woman.”
My heart falls, and my expression must reflect it because he’s quick to correct himself.
“I know Violet’s safe because she has Ryder McKay by her side. And Rose is married, so she has her husband. But you.” He takes a deep breath, his gaze never leaving mine. “I don’t want you alone. Not until this—thing is wrapped up.”
“Why not?” I whisper, everything inside of me aching at the possibilities that aren’t being said. I’m scared. I’ve been running scared, but was I ever truly frightened of Pilar? Of what might happen to me? Of what she could do to me?
Like an idiot, that would be a no.
“Near the end, right before I left Maui, Pilar threatened that she would … hire someone else to get the laptop if I couldn’t get the job done.”
“But you did get the job done,” I stress. “You took the laptop. Didn’t you?”
He looks cornered. Trapped. I know the feeling. “I did. But I didn’t give it to her. Not after what Levi and I discovered.”
I frown. “Who?”
“He works for me. Computer expert, probably as good as you are.” His pause is weighted with about a hundred unasked questions. “I had no idea about your technological skills.”
“You never asked.” It’s not something I’m comfortable talking about, especially with him … a guy I met and fucked around with a little.
He’s more than that and you know it.
Max lets the subject drop. “You played with fire when you challenged Pilar, Lily. And now she’s an inferno, ready to burn you up. She’s dying to burn me, too. I crossed her and she’s not going to let me forget it.”
“How did you cross her?”
“I told you. I didn’t give her the laptop.”
“So you do have it.”
He nods. “It’s in a safe in my apartment.”
I’m dying to see his apartment, even though I shouldn’t care. I should hate him forever for what he did to me. Yet I can’t help but want a glimpse into the personal haven of Max … I don’t even know his last name. “Why did you keep it?”
“Lily.” His voice is soft, his expression incredulous. “I couldn’t hand your laptop over to her, not after what I discovered on there.”
“You mean the photos?” I’m embarrassed that he saw them, but he’s seen me naked up close and personal, so it shouldn’t be a big deal.
But it is a big deal. I’m humiliated. I feel so … silly, knowing those photos are there. They’re old—they feel like they’re from a past life, that it’s another woman in those photos, not me.
His cheeks turn ruddy, like he’s embarrassed. “I saw them. So did Levi.”
Oh, God. Someone saw them besides Max? Could I be more humiliated? “Great,” I say, letting out a shaky breath.
“Don’t worry. Levi is the most serious, stand-up guy I know. He won’t tell anyone, he wouldn’t copy them—nothing like that. If he were to ever meet you—and I want you two to meet—he won’t acknowledge those photos, Lily. I swear. He’s got integrity.”
After what Max did to me, I believed he had no integrity whatsoever. He stole from me, for a job he was paid to do. How ethical can he be?
Reminds me of Rose and her husband, the former professional thief. He almost stole a very valuable diamond necklace from her but in the end, he couldn’t do it, because he was in love with her.
Not that I expect Max to fall in love with me after spending a few days together in Maui, but didn’t I matter to him at all? Did he have any remorse for what he did? Regret?
That he has the laptop shows that maybe he did.
“I believe you.” I draw my finger across my glass, through the condensation that’s formed there. “I took those photos a long time ago, for a stupid guy … a couple of stupid guys.”
He’s quiet, and I finally look up at him to find he’s watching me. “Say something,” I tell him when he remains silent.
“You looked beautiful in those photos,” he says softly.
Okay. That was the last thing I expected him to say. I should not be pleased by his compliment. Absolutely no way should his words make me happy. But they do. “Thank you,” I murmur, feeling awkward.
“I know you’re scared,” he continues. “And I know you hate me. You have every reason to feel that way toward me, but I swear to you, Lily, I’m not going to leave your side until this—problem with Pilar is over and done with. You need to go to your sisters and father and tell them what’s going on. We discovered more information on there. More than you know.”
It’s the right thing to do, I know it is, but I’m scared. Scared that they won’t believe me. “What did you discover?”
“You didn’t finish reading the emails between Pilar and Felicity Winston. Pilar sent her information. Confidential information in regards to Fleur’s product line,” Max says grimly.
My mouth drops open. “What?” I whisper.
He nods. “Pilar did it in the hopes she’d get a job offer. After she received the information, Felicity ceased all correspondence with her.”
The dots are back, spotting my vision, and my head spins. “Shit. Shit, shit, shit.” I close my eyes hard, then blink them open. “I should’ve never left. I need to tell my dad.”
“I have the laptop with the proof, Lily,” he says, his voice calm. I need that right now. I feel like I’m about to leap out of my skin, I’m so freaked out. “Plus, Levi took a series of screenshots of the in-boxes, the emails. They’re all located in a Dropbox account, plus on an external hard drive.”
I gape at him, unable to find the words to thank him for what he’d done, and that he did it all for me. That was my biggest fear once the laptop disappeared. How would Daddy believe me if the evidence was gone? Though now I realize I could have obtained the information off my iMac, too. I handled everything wrong. All of it.
Thank God for Max gathering up all the evidence. I can now show everyone in my family what Pilar was plotting. They’ll have no choice but to believe me.
I’ll break my father’s heart. He’ll probably get mad at me. I’ll enrage both Violet and Ryder, probably Rose and Grandma, too, but at least everyone will be aware of what’s going on.
Plus, I’ll be free of Pilar’s hold once and for all. She can threaten me all she wants, but I have everything I need right here in front of me.
And I owe it all to Max.