Free Secrets and Satin: A MacKenzie Novel (Romantic Suspense) (MacKenzie Family) by Liliana Hart Page A

hadn’t gotten to spend nearly enough time with. The memories would always be there, and time had softened the grief—whether she’d wanted it to or not.
    She realized Donovan would’ve been happy she’d chosen Max. They’d been close as brothers. The last of the guilt that had been wrapped around her heart broke free and a peace settled over her she couldn’t explain—as if Donovan were laying a hand on her shoulder and telling her it was okay.
    Jade turned away from Max and headed out the door so he wo uldn’t see the tears in her eyes. She could no longer feel Donovan imprinted on every part of her life. He was no longer her first thought when she woke in the mornings or her last when she went to bed at night. Moving on had happened whether she’d wanted it to or not.

Chapter F ive
     
     
    It was past dawn by the time they got close to Max’s home, just north of San Antonio in the hill country. The sun was already a bright orange ball rising over the hills in the distance, burning off the thin layer of fog that had settled low across the ground.
    The grass along the narrow two-lane road was brown and dead, and the cedar trees were sparse and so dry, Jade hoped no one lit a match anywhere in the vicinity. The whole state was liable to go up in flames.
    There was a rugged beauty about the whole area—the rolling hills and miles of pastureland—and she could see why Max had been drawn to the area. It was a far cry from his DuPont Circle brownstone. That posh area of wealth and prestige had belonged to the old Max—the Max that had been more carefree and easy to laugh before his injury.
    She looked at the man sleeping in the passenger seat, taking in the longer length of his hair and the growth of beard on his cheeks. He overwhelmed the space beside her, and even in sleep, he looked a little bit dangerous—a little bit rough around the edges. This wasn’t the same Max who had grown up surrounded by wealth and every want at his fingertips. This was a man who’d worked his way up the ranks the hard way and paid the consequences. There was an edge of danger to him now that hadn’t been there before, and she wasn’t afraid to admit that she found it attractive.
    She slowed the Explorer as they came to a steep turn and then navigated across a slatted wooden bridge that ran over a creek that was more mud than water.
    “We’re almost there,” he said, eyes still closed.
    “I thought you were asleep.”
    “I woke up when you started muttering to yourself about the skunk smell. You’ll get used to it, city girl.”
    Jade snorted out a laugh. “So speaks the boy with the silver spoons in both fists.”
    Max grinned and stretched, putting his seat back in the upright position. “Yeah, well, it took me a little while to get adjusted. It’s really quiet. There are no honking horns or sirens. Just crickets and the occasional coyote howling.”
    “How ’s the headache?”
    “It’s gone. They never last more than a few hours and sleep seems to be the cure more so than the pills. It’s mostly an annoyance. Watch the turn here,” he said. “The road drops straight off into the ditch.”
    “I guess you don’t get much company out here.”
    “That’s the point. There’s no one around for miles and I’ve got sensors in the road to alert me if someone’s coming. I originally put them around the perimeter of the property, but there are so many wild animals they kept setting the sensors off.”
    Jade took the corner slowly, holding her breath as she kept the Explorer on the narrow road. Max hadn’t exaggerated—there was a ten-foot drop off on each side and the tires came almost to the edge of the pavement. The curve straightened out and she had to squint her eyes against the sudden darkness. Tree branches gnarled over the road and hung low so they almost scraped the top of the car, and limbs scratched against the side windows.
    “Jesus, Max. This is a little overboard, don’t you think?”
    “I like my