Max's Faith & Fury [COMPLETE]

Chapter 23

Asahel barely skimmed through messy piles of paper when he heard someone pull up the driveway. From the office, he looked through the closed blinds to see a woman with dark brown hair climb out of a white Porsche. She appeared to be alone, and he watched her pull a set of keys from her pocket to unlock the door. With his car out there, it was no secret that someone was already here. So, with the safety on, he tucked his gun beneath his shirt in the back of his pants and left the office, closing the door behind him just as the front door opened.

She was surprisingly quick to notice him there and she gasped with wide eyes, "oh my gosh! Are we being robbed?" She looked around to see that nothing appeared to be missing. Then she took in a deep breath that caused her busty chest to rise beneath the thin pink shirt. "You're handsome enough that I won't put up a fight." She looked him over.

So, this must be Gwen. He could see a resemblance between her and Max, but barely. She didn't seem dangerous, or scared for that matter, especially when she slowly approached him. It was probably because he stood there examining her instead of attacking her.

"What is a hunk like you doing here? You must be lost." She purred, trying to lure him with her voice. Given what he already knew about her from her files, he didn't find her the least bit sexy. Just a poor lost soul using herself to see what she could get. She didn't get too close to him, but he could see her inhale and completely melt from the smell of his cologne. This was the first time he was ever annoyed about a girl liking it.

Speaking of girls. Where was Max? He looked at the hallway entrance a few seconds before Max appeared. Gwen made a squeaking noise and took a step towards her, but then paused when she saw all the bags.

"Max!"

Instead of standing there like a stone, Asahel went straight over to Max and grabbed for the gym bag she wore on her left shoulder. She almost hesitated to give it to him. Then he gestured for her backpack on the right shoulder.

"What is going on here?" Gwen asked slowly, as if her brain couldn't comprehend the obvious. "And what happened to your neck?"

Max quickly covered the bandage on her neck. "Nothing, Gwen." She growled, rolling her eyes, and looking up at Asahel, silently telling him she was going to keep her gun case.

"Don't lie to me." She wanted to come closer, but there seemed to be an invisible force surrounding Asahel that kept Gwen at a distance. "Where are you going, and where have you been?" She tried seeing Max around Asahel.

He accepted her decision to keep the case, so he held out his hand for something else. Max stared at it as if it were a foreign object, and Asahel watched her eyes move up his arm and back to his face. For a few seconds, they didn't even hear Gwen's tantrum.

"Your hand is still bleeding." She said for only him to hear.

"Shut up." He grabbed her hand anyway and pulled her forward.

"Don't tell me you two are actually together." Gwen sneered, "she's not even the pretty one. Who even are you?" She followed them a few steps before stopping herself and saying, "oh, I get it. This must be one of those hired boyfriends, because he's way too hot and out of your league. You couldn't ever end up with something like this in real life. You poor thing."