Page 125 of Invisible String
“Max, I…it was the night I first saw you. I was so confused and hurt. Seeing you again after so long was painful. At that moment, I wanted to erase it. You. Andrew touched me. My mind wasn’t in the right place. I was in a vulnerable moment.”
He gazes at me disdainfully, and tears well up in my eyes. “He called me. He said you undressed for him. You let him touch your breasts and between your legs. When I asked you about him, you said there was nothing between you two, but you undressed forhim.” His anger is one I never want to see toward me. The jealousy in his eyes cut through me.
“He just brushed me between my legs. Then I started crying.”
He frowns. “Did he hurt you?”
“No, I told him to leave. I didn’t want him, not like that. He knew it, but he would have gone all the way, knowing I didn’t really want him.”
“Why were you crying?”
“Because I never thought I’d see you again. And all those memories of us came to me.”
His eyes soften a small fraction in size, but the anger still seems to boil in him. He averts his gaze back to the damn window. I look at the worn-out check with faded writing in my hand. The sum my dad gave him is pitiful, as if that’s all I’m worth. What infuriates me is that I expressed my love for Max, and it didn’t matter to my dad. Instead, he made Max feel like he wasn’t enough for me. Even now that Max has a successful business and is a skilled boxer, it’s still insufficient for him.
“You don’t get to tell me shit about the mishap with Andrew. Even though it was nothing, we weren’t together. You asked how many men I’ve been with, but what about you? How many women have you fucked? And to top it off, you’re locked up in here with that stupid snobby bitch, and she brings you food. She fuckingfeedsyou.” He doesn’t get to be mad when he just had her in here. “Why come to my place? Why don’t you go to her place?” I shake my head and swallow the lumps forming. “Don’t come around anymore. Just…just let me go, Max. Don’t come looking for me.” My voice comes out like it was dragged over glass. I walk toward the door, and one miserable tear skates.
Large, muscular, veiny hands slam the door shut.
“Let me go, Max.” I grind my teeth, not looking at his handsome, irritating face.
“Never.” He hoists me onto his shoulder effortlessly, as if I weigh nothing, and then places me in his swivel chair. His green eyes glare intensely at me, and his jaw clenches with unspoken anger. “You’re mine. Not his, not anyone’s, but mine,” he says with his index finger curling under my chin, our eyes connect. “My woman. You. Are. My. Woman. No one else but you. No other woman on this living planet could take the place of you.” He wipes the streak of tears. “And I’m fucking yours. You want to know how many women I slept with?” I nod. “Only you.”
I roll my eyes. I find it hard to believe this man, with his remarkable stamina, hadn’t been with a woman.
“Don’t look at me like I’m a damn liar. From the beginning at the cabin, I told you I’ve never had a woman in an intimate position. I’ve never kissed anyone until you, I’ve never had a woman missionary position until you. I’ve never gone down on a woman like it was a never-ending buffet until you.”
He cups my cheeks, squeezing them until my lips pucker. “I’ve never made love to a woman until you. In the last four years, I haven’t been with anyone.” His beautiful eyes bore into my soul. Mask down. “How could I when I’ve only ever thought of you?” Another tear slides down. “You want to know why I can’t get you out of my head?”
I nod in his hold.
“Because,tesoro,I’m so madly obsessed and unhinged in love with you, it drives me crazy. I’m in love with you, Rainey. I don’t want any other woman. My love for you has been in my heart since day one.”
My heart bursts with emotions I never thought I’d ever feel. Max loves me. This right here is what I needed to hear. I didn’t know how much I needed to hear it until now.
“You really love me?” My voice trembles.
“Yes, I really do love you. I’m crazy for you, baby.” His lips curve into a beautiful smile. At the same time, I’m still processing it.
“But those women at the Underground said you slept with them, and you were in here with her. And Leo acted like you were doing something. He was stalling me.”
He laughs. He lifts me off the seat and then sits me on his lap. “Leo can be dramatic. He probably figured that since Roxy was in my office, you would be upset. She was just giving me some paperwork I needed to look over. And I do not know who those women are. They were obviously making up shit.”
“She brings you food, Max. How would you like it if a man were all hot on my tail, doing things for me, buying things, sending flowers, giving me money? How would you feel?”
He frowns. “It would piss me off.”
“Exactly. I don’t appreciate her feeding you when she’s all flirting with you. It would be different if she weren’t into you and an elderly woman.”
Max caresses my cheeks so lovingly it hurts to look at him. My heart glows underneath my skin.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you. I just don’t like to waste food. I didn’t eat it. It had nothing to do with her. What is it you want me to do? Fire her?”
“That would be nice. I wouldn’t have to look at her shoving her breasts in your face.”
“Done. I’ll fire her. Anything else you want?”
“Yes, for you not to be angry with me.”
