Page 118 of The Ruthless and the Strong

He frowned. “What do you mean?”

“How do you look at him and not see him differently?”

“Do you see him differently?”

“I don’t know,” I said miserably. “I thought I did last night when he told me.”

But I had held onto him after, I had made love to him, and I had kissed him, and let him hold onto me the whole night, and suddenly, he hadn’t felt so different after all.

“This isn’t something you have to look past, Lizzie. But this also doesn’t need to be the thing that defines him.”

“Does it make it okay?”

“I don’t know about you, but I am glad those two men are no longer around in this world,” he said, his voice hardening. I looked down at my cup.

That was the thing. I wasn’t sad about it. I understood why he’d done it, and a part of me was glad for it. But that shouldn’t be the way of it. There were laws for a reason, weren’t there? We didn’t get to pick and choose which laws we wanted to forget, and we didn’t get to decide that we could take justice into our own hands.

And it wasn’t just me I had to worry about. Max said he had been careful. That they had nothing on him, but those officers still suspected him, and what if he hadn’t been careful like he thought? What if he got caught? How would I explain these things to Hunter when he got older if that was the case?

“What if he gets caught?” I asked.

“Is that what you’re worried about?”

“Of course I’m worried! Did you know he has been followed for the past three days?”

“What? Seriously?”

I nodded. “This sounds selfish, but if it was just me, I could get over it. I really could. But how can I bring Hunter into this?”

“Into what? Lizzie, Max was careful. Nothing is going to happen, and I heard they closed the case on Lorenzo two weeks ago. The only thing you will be bringing Hunter into are the arms of a man who will protect him, and you, fiercely. He will be the most ruthless protector there is. No one will ever get to you, or hurt you.”

When I didn’t say anything to him, he stood. “I always knew he had feelings for you. He hid it well. Kept his distance because he wanted you to have the chance to grow up. Perhaps he kept too great of distance, because that drove you right into the arms of another man. That was his mistake. But even then, he waited for you. He never stopped loving you, and given the chance, he would have fought for you had he thought that was what was best for you. Perhaps it’s time someone fights for him.”

He cupped my chin and tilted it up so I was looking at him. Tears dripped from the corners of my eyes and down my cheeks. He wiped them away with his thumb, his eyes gentle.

“Don’t give up on him, Lizzie. He’s someone worth fighting for, and you’ll regret it for the rest of your life if you let him go.”

With that, he walked away. I stayed outside for a long while after that. I didn’t know how long, but then Olivia walked out, and I noticed the sun was up higher than it had been. It was obviously still morning, but much later than I’d thought.

“Crap,” I said, standing. “I have to get Hunter to school.”

She shot me a smile. “It’s already done. Hunter’s at school and Emma’s at daycare. It’s just you and me today.”

“Oh. Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it.” She took the seat Mason had sat on this morning, and I sat back down too.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

I hesitated, but only for a quick second, before shaking my head. “Maybe someday,” I said.

“Okay,” she said, and she didn’t seem bothered that I didn’t want to tell her.

It was one thing to talk to Mason about this, but I knew Olivia didn’t know what really happened to Lorenzo, and it was probably best to keep this one secret to myself, until Max was ready to tell her—if he would ever tell her.

She let out a sigh before grabbing my hand. I held on tight and let this small simple touch soothe me.

“Lizzie?”

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