“But he hurt her,” Max argued, having problems even speaking those words.
“No witnesses. No proof that he was to blame. They wouldn’t have had any evidence to immediately arrest him. Do you really think we could be totally certain that she was safe?” Travis drawled bitterly. “I’m sorry, Max. But I wasn’t taking that chance with my baby sister or Kade. She needed to disappear for a while until I could track him down. Had I known the bastard was getting out of prison early, I would have had him tailed.”
“For over two f**king years? You should have told me. She was my wife to protect.”
“She was my sister before she was your wife,” Travis pointed out gruffly.
“I didn’t know,” Max answered, his statement haunted and hollow. “She never told me. I should have known she was in danger. I should have known about him.”
Did I ever open myself up to her? Did she think she really had reason to trust me not to judge her? She was trying to be the perfect wife, trying to please me.
“You’re not psychic, buddy,” Kade replied. “She obviously didn’t want to talk about it. I never knew either. And he had been in jail for years. Nobody could predict what he was going to do when he got out.”
“I was busy running away from how I felt about her, and she was trying to make herself into a perfect wife. It wasn’t all her fault. I wasn’t exactly accessible. I wasn’t really ‘seeing’ her,” Max admitted, knowing it was true. Mia was his one and only, but they’d spent two years dancing around each other, both trying to be what the other expected them to be. In some ways, they had been close, shared a lot of things, but none of the important stuff. Neither one of them had been ready to share the gut-wrenching, emotional things that they really should have talked about, helped each other through.
“And if you had seen her?” Kade asked grimly.
Max shrugged. “I would have loved her the same way. But I might have been able to allow her to be who she was and not try to please me. Maybe I would have pulled my head out of my ass long enough to realize that she needed me too.”
The heavy silence between the three men was suddenly broken as music started pounding from the general vicinity of Travis’ hip. Max looked up in surprise as Travis dug into the front pocket of his pants to silence the upbeat, trendy song.
“Damn secretary has been playing with my phone again,” he mumbled, punching the button on the smartphone to answer it as he stood and walked toward the kitchen to take the call.
“Don’t blame Travis,” Kade requested quietly. “Growing up with my father wasn’t easy, and he was trying to protect Mia. We grew up trying to protect her from my father. Travis might have been a bit misguided, but Mia begged him not to tell anyone. She was afraid for all of us.”
“I don’t. Much,” Max admitted, both to Kade and to himself. “I should have known more about her past, protected her myself. But that bastard is mine. He’s dead,” he warned Kade, his eyes lethal.
“He’s already dead,” Kade replied flatly. “That’s why we’ve been trying to talk to Mia. When she lost her memory, obviously Travis couldn’t say anything. But he needed her to know that Danny’s dead. She’s on the run because she doesn’t know. She’s still trying to protect us. I know she left that note and ran again to try to protect you. She loves you, Max. If you don’t understand anything else, you have to know that.”
“The guy is dead. Was it Travis?” Max questioned, really pissed now that he’d never have the chance to make the bastard breathe his last.
Kade shrugged nonchalantly, like his brother killed people every day. “He won’t admit it. He says he finally tracked Danny down in Colorado and went to have a talk with him.” He quirked an eyebrow at Max as he continued, “We know exactly what kind of ‘talks’ Travis would have when someone threatens his family. He says Danny fled before he could even get his hands on him. Travis got in his car and chased him down some winding mountain road and Danny made a fatal driving error. Danny’s car went over the side of the mountain. Travis confirmed he was dead before he sent his guys to escort Mia back home.”
Fatal driving error? Hell, Travis had been a professional racecar driver before he’d focused his attention on his father’s business. The ass**le had never had a chance. Travis could make maneuvers that would make other guys piss themselves in fear. “Travis outmaneuvered him,” Max stated aloud.
Kade smirked. “You think?”
“I’m glad the bastard is dead. I just regret not having a chance at him myself. I’d tear his f**king head off for hurting Mia.”
Kade’s smile grew broader. “You know, you get less and less like Mr. Perfect every day. You’re starting to sound pretty brutal. What happened to the calm, smooth, and completely controlled Max Hamilton?”
“Never had any control when it comes to Mia. She makes me crazy,” Max rumbled, slamming his empty coffee mug on the table in front of him a lot harder than necessary. “Why didn’t Travis contact her once Danny was dead and tell her?”
“He had agents keeping an eye on her. He tried to call a few times after Danny died, but she didn’t answer. They hadn’t had any contact since she left. He sent her money in a convoluted way so nobody could track it, money that she barely touched the whole time she was here. Travis didn’t want anyone to link the two of them together in any way. This house was left to Mia by Gran, along with her funds in trust, but I know I didn’t even think about it. Did you?” When Max shook his head reluctantly, Kade continued, “Travis sent his guys in to pick Mia up when he couldn’t reach her by phone and bring her home. He wanted to meet her at the jet to tell her, but he had some critical meeting that he couldn’t get out of. When he got home, she wasn’t there. She must have got to his place and left for the park almost immediately.”
“Why was she there? Did she know we’d be there?” Max asked quietly, wondering why Mia had come directly to the park that day.
“I’m not sure. My guess is she saw the invitation from Sam on Travis’ cupboard. He said it was in the kitchen on the table when he got home.” Kade frowned as he finished, “It’s the only thing that makes sense. Her shorter hair and the hair color were probably things she did before she left Montana. She didn’t know Danny was dead and probably wanted to keep a low profile.”