Flustered, I slapped my hands to the bed to keep myself from grabbing him and pulling him close again. “I’ve wanted to do that for a while now.”
“I liked it.”
I stared at Max. Nothing had magically fixed itself about our situation, but Vane had acted just as bad as Max, by my assessment, only in a different way. Loyal as I was, I also couldn’t justify that type of behavior for Vane, much the same way I wouldn’t allow him to sneak in expenses he shouldn’t be submitting to the monthly reimbursements. Sometimes I had to be Vane’s conscience and the voice of reason—which satisfied that part of me that liked being a Daddy—and he’d gone too far today.
I ran my thumb over Max’s chin and his eyelashes fluttered. “I can’t promise much. We might not work out. Things will be stressful at work. I’m still very exacting. Then I’ll come home and be even more demanding. You might start to hate me. The way you like to know the house is organized? I want every moment of my boy’s day to be precisely what I want it to be and think it should be. I want to meet all of his needs. I want to reward him when he’s good.” I dropped a hand to his thigh and then caressed upward, and he whimpered. “Punish him when he’s bad.”
Max leaned into my touch and a small smile curved his lips.
My phone rang again, and I sighed and fished it back out of my pocket. Vane’s name was on the screen—again.
“Yes, sir?” I said as I answered.
“You have to come in.”
“Why?” I slid to the side of the bed, and Max put his hand over mine there. I flipped my palm so we were holding hands, and he smiled faintly.
There was a long, weary sigh from Vane, and I braced myself. “A man drove his car, full of his family of six, out onto the lake and sank it through the ice. We think it was murder-suicide. They couldn’t save anyone except a baby the mother somehow managed to push out a window, and he might still die. It’s a fucking horror show. The fireman who fished the baby out of the ice is in the hospital with hypothermia. We need to make some sort of statement, and Ross isn’t answering his goddamned phone.”
“I’m on my way.” I hung up and swung my feet to the floor, diving for my shoes. Max blinked at me. “Come on. We have to go!”
He nodded and scrambled off the bed toward his clothes. “Are we, I mean, am I—”
“Not now, boy,” I growled at him and could barely stand how good it felt to call him that. “We have work to do.”
14
Max
Icouldn’t help but peek another glance at JP as we stood near the reporters, listening to Mr. Elwood deliver horrible news to the media about the family whose car went into the lake. Next he thanked the fire department and talked about the brave man who had rescued the baby from the water. Apparently he’d been off duty at the time. My heart hurt for the children and the wife, and it was a reminder there were more important things in the world than me. Mr. Elwood spoke about domestic violence and the plague it was on our society, and he had such passion in his voice that it wasn’t hard to tell he meant every word he said. Right now I saw him in a new light. He actuallycared.
JP was far enough away that I couldn’t speak to him without people hearing, but I knew now wasn’t the right time. We hadn’t talked on the way here, but he’d promised we’d sit down and discuss things when we got home,whereverthat was.
Someone cleared their throat beside me and I turned to glance at Jaxson, who’d sidled up on my left. He had on a strange, pale green three-piece suit that looked surprisingly good, even with the white shirt and emerald tie. When I’d known him in the internship, he hadn’t dared to wear anything like this, which made me think that Mr. Elwood had had an influence on him.
“Everything okay?” he asked quietly, straightening his shoulders as though merely asking the question made him feel uncomfortable.
Guilt sat in the pit of my stomach like a rock, and JP’s words filtered through my mind.Apology.He wanted me to apologize to Jaxson and Mr. Elwood. “I’m sorry,” I blurted, flushing with heat. I lowered my voice when a few people gave us narrowed stares. “I’m sorry I blackmailed you.”
Jaxson shot me a wide-eyed look.
I shrugged because I didn’t know what else to do, but when I glanced up at JP, who had somehow moved closer to us, he was smiling at me with gentle eyes, and I felt like I was floating at the simple expression from him.
“I’m sorry, too,” Jaxson said, clearing his throat. His face was pale, and I imagined for a short moment apologizing to me felt like swallowing a frog to him and had to smother my smile so he wouldn’t be offended. “I might’ve been an asshole to you from the start of our internship.”
“Why?” I asked before I could stop myself. Jaxson and I had a lot of history in the short time we’d known each other. On the first day of our internship, we’d actually gotten along okay—until I’d mentioned my parents, and just like that, Jaxson had found excuses not to talk to me. His dismissal had taken its toll, and I’d lashed out at him every chance I could, which resolved into a hatred I’d never quite had for anyone. The one person who I’d thought could be a friend had ended up being someone I’d despised.
“Because of your family.” He stiffened and glanced around the room as though he would rather be anywhere but here having this conversation.
“Have you met my mother somewhere?” I asked with a frown.
“No.” He wrinkled his nose.
“Then what has my family done to you?”
He chuckled and looked at me. “Are you serious?”
“Yes.” I crossed my arms, JP’s close presence forgotten. I truly wanted to know what I’d done to make Jaxson hate me.
