“Oh.” Charlie tore off the sheet with the list and stood. “I knew.”
“You knew what?”
“I knew about the stuff you stole.”
Max took a step back. “You knew?”
“Of course I knew.”
“But you never said anything.”
“What was there to say?”
“That you were disappointed in me. That you were disgusted. That you were—”
“Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!” Charlie came around the table. “I would never say any of that to you because I never felt that way. All three of us have done whatever we needed to do to keep us going. The money you brought in kept us solvent, allowed us to watch out for Stevie when she was in countries where we could never afford to go to without funds. Each of those jobs you took and, by the way, knocked out of the fucking park, kept us alive. How could I hate you for that?”
“So you were aware of every job I did?”
“I think so. Unless you snuck some in.”
Max moved closer. “And what about you?”
“What about me?”
“What were you doing?”
“When?”
Now Max was inches away, her finger pointing in Charlie’s face. “I did all my jobs in the six months I was not looking out for Stevie. So when you were not looking out for Stevie, what did you do? You know, to keep us solvent?”
Charlie handed Max the sheet of paper before going back to her cupcakes. “And make sure you don’t forget the flour.”
* * *
Zé waited by the black SUV Max had pointed out to him before she went into the house to talk to her sister. When she came out the front door, she seemed . . . upset.
“Are you okay?” he asked as she stomped by.
“Get in the car.”
“Okay.”
She electronically unlocked the doors and he got into the passenger side.
“Is it me or is this vehicle excessively large?”
“It was built for bears,” she said, moving the seat up until her chest was practically one with the steering wheel.
“Um . . . maybe I should drive. You know, since my feet can actually reach the pedals.”
He waited for Max to tell him to go to hell or to just laugh at him, but she didn’t do either. Instead, she texted someone on her phone. She got an immediate reply and started the SUV.
“What’s going on?”
“I need to make a stop before the stores.”
“Okay.” She kept gripping the steering wheel, so he asked, “Max, you seem a bit . . . tense. Is everything all right?”
She turned the SUV off and took out the keys. “You’re right. You need to drive.” She handed him the keys.
Zé held them up. “You could have just kept them in the ignition.”
“It’s a symbolic gesture!”
chapter SEVENTEEN
The Bugatti pulled to a stop in front of the SUV and Max leaned forward to get a closer look. She couldn’t believe that her mother would steal a goddamn Bugatti! Why not steal a yacht? Or a private jet? If someone is going to lose their mind about their car being stolen, it’s the guy willing to drop a few million on it!
“Who the hell is that?” Zé asked, but Max was already getting out of the SUV. She was too excited to wait.
As she closed the door, her mother was already throwing herself into Max’s arms. They hugged, holding on tight, neither speaking. What was there to say?
Over the years, once Max had been able to travel without her sisters, she’d attempted to see her mother. Many times. But Bulgaria had a tough penal system and her mother was considered a highly dangerous prisoner. So they’d kept in touch with letters and smuggled-in phones.
So this, this very moment, was the first time they’d held each other in years, and it meant everything to Max.
“My beautiful girl,” her mother said in that growly voice of hers. According to Yang family lore, her mother hadn’t been born with that voice but had gotten it after she and one of her brothers got into a nasty fight and he slammed Renny against a table. He’d been trying to knock her out, but he’d misjudged the distance and her throat took the hit. Which turned out to be very bad for her brother once Renny caught up with him. His arm was successfully reattached once she’d finished hitting him with it, but it never quite worked the same.
Renny stepped back, still holding Max’s hands. “Look at you. You look just like me when I was your age.” She pointed at Max’s chest. “You have better tits, though. Those real?”
“Yes, Ma,” Max said, laughing. “They’re real.”
“Lucky girl. I didn’t even bother getting bras, they were so small. Just put some Band-Aids over my nipples, a tank top over that, and out the door I went.”
“Ma.”
“Sorry, sorry. Just a little jealous.” Without moving her gaze from Max, Renny jerked her head in Zé’s direction and asked, “Who’s the cat?”
“That’s Zé Vargas.”
“He’s cute. You fucking him?”
“Not yet.”
“I’m feeling objectified.”
“Shhh, pretty kitty,” her mother said, ignoring the follow-up hiss. “No one’s talking to you.”
* * *
The music started outside, and Charlie couldn’t believe how fast the bears could get a party started. Maybe it was because they didn’t need much. A couple of whole cows already butchered, a farm’s worth of potatoes and corn to boil and roast, and a few industrial-sized barbeques carried from their nearby homes like they were carrying a six-pack of beers. Get that together and you had yourself a bear party. Apparently her cupcakes would just be a “lovely dessert” as one of the She-bears noted when she passed through the dining room.
The security door at the front of the house opened and closed and Charlie called out, “Did you get the flour? Or did you forget again?”
“If you need flour,” said a voice that did not belong to Max, “I can get you flour.”
Putting down the bowl she’d had in her hands, Charlie faced the doorway.
“Do I know you?” she asked the woman standing in her kitchen.
“You know, I would say we’ve met, but we really haven’t. We just sort of keep passing each other in the most interesting of ways.”
“Oh, yeah?”
“Yeah. You tranq’d someone on my street from, I believe, the roof of this house, and I witnessed you kicking the ass out of some very strong male apex predators.”
Okay. Charlie remembered her. She’d been in the conference room, but she hadn’t involved herself in any way. She hadn’t spoken, hadn’t helped the ones attempting to recruit Max and her teammates and, when things really got nasty, she’d gone into the office next door and stayed there.
“Now before you pull that gun you’ve got behind your back . . .” When Charlie frowned, the female tapped her nose. “I can smell the gun oil. Anyway, before you start doing what you do so well, I have an offer.”
“You want my sister to work for you.”
“Yes.”
“And her teammates.”
“Yes.”