Keep It Simple (MMG Series Book 4) by R.B. Hilliard Read Free Book Online Page B

surprise. “Really?”
    “I’d have to go back for a bit to pack and say goodbye.” Once I said it out loud, I began having second thoughts. I didn’t want to upset the Hodsons by moving back to the States earlier than planned. Lyndsey depended on me helping with Heath. “I didn’t say I was. I am just thinking about it,” I corrected.
    “Hey, at least you are doing that. Either way, I want you here when the baby is born.”
    “Permanent babysitter?” I teased.
    “No, Ellison already has childcare covered, so you’re off the hook. Seriously, you are the only family I have.” I instantly felt bad for teasing him.
    “I’m sorry, Max.”
    “Don’t be. I want my kid to know his aunt. I need you to be a part of our lives. The hardest thing I have ever had to do was send you away.”
    I tried to keep the hurt out of my voice. “Yet you didn’t stop them. You didn’t fight to keep me with you.”
    “I sure as hell did. Why would you say that? What’s more, why would you think it?” The vehemence in his tone surprised me, but the hurt surprised me more. It also made me angry.
    “I know the truth Max, so you can stop pretending.”
    “What truth do you think you know, Sarah?”
    “Do you really want to do this now?” I asked.
    “I think I do,” he clipped. He was getting pissed. Well, so was I, damn it.
    “I heard you telling the agents to get me the hell out of the country, Max. I knew I messed up, but not enough for you to send me away.”
    “What in the hell are you talking about?” His shocked expression spoke volumes.
    Uh Oh.
    The next thing I knew, we were pulling into a strip mall. Max put the truck in park and turned to me. “You thought what?” he asked. I blinked at him, but didn’t say a word. “Please tell me I heard you wrong, Sarah? Why in the fuck would I want to get rid of you? You were the only family I had.” Tears pricked the back of my eyes, but I held them in check. “Let’s get one thing straight right now. I never wanted you to go. My hands were tied and I had no choice. You have to know this.”
    I cleared a golf ball lump from my throat before asking, “Because I was talking to my friends?”
    Max reached across the center console and snagged my hand. “Is that what they told you?”
    The disbelief in his voice forced me to look him in the eye. “They didn’t tell me anything, Max. One second they busted me texting and the next I heard you telling them to send me away. Then I was shipped off to a foreign country. I thought you were sick of me and I was a burden to you. You were building your life and traveling all the time for work. I was holding you back.”
    A pained expression appeared on his face and he closed his eyes. When he opened them back up, he shook his head. “They promised me they would explain everything to you, the fuckers. No, Sarah, the reason you were sent to Scotland had nothing to do with you and everything to do with me.” I held my breath and waited for him to explain. “Remember me telling you I had been keeping tabs on Ellison?” I let out my breath and nodded. “Well, the agents who were helping me do that were afraid I was going to compromise the safe house. I didn’t listen to them and I should have. Rocky didn’t want me, he wanted you. Your conversations with your friends were nothing compared to what I was doing to keep tabs on Ellison. My selfish actions got you sent away from me, not yours.”
    “I wish I had known,” I told him. Max was crazy about Ellie. I would have gladly gone away if I had known it was for her. “Dad made me feel like such a burden,” I blurted. “You and Ellie were my family. We had to run because of me. It changed you. You weren’t the same person anymore.”
    “We both changed,” Max said.
    “If I hadn’t been in the house that day, we wouldn’t have had to run. It was all my fault…and then they busted me talking and texting my friends and suddenly I was on a plane to Scotland. I loved you,