Page 18 of Maximus

The old woman fretfully twisted her hands together. “Do you want me to call the authorities?”

“No.” Max stared at the woman. “I’ll take care of this man.”

She nodded. Her old eyes held a lifetime of experience with the Russian government. “This is good. The authorities would do nothing. I have medical supplies if you need them.”

Max nodded. “I don’t think I will, but thank you for your kindness.”

“Elena is kind to me,” the woman said matter-of-factly as she shuffled out the door.

Max carefully picked her up and made his way back to her bedroom. He heard Malice before he saw the man. “Back here,” Max called when the door scraped against the floor.

Malice was at the door in an instant. “Motherfucker. Who did this? I’ll get a washcloth.”

“Thanks. Con, I’m going to send you a video. I want to know everything about the man who hurt her.”

“You got it.”

Max pulled out his phone and sent the clip from his app.

“Fuck,” Con said after a few moments. “This guy needs to be taught a lesson.”

“Yeah,” Max said. He took the cloth from Mal, then dabbed at the dried blood and swore under his breath.

“The rest are here. We’ll fix the door. Smith will keep a watch outside to make sure no one is watching us,” Malice said from the doorway.

“Thanks. I need someone to go over and pretend to take this guy’s description from the old lady. She saw him, and she isn’t calling the authorities.” Max could see the fingerprints on her neck and the boot print on her cheek. The bastard would die a slow, painful death.

“On it.” Mal left, and he heard high heels clicking down the hallway.

“Hey. Can I help?” Val said as she came into the bedroom. She hissed when she saw the damage. “Damn, Maximus, that bastard …”

“His name is Artem Sokolov, and he’s a real nasty bastard,” Con said. “He was prior Federal Security Service and was kicked out for being too violent, if you can believe that.”

“I’m looking at validation of that fact. Where does he live?” Max spit out the words.

Con paused before he said, “Dude, you can’t go after him.”

“Why the fuck not?”

“He’s Molchalin’s head of security,” Con supplied.

Max’s shoulders rose to his ears as he tempered the desire to scream. That itchy feeling he tried to avoid was crawling under his skin.

“If you take him out, it’ll put Abrasha on alert.” That was Smith’s voice over the comms.

“I am aware,” Maximus ground out.

“Smith isn’t your enemy,” Val said quietly, her hand landed on his shoulder.

“I know. I know.” Max pushed Elena’s dark hair away from her face. “I’ll make sure the bastard never hurts anyone again.”

“When the time is right.” That was Malice.

“I don’t need to be reminded what my priorities are.” Right then, it was Elena. Then it was Abrasha. After that, he’d track down that bastard.

“Yeah, you do,” Malice said from the doorway. “You care for her. Whether or not it’s serious, you have feelings for her, and when she wakes up, we need to know what you’re going to tell her about us and yourself.”

Val made a noise of agreement. “She’s going to want to know how you found out about her being attacked. You can’t spin lies on this one.”

---