A small shiver raced through her delicate frame, and my jaw clenched. I knew she was remembering the threat of that Russian bastard, waiting at her door.
Coming to an abrupt decision, I untangled our limbs and gently set her aside as I stood. Even the brief loss of contact made my chest tighten, but her safety was too important.
I crossed the short distance to the kitchen and rummaged in one of the drawers until I found what I needed. Her brow was furrowed when I returned to her, so I brushed away the worry lines before taking her hand in mine. I pressed the key into her palm.
“You can always come here if you need me,” I promised. “If you’re not feeling safe at your place, you can stay with me. I know you deserve better, but I’ll always protect you.”
She surged toward me and pressed a swift kiss to my lips. “Thank you,” she breathed. “This means everything, Max. I love you.”
The words knifed through my heart. I craved them and dreaded them at the same time. I was a selfish bastard, and I wanted to hear her make the vow again and again. But I couldn’t say it back. I wasn’t worthy of saying it back. Not knowing that I was betraying her trust by using her vulnerable words to blackmail her father. Not when I was claiming my bloody birthright, and she would never belong in that world.
I crushed my lips to hers, allowing the flames of our desire to burn away all my doubts and toxic guilt. Allie was mine, and nothing would make me let her go. Not my family, not that Russian motherfucker, and not my own sins.
* * *
I’d reluctantly left Allie at my place, having no choice but to leave her in the crappy apartment. She’d said she didn’t feel safe at her house, and I would never leave her vulnerable.
But I had responsibilities, so I’d forced myself to leave her alone in my bed. It’d been almost physically painful; she hadn’t wanted me to go. She was still fearful of my family. Of what they might do to me.
They wouldn’t hurt me. Not again. Not now that I’d taken my rightful place as heir.
I straightened my shoulders with renewed purpose. I’d get back to her soon enough.
I just had to stomach what was to come in the next few minutes, and then I could hold her again.
My fists flexed at my sides as I stalked into my family home. My father was waiting for us in the cellar downstairs, a suitably clandestine space for our meeting. My cousins would get made tonight, and I’d have to watch the ceremony in stony silence.
They didn’t deserve the honor, the power. They were brutes who barely had a dozen brain cells between the two of them. If they weren’t blood relatives, I doubted they would’ve stood a chance of being inducted into our crime family. As it was, we were short on men and needed to rebuild. We needed to reestablish a hierarchy that would grow our business.
And I still needed to finish blackmailing Fitzgerald in order to make that happen. I would find a way to get to him soon, or my father would start questioning my competence.
My scar tingled, and I gritted my teeth against the sensation.
Failure wasn’t an option.
“I can’t believe she’s actually fucking you.”
I jerked to a halt at the sound of Paulie’s mocking voice. I’d been so intent on reaching the cellar that I hadn’t noticed my cousins strolling into the hallway from the direction of the kitchen.
John inhaled deeply and grimaced. “I can smell that cunt on you.”
My hands fisted in his shirt, and I slammed him back against the wood paneled wall before either of them could draw another breath. I snarled in his face, but my movements were smooth and swift as I freed my switchblade and pressed it to his throat.
Paulie cursed and tensed, freezing in place in case my knife slipped when I clenched my fist tighter.
“I told you to keep her name out of your fucking mouth,” I seethed.
Despite the fact that I could end his miserable life in a heartbeat, the bastard grinned at me. “I didn’t say her name. I called her a cunt. That’s all she’s good for, anyway.”
“John,” Paulie warned, voice tight with fear for his twin.
He carried on taunting me, savage delight flickering in his black eyes. “I bet that pussy is tight and hot. She’s so small and fragile. Breakable. I could tear her up.”
Blood beaded beneath my blade.
“Maximus.” My father’s voice cracked through the air like a whip. “Put the knife away.”
All my muscles locked up tight, immobilizing me. I couldn’t end John’s life. But I couldn’t back down either. Not when he’d threatened my Allie.