Page 6 of Every Sunset
“It’s great. Way better than our last place.”
“If there’s anything you need changed or brought in, just let me know, okay? I want you and your mom to be comfortable there.”
“Thanks,” he said with a nod. He slammed closed the trunk and threw a sports bag over his shoulder, another already held in his right hand. He stood tall as he approached me, even though he was clearly unsure, and I respected him for that. “You need help pushing our car out of the way of the gates?” he offered.
“Yeah, actually. I was gonna ask my brother but he’s…busy. I just want to get it onto the driveway,” I explained.
“I think I saw your brother storming into the house looking pretty pissed,” Max told me as he studied me for my response.
“You don’t need to worry about Maddox. He can be an asshole, but he’d never hurt you or your mom. He used to be a cop until an injury forced him to retire,” I explained, knowing I needed to say something. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind Max and Anna would know Madd was a complete asshole the second they met him anyway. “No one here will hurt either of you.”
“Why would you feel the need to tell me that?”Max asked defensively. He dropped his bags on the sidewalk and crossed his arms over his chest.
“It’s pretty obvious someone hurt your mom, or you, or both of you. You were both pretty nervous around me. You still are,” I pointed out.
“I can protect my mom just fine, thanks!”
“I don’t doubt that, kid. I just wanted you to know that you’re safe here. You don’t have to be afraid of me or Maddox. We might be a little rough around the edges, especially Madd, but you can trust us.”
“My mom always says trust has to be earned,” Max told me, and I nodded my agreement.
“She’s right, and I’ll earn that trust, bud. Just give me a chance, yeah?”
“We’ll see,” he replied as he turned to the car. “We should get this moved, right?”
“Right,” I agreed.
“You want me to push and steer while you do the heavy lifting,Hulk?”
“Hulk?” I laughed. “Not very original.”
“I’ll work on it,” Max told me with the hint of a smirk on his face.
I became more believing of the kid’s statement that he could protect his mom as he helped me push their car onto the driveway of our place. He was stronger than I expected him to be. He told me he also used to play basketball for the school team and was part of the local youth boxing gym in his old neighborhood. It explained how in shape he seemed to be, but he also seemed really smart for a teenager too. Intuitive and quick on the uptake. I liked him and respected the shit out of Anna for the great kid she’d raised.
“You sure you want to leave it here? It kinda ruins the millionaire image you had going on?” Max asked playfully as we left the car outside the double garages.
“Madd will move it into the garage when he starts working on it, but it’s fine there for now. I think my image can withstand it,” I chuckled.
“Okay. I should get back to my mom,” he said as he picked up the two bags he’d recovered from the car once again.
“Is she alright? I can call the local doctor in if she has any injuries or anything?” I offered.
“She’s just beat from the drive. I’ll take care of her. Thanks though,” Max assured me, and with those words he turned his back and started jogging back towards the guest house. I was desperate to follow him and push him harder for information, but I was pretty sure he wouldn’t tell me a damned thing right then. He told me himself he didn’t trust me, and why should he? He didn’t know me yet, but he would, and he would come to trustme. Hopefully, they both would. If Maddox didn’t fuck it all up and send them both running.
CHAPTER 4
ANNA
I growled under my breath as I threw back my comforter, sat up at the edge of my new bed, and looked around me. The room I sat in was spacious and modern. The huge bed sat in the centre against the back wall, with large modern nightstands either side. Both bedrooms had walk in closets that were almost as big as our bedrooms in our old apartment, and there were two bathrooms, so we could have one each. My bathroom adjoined to my room, and inside of it was a huge clawfoot tub, that I could only have dreamt of in my regular life. There was also a large walk in shower, and the entire room was decked out in beautiful marble tiles. The whole place was luxury that I was very unaccustomed to, but I was definitely willing to try getting used to it.
We had been living there for two days so far, and things had been quiet. I hadn’t seen Logan again, nor met his brother Maddox, who it turned out was an ex cop. That had terrified Max and he’d run into the house yelling at me about it the moment Logan told him. I had to admit it worried me too, but he was an ex-cop, not a current cop, and even if he were, we were a long way away from our past. I had calmed Max down by reassuring him of that, but it was just another worry to add to the growing mountain inside of my head, all of which seemed to stop me from sleeping.
I had been working my ass off to try and act normal and happy for my son for the last two days. We’d unpacked all of our stuff and made the new place home. It helped that Max was so excited by his new home, and he’d spent several hours each morning and evening making use of the swimming pool in the big house.
But It had been tough to hide the mess inside of my head from him. I was struggling to deal with the terrifying memories that stemmed from that fateful night, and the guilt I felt for failing Max as epically as I knew I had. I was worrying about finding funds to keep paying the rent and to feed us beyond the amount I had in my savings account. I was fretting about this cop – Maddox – and about us living on the grounds of a home owned by these two strange men I knew absolutely nothing about. The big house was remote, set a few miles outside of the closest small town, and our cottage at the back of the property was even more so. If they hurt us, or killed us, no one would ever even know.
I stood and pulled on a sweater over the tiny shorts and tee pajama set I was wearing. I slipped my feet into a pair of flip flops and gathered my wild hair into a messy bun. I planned to spend the rest of my restless night as I had spent the night before, and I knew it would be windy and cool.
