Page 66 of Protecting Charity

"I don't understand where you get this notion that we are going to do away with you because of your brother, or we were using your brother for leverage. I never recall threatening his life to get you to comply. You jumped in front of the gun, remember? No one coerced you. No one threatened to kill him if you didn't stick with us," Luca said.

I wracked my brain for a shred of a memory that had those words coming from either of them. Did I imagine the threats on his life? Was it all in my head, and I was really doing this without leverage? If I thought about it, they have done everything to help me find him, aside from the fiasco with Jose. I couldn't think of a singular moment.

The thought of finding Josh sprung up another question. "How did you guys find me?"

"Your bracelet. He didn't tell us it had a tracking device in it," Nico said. "Once Luca called and said you were missing, he activated it, and we found you."

The sneaky devil told me not to take it off, and it never clicked with me as to why. Even though it wasn't my style, I still had it on. It was a piece of Max I couldn't seem to part with.

"What if I can't do my job anymore? What if I'm too damaged? If I can't do my job, there is no point in keeping me around," I said, unable to hold back the shake in my voice. I wasn't ready to die. I just faced the real possibility of death, which made me realize I didn't want to leave them. I didn't want a different life. I had grown so accustomed to it.

"Do you honestly believe that, even now, after allI'veconfessed to you?" Nico spoke up.

"I don't know what to believe. I thought my brother was missing, but it turns out he was plotting my death with lunatics."

The notion brought tears to my eyes, causing them to sting. I shouldn't have said that, but it was the truth. Did I evade one killer just to find warmth in the arms of my ultimate fate? Would Luca be the one to take me to the forest this time, or would it be Max? I ran my finger over the bracelet, focusing all my attention on the glittering jewels and away from the treacherous thoughts digging at me.

"Shh, Charity," Luca said, then began smoothing over my hair again. "You are so much more to us than just a soldier for our family. If you wanted to retire, we would be by your side, supporting you all the way through it."

"Retiring someone is another way of saying to kill them," I said sardonically.

Luca grumbled, then tugged slightly on my hair. "You know what I mean."

My first genuine smile this week ripped across my face as I snuggled down into the couch. My questions were answered with words that seemed too good to be true.

"Now, enough talk of killing and let John Wick do it all," Nico said, then gave my thigh a loving tap that warmed my heart.

I hadn't forgotten our secret confession to each other that night, and I never would. It made his touch seem a little more real, a little more… something else. We never spoke of it. Maybe he thought I didn't remember, but it was one confession I didn't have to work to get, and I'd never forget that.

"I couldn't have said it better myself."

Just as Wick was about to obliterate an army of men, my eyes closed from lack of sleep and too much internal conflict that exhausted me. When I woke, the credits were rolling, and I wasn't the only one that had fallen asleep.

Nico and Luca had their eyes closed, breathing heavily while a figure sat at the kitchen table, his face lit up from a video he watched on his phone.

I wriggled away from the guys, careful not to wake them, and met Max at the table. Putting my finger to my lips to keep him quiet, I placed my hand in his, then dragged him to my room, where I locked lips with him as soon as the door clicked shut.

It had been so long since I had him, or so it felt that way. When the dust finally settled and the chaos dissipated, Max and I would have a long-overdue conversation about boundaries. Ones that I was grateful he overstepped.

His soft lips pressed hard against mine while his stubble scraped against my sensitive skin and prickled my tender lips. Max enclosed his arms around my waist, bringing me in close to him to the hard contours of his body, muscle, and otherwise told me a story of a man that was ready and needed this as much as I did. But as much as I demanded the feel of him against me, I had something I needed to say. Could I bring myself to say the words? He deserved to hear it come from me.

Max walked me back towards my bed with his fingers rimming the tops of my jeans, waiting for me to tell him no. A word I hoped he knew I would never utter between us. His hesitation bred impatience and frustration, causing me to ignore what I wanted to say and had me tugging my shirt over my head then tossing it to the floor.

His shirt came next, followed by the rest of the clothes we worked fervently to remove. He was gentle—too gentle. I jerked his mouth closer to mine by his hair until his growl from the pain of my teeth biting into his lips tickled my mouth, causing another smile to erupt. I felt more like myself, the more he ran his hands down my body and lavished my lips with affection.

I broke away from his kiss and laid back against the bed while leaning on my elbows to watch him in all his glory. A series of tattoos covered the deep lines of abdominal muscle with guns across his chest and vines running to the rose imprinted on his neck, connecting to the others wrapped around his arm.

Max accepted my silent invitation and covered my body with his, fitting me like a perfect mold.

He brushed away the hair covering my face and tucked it behind my ear while leaning over me, studying every inch of my face. I followed his chocolate eyes as they roamed my body, then came back up and collided with mine.

What did my face reveal to him? Was it enough to answer his silent questions? As if he knew the questions I didn't ask, his mouth fell back to mine without restraint, he centered himself at my core, and plunged deep inside. I raised my hips, meeting him thrust for thrust while I buried my nails into his back, causing him to press into me harder. Electrifying jolts of lust hurried to my toes as I splashed over the top, biting the soft flesh in his shoulder to stifle my cries of ecstasy.

Max pulled away as the powerful zings subsided and kissed down my body, stopping to swirl his tongue over my sensitive peaks until he reached the small bundle of nerves that still aroused my skin and lapped at my nub, causing me to jerk with shock. His tongue flicked and lapped, building me back up to the top until I shattered with my hands tangled in his hair and an unbridled scream ripped from my throat.

"That's it,bella, get lost with me," he said as he wiped the evidence of my arousal from his face.

I bit my lip as he flipped me over and pressed his hand into my lower back, making my ass rise in the air. As if I starved him of my affection, he ravished my body with the urgency of a depraved man that would never receive satisfaction until he collapsed, panting and dripping with sweat.

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