Not caring about his pain, Maximus crushed his mouth against her in a searing kiss and pulled her tight against his body. He’d given up hope before, but here she was, his other half, the woman he loved.
* * *
Selena hummed quietly under her breath as she walked down the hallway of the hotel, a full ice bucket in her hands. She knew Maximus needed to get back to his men soon, but he said he could spare a couple of hours to be with her and her alone. Though she would have loved to have him rock her world, she could tell he was still not fully recovered from the battle. It didn’t matter. They’d have plenty of cold Maine nights as an excuse to get hot and bothered in the future.
She giggled at the thought, turning the corner before hitting her hotel room. Her eyes widened and the only sight more unwelcome than Doctor Quinen. If it wasn’t for the ice bucket, she would have facepalmed.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
Chris stood there in tight jeans that only continued to reveal what an ass fraud he was. He offered her an easy grin and leaned against the closed door of her room, the smug look in his eyes suggesting she should be grateful for him deigning to share his presence with her.
“What are you doing here, Chris?” Selena asked. “Haven’t you heard? I was fired. Go find your own damned pretzels. It’s not my problem anymore.”
“Oh, yes, I heard about that.” Chris pushed away from the door, looking her up and down. “I thought about giving you another chance to reconsider my generous offer, but I changed my mind before I even came here.”
Selena rolled her eyes. “Then, again, what the hell are you doing here besides annoying me?”
“I wanted to see you at your lowest. It’s always fun to see people like that when they’ve wronged you.” Chris snickered. “I wanted to look you in the eye while you realize I’m going to go to continue to make millions of dollars, have the best damned artisanal pretzels out there, and bang lines of waiting women who would beg for the opportunity. And then you’re going to go crawling into whatever stupid trailer you live in and eat your beans crying out about how you could have had Chris Silvers.”
“Is this going anywhere? If not, I’ve got something to do.” Selena held up her bucket. “And I don’t want my ice to melt in the time it takes your ego to approach something humans might consider normal.”
Chris stomped over to her, his eyes ablaze. “You stupid bitch. You don’t get it, do you? You’re nothing, and I’m everything. I could punch you right here, and sue you for hurting me, and I’d take even your stupid can of beans away from yo—”
The door to the room flew open, and Maximus stormed out, growling. Selena grimaced, grateful he was wearing his sunglasses. Chris spun to face him then craned his neck upward toward the scowling hybrid who towered over him.
“You could punch her?” Maximus asked. “You think you could get away with that, you piece of garbage?”
“D-d-d y-you know who I am?” Chris sputtered. “I’m Chris Silvers. You touch me I’ll sue your ass off.”
Maximus squared his shoulders, the scowl changing into a lop-sided smirk. “Would it be worth it?”
“Worth it?” Chris backed away, trembling. “I’ll take everything you have.”
“See, I don’t like someone threatening to hit my girlfriend.” Maximus cracked his knuckles. “And I’m thinking you might sue me, but would it be worth all the broken bones? All that time in the hospital? In physical therapy? You’ll never be the man you were.”
Selena stepped in front of Maximus and put a hand on his chest. “It’s fine. I don’t need your help with this ass fraud.” She gave Chris a tight smile. “You see, I don’t need lazy frauds like you. I have a real man to satisfy me because if your ass fraud is anything to go by…” Her gaze drifted to his crouch, and she winced. “I’m so sorry. It must be hard to walk around with something that small.”
Red-faced, Chris stormed away. “You’ll never work as a production assistant again.”
“Fine by me. That won’t change the fact you’re a fraud. You might want to look into implants.” Selena waved merrily. “I hope you choke on a pretzel. Non-organic!”
Maximus growled as Chris disappeared around a corner. “You sure he doesn’t need a couple of broken bones?”
“No, sometimes the best revenge is letting a pathetic person live out their hollow, pathetic life.” Selena smiled at Maximus. “I’ve got you now. I don’t care about Chris Silvers or his dumb pretzels.”
Chapter Twenty-six
Maximus sat across from Titus in the latter’s office on Isla Luna. He didn’t want to be away from Selena so soon after Hawaii, but the debriefing was important, especially considering the new threat. Everyone needed to be on the same page.
“Ouroboros, huh?” Titus let out a quiet growl. “I’ll pass the name along to my contacts in the government. This seals it. Alpha Squad needs to stay here on Isla Luna.”
Maximus shook his head. “I think it’s best if the twelve of us who were modified continue with my original plan. I’ve already talked to the others among my original group who can still smell Vestals. We all agree it’s best for them to stay here, but as for the rest of us, we’re going to Port Winter Island.”
“But this is a major new threat. You’ll be isolated there.”
“Yes, but from everything Quinen said, it’s more a threat to Vestals than hybrids. That means they aren’t necessarily sniffing around for hybrids.” Maximus nodded toward a picture on Titus’s desk of his mate Kate. “And the best way to keep your Vestals safe is to stay far away from us.”
“We’re in this together.”
“But that doesn’t mean we
