Page 18 of The Ruthless and the Strong

“Max?” she whispered.

“Lizzie,” I breathed. My hands twitched by my side with the urge to grab onto her and never let her go.

I wanted to keep her.

Hunter and Emma ran into the room then, bringing with them loud giggles and softly padded feet on the hardwood floors. Lizzie placed her hands on my chest and pushed me away before turning from me and resettling the plates on the table, though nothing was wrong with them in the first place.

I wanted to call to her.

To get her back to me, to that moment, but it was too late now, and I wasn’t sure if it would be reciprocated.

Small hands moved to my legs then. I looked down at a wide-eyed Hunter, who was looking up at me, and a smiling Emma standing next to him, looking up at Hunter like he was her hero.

“What is it, Hunter?” Lizzie asked when she noticed him there.

“Are we eating yet, Momma?”

She nodded and swept his hair back from his forehead. I watched their interaction silently. I always knew Lizzie would be a great mom. But it was something else entirely to witness it firsthand.

I backed out of the dining room as she talked to Hunter, not looking back at them until I was at the threshold. Then I gave into temptation and looked back at Lizzie and Hunter, finding Lizzie’s eyes on me while Hunter rambled on about something.

Something flashed in her eyes, and I didn’t want to know what that look meant before I walked out of there, moving completely out of view.

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