I stepped in front of her, stooping to her eye level. “As far as I’m concerned, there was no one before you, understand?” I told her fiercely.
She bit her lip, looking off to the side. “I get that it’s ridiculous of me to care and unfair to even say it. Not like I expected you to live like a priest or something.”
“There’s just you,” I murmured. “You’re all I see. As far as I’m concerned, those others, they didn’t even happen.” I meant that too. Every word.
Her expression lightened, and I could tell she believed me. “Okay, Max.”
“While we’re on the subject though…”
“There hasn’t been anyone,” she interjected quietly, her cheeks turning pink once again as she picked up on my line of thinking.
I looked down at her in both relief and surprise. I couldn’t imagine another man’s hand on the girl I’d considered mine for longer than I cared to admit. On the other hand, she was fucking stunning. How she’d kept herself away from men wasn’t something I completely understood.
“There just wasn’t anyone I was interested in,” she continued quietly when I hadn’t replied. “No one was you,” she admitted so quietly I almost didn’t hear her.
But I did, and her whisper might as well have been as loud as a bass drum for the impact it had on me.
If she hadn’t been injured, she probably would have been up over my shoulder and on the back of my bike on the way to my place so I could show my gratitude. As it was, I took her mouth in as passionate of a kiss as I dared.
“I’ll spend the rest of my life proving I was worth the wait,” I vowed against her lips. “I’ll be your first and your last.”
Her intake of breath was all the gratification I needed as I pulled away reluctantly, capturing her hand and guiding her to what she called home, for now.
****
“We need to talk,” I told Sal the minute Wren went upstairs to take a nap. Even our short walk had worn her out. I’d found him out in the garage under the hood of his latest project.
“Oh yeah?” he asked gruffly.
“Had a call from Tank.” I leaned against the doorframe watching him work. “That stalker shit with Wren, it’s worse than we thought.”
He stood up, his gaze lethal as he gave me his full attention, without words telling me to continue. It was something I’d always liked about Sal. Like me, he didn’t say much, but he always made his intentions abundantly clear.
“Tank found multiple deliveries on her front porch. Looks like he got progressively agitated. Not sure why, maybe he saw me with her. I don’t have any doubt at this point he ran her off the road and is here in Hawthorne.”
“Fuck,” Sal clipped. “Why the hell am I just hearing about this now?”
I knew what he meant; he wanted to know why Tank hadn’t called him. If there was ever a time to make a claim, it was now. “Because she’s mine.” I answered firmly. “I understand she’s your daughter,” I continued when he looked ready to speak, “but she’s my woman, Sal—my forever. If you don’t get that now, you will. But until then, you need to know, I’m not backing down. I’m not stepping back. I’ll protect her from everything and anything. If you and I need to come to blows over it, so be it, but I’d rather have your blessing.”
He looked to the side a moment, as though considering his next move. “It won’t come to blows again unless you give me a good reason,” he replied, the threat clear in his tone.
“If I give you reason, then by all means.” Hell, if I ever hurt Wren, I’d kneel at his feet and welcome it.
He blew out a breath and nodded slightly, that small chin dip likely the most acknowledgement I’d get for now. “That asshole that attacked her,” he said, clearly done with as close to a heart-to-heart as we may ever get, “any chance he could have dropped off those packages before he was killed? Could he be her stalker?”
“I don’t think so,” I replied, wishing it was that simple. “That’s what’s bugging me. I’m not sure exactly how yet, but it seems likely the attacker and her stalker are linked. Plus, the way the attacker died is too fucking coincidental.”
“You think her stalker killed him?”
“I do.” I nodded. “I just don’t know why.”
“She know any of this yet?”
I shook my head. “Was gonna give her a few more days to rest up, but I plan to tell her. She needs to know, and plus, knowing Wren, she’d be pissed as hell if she found out I kept this from her.”
“True.”
The silence between us stretched for a moment. “I’ll head out for a while, swing back by later,” I said finally.
He cleared his throat. “Could use some help with this.” He gestured toward the engine of the car he was working on. “If you don’t have any place to be,” he added gruffly.
I peeled off my cut, throwing it over the chair in the corner, accepting the olive branch he was offering. The truth was, I had a bunch of shit to take care of, but there was nowhere more important for me to be. “I can stay,” I assured him, holding out my hand for the wrench. “Let’s see what’s going on.” I nodded toward the old Chevy.
And with that, a fragile truce was made.
Chapter 17
WREN
“You still here?” my dad asked Max gruffly as he walked into the living room that afternoon. It had been over a week, and my dad asked him the same thing every day. It had become a running joke of sorts, one my dad may or may not have seen the humor in.
“Still here,” Max replied with a lip twitch as we lay watching a movie on the couch with Olivia sprawled out in the love seat to my right. Max had been reluctant to leave at the end of each day. I kept assuring him I was feeling better, understanding he had a life to take care of, and I felt bad he was so obviously putting it on hold for me. Every day I felt a bit stronger. I’d been able to scale back substantially on my pain meds, though I still longed for the day I could cough without pain.
When both he and my dad’s cells went off simultaneously, I knew it had to be club business.
My dad glanced at his text. “Cole wants a meet,” he told Max.
Max simply stared at him as a silent standoff of sorts took place between them.
“I’ll go,” my dad grumbled, grabbing his cut before turning to me. “Your mom’s still at Dixie’s helping Piper with inventory. She calls, you let her know to call me.”
“Will do, Pop,” I agreed, knowing something monumental had just happened. My dad had deferred to Max when it came to keeping me safe. That was big. No, it was huge.
He leaned over, placing a quick kiss to the top of my head. “Love you, little bird.”
“Love you too.” I smiled up at him.
“That felt like sort of a big deal,” I murmured as the sound of my dad’s Harley could be heard roaring off down the road.
“Totally,” Liv agreed.
Max simply squeezed my foot as we settled back into our movie.
“Gracie’s salon is having an anniversary party tonight,” Liv put in as the credits were rolling. “You guys want to go?”