“What?” Max’s features sharpened into something almost feral.
My fingers curled to fists as remembered rage surged through my system. “He tried to kiss me. Then when I told him what a sick bastard he is, he tried to blame it on me.”
All that time I’d spent in his office asking him questions about my father and the Mafia case, he’d been getting horny while I’d been crumbling inside. And he dared to say that it was my fault.
I gnashed my teeth, my hands shaking with the force of my ire.
“I’ll kill him,” Max growled.
I blinked at him, suddenly remembering his knife at Niko’s throat. The man I loved probably wasn’t speaking figuratively. His eyes flashed with fury, and menace rolled off him in waves.
Part of me wanted to unleash Max on the man who’d once been my personal hero. I didn’t want him dead, but I wouldn’t mind him taking a few punches for what he’d done to me. If Max could make him feel some of the pain that Mike had inflicted on my heart with his betrayal, the more savage part of me wouldn’t try to stop him.
But I shook my head. “I haven’t decided what I’m going to do about it yet.” I could report his behavior. I could get him fired. “You’re right. I need to rest and heal up. I don’t want to think about this right now.”
It was making my head pound, and I was tired of being in pain.
The rage drained from Max’s muscular form, and he held me gently. “Say the word, and I’ll handle it,” he promised, caressing my uninjured cheek. “I would do anything for you, Allie.”
I leaned into his tender touch. “I know you would,” I murmured. He’d walked through fire to save me. “Thank you.”
We sat in silence for a few minutes, and eventually the pounding in my head receded to a dull throb as the painkillers kicked in. Once I could think straight again, I said, “I’m done with trying to impress my father. I already quit my internship. I don’t need to worry about making him proud of me anymore.”
Max stroked my hair, letting me talk through my feelings as I re-envisioned my life path. “I’m still going to go to law school,” I decided. “I still want to help women who’ve been abused. I can do that without putting in years at the U.S. Attorney’s Office first.” I didn’t care about that prestige anymore. And I wanted nothing to do with my father’s corrupt choices. He’d leveraged his career to get in bed with the Bratva. Mom had been murdered because he’d worked with the Russians to take down their mafia rivals.
“It’s his fault that my mom is dead.” I fisted my locket, and the smooth gold seemed to burn my palm.
For years, I’d blamed myself for her death. But Max was right. There was nothing I could’ve done. My father’s greed and desire for prestige had led to her murder.
“My whole life, I’ve tried to make him proud of me.” My eyes stung at the admission. “But I’m done seeking his approval. Why should I crave his respect when he doesn’t deserve mine?”
Max brushed a tear from my cheek. “I’m sorry, Bambi. I shouldn’t have told you the truth about him.”
He wanted to spare me pain, but I was done with lies. I was done being sheltered and naïve.
“I’m not sorry that you told me,” I said fiercely. “My whole life has been based on lies. I’m done living in ignorance. You were right when you told me that I was naïve. You were right about everything. I’ve known it for a while now, but I didn’t want to acknowledge it. Then I saw my dad in the hospital, and I knew it was all true.”
I remembered how all the blood had drained from his cheeks when I’d told him that I knew he’d covered up Mom’s murder. His guilt had been plain on his face.
My heart skipped a beat when I remembered something else about that awful encounter. “He knows about us,” I told Max. “He knows that we’re together and that you’re the one who told me about his corruption.”
Max’s brows drew together. “You confronted him?”
“I told him that I knew he’d made Mom’s autopsy and arson report disappear. That’s when he asked if you were the one who told me about it. He tried to push me to be with Niko again.” My fingers flexed with a renewed burst of anger. “You were right about that too. Niko isn’t what he appears to be. And Daddy doesn’t want me to be with him because he’s a good man for me.”
Niko’s father had likely ordered him to keep an eye on me, just like Max had said. And instead of protecting me from criminals, Daddy was pushing me toward the Bratva. How many more betrayals could I possibly endure before shattering completely?
I twined my arms around Max’s broad shoulders and clutched him tightly, clinging onto him like he was the only solid thing in my world.
“I’ve got you,” he swore, holding me firmly to his chest so that I could hear the steady, strong beat of his heart.
“I don’t know what to do,” I whispered. “About any of it.”
The prospect of reporting Mike’s sexual harassment paled in comparison to the nightmarish revelations about my father’s sins.
Before I could say another tremulous word, Max’s front door splintered beneath a heavy boot, and the world exploded into violence.
CHAPTER 10