Page 97 of The Ruthless and the Strong

Max

I wokeup to Hunter lying with one leg over mine, his arm on my face and his head poking at my side.

I had woken up briefly last night when Lizzie put him in bed with me, and again when she climbed in, and though I didn’t say anything, I would be lying if I said I wasn’t happy to have them right here with me.

I opened my eyes to the glaring morning sun, having gone to bed last night with the shades pulled up. When I peered over at Lizzie, I found her wide awake, her green eyes taking us in.

“Good morning,” she said cheerfully. By the sound of her voice, I’d say she had been awake for a while.

I cleared my throat. “Morning, darling.”

“Darling,” she repeated. “Such an old-fashioned thing coming from such an old-fashioned man.”

“Another jab at my age, sweetheart?”

She let out a small laugh, and I smiled at the sound. I looked her over. Something about her felt off this morning, only I couldn’t figure out what until she turned her attention back to me. I shifted Hunter a bit so he was lying with his head on the pillow before I cupped her cheek. My thumb moved to her swollen eye. Both of her eyes were swollen. Like she had spent yesterday crying.

I frown. “Who made you cry?”

Who did I have to kill for putting that sadness in her eyes?

She shook her head. “Nothing ever gets past you, huh? You should have been a lawyer, like Mason. I bet you would have made a kick-ass one.”

I didn’t let her change the subject. I stayed silent. Lizzie was going to learn that I was a very patient man.

She let out a small sigh. “I told my parents about us.”

My frown deepened. “They don’t approve?” I’d never really had to earn the approval of a girlfriend’s parents before. Mostly because I never let any of my past relationships get far enough to be meeting them.

“They didn’t think I should be jumping into anything with anyone while my divorce is being finalized.”

“I see.”

“Things kind of got out of hand. I told them my marriage to Sam wasn’t my mistake, but theirs.”

I nodded, finally understanding. I completely agreed with the sentiment. Should Emma ever become pregnant out of wedlock, I would hope Mason and Olivia would never sacrifice her happiness for the sake of reputation.

“My dad apologized to me,” she said quietly, looking away from me. I could tell she was trying to hold in the tears. I held out my hand and she quickly grabbed onto it. I laid them across Hunter’s chest, feeling the steady thumps of his heartbeat.

“He cried.” Her thumb gently moved across the back of my hand as she talked. “I have never seen my dad cry before.”

“It’s hard to see that our parents are human beings, too, not some superheroes we had formed in our head as children. That they are just as capable of making mistakes as everyone. What about your mom?”

She bit her lip, pulling out a bit of dry skin there. I used my other hand to pull the lips away, moving gently over the abused flesh. “I didn’t really see her. She stayed in her room the rest of the night after that fight at dinner. I don’t really know how things are with her.”

“Well, do you forgive your mom? For what she’s done in all this?”

She rolled to her back and stared up at the ceiling, keeping her warm hand in mine. “Would it make me a terrible person if I say I don’t really know? I had thought I’d come to terms with all this. That this was just the way she was, and it wasn’t even like she was a bad mom. But now, I don’t know. She didn’t even apologize.”

“No, Lizzie. It doesn’t make you a terrible person. No one gets to tell you how to heal, or how long it should take you to heal. This will all be your decision, but just know I will be right here for you, no matter what you decide.”

She turned her head sideways and looked at me, smiling. “The only good thing about this whole divorce is that I get you. How did I ever get so lucky?” she asked.

My hand tightened around hers. I was the lucky one. Not the other way around. I didn’t know how I’d convince her to stay if she ever found out the truth about me. But I realized I would have to tell her. Before things got even more serious between us.

Because no matter how much I just wanted to put this all behind me, I couldn’t discount the fact that it all might come back to get me sooner or later, and I couldn’t ask Lizzie to be with me, to put Hunter under my care and protection, without telling her the truth first.

That was what scared me so much. That I could love her this much, could want to hold onto her this badly, and still, it wouldn’t be enough in the end.

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