Rowan and Max stood for what could have been an eternity just staring at one another while the only thing passing between them was breath until Max exhaled, letting his head fall forward into the center of Rowan’s chest. “I’m not in the mood to fight with you right now Ro so just say it already,” Max mumbled, sounding surprisingly exhausted for someone who just woke up. Rowan let an irritated puff of air build up through his chest and out his nose, fanning over the still damp strands of hair at the top of Max’s head before he wrapped his tree trunk sized arms around the freshly showered man and squeezed. “She doesn’t belong here, with you,” he grunted, and Max only groaned in annoyance. “She doesn’t really seem to belong anywhere Ro, I feel like I understand her, and I’m gonna tell you the same thing I told Vic and Rocco, I need you to trust me,” Max paused to look up into Rowan’s stone-cold expressive face, “you trust me, don’t you Mick?”Max smiled as the sounds of grunting irritati
***TRIGGER WARNING***(There will be some sensative subjects discussed in this chapter, please be mindful of your mental health.)Max rocked himself and Vic followed him to the floor, wrapping her arms around him as he continued to speak although his head was stuffed between his knees, “I agreed but I didn’t trust them to keep their word, so I helped him become another person,” he whispered and Vic sat up as Max did the same, “did I tell you that I’m an impressive hacker as well as a dead shot sniper and dazzling ladies’ man,” he teased and Vic smiled at him as she shook her head. “No you didn’t tell me that,” she answered softly and he winked, “how do you think I got you an ID so fast, and who do you think did the recon on that fine ass, Volkov didn’t find you by accident baby, I ghost hunted the ghost and knew the first time that deadly fine ass smiled on my screen I had to be in your world, even if it was just for a
**** TRIGGER WARNING, There are severly sensative subjects discussed in this chapter please be cautious of your mental health when reading****Max maneuvered himself into the waiting van and squeezed Vic around the waist with one arm while he cupped the back of her head with the other hand, trying to avoid the questionable twitch of Rocco’s eyebrow from the driver seat. “Any particular reason you want to wear her all the way back to the bunk house instead of letting her ride in the back,” Rocco asked, and Max only scowled at him, squeezing Vic tighter when her quivering muscles tried to pull away. She didn’t fight him, and he wasn’t sure if that was because of exhaustion or if she might actually allow herself to take comfort from a man who had no right to offer it. “I’m not taking her back to the fucking bunk house Roc, go home,” he said sternly, and Rocco tilted his head to stare his passenger in the eye. “Volkov said she might be a plant and you want to bring her home like a lost li
****TRIGGER WARNING This chapter contains possibly triggering aspects, please be mindful of your own mental health before reading****By the time they finished visiting the last of the Bura facilities Vic was so exhausted the steady rocking motion of the car was making her eyelids heavy. As her body began to relax back into the seat she was jerked from her impending slumber when Rowan kicked the bottom of her foot, “stay awake,” he barked and Vic rolled her eyes as she sat up, folding her arms over her chest. Volkov had insisted that Vic ride back with Rowan, Max, and Rocco alone and while she wasn’t opposed to the situation the seating arrangements had left her with Rowan and Max sitting directly across from her while Rocco drove. Although Maddie had hugged Vic tight before they departed, assuring her that she did not believe for one moment that Vic was working with her brother to sabotage them the three men she now sat in the car with, along with their boss, didn’t seem to share her
Vic couldn’t tell if her nerves were from the promise of Rowan’s impending interrogation or the nausea of her brother’s betrayal being another mess for her to clean up. She wanted to be hurt that Rocco and Max had avoided speaking to her and that Maddie kept herself distant, but she understood, the unfortunate truth behind the life they all lived was that it was hard to trust people and even harder to prove you were worth the risk of trust. Money might make the world function but trusting the wrong person usually got you and your entire family killed.The first and largest of the Bura Farms sauntered into view as their motorcade of cars drove toward what Vic hoped would be the first of many trips and not the last. As the gates were pulled open, she noticed most of the workers were standing outside the building rather than working and as the car came to a stop Vic jumped out without thinking. Rocco’s hand clamped around her upper arm like a cuff, but he didn’t squeeze, “don’t go far,”
Vic tried not to move around in the chair she was in as the feeling of Rowan glaring at her bore metaphorical holes in the back of her head. She sat next to Rocco with Max and Rowan standing behind them as they waited for Volkov to finish his phone call. The man had been stoic and mostly silent since they walked in with a phone pressed to his ear as he held his hand up to his mouth, almost gripping his own face in displeasure. Every once and while Volkov would hum or give single syllable responses, but Vic was sure whatever information he was receiving was not only pissing him off but had something to do with her because his eyes kept flipping to hers before he would respond. “I don’t care what that little shit told them, you tell them I will be there in two hours,” Alexander yelled into the phone before throwing the small device across the room. The poor rectangular device bounced on the marble floor before it shattered, and the bits slid to a stop. Volkov scrubbed his hands over his