Archer grimaced. He buttoned his jeans up, then scrubbed his hand through his hair again. "I think we should go with you. If Kevin tries to—"
"He won't," Steele snapped, cutting off whatever Archer was about to say. "He won't try shit or I'll kill him, and he damn well knows it. Just leave it alone, Arch; I'll be back first thing Monday." He cast a warning glare at his friend, then softened his gaze to run over me. The he turned on his heel and stalked out of the room without another word.
Alarmed, I turned my wide eyes toward Archer. "Is he...?"
Archer just shook his head. "He's far from okay. Can you talk to him? It's not safe to split up right now. Maybe he'll listen if it comes from you."
I was already nodding before he’d even finished his sentence. "Yes, of course." I scrambled out of bed and pulled on a pair of jeans.
Archer caught my arm before I left the room, pulled me back to him, and kissed me hard. "Thank you, Kate."
I shook my head. "Nothing to thank." Because I would move heaven and earth for Max Steele if it meant never again seeing that pained look on his face when Archer mentioned Kevin.
Rising up on my toes, I kissed Archer again, quickly, then hurried my ass into Steele's bedroom. He stood at the end of his bed, tossing clothes into a bag like he didn't much care what he was packing, with a deep frown marring his beautiful face.
"Hey," I said as I entered his room. I perched my ass on the bed beside his bag. "Wanna talk?"
He flashed me a quick, humorless smile. "Not really. Archer send you in here?"
I shook my head. "Archer D'Ath doesn't send me fucking anywhere, thank you very much. I came in here because I'm worried. Can we please talk a moment?"
He hesitated, a folded T-shirt still in his hand hovering over the open bag, then his eyes met mine and his shoulders slumped.
"There's nothing to talk about, Hellcat," he murmured, his gaze sliding away from mine and making me scowl.
"What did we say about lies and secrets, Max?" I kept my tone hard, and his nose wrinkled.
Tossing his packing aside, he collapsed onto the bed beside me. "Yeah, good point, beautiful." He buried his face in his folded arms for a moment.
I lay down beside him, propping my head up on my hand. "So, talk to me. What don't I know? Why is Archer so worried about you going alone? I get the impression it's about more than just your safety from my stalker, which, I might add, is a very valid concern right now."
Steele shifted his face on his arms, turning to look at me. "Because my parents are disgusting human beings who never should have had children in the first place."
I bit my lip, sadness for Steele's childhood washing over me. "I gathered that much. Kevin is your dad?"
Steele grimaced. "Yeah."
He didn't elaborate on why that was a cringe subject, and I didn't push him to. He'd tell me when he was ready. But I did need to understand a little bit more about Rachel's memorial to know why he was so out of sorts.
"Aside from my stalker, is there any other reason to fear for your safety if you go alone?" I asked him carefully. I was concerned for him, but didn’t want to come across pushy and prying.
He shook his head. "Not unless you count the damage I'll do to my liver while I'm there."
I frowned. "You're not even supposed to be drinking yet. You're still healing."
Apparently that was funny, because he snickered a laugh and gave me a look like I was being cute. Fucker. I'd show him cute with my foot up his ass in a second.
"Hellcat," he murmured, snaking an arm around my waist. "I'll be fine. I promise."
I scowled, but let him pull me closer. "Don't make promises you can't keep, Max Steele." I kissed him softly on the lips and tucked my body closer to his as he rolled onto his side. "What about just taking me? I'd like to meet your parents, even if they are pieces of shit."
A slow smile crept over his lips. "You wanna meet my parents, Hellcat?"
"Well, yeah. At some stage you probably need to introduce your parents to your girlfriend, right?"
Steele's smile spread wider. "My girlfriend, huh? I like that. But no. To be totally honest, Hellcat, I never want you to meet them. You bring out the best in me, and they deserve nothing but the worst." He heaved a tired sigh. "I'll get this memorial for Rachel out of the way—because she was my twin sister and I loved her with my whole heart—but then I'll go out of my way to cut ties with my parents."
I bit my lip, wanting to argue but also knowing I couldn't. Not when I didn't have the whole story. Instead, I needed to trust him and just be the support he needed when he got home again.
"Okay," I murmured. "But you need to take one of the security guys with you." His brow creased, and I knew he was going to argue.
"Not up for debate, Max," I told him in a hard voice. "Take a bodyguard, wear some body armor, do whatever the fuck you need to do, but get back to me in one piece. Understood?"
His frown faded into a smile. "Yes, ma'am."
I squinted at him, suspicious. "Good. If I hear that you got shot or blown up or strangled or—"
"Hellcat," Steele cut me off with a grin. "I'll come home to you, safe and sound. You have my word." I scowled and he smoothed his thumb over my forehead creases. "I'll be back in four days," he whispered, "and I'll be thinking about you every goddamn second."
Smiling, I pushed his shoulder until he rolled onto his back so I could straddle his waist. "Well, can you spare five minutes before you need to go? I want to make double sure you have something to remember while you're away."
Steele's grin spread wide, his hands going to the hem of my T-shirt. "Five minutes? Beautiful girl, don't sell me short."
And then we fucked like rabbits.
21
Nervous as hell, I drummed my fingers on the tabletop and tried really damn hard not to chew a hole in my lip as we waited for James to arrive. Kody was sitting back in his chair, the folder of information compiled by Danny and Leon in his hands as he read.
"There's not really anything suspicious in here," he murmured, then closed it when he was done. "Nothing we didn't already know, anyway."
"Then why was he in a photo with my mom?" I argued with a frown. "That's not mentioned in there. How come?"
Archer cocked his head to the side. "Danny and Leon are thorough, but they're not the all-seeing eye. If there was no record of James and Deb's connection, then there would have been nothing to find."
I huffed, folding my arms. "Fair point."
"I guess we'll just have to ask." Kody pushed back from his chair and stood up as the groundskeeper in question entered the dining room. "James, thanks for coming in."
James quirked a brow at Archer and I, then gave Kody a short nod. "No worries." He took a seat at the table opposite us. "Is this about Sampson's team? I thought the mercs took care of that."
Archer shook his head. "Actually, James, this is about Deb."