Page 24 of Max

"Can I go visit them? "I asked.

"Why would you want to do that?"

"I need to apologize for what happened to them," I said.

"Do not take on the actions of Nico Barone," he ordered. "You are not in the wrong here. If anything, you are his victim."

It wasn't my intention to do that, but they were held hostage in my building, and I didn't even know it. Let alone try and find a way to rescue them. But Max was right. I didn't do this.

I didn't go out in the middle of the night and snatched five women off the streets and ended up selling them. If that were how one would do it. I had no idea. But I knew deep down I needed to do something. They had to know they were not alone.

"I won't, and I'm not. But I want to do something else too."

"What do you want?" he asked, the anger still lingering, but there was something else on his face. Something that looked a lot like a surprise.

"I need to see for myself that they're all right. I need to see if I can help them in any way."

As I talked, his face changed, going gentle. Until finally, when the last word left my mouth, he was giving me such a look, I had to close my eyes so I could burn in it into my memory and be able to call it up day or night. It was the most beautiful thing I ever saw in my life. While I was doing precisely that, he moved his hands until my forehead hit his mouth.

"Yeah, Bean, I can take you to see them."

"Bean, I have to tell you something," regret was dripping from every syllable he said.

I couldn't figure out what he had to be sorry for. He has done everything he could to help me.

He was there whenever I needed him. Nico and his men were behind bars, and I was safe.

He did that.

Max made it safe for me.

I didn’t know how, but I’m sure he was the one doing it. Before I met him, nothing happened. I didn’t even know what kind of person Nico was. And after I met Max, it all blew up, and Nico went away. I was safe to live my life as I saw fit.

"Although the raid was successful-" he stopped.

"Just say it, Max," I urged him.

Fear was starting to grip my insides. Something was wrong. Something was very wrong.

"Nico Barone was not arrested," I pushed out the words.

“I need to go,” I shot up to my feet, dislodging his face.

“You’re not going anywhere,” he exploded. “I will not let him fuck up your life even more than he has.”

The vow hit me in the center of my chest, right behind the ribs.

“You can’t promise me that,” I wailed.

I wanted to believe him

I really did.

But any time I started to hope that all would be over, that I could carry on, the world around me collapsed.

“I can, and I am.”

“You can’t,” I repeated. “Besides, I can’t put you in danger any more than I already did. Can't you see? I will never be free of him.”