Page 42 of Red Queen (Red Thorns Crew 3)

She paused. “You wouldn't.”

My hands slid all the way down to hers before I took them in my own.

“Dani, this is dangerous. This is very serious. My father is a very, very bad man. I need you to keep your head down. I need you to stay as far away from this as possible. I need you to stay away from me.”

Her lower lip quivered. “No. Please don’t make me do this.”

“You have to. Can you do this for me?”

“No.”

“Well, I’m telling you that you have to. Until this is settled and until I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that you're safe, you stay away from here, and away from me.”

Tears lined her eyes. “Max, please.”

My hand cupped the back of her neck. “Come here. Come here, gorgeous.”

I pulled her lips to mine and grew angrier at the bars separating us. I wanted to sink myself against her. I wanted to invade her and prove to her that I was doing this because I loved her. Not because I didn’t love her. I had to keep her safe, and until I could get out of this place and check up on her myself, she had to be cautious. She had to take precautionary measures and listen to me, for once.

I reveled in the taste of her tongue before Miss Hall cleared her throat.

“Someone’s coming,” she murmured.

I reluctantly pulled away. “You’ve got this, gorgeous. Okay?”

I wiped a tear away from her cheek as her eyes met mine.

“I love you, Max.”

I cupped her cheek. “I love you too, Dani.”

Miss Hall butted in. “Sorry, guys. Pow-wow’s over.”

Feeling Dani slip away from my grasp caused me an anxiety I’d never felt before. Miss Hall kept guiding her down the hallway as Dani’s sniffles grew more and more fervent. She kept peering over her shoulder with more tears streaking her face. And the sadness was enough to shatter my soul.

I’m sorry, Dani.

I turned my back to her as weakness took over. I wasn’t physically able to watch her break down and be okay with it. Especially since I couldn't comfort her. The idea of Dani falling apart because of me didn’t sit right. I felt bile creeping up the back of my throat again, threatening to show me just how weak I really was in this entire situation. I heard Dani calling out after me and my lawyer trying to talk her down from her furious high. And as a door slammed at the other end of the hallway, I felt tears percolating behind my own eyes.

I promise I’ll make this up to you, gorgeous.

I took a seat on the bench in the middle of the holding cell. I had no idea how the fuck Miss Hall was going to get me out of this situation. Twenty-four hours my ass. These police would find some way to make sure I stayed here and rotted the rest of my days away. I pressed the heels of my aching hands into my eyes, trying to push the tears back. Because the last thing I needed was to be crying like a hopeless little bitch in this damn holding cell.

But fuck me, did my heart ever hurt.

14

Dani

The paint is peeling.

The concrete beneath my ass was hard. The curve of the curb as doors slammed open and closed behind me were nothing, though, compared to how weird the paint looked. On the asphalt of the parking lot outside the police station, the paint was peeling right up from the road. Flaking off. Blowing in the wind. Brushing over my feet, as if to paint my shoes.

I’d never felt so numb inside before.

I didn’t feel anything. The world passed by me like I didn’t exist. Part of me didn’t want to exist, either.

Not without Max.

---