Page 30 of Vigilante
He gets up and starts pacing in front of me, gripping the back of his neck with his free hand. His nervous energy is palpable from where I’m sitting.
“God. I told him I wouldn’t say anything.”
“Told who?” My hackles are back up, ready to bolt.
“My cousin. He’s been giving me shit about you. Over how much I like you.” He comes back over, sets his cup down, and grabs both my hands in his. “He wants me to end it with you.”
“And you don’t want to.”
He shakes his head back and forth. “I want you, but I don’t…I can’t…”
“Why can’t you?” My heart is squeezing with anxiety, trying to understand. This short time that I’ve gotten to know him has been some of the best of my whole life. With Max, I finally felt like I had found a home—a person to claim as mine. None ofwhat he’s saying makes any sense, but he’s right. The thought of not being with him fills me with panic. Now that my sleep-addled brain has had a moment to calm down and I don’t think he’s going to murder me, I reach up and cup his face, staring up at him. “You can tell me.”
His eyes screw shut with anguish. “If I tell you, you have to promise to hear me out. Start to finish.”
“O-okay.”
“This is serious,Bella.Go to jail or get the electric chair kind of serious.”
Oh God, maybe he’s in the mafia. All that talk of taking a break from the family business. I lick my lips, staring at the man before me who’s sunk his teeth into my heart. I see the man he is with me. The one that makes me feel things that I’ve never felt before.
Decision made, I reiterate, “You can tell me, Max.”
His shoulders slump, in relief or with despair, I can’t tell, but nothing prepares me for the words that come out of his mouth. “The CEO, who’s been on the news. I’m the one who kidnapped him. And then I killed him.”
CHAPTER 16
Maximo
By the wayshe’s looking at me, her eyes wide and unsure, I don’t know what to do. Christ, she hasn’t blinked in over a minute, and I’m wondering if she’s about to have a stroke or something. Not only is Rocco going to kill me,I’mgoing to kill me because what the fuck was I thinking. Jesus Christ, I heard her run up the stairs halfway through my conversation with him, and seeing the panic on her face when I came into the room, I knew there was no way out of this.
“Bella.”I reach out to touch her, but she immediately steps back out of my grasp, holding her index finger between us. Silently telling me to stop.
“Shut up.” She breathes, finally blinking. “I…I don’t…” bringing her fingers to her mouth, a flutter of giggles leave her throat. “You’re joking…this is a joke. Yeah, this has to be a joke.” She begins pacing back and forth around the room, and if this were related to anything else, I’d probably be laughing at her. But unfortunately, there isn’t a single thing about this situation that is even remotely funny.
“Julia.”
“You? No way. No, I don’t believe it.” She begins babbling, walking around the room with one hand pressed to her head and the other on her hip. “You’re like this…this really like…you’re a nice guy, Max. You’re sweet and funny. And are you serious?” She looks at me then. “Oh, my fucking god…you’re serious. I need to sit down.”
“Okay, sit, sit on the bed.”
She sits but immediately jumps back up. “No, no, I need to stand. In fact, I need a drink…actually…Max, I think I’m going to throw up.”
“Julia,” I take hold of both her hands. Her eyes train on where they connect with her skin before flicking them back up to meet my eyes. “I need you to breathe, okay. This isn’t good for you. If you can just relax, and we can?—”
“Are you going to kill me? Please don’t kill me.” Her eyes swell with unshed tears. “Max, I swear to God I won’t—fuck! Is that even your real name…this is just too much. I don’t even…”
I lead her to the bed and help her sit down, crouching at her feet. The fact that she’s wearing my shirt doesn’t go amiss, but now isnotthe right time for my cock to get any illusions of grandeur about fucking her again.
“Julia, I’m not going to kill you. That’s not at all why I brought you here. I just…you promised you’d listen to me. If you don’t like what I say, I swear on my father’s memory I will take you right back to your apartment, and you’ll never have to see me again.”
Her beautiful eyes flick back and forth between mine like she’s weighing up the options.
“Promise me?”
“I’ll promise you whatever you need for me to convince you that I wouldneverhurt you. I’m not that kind of man.” I watch her silently stare at me, so I tell her what she wants to hear. “I swear I’m not going to kill you, okay?”
“O-okay.” She presses her lips together in a tight line, shrugging her hands from my grasp and placing them in her lap.
