Page 75

“It’s okay. My father was all the mom and dad I ever needed.” My voice cracks, the sound echoing in the quiet room.

“Was?” he prompts gently.

“Yeah. We lost him a few years ago. Holt and I lost a lot of things.” I take a shaky breath, the memories threatening to pull me under. “I suffered a bad work-related injury.” I clear my throat, praying I can get through this. “In Virginia, it’s common to pull rotations in the jail as a recruit.”

I feel his body stiffen behind me as I speak. Max keeps rubbing my hair, washing my body with gentle strokes. I can tell he’s trying to stay calm, letting me get this out.

“I don’t recall a lot of the details. My traumatic brain injury shut a lot of it out,” I quip sarcastically.

“That’s probably a good thing,” he murmurs. His chin is resting on my shoulder, his warm breath cascading over the shell of my ear reassuringly.

“Holt told me when I came to that several inmates had jumped me. I was unconscious for almost two weeks. They placed me in a medically induced coma to let the swelling go down in my brain.” I point to the scar he’d noticed. “And needed a chest tube for the blood in my lung.” I point to that scar, feeling like a really sad Vanna White, demonstrating prizes no contestant would ever want.

Max freezes. Even without looking up, I can feel his jaw has gone rigid against my shoulder. The white-hot rage simmering in his veins is practically palpable. It’s a heat that should scare me, but instead, it simply makes me feel safe. “And this one?” he chokes out. The emotion hangs heavily between us in his broken words as he runs his fingertip over the scar on my back.

“Apparently one of the inmates had been crafting a homemade knife from something.” I try to stay strong and push through, knowing I need to reveal the largest injury I suffered. “The ordeal must’ve been more than my poor father could withstand,” I continue, sniffling hard. This is the hardest part. I can deal with what happened to me. It’s almost like a news report about someone I barely know. Until the story comes to my father…

“After I woke up, Holt had to break the news that my father had died. Broken heart syndrome, the cardiologist called it.”

The tears are streaming down my chest now. I’m worried this tub could overflow. “It must be hereditary,” I choke out. “Because I feel like I’ve had it since the moment I found out he was gone.”

“Baby,” Max whispers, and turns me so my face is against his chest. He kisses my temple, rocking me in his arms.

We stay like this for a long while, his arms like steel bands around me. I feel vulnerable, but also secure here with him. I know this is a lot to drop on him. And neither of us has defined what’s happening between us. I can’t get ahead of myself. This could be a step too far in this treacherous house of cards.

But I’m grateful all the same, that someone like Max Wilde is on my side.

Max

Holding Cassidy against me, I try to keep the rage burning within me under control. She doesn’t need to add my unhinged reaction to her list of traumas. The thought of her—this resilient, brilliant woman, broken and alone in a hospital bed while animals celebrated their work… it sets my blood on fire.

The need to protect her is overwhelming. My mind is spinning in a thousand directions, calculating how to make her world safe. How to erase that look from her eyes. It takes a long while before she settles down.

We lie in bed, snuggled up in each other’s arms. It’s an intimacy I’ve never shared with anyone. Sure, I’d spent the night with girls in college before sending them out to do the walk of shame, or vice versa. But never have I shared my bed with someone who has taken over my heart in the way Cassidy has.

I should let her sleep. But my curiosity is getting the best of me. “How did you end up at The Devil’s Playground?”

“Holt,” she answers, still wiping her eyes. “He runs a self-defense business now. One of his clients is a member and told him it might be a way to give me the security I needed while I got back on my feet. It came out while I was in the hospital that the men who assaulted me had made threats of finishing the job once they were placed in the hole.”

“The hole?”

“Solitary confinement. At first, we hoped it was the angry outbursts of men who were now facing longer jail time and a possible transfer to a maximum-security prison. But they were able to confirm the men had attempted to make contact with gang members on the outside once they were moved out of solitary. So the threats were credible enough to go into hiding once I was discharged from the medical facility.”

Relax, Max. Breathe. It won’t solve anything if you pop off like a raging lunatic. At least not here with her. Then it dawns on me. “You aren’t in the witness protection program?”

“No. I considered it, but I don’t want to live that way. I dreamed of being a police officer my whole life. Spending the rest of it hiding isn’t an option. Why should I have to feel imprisoned for being a victim?”

She shifts in my arms, and I consider relaxing my grip, but it’s simply not possible. I need to hold onto her before I lose it and do something I’ll regret. This moment is about her, not me.

“Holt has been helping me regain my strength and independence. I’m a work in progress, but one day I’ll be able to rejoin the living.” She lets out a weak laugh. “Besides, I’m not sure The Devil’s Playground is sanctioned by the witness protection program.”

I run my hand down her back. “It probably should be. Gianni has the best security around.”

“You’re right. It’s part of the reason Holt and I felt it could work. I can take my online classes, work out with him, and live in a building with top-notch protection. It’s actually been really good for me.”

I push a wet strand of hair behind her ear and place a chaste kiss to the scar along her hairline before bending to do the same along her jaw. One by one, I take inventory of them, dotting each with kisses. Hopefully, it’s a gentle reminder to her that they’re one more reason I find her devastatingly beautiful.

Once I’m done, I kiss the crown of her head, holding her as snug as I can. Hell. I was already falling hard for Cassidy, but this? This is the point of no return.