PURPLE HEART - Soliders Of Fortune [BOOK TWO]

Chapter TWENTY NINE

Sunday 'Sunny' Santos

"You talk sweet now, Zakya-" Time freezes and the thump of my heart amplifies as Max leans down with a rich, velvety chuckle, his warm lips ghosting over my cool cheek as a gravelly whisper tickles my ear.. "But we'll see if you can forgive me for what's about to happen.."

"Qué-?" (what)

As Max manoeuvres his hulking frame to open the door to the SUV, the boisterous bickering contained within spills out into the cooling dusk air.. Petty and venomous, Luka and Verity bark back and forth at one another, neither hearing the other or willing to find calm or compromise.. It is a shouting match with no winner in sight and in the madness of it all, I take a moment to pity poor Viktor.. He sits patiently behind the steering wheel, staring vacantly ahead as if he were a suffering stone statue, bearing the crossfire of their wrath in silence..

"If you really want to help me-" Max interrupts my sympathetic ruminations, lowering his voice for my ears only.. The heat from his firm hand on my hip radiating to my very core, warming me from inside out.. "Keep 'em both busy for the next few hours?"

"I can do that.." I nod, excited to finally have an opportunity to prove myself a useful addition to his life.. And maybe I want to prove to myself that I am capable of taking responsibility, something Javier robbed me of through his constant need for control.. He didn't trust me to manage anything except serving him, but this is a task I am entirely certain I can accomplish.. More than that, I intend to find a way to convince Verity and Luka to put their past aside and make peace, if not for themselves, then for the sake of the brother they both love so fiercely.. I am not so blind or naive that I can't see how difficult the path to reconciliation will be.. But I can see it..

"Good luck.." The Loan Shark hums playfully beneath his breath as he offers me his steadying arm to help me up into the back seat of the SUV.. I place my hand into his and step up when much to my surprise, I feel the sting of. a firm yet encouraging pat as it lands intentionally upon my backside.. The impact and unexpectedness of the openly intimate act causing me to squeak in shock..

"Oh!"

Did Max just spank me?
...And why did I like it?

A scintillated sizzle races across my skin and my cheeks burn with a giddy pink flush as I slide in beside Luka.. But once nestled comfortably in my seat, there isn't a second for me to process any of the heated exchange before the door clicks closed..

Dressed in a stylish black tracksuit with a chunky gold chain glinting around his neck, Luka barely acknowledges me, with only a stiff nod of recognition in greeting.. For a moment I am intimidated and wary of the broody looking brute.. Much like his brother, Luka is built from hard hewn muscle, intimidating tattoos and a permanent scowl upon his brow..

But then I remember the way he had defended me against Javier.. Somewhere inside him is the same humanity I have seen in his siblings, and that is the version of him I can only hope to appeal to..
Summoning courage from somewhere deep inside, I muster up a friendly smile while shucking off my nerves.. "Hola, Luka.. It's nice to see you again.."