Page 95 of Golden Atonement

“Hey, baby,” Max said, walking up behind me, wrapping me in his arms.

He’d been doing that a lot lately.

Any reason for him to touch me, he took it.

Not that I minded. Of course, I wouldn’t tell him that. Despite that, it was nice to have the man I fell in love with around me once more.

“You got everything you need packed?”

“Yep.”

He chuckled. “You don’t sound too happy.”

“Four days in the wilderness with Jesse running free. What’s not to love? I’ll be shocked if the kid makes it a day without a broken bone. Are you sure about this, ‘cause once we’re out there, it’s going to take both of us to corral him.”

“How about I watch the brat? You just enjoy the fresh air.”

Tilting my head to look up at him, I frowned. “You want the responsibility of watching our son?”

“Well, he is my son after all, and you deserve a break.”

“I deserve more than that, but I will not look a gift horse in the mouth. You want him, he’s all yours.” I chuckled, then added, “And good luck to you. You’ll need it.”

“Why do I feel like you’re setting me up?”

“Because I know Jesse.”

And to prove my point, a loud scream caught our attention. Bullseye chased our son around the van that would carry all the kids. “Get back here, you little shit!”

“I just wanted to help!”

“Goddammit,” Max cursed and quickly released me, rushing down the steps to save our son from an untimely death.

Morning came quicker than I wanted as I grumpily headed out into the cool morning air. With the kids all loaded and excited, I took a deep breath as I headed for the van when Max whistled.

“Not a chance in hell, babe,” he said, sitting on his bike, pointing his finger to the seat behind him. Too fucking tired of fighting with him, I marched over, passing Sunny, Phantom, Catarina, and Daphne, who all snickered.

Standing beside the grinning idiot, I clipped, “This means nothing.”

“Your ass belongs on the back of my bike, babe. It means everything.”

Huffing, I climbed on behind him, scooting as far back as I could without falling off the damn bike. Only Max wasn’t having it, because before I could utter a damn word, he grabbed my thighs and yanked me forward until I was flush against his back. Revving his engine, he peeled out of the compound and we were off.

The kids were down for the count and the brothers were drinking and having a good time. The day was an event, that was for sure, and while Max had his hands full with Jesse, the boy managed to survive the day.

His father, not so much.

In fact, I hadn’t seen him in a while and wondered where he’d gotten off to. Stepping away from the campfire, I went in search of my absent husband, only to find him not far from the campsite, sitting on a rock and looking out over the edge. Taking a seat next to him, neither of us said anything for the longest time. We just stared out into the horizon. It truly was beautiful up here, and I was glad I came.

“I’m sorry, Remi. So very fucking sorry,” he whispered into the darkness. “I thought I could protect you and still be the man everyone needed. It wasn’t until everything went tits up that I realized my mistake and it almost cost me you.”

“Hindsight is always twenty-twenty, Max.”

“It’s not that,” he murmured. “I knew what I was doing was wrong. Felt it in my gut, and I ignored it and agreed anyway. Why did I do that?”

“Because you never think clearly when there is a threat to me.”

“Then I’m screwed, because when the table learns the truth, they will come for us.”

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