Chapter 6

Six

LIVIA

“Oh, hey, Max.” It’s like any other Friday, the way my voice rings out so casually. “What are you doing here?”

He had lowered his gun from my head, but raises it again. “Cute. What are you doing here?”

“I thought I’d get my car washed, but this place has terrible customer service. No one’s waited on me for hours.” Slowly, I let my hands fall to my sides. “My arms are getting tired. Do you mind lowering your gun?” Blinking my lashes heavily, I lift a corner of my lips.

I can’t see him with the flashlight boring in my face, but the silhouette of his body stiffens behind his weapon. “Yeah, I do mind. What the fuck are you doing here? I’ll give you one more chance to answer before I⁠—”

“Before you what? Shoot me?” There’s no way my lion will kill me. My finger tingles with the feel of the metal charm I rubbed just before I emerged from behind the door.

He sighs. “Livia. Please don’t make me.”

“I was looking for the armory.” May as well tell him. “And since you’re here, I’m assuming I was right. One is here.”

As he lowers his gun and flashlight, my eyes quickly adjust to the darkness, but spots flare wherever I look behind my lids. His face holds a worried expression, like he has lived days in just a moment.

Max opens his mouth, but before he can speak, I interrupt. “What’s wrong?”

A muffled moan wafts down the narrow hallway coming from the office area. Our eyebrows raise at each other, and we hurry to the sound. One of his men has crumpled on a bench with a dark stain seeping through his white T-shirt near his right shoulder.

“Fuck,” I say, taking him in.

“Fuck! Livia Von Dovish?” The man tries to sit up but doesn’t have the strength, but he reaches for his gun.

“Oh, you’re not going to do a damn thing. Just lay back down, champ.”

Max’s forehead crinkles as he squats next to his tank, helping him pull off his shirt as I grab my new phone. “Marianna, I need you. I’ll ping my location.”

“What the fuck are you doing?” Max stands and strides toward me in two steps, reaching for my phone, but I hold it behind my back.

“I’m saving your friend here.”

His nostrils flare as he walks my body back until I hit the wall with a thud. Max doesn’t stop moving and thrusts his palms on either side of my head, one still clutching his gun. “Give me your fucking phone.” The growl of his voice causes my nipples to harden.

Slipping it into my back pocket, I jut out my bottom lip. “No.” I try not to look into his eyes, but his head leans in until there’s barely room to breathe without inhaling him. The smell of his sweat fills my nose, and my thighs clench together.

“Livy… Little fox…” He warns me with his deep bass crackling next to my ear. His head lowers, his lips hovering close to mine almost involuntarily. I turn my face, and his eyes widen as if no one has ever pulled away from him. Smoothly, he recovers by dipping his nose to meet my exposed neck. He slowly sniffs up the course of my artery, the tiny inhales tickling my skin. My pulse pounds until I’m worried he’ll see it. The warmth of his lips taps on the corner of my jaw before he sucks with barely enough pressure to lift my skin between them. He straightens up to gaze into my eyes.

My hands move to his hips to push him back or pull him closer. I’m not sure which. I decide to push, but realize he has already pocketed my phone in his lowered arm. Flashing it in his hand, he smirks. He spins toward his friend, dropping to a squat beside him, putting pressure on the wound.

“Fucker. That’s mine.” Shoving off the wall, my body buzzes from the spell he just put on me.

“You’ll get it back once we’re safe.” Glancing at it once more, he slides it into his pocket. “You got a tracer on it?”

“Yes. You know I would. Not that it matters. My spies know where I am and why I’m here. What they don’t know is that you are here with me.” I shake my head. “Stop, you’re doing that wrong.” I slap his hand out of the way, grab the T-shirt from his friend, and put pressure on his wound the proper way. “Take off your shirt and put it under his head. Poor guy is dying here and you’re making him lay on a metal bench.”

“I’m not dying.”

“He’s not dying.”

They say it at the same time. But Max obeys. Standing, he grabs the back of his black T-shirt and pulls it over his head, exposing those pecs that make my pussy water. Damn, he’s even got those V muscles on the sides of his cut abs. The black bear tattoo on his chest makes me look away before he sees me blush. “Who did you call?” he asks.

“Just my healer. She’s quick.” He grimaces and quirks one eyebrow. “And quiet,” I assure him. “Look, lion, your healer is probably some newbie who studied under mine anyway. They don’t take part in these games we play.”

“I’ll try to find you something to drink,” Max says to his invalid.

“What’s your name, sport?” I ask the wounded man.

He snorts. “Derichs.” He glances to where Max walked off to. “Taking your opportunity to finish me off?”

“No. I’m trying to keep you alive.”

“Why?”

“Because you two have information I want. And once I save your ass, you’re going to give it to me.”

The corners of his eyes lift as he attempts a smile. “It’s not my information to give. May as well kill me.”

“You’re loyal.”

“Yes, I am. Not like you foxes.”

My lips pinch at the insult, but he’s got a point. My father is a piece of shit. Pretty sure every man in my lineage has lied, cheated, or stolen. Especially on their wives. Everyone, with Cal being the exception, but he’s still got time.

“Touché,” I say.

“Is this her?” Max comes barreling back into the waiting room, pointing at a gleam of light illuminating the back of the store through the bathroom window.

“I’ll go check. Hold him.” I let Max take over as I shimmy out into the car wash area.

A familiar Volkswagen pulls up and parks as the headlights click off. “Mari, this way!” The shadow of her large head and helmet of blonde hair turns toward me.

“Liv, what’s wrong?” Her voice holds no panic. She’s been doing this work for us for too many years to let anything rattle her.

“Man’s been shot. Inside here.”

She shoulders past me into the office, carrying her black leather physician’s bag. Kneeling next to Derichs, she gets right to work. With a nod, she orders Max, “Help me lay him on that counter there.” The two settle the man on the old sales surface, the open cash register shoved aside. An inappropriate giggle almost escapes me, thinking about him paying with his life.

“Livy, quit being useless and hold this flashlight,” Mari commands.

I hurry to her and do as she instructs. While she cleans the tank and drapes him for surgery, I eye Max above the light. His handsome face contorts in concentration and worry for his man. Just like when Cal broke his leg falling from the tree house when we were little.

Mari gives Derichs some pills to take the edge off the pain and tells Max to pin him down while I hold the light. The tank is like stone. Despite her cutting into his flesh (which she has numbed), and then digging through tendons and muscle with tweezers, he grits his teeth and doesn’t move. Max’s hands press on his arms to ensure he doesn’t. When she finds the fragment of the bullet and digs it out, it plinks when she drops it into a metal tray resting on his belly.

Derichs’s head falls back in relaxation while she sutures him up.

“You did well, soldier,” she says as she gives him a couple more pills to take later and gathers her equipment. I clean up the area, and Max helps Derichs to a seated position.

“Mari, thanks,” I say before she reaches the door.

“What do I owe you?” Max asks her.

“Nothing. Just doing my duty. Make sure he drinks lots of water.” She heads out the door.

Derichs clears his throat. The wistful smile on his face lets me know he’s high as a fucking kite. His pupils are the size of pinheads. “Livia… despite being a fox, you came through. Thank you.”

“Sure, bud. You wanna tell me where the armories are now?”

A hoarse chuckle leaves his chest, and Max rolls his eyes.

“I thought I would try while he’s in the clouds.” Meeting my lion’s gaze, I ask, “Can I talk to you before you go?” My finger points Max in the direction of the back hallway toward the bathrooms.

Max lifts his eyebrows at Derichs, who nods in response. “Let me just put him in the car first.”

Once he helps his hobbling friend get situated, he returns. Mindlessly, I rub my pocket charm three times and butterflies flap their wings like a strong breeze swooped by as he walks into the room. “Max, I need to know where the weapons are.” His face sets like flint. “And you need to get business licenses.”

“Yes?”

Taking a step toward him, I lift my lips into a small grin. “I can help you secure a meeting with Strauss for your licenses. He meets with me or Cal when we’ve needed them. And if you’ve pissed him off like you said… it would be safer to take me with you. I don’t think he’d do anything with me there.”

He gazes down at me with some heat in his eyes. “And what if he still says no? I just killed a few of his men tonight.”

Moving another step closer, I stand just underneath his chin, tilting my face to his. “I can be persuasive.”

His face leans into mine. “And what do you want?”

“Weapons.”

Max considers for a moment. With a hint of reverence, he says, “Little fox.” The side of his mouth curls upwards as he raises an eyebrow. “You want some of my guns?” Biting my lip, I nod. “Fully loaded? ’Cause you know I won’t be halfcocked around you.”

I inhale sharply, not able to monitor my chest rise. “Yes,” I whisper.

Noticing his lips are only a breath away, I back away. His mouth huffs a humorless laugh onto mine. Too quickly, his arms wrap around me, and I instinctively clutch his thick biceps, but he’s slid my phone into my back pocket and stepped back from me before I can blink.

“I hate to break it to you, Livia, but the armories are all empty.”

My jaw drops. “Wh-what? Are you lying to me, lion?”

“No. We scavenged what was left and hoarded them for our team. I don’t just need business licenses. I need to get our weapons, our other armories back.”

“That means war.”

“Not if I kill Strauss and his men.”

The tail of my hair tickles my neck as I toss my head back with laughter. “Max, you can’t do that alone. You haven’t been here. You don’t know how things work.”

He crosses his arms. “I asked you to teach me.”

Placing my hands on my hips, I even out my stance. “What’s your plan? Did you even have one?”

“Go in there and fuck shit up.”

I roll my eyes. “Like the fucking bear you are. You’ve hibernated all these years and now you’re hungry and not thinking straight.” He needs weapons. We need weapons. Strauss could pick us all off one by one if he has them all.

Holy shit. It dawns on me… Maybe our parents were right. Ugh! I hate that. My despicable father may have done something good. I can’t think about that now; it makes my head fuzzy. Or maybe Max is making me confused. I need to focus.

Max glances over his shoulder to check on Derichs sitting in the car before leaning his back against the door. “Tell me your plan, foxy.”

Inhaling deeply, I formulate one as I speak. “Well, you need your business licenses. I’ll still get you the meeting and go with.”

“And I’ll demand he give me back my rightful properties.”

Shaking my head at him, I say, “Max, he won’t respond to that, and you know it.” He closes his mouth and waits. “If he won’t give them back, I’ve heard of a few contacts from Ace’s people that may be able to get us the weapons we need to start up a trade again.”

“We? Your family has been sitting behind keyboards for years doing fuck all. Mine was helping the community by running the guns for protection.”

“The community? No, you guys hoarded them just like Strauss is doing.”

“No, we didn’t. We gave them out⁠—”

“For the right price.”

Freezing, he stays silent, because he knows I’m right. Eventually, he gives in and speaks. “So, what are you saying?”

“I’m saying we work together. I’ll help you get your licenses, some gun contacts from outside the city… and you give me a third of the ones you run.”

Spit flies from his mouth as he snaps out, “A fucking third?”

“I’m being generous. I should ask for fifty percent.”

One of his dark eyes narrows at me. “You’re ridiculous. Von Dovish, through and through.”

“Don’t fucking say that.” I go to shove him out of the way, but he grabs my wrists, his touch smoldering my skin. If he feels any more of me, I’ll ignite into flames.

“I’m a big boy now. You can’t kick my shins in anymore, little fox. I’m a lion, remember?”

I swallow. “I changed my mind. I don’t want to work with you.”

Lowering my arms, but still holding my wrists, he leans forward as if to match his lips to mine. I draw back a boot, then wail on his leg. “Fucking hell, Livia!” He drops his grasp on me and bends forward to soothe his bones as I rush out the door and sneak off into the night without being seen.