I can’t understand why he’s so set on keeping her. Why Max, who refuses to bring home the same girl twice for reasons as absurd as plenty, wants a woman he’s known for a few hours—if we don’t count the stalking—to move in.
Logically, I should ruin his little delusion before it turns into an even bigger problem. But when he looks at me with his bright smile, like California summers in a fucking person, it’s hard to say no to anything. It is not hard to make him suffer for manipulating me into agreeing to his shitty plan, though.
Max pulls out his phone, smiling as he reads a message. “Charlie said the coast is clear.”
“You told Charlie?OurCharlie? It’s like you want to get introuble.”
“He knows Rockwell’s schedule better than anyone else,” Max retorts. “And he’s too scared of you to snitch on us.”
I sigh, drawn out and goddamn tired, while I rub my hands over my face. I’ve made many reckless decisions throughout my life, and despite that, joining this task force ranks #2.
“Come on, let’s go get your girl before I change my mind,” I say, kicking the backpack into a corner.
“Our girl.”
Max looks at me with this smartass expression, walking to the door. So damn sure of himself and his impressively stupid plan. It would be adorable if I was an uninvolved bystander and not a part of this mess.
“We’ll see,” I grumble as we approach the stairwell.
He babbles on and on while we take the elevator down to the second basement. By now, my brain has aconvert Max’s talking to white noisesetting. Once we arrive in front of the security door, I have him use his card to unlock it. If people ask questions, I don’t want anyone to know I was involved.
Not because I’m afraid of the consequences but because it’s embarrassing.
With every step we take toward Lillian’s cell, the urge to grab Max by the neck and drag him out of the cell block becomes harder to ignore.
Whenthe problemsees Max, a smile spreads on her face. It vanishes when I step into view, though. I get it, but couldn’t she at least try to be polite? Something about her rubs me the wrong way. As of right now, she doesn’t seem like a ‘perfect addition’ and more like a second pain in the ass I have to deal with.
I also wonder how this is supposed to work when she looks at me as if I’m the Grim Reaper who came to collect her soul.
I could definitely fuckit out of her.
“Wanna go for my eyebrow this time?” I ask as I push past Max and walk up to her.
Frantically, she shakes her head, mumbling, “Sorry.”
Too little, too late.
“We’ll bring you to your room.” Max shoves me out of the way and reaches out to take her hand before I step between them.
“I take her.” He steps aside, glaring at me.
Misbehaving mutt, already starting to be possessive about a toy he only has because I allow it. He exhales sharply, and it looks like Lillian is contemplating all her past life decisions.
“You can still go home. Just say the words. Cause I’ll happily put your ass in a car and drop you off wherever you want,” I say, keeping theso this shitshow is over before they fire usto myself.
“No,” she insists. “I can’t—I want to stay, please.”
“Great.” My smile is forced, and I hope it looks as insincere as it feels. “Give me your hand.”
I don’t want to risk her bolting off, and Iabsolutelydon’t want Max to hold her hand again. He needs to be reminded of his boundaries; the sooner, the better. With a sigh, I grab Lillian’s wrist and pull her after me while Max is still busy checking if she left anything behind in her cell. Not that she brought a lot to begin with.
Another problem. Wonderful.
She's quiet as a mouse during the elevator ride and the walk to her temporary home. Thank God, because I cannot deal with two chatterboxes.
Max is the last to enter the room, closing the door behind himself. He refuses to look me in the eye, and from his body language, it’s obvious he’s hiding something from me.
Lillian stares at me, wide-eyed, like a lost fawn, and I’m afraid I’m starting to see the appeal.
