Page 29 of Maximus

As I was about to help her up from the ground, a pair of boots stepped over her lithe body.Who the fuck?Before I could react, I looked into the ominous eyes of the bastard that attacked me with the bat.This fucker!When I told Gia about the attacker and what he said, we determined it had to have been her stepfather, Bruce. Now the bastard was here putting his hands on my woman and right in front of me. He clearly had a death wish.

I was caught off balance when Bruce used all his momentum to strike me in the head with a steel pipe. He pushed me in the chest, causing me to fall down the ravine. It took a minute to get my bearings and when I did, I got up and ran back up the trail. Bruce had Gia by the hair, pulling her back up to the parking lot. She was struggling with him, kicking, and screaming along the way.

I saw nothing but red. How dare this fool disregard my presence and think he can manhandle my Sunflower like that. He was going to learn to keep his dirty hands to himself. This would be the last time he caused my woman any anxiety.

As I rushed to help Gia, I heard a sound that stopped me dead in my tracks. The very familiar signal of a rattlesnake rang out just ahead of me. The cold-eyed reptile was curled up rattling its warning that it was about to strike. The only thing was it was pointing directly at Gia. I guess all the crying and scraping of the dirt disturbed the creature. No matter, the snake had given me the perfect way to get rid of Bruce without going to jail.

Carefully, I inched toward the scaly savior and snagged it right behind the head, like I had been taught in my field training. The poisonous creature wriggled in my hand as I tried to get a good angle to throw it. Bruce had Gia by the hair, so her body was covering most of his. The only clear place to throw the snake was at his face.So be it!I flung the rattler with perfect precision.

As soon as it left my hand, I grabbed Gia and pulled her to me. The snake struck Bruce in the face several times before slithering off down the trail. Stunned, Gia wrapped herself around me and wouldn’t let go.

“Oh, my goodness! Maximus, he could have killed me.”

“Not on my watch, baby. You’re safe now, and he’s a dead man. That venom should work its magic in a few minutes, and you’ll never have to worry about him again.”

The bastard was panicking. He flailed his arms around in the air while stumbling around. Eventually, he fell to the ground while grasping his face. Even as his lifeforce was escaping his body, the idiot didn’t have enough sense to pray to his chosen deity. No, instead, he used his last breath to threaten me.

“You asshole! When I get up from here, I’m going to put a bullet right between your eyes. Let’s see how pretty she thinks you are then.”

I couldn’t be more amused than I was at that moment. I stepped away from Gia and leaned over Bruce so only he could hear my reply.

“You stupid asshole. You will never get up. This is your cemetery. They won’t find your dirty, stinky rotted body for weeks, maybe months. This park is closed, so nobody will be on this trail until construction is complete.

“Maybe God will show mercy on you and allow the coyotes to eat your lifeless body. Either way, you won’t be putting a bullet in anyone. Gia is mine, and I’ll make sure she never utters your foul name again.”

After watching Bruce’s putrid soul leave his body, I took Gia by the hand and helped her to the top of the trail. I was determined that our peaceful day would not be ruined by that evil bastard lying in his own excrement in the middle of the path. When we got to my Harley, I stood back from Gia and fluffed up her fro.

“See, just like I promised. Not one single curl out of place.”

That earned me a playful slap across the arm. Then she kissed me with a bit of desperation and a whole lot of gratitude.

“You saved my life, Maxi. Thank you.”

I pulled her back for another kiss before climbing on my bike. After my Sunflower was secure, I took off back toward Oakland. On the way, we stopped at an isolated park and had a little picnic. We didn’t have a blanket, but the grass was soft, and the atmosphere was romantic.

Nineteen

Sunflower

It was official. Today was the day I fell head over heels in love with Jefferson “Maximus” Rivers. The man saved me from my tormentor and then took me on a picnic. Nowhere in any of the fairy tales I read as a child did this happen to the heroine. However, I think it was perfect for my life. And he was the perfect man.

We were sitting in this random park while he was feeding me bites of his sandwich. He had chosen roast beef for himself and a turkey club for me. While turkey was my favorite, I wanted to try his. Normally, I detested roast beef because it always had huge sections of raw meat. But for some odd reason, I wanted to eat his food.

“Maxi, can I have a bite of your sandwich?”

“I thought you hated roast beef.”

“I usually do, but it looks so good.”

“Say please.”

I laughed at the smirk on his face. He was messing with me. This was something he started doing quite often. I loved that he was so comfortable with me.

“Pleeeease!”

I drew out the word and gave him the puppy dog eyes. I knew he could never resist those eyes. Just like I thought, he acquiesced and held out his sandwich so I could take a bite. Leaning forward, I nibbled a small piece of the food and moaned at its deliciousness.

“Oh, man! That’s decadent.”

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