Max had barely started to dare to believe Mia was alive, back in his life again. It was too early to start thinking about kids, but it didn’t stop the longing when he thought about the fact that he might have something other than a bleak future. His heart racing, he exited the waiting room, striding quickly toward Mia’s room.
His wife had been in the hospital for two days, yet he’d barely had a chance to talk to her. Someone was always taking her away for tests or exams, and when she was in her room, someone was always visiting. He wanted some time alone with her, needed it.
He didn’t knock. The door was ajar and he pushed it open gently with his shoulder, his eyes immediately drawn to the bed. Max didn’t know what he had been expecting, but he exhaled hard, expelling the breath of relief he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. Maybe he was afraid he was delusional, or that she’d be gone. But she was there, her head down and looking at the screen of her laptop, her teeth worrying her lower lip as she tapped on the keyboard.
She’s scared. I know that worried expression.
Her hair was still short, but it was blonde again, the color that she’d used apparently temporary. Most of it had washed out after the nurse had helped her shower. Max couldn’t deny that he wanted to know why she had wanted to cover her blonde locks, why she’d cut her beautiful hair short, but he pushed the questions away. He wasn’t getting any answers—not right now anyway. Instead, he just stared at the short curly locks that framed her beautiful face. Dressed in a pink pastel nightgown with fuzzy slippers, she looked much younger than her actual twenty-nine years.
I missed two of her birthdays. We missed two anniversaries.
No matter. Max planned on making up for every moment they’d lost. Never again would he tell himself he had time, that he had years to enjoy life with Mia after he’d created his empire, and especially once he’d learned to control the intensity of his emotions around her. The latter was the primary reason he’d focused on his business. The way he’d felt about her was too intense, too raw, too hard to hide. She’d been his one vulnerability, a major crack in his Hamilton control, and he’d had a very hard time keeping his possessive instincts in check. Now, he couldn’t care less whether he was in control or not. Everything had stopped mattering to him the moment he had lost her.
Learned your lessons, dumbass?
Oh yeah, he definitely had. Life was short, and nothing really mattered except the people you cared about.
“What are you doing?” he asked curiously as he moved into the room, letting the door click closed behind him.
Her luminous blue eyes looked up from the computer, her lips curling into a happy smile as she saw him. The look was so familiar that it nearly brought him to his knees.
“Research. I’m trying to find out more about what happened to me and why I can’t remember.” She closed the laptop and gave him her full attention, a familiar action that had always disconcerted him and fascinated him at the same time. Now, he found it enchanting and seductive, something that helped quench a deep-seated need.
He sat in the chair next to the bed, unable to tear his eyes away from her face. “And what did you find out, Madame Detective?”
“Not much. Nothing the doctors haven’t already told me. I did find it a little spooky reading about my own supposed death.” She sighed and rested against the pillows behind her back before continuing, “Losing over two years of my life is scary. It seems like just yesterday that we were attending the Bannister Charity Dinner, but I can feel the hole in my life, that everything’s changed.” She paused and whispered softly, “I’ve changed.”
“We’ll figure it all out, sweetheart. I swear. Everything will be okay,” Max answered, taking her hand in his and scooting the chair closer to the bed.
“I’m glad you’re here.” Her eyes moved from his face and looked at their joined hands. “Obviously I haven’t been living a life of leisure. My hands are rough.”
Max flipped her hand over, noticing her ragged nails and callused hands for the first time. “You’ve never lived a life of leisure. You’re the busiest woman I know.”
But her appearance was always perfect, always impeccably groomed and stylish.
The changes were odd, but he wasn’t about to tell her that.
“Oh well. At least I’m thin,” she said wistfully.
Yeah. She was. Too damn skinny. Another thing that was perplexing. Mia always had herself on some kind of diet, and Max had hated it. She’d had perfect curves, and an ass that made his c**k hard every time he got a glimpse of her swaying hips in front of him. “It’s nothing that some good Italian food won’t fix,” he told her with a grin.
She groaned. “Pasta is my enemy.”
“You love it,” he reminded her, wanting to laugh at a comment she’d muttered every time she’d put away a plate of fettuccini, usually followed by a healthy serving of tiramisu. Honestly, he didn’t care how she looked; in his eyes, she’d always be the most beautiful woman on the planet.
She pulled her hand gently from his and set her laptop aside. Twisting her hands nervously together, she mumbled, “I had them do a DNA test. My brothers provided their blood for me to have it done. It wouldn’t be as conclusive as it would be if my mom was still alive but—”
“Why? I know you’re my wife. You know—“
“I want you to know for certain. I disappeared for over two years. You deserve some sort of scientific proof.”
“I don’t need it. I have no doubts. I knew the moment I saw you in the park, Mia,” he replied, slightly annoyed that she felt she had to prove herself to him.
“I think my brother wants it,” Mia said quietly, the disappointment evident in her voice.
Bastard. I’ll rip his damn heart out. “Travis,” Max said aloud, his tone vibrating with anger.
“No. I think Travis believes me. But I’m not so sure about Kade,” Mia admitted, her expression vulnerable.
“Kade? Why the f**k does he want it?” Okay…Max could believe that Travis would want proof. He could be a coldhearted bastard who believed only in concrete facts. But Kade? “I’ll kill him,” he grumbled, thinking of the many ways he could torture his brother-in-law for asking this of Mia right now.
“He didn’t really ask. I offered. And I think it’s important that we get rid of any doubts for a lot of reasons. Kade just seems different, distant, and hesitant to accept that I’m really his sister.” Mia sighed. “Maybe it’s just from the disappointment of the accident and his girlfriend breaking up with him. But he seems uncertain, and I don’t want anyone to have any doubts.”