MAXIM
He pulled his car to a stop in front of Britney's Café and let out a slow, excited breath.
He had finally made it.
Living on the outskirts of Havari, the drive into the city had taken several hours. Throughout the journey, Ava's phone had remained in one place, its signal consistently pinging from the café—and, by extension, Maxim thought , the apartment above it.
He had rushed to the place as fast as he could, pushing his car to its limits to do so.
He slipped his phone into his pocket and climbed out of the car.
The café had already closed for the evening, its lights dim and the street unusually quiet. That suited Maxim just fine. If Ava wasn't downstairs, then she had to be upstairs in her apartment.
A small sense of relief settled over him.
He had been dreading the thought of waiting for her to finish work so they could talk alone. Every extra minute apart would feel unbearable.
At the same time, his stomach tightened with nerves at the thought of seeing her again after five years.
As far as Maxim was concerned, the brief glimpse he'd had of her in the courtroom didn't count.
Not to him.
He needed to look into her eyes.
He needed to hear her voice...
To hold her after five long years.
His longing for her far outweighed the anxiety at the thought of reuniting with her. He didn't even pause as he made for Ava's apartment.
As he crossed the street toward the building, he pulled out his phone for one final check, wanting to make sure the signal was still where it had been moments before.
Maxim did this more as a formality than out of any real cause for worry, since Ava had been there all day.
After looking at his phone, he barely took another step before stopping dead in his tracks.
The tracking signal for Ava's phone had moved.
Maxim stared at the screen, his heart beginning to pound, feeling momentarily dizzy.
"What...?"
He couldn't be reading this right.
On his phone, the location marker was already moving, and at an impossible pace for a human, which could only mean that Ava was in a car.
Maxim's pulse spiked, realizing that Ava really was on the move.
But when had she left had she left and where the hell could she be going?
Without another thought, Maxim spun around and sprinted back toward his car.
He yanked open the driver's door, climbed inside, before started the engine.
He had already decided that whatever direction Ava was heading...
He was following.
---
Maxim drove his SUV like a madman, narrowly dodging collision with other vehicles a couple of times.
He expertly weaved in and out of traffic, trying desperately to catch up to the car that was transporting Ava.
He didn't recognize the route he was on, nor did he have eyes on the car yet, but the tracking signal on his phone told him he was closing the distance rapidly.
His eyes kept darting between the road and the phone resting on the passenger seat, making sure he was headed toward the right destination this time.
When Maxim looked up from his phone, a slow-moving BMW drifted into his lane.
Maxim laid on the horn.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
After giving Maxim the middle finger, the startled driver finally moved aside before accelerating. Maxim, who normally didn't tolerate disrespect, let the guy go, knowing he didn't have any time to waste.
As he drove again, Maxim glanced back at his phone to determine which way he had to go.
His heart nearly stopped as he looked at his phone for a second.
The screen flashed the manufacturer's logo before abruptly going black and running out of power in his lap.
His eyes widened.
"No!"
He slammed on the brakes, bringing the SUV to a screeching halt on the side of the road.
Maxim snatched up the phone and repeatedly pressed the power button, trying to switch it on again so he could continue tracking Ava with it.
Nothing.
He cursed under his breath and frantically searched the center console for a charger.
There was one.
Unfortunately for Maxim, it wasn't compatible with his phone, which was of a specific and expensive brand.
The charger belonged to his right-hand Levi, which made sense since Levi was usually the one driving the SUV. The only reason Maxim was driving it right now was because his own Aston Martin was still in the repair shop.
"Damn it!" Maxim growled, tossing the useless phone onto the passenger seat.
Not only had he lost the tracking signal...
He'd lost his chance to see Ava too.
Again.
He leaned back in his seat and ran a frustrated hand over his face.
Why did the universe seem so determined to keep him away from the woman he loved?
After a long moment, he forced himself to think of another plan that would enable him to see Ava.
Going back to Ava's apartment seemed like the obvious choice. Even if she'd gone out, it was almost a certainity that she'd eventually return there.
This plan particularly irritated Maxim because every moment away from Ava felt like agony and threatened to drive him into insanity.
Maxim sighed in resignation, thinking that he didn't have a choice. But just as he was about to turn the SUV around, something caught his attention.
He looked through the windshield at the road stretching ahead.
There was a day care nearby.
Recognition flickered in Maxim's eyes.
He knew that building.
And he knew this route.
He'd driven it countless times years ago.
Whenever Ava wanted to visit her parents...
This was the road he'd taken to drop her off.
A slow smile spread across Maxim's face.
Of course.
Ava was going to her parents' house.
Maxim shook his head, wondering why this hadn't immediately occurred to him.
Without wasting another second, he started the engine again and continued down the road toward the place.
The house wasn't far.
Seven minutes later, he pulled up near a small family home with a beautifully kept front lawn.
Cars lined both sides of the street, evidence that some kind of function was going on inside the place.
Maxim barely noticed.
His attention had been stolen by a familiar figure not so far away from him.
A beautifully dressed woman stepped out of a sleek Lexus, her hand promtly getting entwined with that of a tall, well-dressed man.
They laughed together as they walked toward the front door.
It took Maxim only a heartbeat to recognize them.
Ava. And Blake.
Maxim's face darkened the moment he saw them.
If looks could kill, Blake Cooper would have dropped dead on the spot from the stare Maxim regarded him with.
Maxim hadn't counted on Ava being accompanied by the guy. He'd thought she'd be alone.
His jaw clenched as he watched them disappear into the house together, looking like the world's most perfect couple.
After spending the entire day trying to find her, it felt unbelievably unfair to Maxim that, after finally catching up to her, he had to find found Ava with the guy she had replaced him with... along with dozens of other people in the vicinity.
Irritated, Maxim slammed his hands into the steering wheel so hard he grunted in pain.
Why did the world keep testing him like this? He thought angrily.
Not for the first time that day, Maxim forced himself to calm down.
This changed nothing, he told himself.
One way or another, he and Ava were going to reunite tonight.
And once they did...
All these little hiccups wouldn't matter and everything would be resolved.
They'd get back together, and this ridiculous situation between her and Blake would come to an end.
Quickly.
He would make sure of it.
For a brief moment, Maxim considered marching into the house and demanding to speak with Ava... or he'd destroy everyone except her.
To him, it sounded like a perfectly acceptable plan.
Except for one small problem.
There were too many people for that.
Don't get him wrong. Being the most notorious criminal in Havari, Maxim Holloway was definitely not a shy man, and he had no qualms about resorting to violence to get what he wanted.
But after five years apart from his girlfriend, he wanted their reunion to be a quiet and private affair, not some kind of bloodbath.
It just seemed wrong when he thought about it.
He had too much to say to say to Ava.
Too much to explain.
The last thing Maxim wanted was Ava's parents, random guests...
...or even Blake fucking Cooper hovering nearby, chirping into their conversation and distracting them with inconsequential things and nonsense.
No.
Maxim decided it would be best to wait until Ava was alone before talking to her.
He made this decision even as he immediately realized that the chances of catching Ava alone were extremely low in her parents house.
Especially with whatever family celebration was taking place inside.
But did that mean he'd have to sit in his SUV for hours while Ava enjoyed herself with Blake and hundreds of other people?
His grip tightened around the steering wheel, his very blood boiling at the thought.
He suddenly found himself entirely unwilling to wait around like some obedient little boy while another man got to stand happily beside his woman.
The woman he hadn't seen in five years.
The thought felt fundamentally wrong.
Pathetic, even.
However...
Maxim couldn't bring himself to simply storm into the house and cause a scene, either.
That, he knew, was the fastest way to lose Ava before he'd even gotten the chance to win her back.
He pursed his lips tightly.
Discarding those first ideas unfortunately left him with only one option, Maxim acknowledged.
In order to avoid causing a commotion, he would have to sneak into the function.
And once inside, he couldn't allow himself to be recognized by anyone.
Not even Ava.
Not yet.
His reasoning for this was that since he hadn't spoken to her in five years, he could wait a little longer.
But if he could just see Ava up close, just once...
Breathe the same air as her...
It would be enough.
For now.
He took a deep breath, trying to calm the longing that was steadily building up inside him.
Maxim nodded to himself, feeling ready to do this. He was satisfied with the plan.
Except for the one little detail he couldn't figure out.
How was he going to pull this off?
Almost as though the universe had decided to answer him, a white delivery van pulled up in front of his SUV.
Printed across its side, beneath a bright crossed fork-and-knife logo, were the words:
Cheerful Caterers.
The rear doors of the van swung open as soon as it parked.
Several men and women dressed in matching uniforms climbed out before unloading trays of food, silver chafing dishes, and stacks of serving platters.
One after another, they carried everything into Ava's parent's home through the back entrance of the house.
Maxim watched them thoughtfully.
After everyone else had gone inside, one final caterer lazily climbed out of the van, scrolling through his phone.
With obvious reluctance, he slipped it back into his pocket before picking up a serving dish of his own.
Looking at the man, an idea entered Maxim's mind.
He rejected it almost immediately.
He could not do it. Absolutely not.
After all, he the was Maxim Holloway.
He was not about to disguise himself as a waiter.
It was beneath him.
As he thought that, another image flashed through his mind.
Ava again.
Inside her parents' house.
Looking breathtaking in the dress he'd seen her wearing earlier.
Every guy in the room watching her.
Every guy except him.
The next moment...
Maxim's car door opened.
He stepped out and calmly walked toward the unsuspecting caterer.
For a brief second, he considered simply knocking the man unconscious and taking the uniform.
Unfortunately for Maxim...
One look at his surroundings told him there were too many witnesses around.
He reluctantly abandoned the idea.
The caterer finally noticed him approaching.
He had taken out his phone again and looked up from it as Maxim drew near.
His bored expression immediately shifted into a cautious one.
Maxim wasn't surprised.
People tended to have that reaction around him. And it suited him just fine.
"Uh... can I help you?" the man asked carefully.
"Actually," Maxim replied, "I believe you can."
The caterer frowned.
"I need to get into that house without being recognized," Maxim continued matter-of-factly. "I think your uniform will help."
The man simply stared at him.
"...Excuse me?"
"I'm doing this for love," Maxim informed him by way of explanation, wearing an expression of complete seriousness.
The caterer blinked at him.
Then blinked again.
Finally, he shook his head.
"Look, man... I can't help you. And in case you haven't noticed, I've got a job to do, so if you don't mind—"
"Fifty thousand dollars," Maxim interrupted, rolling his eyes.
The sentence stopped the man cold.
"...Come again?"
"I'll pay you fifty thousand dollars," Maxim repeated, "for your uniform."
Another silence.
"Just... the uniform?" the caterer asked cautiously.
"And the name tag," Maxim added. "I want to be convincing."
The caterer stared at him for another long second.
Then...
His uncertain expression slowly transformed into an interested one.