I collapsed onto my couch, breathing hard. Allie instantly cuddled up against me, barely breaking contact for a heartbeat. Impossibly, she seemed to crave our nearness as much as I did.
She wasn’t scared of me. Not even after I’d threatened to murder Nikolai right in front of her.
What had I been thinking?
I’d seen that bastard hovering over her, and a red haze had descended over my mind. All I could think about was eliminating the threat, ending the Russian scum who would hurt my sweet Allie. Just like the men that his father had ordered to hurt my mother.
“Hey,” she said gently, her soft fingertips featherlight as they skimmed around my scar. “I’m right here. I’m safe with you.”
The rage and pain must’ve been plain on my face. Allie shredded my defenses like no one else, seeing straight through me. Maybe it was because I innately sensed that I didn’t need to keep those defenses up when I was around her. She would never turn a cruel word against me, never drive a dagger in my heart with a brutal insult or cold dismissal.
I’d never known anyone like her. She was my own personal miracle.
I stoked her silken hair, handling her with awe. A small smile curved her lush lips, and she leaned into my tender touch. She looked practically angelic, glowing in the aftermath of our harsh, desperate union.
Her ethereal beauty made our surroundings muddy into something impure and shabby, far too grubby for her perfection. A frown tugged at my mouth as I fully took in the sight of her nestled on my threadbare couch. The dim bulb overhead did little to illuminate her delicate features—two of the lights had gone out, and I hadn’t bothered replacing them. I hadn’t bothered to keep the studio apartment very neat, either. It didn’t bother me; I was too focused on my mission against her father to worry about the mess. And it wasn’t as though I ever brought anyone back to this shithole, so I wasn’t concerned with what company might think.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, sensitive to my shifting moods as ever.
I pulled her closer on instinct, tucking her face to my chest. “I shouldn’t have brought you here,” I grumbled. “You deserve better.”
I’d fucked her against the wall like an animal, uncaring of our surroundings; all that’d mattered was her.
She tugged against my gentle hold on her cheek so that she could sit upright. I smothered a wince as she glanced around us. “This is where you live?”
There was no judgment in her tone, only curiosity.
“Yeah,” I muttered. “Like I said, I shouldn’t have brought you here. I wasn’t thinking. I saw that bastard near you, and all I could think about was getting you away from him.”
She blew out a sigh. “Thank you for taking me away from there. Niko didn’t hurt me, but I don’t feel safe at my place right now. I’m glad you brought me here. Thank you for trusting me.”
“I wish I could take you someplace nicer,” I admitted. This apartment had only ever been a place to crash, and it showed. There were no personal effects around the sparse space, no individual touches.
“Where we are doesn’t matter to me.” Her pale green eyes were wide and earnest. “I just want to be with you, Max.”
“This place was all I could afford when I moved out of my family home,” I confessed, drawn to explain. “After the fire, I… Well, I knew I had to get out of that house.”
She threaded her fingers through mine, anchoring me to the present. The searing heat, the phantom kiss of fire, on my face faded.
“I sold my Ferrari to get some cash. I’ve been living off those funds for a couple years. I had to make the money stretch.”
My father had cut me off after he’d disciplined me. He’d probably expected me to remain in the house and serve him, but I couldn’t bear to spend one more minute in that hell. Once I’d healed enough to get out of bed without vomiting, I’d gotten the hell out.
Ever since then, I’d just been…existing. I’d lived and breathed my revenge, my mission against Ron Fitzgerald.
Until Allie.
Now I had everything I’d ever wanted: my father’s respect, my birthright.
More than that, I had Allie. This perfect, sweet woman who said she loved me, despite all the shit that should keep us apart. She should hate me. She should be afraid of me.
But she’d never listened to my warnings or commands to stay away. She was stubborn and clever and absolutely too good for me.
No worthy man would betray the woman he loves in exchange for power.
My stomach soured, and I claimed a fierce kiss from her lush lips to distract myself from my grandfather’s accusation. As long as I had Allie in my arms, shuddering and sighing into my possessive hands, that was all that mattered.
“I’m glad you got out of that house,” she murmured, reading the truth beneath my surface explanation of how I’d come to live in this crappy apartment. “And I’m glad you brought me here. You protected me.”