I rested my brow against the cool wood and listened to the heavy stomp of Max’s boots as he retreated with his awful sister. The car started up and drove off, carrying the man I’d come to crave far away from me.
My chest squeezed, growing tighter with each of my racing heartbeats. Waiting for Max to safely return would be agony.
Chapter 21
Max
My heart hammered in my chest, and I curled my fingers to fists to hide their shaking. Adrenaline and rage ripped through my body, seeking a violent outlet.
Instead, I had to sit calmly in the back seat while my bitch of a sister watched me with a cruelly amused expression on her flawless face. I was hyperaware of my cousins in the front seats. Their smug satisfaction flooded the car like noxious fumes. Everyone had been waiting to see me fail again. And falling for Alexandra Fitzgerald—our enemy’s daughter—was an epic fuckup.
Aw, she’s so cute. I bet our cousins would think so, too. Should I introduce them? The memory of Francesca’s threat made my fury surge, and my fists clenched tighter.
My cousins were little more than beasts, caring only for power and twisted pleasure. They would rip Allie apart if my father let them off his leash.
A terrible image of Allie in pain screamed through my mind, ghosting over the familiar, nauseating memory of my mother’s suffering before she’d finally been killed. My stomach lurched, and I swallowed against the acid burn in my throat.
“No one touches her,” I ground out.
Francesca’s light, hateful laugh floated through the car. “You really do like her. Pathetic.”
“Why do you even care?” I demanded, even though I knew exactly why my relationship with Allie was forbidden.
My sister scoffed. “Don’t pretend I’m an idiot. I didn’t recognize your little princess when she came to the house, but that article about her in the Times told me who she was. Your girlfriend looks awfully cozy with Nikolai Ivanov. I’m surprised, Max. You were never good at sharing your toys.”
Article? I had no idea what the fuck she was talking about, but clearly, whatever she’d read had revealed Allie’s identity as Ron Fitzgerald’s daughter. And her connection to Niko.
My gut twisted. This was far worse than anything I could’ve imagined. I’d only met Allie because I was trying to prove my worth, but somehow, I’d managed to fuck everything up. The evidence I’d wanted to gather in order to blackmail Fitzgerald was supposed to ensure my family’s return to power. I would’ve been the one to usher in a new era of prosperity. I would’ve been a worthy heir, not a disgraced son.
“I followed you tonight, just to be sure,” Francesca continued, as though my heart wasn’t crumbling in my chest. “But I got bored of waiting for you to finish your little fuckfest. Sorry if I interrupted something important. I’m sure you haven’t gotten laid in a while.” She smirked at me. “Unless it’s been long enough that you’ve been paying whores to get you off. Two years is a long time to be alone.” Her voice softened with false pity. “But seriously, how did you ever get pretty Allie to accept a monster like you? How did you even meet?”
I ground my teeth together, refusing to give her a single word. My mind raced. How would I explain my relationship with Allie? There was no way I could tell my family the truth about how we’d met: that I’d kidnapped and interrogated her about her father’s ties to the Bratva.
Not that they would be horrified by my actions. If I’d succeeded in getting the information I needed, I would’ve been celebrated by my family. Just like I’d planned.
But now, I couldn’t let them know why I’d gotten close to Allie. It might make someone else decide that they could try again. And they would use much harsher methods of extracting answers.
“How could you be so stupid, Max?” The falsely cheery mask finally dropped, and Francesca glowered at me. “We’re barely surviving. Uncle Tony is still in prison. And you’re fucking the mayor’s daughter? Do you want him to destroy what’s left of us? We’re not strong enough to withstand an attack right now. Not when Fitzgerald is still tight with scum like the Ivanovs. They would kill us all if he even suspected that you’re defiling his precious princess.”
I coiled tighter with each of her poisonous words. Because they were all true.
I’d endangered my entire family, and I’d endangered Allie. I couldn’t seem to help breaking everything I touched, and now I’d committed my worst sin ever.
All my months of work stalking Fitzgerald were wasted. I couldn’t even tell my father about my secret mission to restore our family to their rightful place. Everything was shattered beyond repair.
And worst of all, I’d put Allie at risk.