Max’s men had tracked some Albanians to one of their businesses and found a small group of girls hidden in the back. They were outnumbered and didn’t want to risk the girls as collateral damage, so they called us for backup.
When I first got the call, I figured our truce was about to fall apart in front of our eyes. There was no way that we’d be able to work together again after everything that happened, especially since a huge chunk ofourmen had defected from him to our side. I expected so much animosity the whole thing would fail, and Ryuji or I would end up killing Max, and then we’d all have to tell Leona how none of us could hold it together.
To my surprise, it went perfectly.
As soon as Ryuji, Wynn, Giulio, and I showed up—Leona stayed behind at all our requests because she was still exhausted—Max was the picture of politeness, and so were we. Giulio’s men worked together well with their past colleagues.
Ryuji and I barreled in first, leading the charge. Max followed right behind, directing us step by step. I slipped into the fray beside Max, following his commands like nothing had changed. We took out the Vokshi Clan members one by one, then Wynn and Willow’s crew rescued the captured girls.
It was invigorating.
By the end, our men were fuckinglaughingwith Max’s men, each of us congratulating one another on a job well done. I even found myself smiling at Max.
Max.
The fucking piece of shit who tortured me, yanked my nails off, smashed my knee to fucking pieces, and almost killed the love of my life. The asshole who used to be my best friend, the one man I pictured following and obeying for the rest of my life.
I had no idea how to process it.
Working with him again feltgood.
At that realization, guilt settled in my stomach like a sour meal. Then came the pissed-off anger. Except after that, I remembered how we’d successfully worked together.
The cycle fucking continued. It was a total mind fuck.
Meanwhile, Giulio’s men had stopped skirmishing with Max’s at every chance they got, and they were able to sell large quantities of the Russian drug product. We were making more money than we had before. Makarov’s men could rest and recuperate since they also weren’t getting hit by Max’s men at every turn. Everyone was happy. It gave us a chance to take a fucking breath, regroup, and get structure through our ranks.
Days passed like that.
We exchanged information with Max. We coordinated our attacks. We found tunnel entrances, and stationed men at some we thought were in use, and crossed off others we thought were dark. We started seeing fewer Vokshi Clan, and it felt like we were actually making a dent.
It was working.
Now, a week after that first collaboration with Max, we were just finishing up dinner at the penthouse when my phone buzzed again.
I looked up and locked eyes with Leona while she handed her dirty plates to Wynn. She glanced down at the phone being squeezed in my fist. “Everything okay?”
“It’s Max.”
Everyone went silent, pausing their busywork to reset the kitchen and put away leftovers.
I tapped the accept call button and put it on speaker while placing my phone in the middle of the island. “What is it?”
“We found something.” His voice was strong and smooth coming from the other side. I could hear men in the background and pictured him in his element, giving orders and mobilizing his team for a mission. I wished to be there. To be next to him. To help him, as I’d been trained to do my entire life.
Fuck.
A complete, total, mind fuck.
“Good or bad?” Leona asked while the rest of the guys huddled around. Her hand slipped into mine, like she could tell that hearing his voice did something to me.
“That depends on your perspective.”
Ciel had his tablet at the ready. Obi folded his arms across his chest. Ryu flipped a knife end over end.
“Spit it out already,” Ryu snapped. His desire to stab that knife into Max’s eyeball was evident in the way he glowered at the phone.Imight have thought we worked well together, but Ryuji had a stick up his ass every time Max was mentioned or present.
I didn’t blame him. That’s how Ishouldbe feeling.
