Page 96 of Charity's Redemption

“Why you?” I buckled my seat belt as he started the van.

“I told you to leave.”

I tipped my head back against the headrest and closed my eyes as Max turned us around and drove us out the same way he brought us in.

Today I’d done a new sexy dress fit to kill with a pair of stilettos I could use as a backup weapon. I’d murder Adams, thereby eliminating the threat on me and my family.

Elias would get away with this, only because I wasn’t under Luca’s protection, but he wouldn’t be safe from further advances.

Max pulled onto the paved road, and the soothing silence rocked me into a languid puddle in my chair.

My muscles released their tension, and my body sank. I covered my mouth as I yawned, then leaned against the window.

Stinging, unremitting pain shot through my skull as the metal touched the knot on my head—the wound I’d forgotten about until now.

Hissing, I shot up in my seat.

“You okay?”

I nodded. “Yeah, I just forgot about my head.”

“Maybe you should put ice on it?”

“You mean like the big ass icicles we left back there?” I laughed. “I’m good.”

We drove in silence, exhaustion pulling at my mind until he pulled into my driveway a little after three. I dragged myself through the door with Max in tow, our bodies and clothes caked in dirt.

“Take your shoes off. I don’t want shit tracked inside,” I said, turning off the useless alarm system that allowed everyone to come inside.

Cannoli bounded out of my room towards me, his back arched as he stretched his legs behind him, and his mouth opened wide in a yawn, showing his sandpaper-like tongue.

I flicked on the light, our eyes squinting in the fluorescent hue.

“Hello, demon,” I said as Cannoli wrapped his body around my legs in his signature greeting. It was an act that forced guilt upon me if I didn’t at least scratch his head once before walking away.

“He’s not a demon. He’s like an asshole and a monster mixed into one.”

“A monster asshole? I think you need to come up with something else.”

“I’m too tired.”

I chortled as I trudged into the kitchen.

Max kicked off his boots and made his way to my room, where the sound of water splashing against tile filtered down the hall.

He’d beat me to it, and now all I could think about was the hot water soothing away my aches.

Dumping a can of cat food on the plate, I checked his water and dry food, then walked back to join Max.

By the time I’d stripped my dusty, evidence-laden clothes from my body, grabbed his, and threw them in the washer, setting it to run in the morning, the bathroom was thick with a blanket of steam.

Add in a bit more heat, and I’d have a personal sauna.

Max stood with his face towards the water, letting it pelt down on him as he ran his fingers over his sudsy hair. White bubbles spilled down his toned back, over his delicious ass, and down the drain. I stepped in, no longer able to resist the temptation, and wrapped my arms around his waist. His hot skin warmed me to the bone and sent tingles between my thighs.

There was a moment in time where I’d fantasize about these moments. Where I thought about them walking through my door while I showered, only to be disappointed when it never happened.

Now, I have them all to myself and the fantasies are alive and well, stroking my skin with featherlight touches, and soaking me in euphoria.

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