Max's Faith & Fury [COMPLETE]

Chapter 34

Max didn't get up right away. All she could do was replay the conversation she and Mia just had. She found it hard to believe, not because she thought it wasn't true, she knew it was true, but why her? She was literally no one before meeting Asahel. She is no one. She's heard of a single person changing the course of history, but how could she change history? Why would it matter what she did?

From the corner of her eye, she saw a figure enter the room. The first thing she noticed before looking up, was the soft blend of sage, mint, and bergamot. As she looked up, Rick closed the door. She tensed, leaning away as he made his way to the large wooden desk in the middle of the room. He turned and leaned on the desk, folding his arms, and then looking down at her.

This is weird... they stared at each other for a moment. Mostly because Max didn't know what to say. Part of her mind was still hung up on Mia's words. Her eyes slowly traveled up his body, until they met his dark stormy eyes.

"How old are you?" She asked the least important question in her mind.

"Old enough to be your father." He answered, his tone was flat and dull. Was something wrong? He didn't even smile. He just stared at her.

"What do you want?" Max didn't mean to sound disrespectful but being alone with Rick made her uncomfortable. She didn't know him enough to know how safe she really was with him. Would he kill her? She knew he could. She knew if he did, no one could do anything about it.

"You and Mia seem to be pretty close." He stated, his eyes never leaving her.

"I can't tell you what she told me. You have to ask her yourself." She swallowed, feeling warm in the hoodie now.

"I don't need to ask her anything. The questions I have are for you." He finally looked away, but only to remove a concealed handgun that must've been uncomfortable to wear. He straightened up and leaned back on the desk. "What do you want, Max?"

"Right now, for you to leave me alone because you're freaking me out." She said, keeping eye contact. She would challenge him and see what he was capable of if he wanted to harm her.

His dull expression changed into that dark smirk and glimmering eyes she had seen before. He wasn't messing around, and he didn't mind making her uncomfortable.

"Can I go-" she made to stand, and he stepped forward. In the blink of an eye, he was blocking her and looking down at her.

"Not yet. I need to talk to you because I don't think you know what you're doing."

Max scowled, "I never pretended to know anything."

Rick sighed and slowly stepped aside and sat where Mia was once sitting. "I have many daughters, Max. I may not be a perfect father, but I've been around long enough to see things."

"Why are you telling me this?" She looked him over, trying to read him.

"You have a place here in the Sarcome group. I know you are an outsider, and you may feel like a nobody. I know you have no parents, and that your mother left your father when you were a young girl. I know you were close to your sister Darla, and with her out of the picture and your father gone as well, you have no one. Mia is trying her best to guide you. She knows how special you are. We all do." He scratched his chin with his fingers, "Asahel is a fool if he thinks he can ignore the truth," he looked her in the eyes, "and so are you."

Max wanted to ask what he thought the truth was. "Give me one reason to believe you or Mia. You're a murderer and a psychopath. Mia sounds like a crazy woman. And thanks for reminding me that I have no one." She could feel her heart twisting tightly in her chest.