“He’s sulking,” Luca told Dimitri, who nodded solemnly.
“Classic lovesick sulking,” Dimitri confirmed.
Max’s scowl deepened.“I’m not lovesick either.”
Luca’s grin widened.“Uh-huh.And I suppose she’s not ignoring your calls, avoiding your house, and generally treating you like the plague?”
Max slammed his glass onto the table hard enough to make the bottle jump.“She’s in love with me,” he said flatly.“But she’s scared.Thinks I’m trying to control her.”
Dimitri raised a brow.“And you’re not?”
Max gave him a glare that could strip paint… then, with a resigned shrug, admitted, “Not in the way she thinks.”
The humor drained from Luca’s expression, replaced by a sharper focus.“What happened?”
Max leaned back, exhaling slowly.“You remember Lexie?I mentioned her last year.”
Both men nodded.
“She came to me because some lowlife was blackmailing her, threatening to ruin her career.I handled it.But she’s terrified of my world—terrified of the power I wield.This morning, she walked out.”
The room went quiet.Luca and Dimitri exchanged a glance, their banter dropping away.
“She’s afraid you’re like her father,” Dimitri said.
Max nodded once.“Exactly.I know what that bastard did to her—on the streets, he was brutal, used force when he didn’t need to, got off on intimidation.I don’t want her to think I’m cut from the same cloth.”
Luca swirled the amber liquid in his glass.“Women like her?They’re not like the ones we’re used to.She doesn’t want to be kept or impressed into submission—she wants to stand beside you, not under you.”
“I know that,” Max said, sharper than intended.He dragged a hand over his jaw.“I just don’t know how to make her believe that protecting her isn’t the same as locking her in a cage.”
“You don’ttellher,” Dimitri said.“Youshowher.And give her the space to figure it out.”
Luca’s smirk returned, though his voice held sincerity.“For what it’s worth, I think she’s already got you exactly where she wants you.And I’m enjoying the hell out of watching you squirm.”
Max shook his head but didn’t argue.“Lexie is everything to me,” he admitted quietly.“I just don’t want her thinking she’s trading one prison for another.”
“Then prove she’s not,” Dimitri said.“We’ve got your back.”
Max gave them both a nod—the closest he came to gratitude.“Thanks.”
Luca lifted his glass.“To Lexie—may she realize she’s got the most stubborn bastard in the Pacific Northwest wrapped around her little finger.”
Dimitri chuckled as their glasses clinked.“So, what did you promise her in return for your undying protection?Marriage?A ring?Blood oath?”
Max shrugged, grim but certain.“She’s the one.”
Luca and Dimitri both paused, caught off guard by Max’s sudden declaration.
“But marriage?”Luca hissed, as if the very word tasted wrong.“Why the hell would you go that far?”
Max rolled his eyes.“Because she’s perfect for me.”He stared into his glass, the amber liquid catching the light.“And don’t either of you want kids?A legacy?”
“A son,” Dimitri grunted, nodding as if Max had just proposed an excellent business merger.“That’s a good plan.”He glanced at Luca with a sly grin.“Maybe our friend’s onto something.We should think about marrying, building our own legacies.”
Something flickered in Luca’s face then—too raw, too sharp to be anything but pain.It hit like a sudden squall and vanished just as fast, replaced by the smooth, charming façade he wore as easily as his tailored suit.
“I don’t think so,” Luca said lightly, though there was an edge buried in the words.“I’d rather groom a successor.Less paperwork.And fewer headaches than dealing with a wife who might stab me in my sleep.”
