Page 23 of Max

"Drink it," he commanded. "It will help. I promise."

I did as I told and gulped the shot. It burned on its way down.

"Again," Max was pouring another shot. "Drink."

This time I did it without any pushback. It burned again, but a few seconds later, I felt lighter. The muscles in my shoulders relaxed.

"Damn, this burns," I turned my head and watched as Melanie made a face.

I didn't even know she was here, let alone sitting right next to me. I lost all semblance of time while we sat in the living room, not saying anything, each of us trapped in our head. I jumped when a phone started to ring.

"Yeah?" Max answered his phone, and instantly his face was like thunder. "You have got to be kidding me."

I was on instant alert.

"What?" I whispered.

"What's the damage?" he ignored my what.

"Max, what?" I yelled.

He looked at me, shook his head once, then his attention was back on his phone, and whoever was speaking on the other end.

"No fucking way," he snarled. "Not tonight, she's been through enough."

Oh, dear God, what was going on.

"Yeah, she was there," he said.

"Fuck," he said. "Yeah, I know."

After a brief moment, during which both Melanie and I looked at Max, pacing up and down his living room, then hanging his head in defeat.

"Yeah, we can do it here. I need you to give me twenty minutes."

Max listened some more.

"But brother, be gentle," he said and ended the call.

He stood there and looked at the floor.

"Fucking hell," he repeated three times.

It almost seemed that he was working up the courage to do something. I didn't get a chance to ask what for. That was because he was in front of, crouched, his palms warm against my face, doing the impossible of making it feel like everything was right in the world.

"I need you to listen to me," he began, his eyes searching mine. Only when I nodded did he continue. "Two hours ago, the DEA raided your warehouse. Thanks to information provided by Denver S.W.A.T. and the findings of their undercover agent, they were able to find enough evidence to put Barone away for good."

"Do I want to know what they found?" I whispered.

"No, baby," he whispered back, his eyes still searching.

"Undercover agent?"

"We’ll get back to that," his face suddenly was guarded. As if he was keeping something from me. "What's important is that you know-"

"Wait," I stopped him. "What about the girls?"

"They're okay. All of them are currently in a hospital behind guarded doors, getting a full workup. As far as I know, not one of them was severely injured during the action, but that's all I know. "