Anything. Maxwell forced himself to breathe evenly. To relax his grip. To look like a man simply studying a stranger's face.
"She's beautiful," he said quietly. And it wasn't entirely a lie. He handed the phone back.
"Thanks," he added. "This helps." The men went back to their drinks, already losing interest. But Maxwell didn't move right away. He stood there for just a second longer.
Thinking. Calculating. Rewriting everything he thought he knew. Because the truth had just changed the game. Ruby wasn't lost. She was wanted. And now. So were the boys.
Maxwell turned and walked out of the bar slowly, the night air hitting him like a cold reminder of what waited ahead. The door swung shut behind him, swallowing the noise, the laughter, the careless words that had just torn his world open.
Out here, the night felt sharper. Colder. Real. Power had ruined his life once.
