Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Max shrugged out of his coat and used it to wipe the blood from his face. None of the cuts were deep, but they were bleeding like a bastard.

"Atticus is going to be pissed," he said. "You know he doesn't like bodies left behind."

"I just winged a couple of them in the leg to slow them down. Everyone's still breathing."

Max winced in sympathy, his own leg aching. He rubbed it absentmindedly to loosen the tight muscle. "They'll be looking for us. We've got to ditch the car."

"Already on it," Jade said.

And weren't they being just so polite with each other, Max thought.

She got onto the highway, weaving in and out of light traffic, and finally swerved into the far-right lane to take the exit toward the Galleria. Jade's driving had always made him a little lightheaded, but with the pounding headache on top of it, he was hoping he could keep the contents of his stomach down instead of on the floorboard of the car. The mall parking garage was massive and overflowing, and she followed the road as it spiraled upward until they were almost to the top.

Max pushed his hand against the roof so he wouldn't end up in her lap as she took the corners with a squeal of tires. He jerked against the seat belt with an oomph as she zipped into a small parking space between two large SUVs.

"You're looking a little pale, Max," she said, her grin letting him know how much she'd enjoyed herself. Her eyes sparkled and there was a flush to her cheeks. This was the Jade he knew. The one he'd met so many years ago who loved what she did and had a zest for life.

"You did that on purpose."

"Of course I did. My driving is the only time I ever get to see you with that look of panic on your face."

"Yeah, well you should have seen me a few months ago when Agent Carter's wife came to pick him up at the office to go to a doctor's appointment and her water broke right in the lobby. Atticus and I were in the splash zone."

"You're kidding." Her laugh was like music to his ears, and he couldn't remember when he'd heard it last. "Atticus never said a word."

"Because he was just as traumatized as I was. Carter ended up delivering his son before the EMTs could arrive and get her to the hospital. I could go a lifetime without seeing all of that again."

Jade's smile softened. "Well, it's not every day a man gets to deliver his own child. I'm sure Carter knows how lucky he is."

Max could have kicked himself for bringing it up. She hadn't gotten that opportunity with her own husband and child, and he could tell by looking at her that she was remembering that day as he was. But the look of sadness and desperation was no longer so heavy in her expression, and instead there seemed to be a peace that hadn't been there before.

"I've got an extra weapon and ammo in the glove box. We'll need to call in and have someone retrieve the car. It should be fine here for a couple of days though."

Max opened her glove box and removed the extra weapon and magazines she had there, and Jade popped the trunk. He was pretty conspicuous in a bloody tuxedo, and he waited until she'd gathered all of her things before getting out to join her.

"Which one do you want?" he asked, pointing to the line of cars on the opposite side.

"Get the red sporty one."

"How did I know you'd say that?" he sighed.

"Some things never change."

Jade pulled license plates and an electric screwdriver from her bag and went to work while he pulled his iPhone from his pocket. The team had an app specifically designed to override the computers in modern vehicles. The door locks popped open with a click of a button and he slid inside the new model Corvette.

The push-button ignition wouldn't start without a key fob or at least a key fob simulator. He switched apps on his phone and let it scan the computer inside the vehicle they'd picked. It only took a couple of minutes before the phone made the car think it had the right electronic device to start the car. He put his foot on the brake and punched the start button, and the car roared to life. Jade got in the passenger side and he put the car in reverse.

Adrenaline pumped through his body, and he knew when the crash came it would come hard. It had been a little over three years since he'd come close to death, and it had been the hardest three years of his life. He'd changed—inside and out—and even though he was in better shape than he was before his injuries, he still had to deal with the horrific headaches that made him as weak as a baby.

"How's your head?" Jade asked.

"It's fine." Blood dripped into his eye and he swiped at it with his hand as he maneuvered his way out of the garage and back onto the highway.

"Liar. I'm more than happy to drive."

Max just grunted and pressed his foot down on the accelerator. It hadn't really sunk in that she was here sitting beside him. They'd fallen into their old habits and camaraderie as if they'd never been separated, and he felt as if the part of himself that had been missing was finally in place.

It had been more than a year since he'd seen her. He knew she'd gone to work for Atticus as soon as he'd started up the agency. Atticus had a lot of agents who worked for him, but he and Jade had managed to not be assigned to the same missions. Maybe she'd requested it that way. All he knew was she'd done her best to avoid him, to pretend their friendship and partnership had never existed. She hadn't taken his calls or texts so he could apologize. He knew he'd hurt her that last time they'd been together, but two wrongs didn't make a right.

"What are you doing here, Jade?" he asked, more harshly than he normally would have.

He couldn't help it. It hurt that she'd cut him from her life so easily, so completely. And a day didn't go by where he didn't wish he'd somehow handled the situation differently. He could have taken her that day. Given her what her body had needed even though her mind wasn't there yet.

He heard the soft exhalation of her breath. It didn't matter that it felt like jackhammers were pounding away at his skull. That one breath had whispered across his skin until it was everything he could do not to pull over to the side of the road and take her into his arms. He'd missed her.

"I'm here for a couple of reasons," she said. "A problem with your current mission has come to light, and Atticus needs us to try to contain the situation. I'll fill you in once you do something about that headache."

"I told you I'm fine."

"I thought the doctors said the headaches would go away."

"Forgive me for wondering why the hell you care all of a sudden." Maybe he was angrier than he'd thought.

"I guess I deserve that," she said, looking out her window.

"We were friends, Jade. We are friends. That above all else. Running away was never the answer."

"I owe you an apology."

"The hell you do," he said. "You've never owed me anything. Did you think I couldn't see you were hurting? That you had needs you'd been ignoring?"

"To tell you the truth, I was embarrassed," she said, looking out the window. "I'm still embarrassed. You always seem to be the one to witness my weak moments, and part of me hates that. I don't want you to think I'm not strong enough to handle whatever comes up."

"Baby, you're one of the strongest people I know. It doesn't make you weak to lean on someone every now and then."

"You deserved better than what I did to you, and all I can say is I'm sorry." She tapped her hand anxiously against her knee and kept checking the side mirror to make sure no one was following them. "If it helps, I've missed seeing your face."

"Yeah, it helps," he said, swiping to clear the blood from his eye again.

Max pulled into the underground parking garage next to the high rise where the Dynamis Security offices were located and parked near the elevators. The gold plaque inside the front of the building said that floors nine to eleven belonged to Reliance Financial Group. It was the same company Atticus used in a similar building in his offices in Washington—a legitimate front for what was really going on behind the doors of Dynamis Security.

His leg buckled when he got out of the car, and he bit off an oath as he had to wait for the muscles to stop seizing before he could walk. Jade kept silent and looked around the parking garage to make sure they were alone, but he could tell she was watching him from the corner of her eye to make sure he was okay.

Max wiped his thumb on his trousers to get the blood off before he could press it to the glowing blue plate next to the electronic keypad by the elevators. His thumb was scanned and the elevator doors opened with a soft whoosh. He could feel Jade's eyes on him while he went through the same procedure to go up to their private floors.

"Tell me about the headaches," she said. "I thought they were supposed to go away after a while."

"They have for the most part." His stomach lurched as the elevator went up, and the pain in his head was so intense blurry spots were appearing in front of his eyes. "It's the adrenaline. The headache is just part of the crash. It's why Atticus hasn't sent me on any missions that will take an extensive period of time. He doesn't want me to be incapacitated in a dangerous situation and have to rely on a team member to get me out. They come on strong and hurt like a bastard, but I'm usually fine if I take something before it gets too bad."

The elevator stopped on the floor to the apartments Atticus kept his agents based out of Dallas—just one level above where the offices were located. There were three apartments at the end of the hall that were furnished but unoccupied in case an agent needed a place to crash or someone needed to be hidden before being sent to a safe house.

His apartment was across from the elevator. The door was oak, but it was reinforced with a steel core that would stop bullets or anything else short of a rocket launcher. He typed in his key code and said his name for the benefit of the voice-recognition program. The door snicked open on silent hinges.

"My apartment is similar to this," Jade said as he flipped on the lights. "The one I have in DC."

He watched as she looked around the open space with approval. The walls were painted a soft ivory and the furniture was leather and overstuffed. Colorful rugs were scattered on the hardwood floor. He wasn't much for decorating, so his walls were bare and his shelves empty except for the worn paperbacks he enjoyed. But it was the view of the city that took her breath away. The windows were tinted so they could see out, but those in the building across the way couldn't see in.

"I didn't realize you'd moved," he said.

"The apartment Donovan and I shared was just a place to land between missions. It wasn't really a home. But the memories there were strong, so I took Atticus up on the offer to move into one of the agency apartments. It was a fresh start. It was the right thing to do."

He didn't know what to say, so he stood there and simply watched her as her hand trailed over the back of the couch. She was beautiful. She'd always been beautiful, but she was one of those women whose looks improved with age. What she'd been three years ago was nothing compared to the woman who stood before him.

Black cargo pants fit her like a second skin, emphasizing the length of her legs, and a black T-shirt was tucked into them. She preferred a thigh holster for her weapon because it fit her better, and for some reason every time she strapped it his desire increased. He'd never stopped loving her, and the pain of the hole she'd left in his heart was still as fresh as it had been the day she'd walked out the door.

"Why are you here?" he asked again.

Max moved into the kitchen, hunting through the cabinet for the bottle of pain pills the doctor had given him for his headaches. He poured out two in his hand and then grabbed a soda from the fridge to wash it down. He tossed one to Jade and she caught it one handed.

She shrugged and popped the top on her soda. "I told you. I'm here because those were my orders."

Max couldn't read the expression on her face. Jade had gotten good at that over the years. She'd been trained as a sniper—to have patience in all things and to think through the best possible outcome. She was quiet in nature and often too serious, but he thought that might have to do with her upbringing as an orphan more than anything. And at the moment, she was closed up tight and nothing he could do or say would get her to tell him the truth until she was damned good and ready.

"The whole team is here and Atticus will explain everything all at one time," she said. "We've got a mess on our hands."

Max's brows rose and then he winced as the movement pulled at the cut by his eye. "So it took direct orders for you to finally face me?"

"It just sped up the process." She gave a secret half smile. "I would have gotten here eventually. Now go take your shower and I'll tend to the cuts on your face before everyone shows up."

"At some point, Jade, we're going to have a long conversation. I hope to God you're ready for it."

He stalked toward his bedroom, his body trembling with the fading adrenaline and his head pounding so hard he could barely see. He needed her with a ferocity that he'd never experienced before, and it had only grown stronger and wilder since their time apart. She was going to have to tell him exactly what she wanted, without other agendas or needs clouding the issue, because his control was hanging by a thread.