Page 104 of The Ruthless and the Strong

Max

I pickedher up in my arms and moved us toward my bedroom.

Lizzie wrapped her arms around me and buried her face in my neck, her tears soaking my skin there. I couldn’t remember a time when she had cried this much, and I didn’t know what to do.

Fuck, but I felt helpless.

Sitting on the edge of the bed with her on my lap, I let her cry in my arms, offering words of comfort to her as much as I could. I didn’t think it was helping, but I didn’t know else what to do.

Fifteen minutes later, her cries turned into soft hiccups before they faded away and what was left was her sniffling every once in a while in my arms.

I rubbed my hand down her back, holding her close to me, telling her everything was going to be okay. Maybe not today, and maybe not tomorrow, but everything was going to be okay. I would make sure of that.

She pulled away then, showing me those emerald greens. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes red and swollen, and there was a bit of snot coming from her nose. Lizzie wasn’t a pretty crier. But it didn’t matter, because I thought she looked absolutely adorable.

I pulled the sleeves of my shirt down and held it to her nose. “Blow.”

She pulled away. “Uh, no,” she said, her voice thick. “Why would you even think I would blow my nose on the shirt you’re wearing?”

She shot me a disgruntled look, bringing a smile to my face. I pulled back slightly and lifted my shirt off, loving the way her eyes devoured me like I was the world’s best dessert. I held the shirt to her nose then.

“There. Now you can blow.”

“A tissue works better.”

“I don’t have any tissues in my room, and I don’t really want to leave you right now. In fact, I find it hard to be far away from you for any amount of time,” I said truthfully. I didn’t know what that made me, but I didn’t want to be away from her.

Something in her eyes softened, and I felt her relax in my arms while she blew her nose. I cleaned her up as best as I could, noting the deep red on her cheeks.

“Nothing to be embarrassed about, baby.”

“Easy for you to say. You’re not the one blowing your snot on my shirt.”

“I’ll do it the next time I have a cold, how about that?” I asked, keeping my expression serious.

Her eyes widened a bit, before she let out a loud laugh. “Ew. No, I’m good. You don’t have to do that.”

I smiled at that, and ran my hands up and down her waist, pulling her closer to me. “Talk to me, baby. Why did you cry so much?”

I hated how my question wiped away any good mood I had been able to put her in, but this was important. She shrugged and looked at the wall in front of her, avoiding my eyes.

Something told me her tears were more than just about me punching Sam.

Something I regretted doing as soon as I did it.

I was a man in control of my temper. Or, at least, I had thought so. Yet I didn’t control my temper tonight, and I ended up hurting Lizzie, and I hated that.

“I guess this was six years in the making,” she said. “The divorce was Sam’s idea, but I didn’t fight it. I hadn’t realized how badly I wanted the divorce until he brought it up, but today, while I was signing the divorce papers, I felt… I felt kind of sad.”

I nodded. “That makes sense.”

“It does?”

“Yeah. Your marriage has just ended. No matter if it was something you wanted or not, you still spent six years with the man. I’m sure some part of you still loves him.”

She looked at me then, her green eyes dimmed a bit. “I will always be fond of Sam. And I will always love him for giving me Hunter.”

“But?”

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