I wondered if he always felt this way, like he couldn’t fully express himself because it would be his downfall.
The thought broke my heart.
My dad stumbled to the side and then looked up at Maksim with rage in his eyes; he charged at him only to falter when the door opened again, spilling a flare of harsh light inside.
“What the hell are you guys doing?” Phoenix yelled. “Sparring?”
“He hit me!” Dad thundered. “I’m going to kill you!”
Maksim’s smile was different, colder. Calmly, he examined the blood on his knuckles, shrugged, and literally said. “Hi.”
Dad straightened his tie and tilted his head. “Sim?”
“You have a hard jaw.” Maksim looked at his hand, inspected it more likely.
“I need you,” Dad said. “But punch me again—”
“Why?” Maksim sighed. I couldn’t separate them because, together, they were whole, so I refused to change names based on personalities. It just felt weird, different, not right. It felt… almost inhuman.
He was Maksim.
He would always be Maksim.
“We can’t find King, but he sent a text,” Phoenix said, hands on hips, “about thirty minutes ago. Said he was going to them to do his job.”
“His job being taking the daughter of the boss I killed last week,” Maksim said in a bored tone. “He was down by the docks. Most of his men were.”
“Do you remember if they were going anywhere else?” My dad asked.
Maksim started moving around the room, then went and pressed his hand on one of the walls. The whole wall flipped over like something that would be seen in a spy movie, revealing a shit ton of guns and knives.
His face remained passive, expressionless as he began strapping gear to his body, and then, without looking back, he said, “Get Serena, Junior, Tank, and Ash, please.”
He was so polite and normal I wanted to laugh. Then again, what did I expect? He was still him. He was just protecting himself, protecting his brain, maybe even his own soul.
“I want to go.” I couldn’t believe I just said that.
Maksim’s hands froze over the weapons. He shoved a knife into a sheath and buckled it against his skin under his shirt, then tugged it down and stalked over to me, backing me up against a wall.
His mouth was on mine before my dad could kill him.
Phoenix bit out a curse, and I knew he was grabbing Dad to keep him from attacking Maksim.
But I was so lost in Maksim’s mouth, I couldn’t do anything but wrap my arms around his neck. I tugged him close and tasted him.
He was mine.
Always.
We broke apart, and his eyes searched mine as he whispered, “Until my heart stops beating.”
Tears filled my eyes. “How do you—”
“I’ll miss you,” he whispered and then kissed my forehead. Still holding my gaze, he said, “Make sure she stays here. I don’t need the distraction of the woman I love.”
“Maks! I mean Sim!” I yelled.
He didn’t turn around; he simply left.
My dad stared me down. “You’ve made your choice.”
I pushed my chin out, determined to make him understand. “It will always be him.”
Nikolai chose that moment to run into the room. “Did Sim just charge out of here with a shit ton of guns, ammo, grenades, and knives?”
“Yes,” we all said in unison.
“What the hell!” he roared. “You do realize how dangerous this is? I can’t control him with the medication anymore, and on top of that, his blood is poisoned
“He’ll be fine,” my dad said in a confident voice. “He has someone to come back to.”
“And if he comes back as Sim, not Maksim? What if this is permanent?” Nikolai shook his dark head. “What then? I kill him? He says goodbye? You have to understand that this was triggered by both trauma and the drug I created. I have no clue if this is a typical personality disorder or if it will get better or worse.” He ran his hands through his hair. “What happens? I need to know!”
“He’s staying,” I answered in a quiet and decisive tone. “No injections. No goodbyes. Whoever returns… is still Maksim. You’ll have to kill me to get to him.”
Just like that, I left the room, feeling stronger than ever, took the stairs, and started to make a plan.
Chapter Twenty-Four
“She had an evil face, smoothed by hypocrisy; but her manners were excellent.” ?Robert Louis Stevenson
Maksim
I called Ash first; he was already on his way with Junior. It took me around ten minutes to collect more supplies and grab one of the Escalades. And now I wait.
I’m patient.
Soon, one of their Range Rovers pulls up.
Ash hops out first, followed by Serena, then Tank, and finally Junior. Their expressions are tight.
They look at me funny, assessing.
I don’t have time for their looks.
All I have time for is King.
I like King.
He’s funny.
And he likes me.
He even spars with me, which is more fun than I thought it would be. He told me stories about Izzy.