Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

Almost a week passed with nothing more to do than wait, talk, and make love. And Max wasn't afraid to admit a certain amount of frustration where Jade was concerned. At one point during their lovemaking he knew he'd heard her tell him she loved him. That's not something he'd have imagined. But she acted as if she'd never uttered the words, and any attempts to bring it up or talk about possibilities for their future were met with a change of subject or her distracting him with sex.

It was almost as if she didn't believe him when he tried to tell her he loved her and wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. And he knew she was keeping something from him, something that made her afraid of taking the next step, but damned if he could figure out what it was.

The sun was an orange ball of flame high in the sky and temperatures had reached well over a hundred degrees that day. They'd fallen into easy companionship and regular habits through the week—going for a run just before dawn, followed by showers then breakfast. Jade had set up small targets and they'd gotten into a friendly, if very spirited, shooting competition. It stung his pride a little to know she was ahead in points.

Their afternoons had consisted of long, lazy swims and their lovemaking had gotten so creative he was considering taking out extra health insurance. She was a generous and attentive lover, and she was willing to try anything he demanded of her. As long as he didn't try to push the emotional aspect. He almost laughed. He never would have thought he'd be in the position where he was the one who wanted more. He was living every man's fantasy—a dream woman in his bed and no strings attached. Except it was every man's fantasy but his.

"Any word from Atticus?" she asked, stretching lazily on the pool lounger.

"Mmm," he said, appreciating the view as she sunned in nothing but her skin. "Atticus said he's starting to hear rumblings from Vassin's camp. They've been digging deep into both of our files, trying to find something that isn't there. He also said Vassin is putting feelers out, trying to find out how to locate me. This property isn't listed with my other holdings, but it's not impossible to trace. I wanted him to have to work to find me."

"You've never said how your family feels about what you do."

He snorted out a laugh. "I was never their favorite person to begin with. I've always been a bit of a disappointment to them."

Max rubbed the back of his neck, trying to relieve the sudden tension there. He didn't like to talk about his family. His parents weren't the warmest people in the world, and the wound was still deep from the loss of his grandfather in a plane crash. His grandfather was the only person with the Devlin name who knew how to give love and affection.

"I was Grandfather's favorite," he said. "Especially after I joined the Marines. It gave him a better standing with his constituents to have a grandson in active combat. He also thought it would be good for my record when I was discharged and decided to take my place in politics."

She lifted her head and a smile quirked at the corner of her mouth. "I must have missed that phase of your life."

"Yeah, I missed it too." He felt the tension he carried whenever he talked about his family lighten and was able to laugh a little. "Politics has never been in my purview, but I might have leaned in that direction if Grandad hadn't died. My father decided it was up to him to become the patriarch of the family and tell everyone what to do, so I rebelled at the thought of being forced into that life. My family is very persuasive and they can make things difficult.

"So I took up MMA training while I was overseas to scandalize them, and it became addictive. You can imagine my father's surprise when I signed up to fight in the ring for prize money instead of answering the family summons so I could be announced as the candidate for state representative. He'd planned a big party so he could introduce me to all of his campaign contributors."

"I'm guessing the party was missing something?"

"Yeah," he said. "It was missing me. That's about the same time the I met the Director of the CIA, Robert Lockwood. He said he recognized some things in me that he was looking for to create a specialized team that wouldn't answer to anyone but him. I never looked back after that."

He'd made a lot of detours in his life, searching for something to give him purpose and support as his family never had. Serving his country had given him that purpose, and he was grateful for it.

"Like you, I often wonder if I'd have taken a different path if my grandfather had lived," he said. "It's hard for me to remember him other than what I see from pictures. I remember his laugh and the way he always smelled like peppermint and aftershave. I remember he loved me and reminded me how important it was to bring honor to the Devlin name. To always remember where I came from and be grateful to those before me who'd made sure we never had to worry about where we'd get our next meal."

"He'd be proud of your service," she said. "You've more than brought honor to the Devlin name."

"Not according to my parents. They sent flowers when I was shot, and my father tried to get power of attorney over all my holdings and my trust, using the argument that I'd never be of sound mind again. He's still trying to get control last time I talked to my attorneys."

Jade raised her brows. "On what grounds?"

"Of consorting with nefarious criminals, squandering Devlin money, and blackening the family name. In their eyes, there's nothing in what I've become to be proud of. And I have to let them continue to think that way."

She propped herself up on crossed arms and looked angry on his behalf. That was enough to wash away his own anger at the people he shared blood with. He'd come to realize they didn't have the ability to love or nurture as they should have, and it wasn't worth wasting the time or effort on them any longer, though that didn't make the hurt go away.

"To show you what a good friend I am," she said, grinning, "The next time you're invited home for dinner, I'm going to let you take me as your date. We'll see what your father has to say about that."

"I'd take you anywhere and be proud of it," he said seriously, watching as the laughter faded from her eyes. "The deficiency is in them, not either of us. Just like it was with your mother's family. Two lost souls." His hand reached out and squeezed hers. "And we turned out just fine."

A high-pitched alarm sounded on his phone and Jade rolled away from him and grabbed the pistol she'd put under the chair. He grabbed his own weapon and the phone and they ran back into the house.

"Someone's on the main road to the house," he said. He pulled on a pair of jeans and a white shirt and then shoved his feet into his boots. Jade did the same thing and then pulled the black bag she'd stashed from under the bed. Max flipped on the flat-screen TV and watched as the surveillance cameras gave faces to their visitors. The road leading to the house made them have to slow down enough that the cameras could see inside the car.

"It's not Vassin," Jade remarked, loading a magazine in her weapon and then putting it at the small of her back. "But there are only two. How do you want to handle it?"

Max picked up his own weapon and then he picked up the familiar thumping sound in the distance.

"Hell," he said.

"They've got a chopper. That could be bad." Nothing much ever fazed Jade. That's why he'd always liked working with her.

Max hit the security panic button and metal shutters closed over all the windows. Damned if he wanted to have to replace a bunch of broken windows if they came out of this alive.

"They'll try to take me," he said. "Vassin wants the information too bad. And these men aren't likely to see you as a threat. Let's let them keep believing that."

"ETA two minutes," she said. "Don't get me wrong. I've enjoyed the week of leisure. But there's something nice about the weight of a rifle on your back."

"Have I told you I'm crazy about you?"

"That's not what you said the time we got stuck during a hurricane and went three days without electricity."

"That's because I was stuck in close quarters with you and I had to pretend we were just friends. I was going mad."

She winked at him and then chambered a bullet in her weapon, taking her place just to the side of one of the thick cedar posts on the porch.

Max took a seat on the front steps and propped his arms on his knees in a casual pose so no one would get too jumpy, and he watched as a cloud of dust plumed from the bottom of his driveway. A sleek black sedan shot out of the tunnel and sped toward them even as the whoomp, whoomp, whoomp from the chopper became louder and the blades kicked up red dust and dead grass.

The helicopter was bullet shaped and black, and it touched down in the wide expanse of his lawn just as the car pulled to a stop. Max slowly got to his feet and walked out to meet the new arrivals halfway. He kept his hands loose at his sides as two men got out of the car.

Dressed in worn jeans and T-shirts, they could have been any average Joe walking down the street. Except for the fact that they looked like thugs. Slicked-back hair and big, meaty hands that would do serious damage if they made contact. One of them had a ragged scar on the side of his eye and the other had a tattoo of a snake wrapped around his neck.

Both of them were armed. Max counted at least three weapons hidden under their clothes. These guys were the muscle—probably hired out locally and too dumb to do any research other than what Vassin spoon-fed them.

It was the two men coming from the helicopter that would have to be watched. They were dressed in black cargos and T-shirts, reflective black sunglasses covering their eyes and their guns visible in the shoulder holsters they wore. They moved with an easy balance that only someone who'd been trained could carry off. They looked ex-military or government, and that just pissed him off.

"You Max Devlin?" one of the thugs from the car asked.

Max ignored him and watched as the two from the helicopter moved in closer. They'd all positioned themselves neatly around him so he stood in the center of their little circle.

"Hey, I'm talking to you," the same guy said.

He could have sworn he saw one of Vassin's personal men grin when he continued not to respond to the overgrown bully. Max kept his gaze on the two in the sunglasses, knowing where the real threat was.

"Martin Vassin requests your presence, Mr. Devlin," Sunglasses #1 said.

"I don't know a Martin Vassin. And I don't have time in my schedule at the moment. You can contact my personal secretary if he's looking for a donation. As you can see, I'm on vacation."

He moved slightly back and to the side, repositioning his body so Sunglasses #2 wasn't at his back, and he nodded to Jade up on the porch. She looked sexy as hell leaning against the porch railing, and the two thugs couldn't seem to take their eyes off her. The two in the sunglasses barely spared her a glance, dismissing her as nonthreatening. Their first mistake.

"I'm afraid we're going to have to insist," Sunglasses #2 said. "You've put out the word that you have something for sale. We'd like to buy."

"Like I said, I don't know Martin Vassin. I'm picky about my customers and I have a reputation, which you'd know if you bothered to look into my background. Now if you'll excuse me, gentlemen. This is private property."

The guy with the snake tattoo reached out and grabbed his arm and Max gave him a chilling look that had him dropping it in a hurry, though he tried to bluster his way through by taking another step closer.

"You don't want to touch me again," Max said. "It makes my bodyguard unhappy."

"I don't see no bodyguard," Tattoo said. "Just your whore and you, pretty boy."

"What Mr. Evans means," Sunglasses #1 broke in smoothly, "is that Mr. Vassin has given you the option of coming with us the easy or the hard way."

"No," Max said.

No one moved as they waited for him to say something more. But there was nothing else to say. He'd made his position clear.

Tattoo snorted out a laugh. "You can't just say no. He just said you could come the easy or the hard way."

"Yes, Mr. Evans, I can hear. My answer is still no."

A red flush worked its way up Tattoo's face, either in embarrassment or anger; Max didn't know, but probably a little of both. He was the weak link, the one whose anger would get out of control and make him do something stupid.

They all spread out a little around him, widening the circle, and Max smiled, recognizing the brawler in each of them.

"You've messed up, Devlin," Tattoo said, cracking his knuckles. "Looks like you're going to get the hard way. And maybe when we're done with you, Jimmy and I will show your whore what a real man feels like. Maybe we'll let you watch so you can pick up some pointers."

"That's the second time you've insulted my woman," Max said. "You're going to pay for that. And if you do it again, I'll kill you."

"How you plan on doin' that?" the one called Jimmy asked. "It's four against one."

"Well, Jimmy—" Max paused and raised a brow. "You don't mind if I call you Jimmy, do you?" The tension rose higher than the heat and they began to shift, waiting for the opportunity to strike. "The first thing I'm going to do is take out Mr. Evans. I'm going to kick in his knee and then deliver a second kick to the stomach, while using him as a shield so I can take out Sunglasses over here." Max pointed at the man in question. "I'll probably break his arm, but I haven't quite decided yet. I like to keep my options open."

No one moved a muscle as he continued on. "And then I'm going to get to you, Jimmy. You'll want to put some ice on the headache you're going to have. And then that'll leave Sunglasses number two. If he's smart he won't try to throw a punch and I'll let him deliver my message back to Martin Vassin without any damaged body parts."

"You're crazy, is what I think," Jimmy said.

"I've been called worse," Max said. And then he put his words into action. His foot struck out and hit Tattoo's knee, bones and cartilage crunching with a sickening sound, and his high-pitched scream was cut off by the second kick in the stomach.

Max caught him on the way down and used the momentum to push him into Sunglasses #1, throwing him off balance so Max could grab the other man's arm and twist. He felt the shoulder slip out of socket and then he kneed him in the kidney and tossed Tattoo and Sunglasses in a heap on the ground together.

His blood pumped and his muscles sang as he dodged a blow from Jimmy's meaty fist, and the sting in Max's knuckles was sweet satisfaction as he gave Jimmy a quick jab in the stomach followed by an uppercut to the jaw.

The sound of a gunshot had everyone looking up to the porch in surprise. Jade stood much like she had been before, completely relaxed against the thick post, only this time her gun was pointed in their direction, obviously having just been fired.

"No one said knives were allowed in this fight," she said.

Max gave Jimmy another shot to the jaw, taking him down for the count, before he turned his attention to the last man standing. The man's hand was covered in blood and he held his wrist tight where the bullet had gone through. She'd made a hell of a shot—a small target that had been in motion—but he knew she'd hit exactly what she'd aimed for.

A Ka-Bar lay in the dirt at his feet, and Max looked down at his arm, where a long slash oozed blood down his tricep. He hadn't felt the sting with his adrenaline pumping so high, but he was sure he'd feel it soon. At least it wouldn't need stitches.

"I guess you don't get to go back to Mr. Vassin unharmed after all," Max said coolly. Groans came from the men who littered the ground as two of them tried to make their way back to standing positions. Jimmy still lay unconscious. He'd probably be that way for a while.

"Tell Mr. Vassin I expect him to get in touch soon. I won't make deals unless I meet face-to-face. And you can tell him my price has doubled." Max headed back up the porch stairs while Jade kept her weapon trained on the men. "Now get off my lawn."

The two who'd arrived in the helicopter limped their way back and took off for destinations unknown. It took Tattoo a little longer to disappear because he had trouble getting Jimmy into the car with his knee not working properly, but he eventually managed it.

Max didn't slump over and grab his head until they were both out of sight. It never paid for the enemy to see your weakness.

"Come on, tough guy," Jade said, tugging his arm so it wrapped around her shoulder. "Let's get you a couple of those magic pain pills."

"I guess I should thank you for saving me." His words slurred through the debilitating pain.

"It's just another day at the office," she said. "Besides, I've gotten pretty fond of you."