Page 153 of South Beach Bodyguards

I had no idea what that even meant. I dropped my hand. Touching him felt strange, foreign. “Everyone told me you were alive but I said if you were you would have contacted me. It’s been five years.”

His head cocked. “So because you thought I was dead you decided it’s okay to fuck my brother?”

It was like being slapped. All the air whooshed out of my lungs. I was first and foremost stunned. But then I was scared. “What are you talking about?” I whispered, which was a stupid thing to say. If he had been here, watching, listening, then of course he would know. I wondered who the Conrad guy had been. A lookout? But Max the cat had been a message.

I had never been afraid of Max, but now the chill that rushed over me indicated that my body was aware of what Max was capable of, even if my brain couldn’t seem to comprehend it.

Max, his hair shorter now than it had been when we dated, shook his head slowly back and forth. “Don’t play dumb. It worked for you when we were together but I’m not buying it now. You’re thirty years old.”

Bewildered, I just stared at him. “What are you talking about? I never played dumb!” A horrible thought occurred to me. Maybe I just was dumb. Because I wasn’t following.

Max took a step back. He bent down and picked up my gun, which had fallen in the doorway when he grabbed me. Suddenly I wished it was still in my hand.

“Mandy. Come on. You were the perfect girlfriend because you knew how to play the dumb blonde. The big tits, the tight ass, the friendly smile. You could make the most badass drug dealer feel like he was safe with me. With us. Because you were guileless. It was an amazing act.”

Except it hadn’t been an act. I had never known what was going on, until the end. When Max had told me he was being framed. When I was spending the night with him and his apartment was broken into and I pulled the trigger on his gun while Max was in the shower, defending myself against the intruder. I hadn’t shot at the man, more over him, as a warning, but it had been terrifying.

The tumblers of the combination lock fell into place mentally. I had given Max a cover. So Alejandro had been right. Max was not a good guy. And I was stupid to put my faith in him.

Yet it didn’t make any sense. “Did you love me, Max? Or were you glad to leave me behind?” I couldn’t prevent the bitterness from seeping into my voice.

Max leaned against the counter. “Don’t be like that, sweetheart. You know I loved you. I still love you, even if you’re fucking my brother.”

I narrowed my eyes, trying to stay calm. I could hear my frantic breathing, more out of anger than fear right now. “Don’t throw that in my face. Not one fucking word in five years? Was I never supposed to have a life? Was I supposed to wait forever? You said you would contact me! You had to know that if you didn’t for five whole years, I would assume you were dead.”

He held his hands out in a conciliatory manner, as if I were being a hysterical female. “Calm down. Yes, you made a logical assumption. No, I didn’t figure you would wait forever. But, I didn’t think the guy you would choose would be my brother. You can’t blame me for being pissed about that.”

“I can blame you for a lot of things.” My nostrils flared. “And you still haven’t given me any explanation. Why are you creeping around in this empty apartment instead of just announcing yourself?”

“I didn’t want to scare you.”

That was bullshit. There were better ways to handle a reunion. “You have had me totally on edge. I thought I had a crazy stalker watching me.”

“Just me and I’m no stalker.”

I crossed my arms over my chest. “I don’t believe you. This is all insane.”

“You don’t believe I’m not a stalker?”

“I don’t believe you’re hiding out over here just to ease me into the idea that you’re still alive. I think you have a plan and since you blew me off for your last plan, I think I’m entitled to know what the hell it is.”

“Don’t ask questions you don’t want the answer to.”

“Don’t pretend to be an obscure philosopher.” I stared him down. This was just completely and utterly surreal. Back in the beginning, when I had been desperate for Max to still be alive, I could have never imagined this outcome.

Max burst out laughing. “Come here, give Daddy some love.” He reached for me. “I missed you so damn much, Mandy.”

I didn’t mean to step into his embrace. I did it by rote, the memory of all those times he had opened his arms for me and I was excited to be there, feeling safe and loved. Suddenly I found myself there again, his arms firmly around me, my head against his chest.

I told myself it was only natural. That I was in shock. That this was a goodbye.

In my heart I knew that. Not only was I shocked, I felt suddenly heavy with regret, weighted down by sadness. I had spent five years with my life on hold for a man who thought my whole personality was an act to assist him in his illegal dealings. It was beyond insulting. With one fell swoop he had managed to destroy the love I had felt for a decade, because the man I had loved wasn’t real. I had made him up. Ignored the red flags.

So a hug was more for me than him. I wanted comfort from him. I wanted comfort for my grief as I mourned the loss of everything I had ever known to be true. I clung to him, breathing in his scent. He was thinner than he had been. Or maybe it was because I had become used to Alejandro’s overabundance of muscles. Max didn’t feel scrawny or frail. Just wiry and lean. Like he was not living a life of luxury.

“I’m so mad at you,” I whispered. “It was so hard to have everyone telling me you just left me and me saying you wouldn’t do that and now I know you did.”

Max stroked my back and kissed the top of my head softly. “I didn’t have a choice. You can be mad at me all you want but the reality is I just didn’t have a choice.”

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