He wore an expensive suit that bulged out at the sides, making me think he was hiding more than one gun beneath his jacket. His hair was liberally sprinkled with gray, but his face suggested he was younger than his salt-and-pepper hair let on. He was shorter than either Uncle Tony or Navarro, but there was something about the way he stood between the two men that made him look larger-than-life.
His eyes, dark like a moonless night, zeroed on me, and I saw something flash in their depths that caused my stomach to churn. The same hunger Max got in his eyes when he looked at me was there in this man’s.
“It’s time to go, Delaney,” he spoke slowly so I could understand him. “Come with me willingly, and I will leave your new friends unharmed. Force my hand, and I will take every one of their lives.”
Lexa
I had a feeling of déjà vu as I watched Delaney take a step toward the fucker who wanted to take her. Memories flooded me of the night Carlo Santino had tried to take me for his adopted son, Gian—when I’d had to make the same choice.
Cower like a scared little girl behind Ben, or give in and protect the people I loved by going with the enemy.
Really, there was no choice to make. I understood it, but I hated that she felt she had to make it, especially when I knew there was no need.
Ben had called me as soon as he and my brother learned that Tony Garcia was possibly on his way to take back his niece. Not two minutes after I got the call from my husband, Dad texted me to let me know that he not only had MC brothers watching the house, but Trigger would have his sniper rifle pointed at my living room.
I’d shown Tavia the texts from Dad just as Ryan’s phone had gotten an alert. While he’d been busy with his phone, I excused myself, not wanting to freak out the newest member of my family, and grabbed one of Ben’s extra guns from the safe in our bedroom. After I stuffed it into the back of my pajama pants, I’d returned to my guests and went on about the evening like nothing was wrong.
Seeing the stark fear on Delaney’s face made me wish I’d taken the time to explain a few things to her about our family. But Max had been so worried that he would lose her if she found out what his life was really like. I hadn’t liked that he was hiding a part of himself, was convinced he was worrying for no reason. I’d seen firsthand the way his special little treasure looked at him, not only at River’s wedding reception but later at his apartment.
I knew that look all too well. I lived that look every time my gaze landed on my husband.
Delaney loved Max. I didn’t need her to speak or sign those words for me to know she was completely head over heels for my baby brother.
Which meant that she was now my sister, just as much as Tavia was. And I would gladly give up my life for either of them.
When my front door crashed open, the wood practically splitting down the middle under the pressure of the dumb fuck who decided to kick it down, I barely flinched. Ben had texted me only minutes before, alerting me to the fact that they had just gotten to Creswell Springs. Knowing he was so close, I refrained from drawing my own gun, wanting to save that element of surprise in case we needed it, should Ben and Max not arrive in time.
The three idiots who stepped into my house were about to have the worst—and last—day of their miserable lives.
Delaney
I hesitated for only a second before taking a step in his direction. But as I did, I saw movement behind the man. I didn’t have time to react as Max lifted a gun and placed it to the back of the man’s skull. Before I could blink, he fell on his face, while blood seeped into Lexa’s carpet.
My eyes didn’t stay on the dead man long. Lifting my gaze back to Max, I was just in time to see him turn the gun on Navarro, and he pumped his trigger finger twice, putting a bullet in the man’s chest and then his head.
He moved like lightning, popping my uncle in the head so quickly, I barely had time to take it in before the floor was littered with dead bodies. And all at the hands of the man I loved.
The whole thing took less than five seconds. Not giving Uncle Tony or Navarro time to react or defend themselves before they were dead at Max’s feet. If I had blinked, I was sure I would have missed the entire incident and would have questioned who was responsible for their deaths. Even though I’d watched everything as it happened as if it were a movie played in super-slow motion, I still wasn’t completely sure I’d actually seen what I had.
Dropping his hand that still held the gun, he turned those metallic blues on me, his chest heaving with each breath he took as the house filled with other people, all of them with their guns drawn. Ben, then Theo, and several men I didn’t recognize in suits were shouting, from what I could tell with how their mouths were moving, but I barely paid them any attention as I kept my focus on Max.
He’d killed all three of those men like it was nothing. He hadn’t flinched, hadn’t even hesitated as he pulled the trigger over and over again with such confidence, I knew he’d killed before.
I’d thought my Max was sweet and kind, gentle.
Now, I saw that he had been hiding a totally different side of himself. One that I couldn’t wrap my head
