Page 23 of My Pucking Crush

I shake that away. “Your money is useless if you’re six feet under.”

We stare for a moment and with the blinds closed and heat between us, I make the first move.

“Tell me the real reason you don’t want me guarding you. Not a bodyguard.Me.Be honest,” I say through clenched teeth, the way a person asks a question they know the answer to.

Max shifts in the seat, and I take him in. Damn, I already had a massive crush on him from afar. I’ve followed his career before I worked for the Crushers. In person, it’s intimidation and lust overload.

“You...bother me,” he grits out.

Now we’re getting somewhere.

“Bother how?”

He drags his gaze up and down my body. “Youmarried?”

“Widower.”

That jerks his head back. “How did she die?”

“Car Accident. With my son.”

The color drains from Max’s face. “Jesus, man. I’m sorry.”

“It was an arranged marriage,” I say.

His brows dip, and now he looks thoroughly confused. “Arranged? They still do that?”

“In the mafia they do.”

“You’re in the mafia?”

“I was. I got out.”

“Did they...kill your son?”

“No. My wife did.” I draw a fist to my mouth, not voicing if I think she did it on purpose. “She was leaving me and had been drinking.”

“Oh, man. I can’t even imagine. That’s terrible. Did you love her at all?”

“We were friends. We grew up together. Her brother was my best friend.” I don’t say Ivan’s name. It will freak Max out. “He made me marry his sister.”

“Wow.” He shakes his head and winces.

I feel terrible keeping him from a trainer’s healing hands that will make every ounce of pain go away.

“It was a long-time coming.” I fold my arms, ready to drop a bomb. “She left me after catching me going down on her bodyguard.”

THIRTEEN

Max

“Your wife’s bodyguard, as in...”

“A man,” Luca says proudly, crossing his arms.

I ache to feel that confident. But holy shit. Heisinto guys.

Is he gay if he had a wife and a son?

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