Page 15 of Concerto of Crows and Cowards

“And who gets the privilege of standing in the line of fire for me?” Max asked.

“That would be me,” Jade said, her lips quirking in a smile. “I am the best shot after all.”

“You know, if that wasn’t completely true, I’d resent that statement,” Nate said.

“I think your ego can take it, big boy,” she said.

Nate nodded soberly. “Eden says my ego is very—healthy.”

Everyone at the table broke into laughter. Except for Max. He was motionless in his chair, his eyes drilling holes into the side of her head. She’d seen the way his gaze shuttered at the mention of her going in as his bodyguard, and she tried not to let it bother her. But—it did. She was tired of the men in her life trying to stand in front of her all the time. They’d been partners before and he’d never had a problem relying on her. But things had become personal and now there was an issue.

“Max, you and Jade will head down to your ranch tonight,” Atticus said. “It won’t be long before Vassin gets in contact with you. The rest of us are going to stay here for the time being and keep going through Senator Henry’s passcoded files to see if we can find anything else that could lead us to where his daughter is being kept.”

Atticus scooted back his chair and stood, tossing his beer bottle in the recycler before heading toward the door. The others all followed suit, and Jade went with them to the door while Max leaned back in the chair on two legs and watched them all.

“Take what you need out of the weapons room with you,” Atticus said. “And take the black Explorer in the garage. We’ll dispose of the one you lifted earlier. Both of you stay on your guard. Vassin likes to play dirty.”

Jade closed the door behind them and turned to face Max, her arms crossing over her chest. “I can tell you right now you’re not going to say one word about my assignment,” she said. “I saw the look on your face the minute it left Atticus’s mouth. This is my job. And I may sleep with you, but that doesn’t give you the right to act like a Neanderthal and make me stand two steps behind you. I mean it, Max. The minute you try to stand in front of me, I walk. Period.”

Max’s lips thinned in a straight line and he stalked toward her until he stood so close they were almost touching. His arms came up on each side of her shoulders and trapped her against the door. She narrowed her eyes in warning.

“Stop threatening to walk out on me. I know better than anyone how capable you are on the job. But that doesn’t mean I can help the natural instincts to try and protect you. I’m a man. I think the Neanderthal is in our genes.”

“Some more than others,” she said sweetly. “Do you trust me to have your back?”

“Always,” he said, with no hesitation. “But that doesn’t mean I have to like it. Especially since you are going to be sleeping with me. There are certain allowances that have to be made for people you’re intimate with.”

“Clearly you’ve been reading Emily Post again.”

“Don’t be a wiseacre.” He leaned down and gave her a hard kiss, and Jade couldn’t help but twine her arms around his neck and kiss him back with everything she had. When he broke away they were both breathing hard and she wondered how soon they had to leave for Max’s ranch.

“We’d better not chance it,” he whispered, reading her mind. “Atticus will be down here pounding on the door if we’re not out of here in the next five minutes.”

She laughed, knowing he was right. She felt good. Free. And she realized it had been a long time since it hadn’t felt like something was strangling her from the inside. She wasn’t weak. And she didn’t need to be coddled. Donovan would always have a special place in her heart. He was her first love and the man she hadn’t gotten to spend nearly enough time with. The memories would always be there. But time had softened the grief—whether she’d wanted it to or not.

She realized Donovan would’ve been happy she’d chosen Max. They’d been close as brothers. The last of the guilt that had been wrapped around her heart broke free and a peace settled over her she couldn’t explain—as if Donovan were laying a hand on her shoulder and telling her it was okay.

Jade turned away from Max and headed to the door so he wouldn’t see the tears in her eyes. She could no longer feel Donovan imprinted on every part of her life. He was no longer her first thought when she woke in the mornings or her last when she went to bed at night. Moving on had happened whether she’d wanted it to or not.

Chapter Five

It was past dawn by the time they got close to Max’s ranch, just north of San Antonio in the hill country. The sun was already a bright orange ball rising over the hills in the distance, burning off the thin layer of fog that had settled low across the ground.

The grass along the narrow two-lane road was brown and dead, and the cedar trees were sparse and so dry Jade hoped no one lit a match anywhere in the vicinity. The whole state was liable to go up in flames.

There was a rugged beauty about the whole area—the rolling hills and miles of pastureland—and she could see why Max had been drawn to the area. It was a far cry from his DuPont Circle brownstone in DC. That posh area of wealth and prestige had belonged to the old Max—the Max who had been more carefree and laughed more easily before his injury—the Max who wore his wealth and privilege like an old cloak.

Jade looked at the man sleeping in the passenger seat, taking in the longer length of his hair and the growth of beard on his cheeks. He overwhelmed the space beside her, and even in sleep, he looked a little bit dangerous—a little bit rough around the edges. Max might have come from privilege, but you couldn’t buy your way into the service he’d done for the country. The kind of service that required skills that required training designed to make even the strongest man break down and quit.

He’d worked his way up the ranks the hard way and paid the consequences with a bullet to the head. It was a good thing his head was so hard. Not many men could live to tell the tale of an injury like that. But it had come at a price. There was an edge of danger to him now that hadn’t been there before. Gone was the lightness and carefree attitude of the man who’d tried his best to live up to the playboy reputation the tabloids had given him. And she was struggling with the feelings that came from the changes in him. The darkness and danger were very attractive.

She slowed the Explorer as they came to a steep turn and then navigated across a slatted wooden bridge that ran over a creek that was more mud than water.

“We’re almost there,” Max said, eyes still closed.

“I thought you were asleep.”

“I woke up when you started muttering to yourself about the cows blocking the road. You’ll get used to it, city girl.”

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