To the Max (43 page)

“Nope, it doesn’t,” she said, cautiously propping herself on the headboard.

Max brushed her lips. “You okay, my love?”

She nodded while he handed the baby to her and sat on the bed by her side.

“The nurse brought her five minutes ago. Body temperature is okay. All is perfect.”

Annie looked at her daughter. Yes. All was perfect. She was exhausted and sore all over, but having her baby on her arms made every single ache go away.

“Hello, girlie. Didn’t you hear me begging you not to come out yet? Couldn’t you have stayed in me for a while longer? I foresee a rough road ahead for us the next twenty years.”

She heard Max’s soft chuckle.

“How are you?” she asked, studying him. He had fresh clothes and, by the look of his side, a bandage around his waist.

“All patched up. It’s going to hurt for a few days until the stitches are removed. No biggie.”

No biggie? She’d almost had a heart attack when she saw him taking that bullet.

“They’ll be bringing a bottle shortly,” Max continued, changing the subject. On purpose, she was sure. “We’ll have to give her formula until your body catches up and starts producing milk.”

Annie snorted. “It figures the humongous bazongas would turn out to be useless.” She watched her daughter, who had started fussing. “She’s beautiful, right?”

“Totally gorgeous, like her mom.”

At his voice, the baby turned her face in his direction and went quiet.

“She knows you. Listens to you.”

He smiled. “We’re old acquaintances, right, baby girl?”

Her daughter was a daddy’s girl.

“Ace,” he said, his expression turning somber. “Your dad came when you were sedated. He wants to talk to you. I told him it would depend on you.”

She drew in a deep breath. “Can we leave that for tomorrow?” She wasn’t ready for that conversation.

“Of course, love. Whatever you want.”

Then it dawned on her. “Max. Barbara…I shot her.”

“Yes, you did, my love. And thanks to that, we’re here. It was self-defense. If she had had her way, we would be dead. The cops will want to speak with you soon, but I’ve already given my statement. They assure me it’s just a formality.”

Annie wasn’t sure how she felt about killing another human being. She was a bit groggy from the sedatives. When they wore off, she was going to be less calm about the whole thing, but for now, she’d take whatever reprieve she could get and just be grateful they were alive.

There was a knock, and one of the nurses came in with a bottle of formula. “Time to feed the baby. Wait a bit until she’s hungry.”

Her daughter seemed feisty, but she probably could wait five minutes.

“In the meantime, I have some papers you have to fill out. For admission and then in connection with the birth certificate.”

He took the papers and sat on the chair. “We’ll take care of this.”

They made good time on the admission forms, Max writing Annie’s answers. While the baby drank the formula, they started on the birth certificate paperwork.

“Name of the father?”

Annie sought him with her eyes. He smiled at her but said nothing. She knew he would accept whatever she decided. As far as Annie was concerned, there was only one answer to that question.

“Max Bowen. Unless you don’t approve.” Luigi had sent her a document informing her he wasn’t going to ask for paternal rights. Or contest paternity.

Max stilled, then lowered his head. When he lifted his gaze, his eyes were watery. “Of course I approve. It would be an honor.”

He finished writing his name and then moved back to her bedside.

He tipped her face up to his. “You know what this means, right?”

“What?”

“We aren’t leaving this hospital without you both becoming legally mine.”

“You asking to marry me?”

He took a velvet box from his pocket. In it were beautiful engagement and wedding rings. “I’ve been carrying this around for the last two months.”

Now it was her eyes watering. “Two months?”

Nodding, Max kneeled. “I was waiting for the perfect moment. I was going to propose this weekend. But now, after almost losing both of you, I don’t want to waste a second more. I love you, Ace. Remember I told you I wanted a family when the right woman came along? Well, you’re that woman. I want to marry you and grow old by your side. Raise our kids together. Lots of kids. Spoil our grandchildren together. What do you say? Will you do me the honor of marrying me?”

Annie was crying. Shit had hit the fan in the worst possible way, yet Max hadn’t wavered. He never would. “Of course I’ll marry you. You don’t have to wait for me to be high as a kite on drugs to propose.”

He smirked. “Covering my bases here.”

Max slid the engagement ring on her finger. It was a wonderful and very original piece, with emeralds mounted in white gold. “No diamonds. Too cold for my woman.”

He’d remembered. “This is perfect, Max.”

He kissed her slowly. Sweetly.

Their daughter starting fussing, reaching up with her hands.

“One thing. How many are ‘lots’ of kids? Because I’m a bit traumatized right now, you know, with the whole near-death experience and silent, drug-free birth.”

“Your call, baby.” He glanced around. “I guess you probably imagined a more glamorous proposal than in a hospital.”

“Well, I had only two points I was clear about. I wanted the man of my dreams proposing, and I wanted to be wearing a sexy dress.” She looked at herself, at her rather ugly, washed-out-gray hospital gown, and then back at him. “One out of two ain’t bad.”

He kissed her. “The hall is swamped with people. What do we do with them?”

Annie smiled. “Okay, let the horde roll over us.”

* * * *

Patricia Vaughn marked into the room the next morning. “Grandma! You’re here,” Annie greeted.

For once, her grandmother didn’t correct her. “Max contacted me. You should have called me right away.”

“I didn’t want to scare you. It wasn’t the most desirable situation.” And by the time they’d made it to the hospital, it was already night. “Do you want to meet her?” Annie asked as she handed the baby over.

Patricia Vaughan’s face softened as she held the small bundle. Then it hardened. “My great-granddaughter coming into this world on the floor of a living room in a guesthouse. A drunk passed out on a couch. A killer dead nearby.”

“Max was there.”

Her grandmother glared at her. “I realize you think the world of him, and I’m extremely grateful he was there, but I would have preferred a medical team with you.”

Annie wasn’t going to deny that. A medical team
and
Max would have been perfect. “We managed pretty darn good, if I may say.”

“Barbara. I knew she wasn’t trustworthy. There was something very fishy about the way she behaved, but I never imagined that she would go so far as to kill for the money.”

“She fooled me. I actually liked her.” But Annie didn’t want to talk about that. “Grandma, I’m going to marry Max.”

“I know,” she answered, her eyes never leaving the baby.

“You do?”

“Yes. He told me, right before asking me to get all the papers ready for him to sign. He’s given up claim to everything.”

Not that Annie had any doubt about it. “I don’t need him to sign any prenup.”

Her grandmother lifted her gaze to her, her lips quirked up. “You actually do, because he said he would refuse to marry you if those papers aren’t signed.”

“I told you, Grandma. He doesn’t care about the money.”

“I know you told me. I’m sorry I didn’t believe you.” She looked at the baby and smiled. “I suppose you won’t name her Patricia.”

“Her middle name
is
Patricia. Elizabeth Patricia Vaughan Bowen. We already filled out the paperwork for the birth certificate.” Her grandmother’s expression softened even further, so Annie took the plunge. “You coming to the wedding?”

“You’re marrying here?”

“Well, here in this room, no, but it’s going to be a very discreet ceremony. Probably down in the chapel of the hospital before our daughter gets discharged.”

Her grandmother’s lips went into a thin line. “Will you let me give you a party at a later time to celebrate your union and her birth?”

She pondered for a second. “You promise you won’t go overboard too much, Grandma?”

“I can do that.”

Annie smiled. “Great. Then my husband, our daughter, and I will gladly be there. Say, now that I call you Grandma and you aren’t correcting me, what do you think if we progress to Granny?” It had only taken thirty-six years to make it from Grandmother to Grandma. What was another thirty years in the greater scheme of things?

A faint smile tugged at her mouth. “Don’t push your luck, young lady.”

There was a knock on the door, and Max appeared.

“I’ll be leaving now,” she said, nodding at him in greeting and then handing the baby back to Annie. “Tell Polly the place and the time, and I will be there.”

Then she left the room. Max lay on the bed with Annie. “Where will she be?”

“She’s coming to our wedding. By the way, do you want to hear something very kinky? I found out my boyfriend won’t marry me if the prenup papers aren’t signed.”

“Yes, ma’am. I believe it’s totally nonnegotiable. And I think you mean fiancé.”

She stifled a giggle. “You understand you’re doing this backward, right? It’s normally the economically comfortable party who insists on that.”

He went serious. “I don’t want a penny from you, and I don’t want the slightest shadow of a doubt about that. As a matter of fact, I could do without the whole Vaughan thing.”

“I know you don’t care about the money. You don’t have to sign any papers.”

“I do. I want to.”

She knew Max very well by now. That look on his face. He wasn’t going to change his mind, so she didn’t insist and continued, “And about the Vaughans, well, I’ve come to realize I do have certain responsibilities, and I will always have them.”

“I know, baby.”

“You don’t mind?”

“Not too crazy about it, but I’ll survive. As long as you’re with me, I can survive anything.”

* * * *

“Nervous?” James whispered to Max as the family waited for Annie to make it to the hospital chapel. “You going to make a break for it? Because I didn’t bring my running shoes.”

Max snorted. No way was he running away. If it had been up to him, he would have married Annie on the spot, in that hospital bed, with his side freshly stitched, her dressed in a faded gown, and the ink on the baby’s birth certificate still wet. But they needed documentation to get married, and he wanted the prenup signed, so it had taken a couple of days.

His father patted him on the back. “My sons don’t run.”

True. Bowens never ran; they took the bull by the horns. Went after what they wanted. Looked life straight in the eye. Stood their ground. Held their heads up. Loved unconditionally and forever. And Max was a Bowen.

When Annie came in with her mother and the baby, he darted to her. She was so damn beautiful. Even with a simple dress and minimal makeup. He knew her grandmother had tried to send her some designer gown, jewelry, and such, but she had declined. And it was as well, because she didn’t need all that to shine. She radiated class and beauty and warmth from every pore of her skin.

He cupped her face. “Ready?” It killed him to utter the words, but he did. “You can still call this off if you want.”

She went into her tiptoes and looked him straight in the eye. “No way in hell.”

“That’s my girl.”

She handed the baby to her mother, and Max and Annie walked hand in hand down the aisle to where the justice of the peace waited for them.

Suddenly, the doors opened and a huge man dressed in black stepped in. He lifted his head, removing the hoodie. Jack.

Elle approached him, coming to stand by his side at the church pew.

“So you do read my e-mails. You’re just too mean to answer to them,” Max heard Elle whisper to Jack, her eyes never straying from the justice of peace.

“Quiet, pet,” Jack answered, not looking at her either.

Elle’s smile was deceivingly sweet. “Not on your life, buddy.”

It was only a flash, but Max could swear he saw Jack’s lips quirking up.

It was a very private ceremony. Only family and closest friends. His brothers and their women. Their dad. Their aunt. Sophie and Holly. Elle. Jack.

Annie’s dad was there too, standing by her grandmother. They had had a talk the day before. He hadn’t been present, so he wasn’t sure what had gone down, but it seemed all was okay between them. There was something different about her dad, though. He looked older than he had two months ago, when Max had seen him at the New Year’s Eve party. Defeated into old age.

Alice and Larry had come to Boston as soon as they found out what had happened. Tore him a new one for not calling them sooner with his suspicions about the mugging. The best of all? Alice went up to her ex-husband and ex-mother-in-law, and they didn’t beat each other.

When they were presented as Mr. and Mrs. Max Bowen, Max and Annie turned around. James was holding the hand of a very pregnant Tate. Cole was hugging a crying Christy. Nate Bowen was standing proud, eyes misty. Elle and Jack stood side by side.

There wasn’t a big party. No reception. No extra guests. No conga. Just his girls and the closest people to them. He wouldn’t have had it any other way.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Two months later, Alden

“James was over the moon,” Annie said as she breast-fed their daughter on the couch. They had just come from James and Tate’s place, where they’d celebrated Jonah’s christening.

Max tightened his embrace around Annie and kissed the top of her head. “Yep. I haven’t seen him that happy ever. And my dad.”

Nate Bowen had sat holding little Lizzie in one arm and two-week-old Jonah in the other, smiling like a fool, talking to his grandchildren constantly. That both babies were cooing at him and seemed to be listening to every word he said had been the icing on the cake.

Tate had gone into labor two weeks before her due date. She’d been rushed to the hospital. It had been a complicated birth, but she’d had the best medical care available.