Chapter 221: The Arrest
Maximilian had gone unusually quiet.
For a moment, he simply looked down at the gloved hand resting over his chest, as though feeling something there only he could understand. Then he smiled faintly.
"Anywhere," he said softly.
The brothers frowned.
Maximilian lifted his gaze toward the endless white horizon where the mountains disappeared into the snowfall.
"I just want to see her face."
The wind moved quietly between them, cold and sharp against their skin.
"I want to lie on her lap while she holds my face..." A small smile touched his lips, gentle and almost boyish. "That’s enough for me."
Because he had already lived through losing her once.
He had already held Catherine in another lifetime while the light slowly disappeared from her eyes. He still remembered the helplessness of it—the warmth leaving her body while he could do nothing except hold her tighter, as though love alone could force fate to change its mind.
And this time... he did not want to survive her again. He wanted her beside him. He wanted her to handle his funeral instead. He wanted her to grieve for him.
Silence followed. Complete silence.
Bobby physically recoiled. "What the hell... It was just a fantasy," he muttered, deeply disturbed.
Jonathan looked equally unsettled.
William slowly dragged a hand down his face as though he had finally realized the full extent of what his sister was dealing with.
Only Alexander stayed quiet.
He simply watched Maximilian.
And suddenly... everything made sense.
The obsession. The terrifying patience. The unwavering devotion.
The way Maximilian looked at Catherine as though loving her was as natural as breathing itself.
This man was not merely in love with their sister. He was gone for her. Hopelessly. Completely. Terrifyingly gone.
And strangely enough... that realization made the brothers trust him more.
Because a man like that would burn the world down before he ever let Catherine get hurt.
Maximilian simply smiled.
Yeah... For him... that truly was a fantasy.
He checked his phone again.
Of course, he had satellite connectivity.
There was no way he would allow Catherine to suffer in silence if the bracelet acted up and left her writhing in pain somewhere far from him.
But she had not called.
Something still stung faintly in his chest at that realization, though he forced himself to let it go.
Instead, Maximilian leaned back against the truck and watched the Preston brothers together.
William and Bobby were arguing over politics again. Jonathan was making sarcastic remarks while pretending not to care. Alexander stood beside them with that rare relaxed smile on his face, occasionally throwing in dry comments that made the others curse at him.
They laughed loudly. Interrupted each other constantly. Mocked one another without restraint. Debated current events as though they were world leaders solving international crises beside a dead deer and camping gear.
Every single one of them had different opinions. Different personalities. Different priorities.
But as Maximilian quietly observed them, he realized something important.
Family was their baseline.
Every decision they made somehow circled back to family.
And while each brother fiercely prioritized his own wife and children first, there was still a larger sense of belonging beneath it all. A community. A united front.
No matter how much they bickered, at the end of the day, they were all simply Prestons standing under the same umbrella.
And God...
Maximilian loved it.
He could barely contain the strange warmth spreading through him at the thought that one day, he would truly belong here too.
They returned home, but Alexander suddenly insisted on buying a new grill for his cabin patio so they could cook the meat they had hunted.
When William casually offered to lend him his own grill instead, Alexander looked personally offended.
"I’m a married man now," he said coldly, as though that explained everything. "Why would I borrow another man’s grill?"
And immediately, Maximilian knew Catherine’s earlier words had gotten to him.
You didn’t even have the nerve to house her in that dump of yours, did you?
Alexander had absolutely taken that personally.
So naturally, all five grown men somehow ended up stopping at a nearby outdoor supply store.
And for some reason, every single one of them suddenly remembered things they "needed" for their homes.
A grill became patio furniture. Patio furniture became outdoor heaters. Outdoor heaters became hunting equipment, whiskey stones, handcrafted knives, fishing rods, coolers, and an industrial smoker Bobby absolutely did not need but claimed would "change his life."
By the time the sun dipped, they had spent several thousand dollars and occupied half the parking lot with their purchases.
And somehow... every one of them looked satisfied.
Maximilian stood beside Bobby’s truck while they loaded the last of the boxes into the back. He could still hear the brothers arguing about charcoal versus wood pellets.
Then suddenly...
THUD. THUD. THUD.
The sound of helicopters cut through the evening air. Powerful searchlights swept across the parking lot, blinding white against the evening dark.
The brothers froze.
Wind exploded around them as multiple helicopters hovered overhead. Then came the deafening roar from loudspeakers.
"FBI! EVERYONE GET DOWN ON THE GROUND!"
The peaceful evening shattered instantly into chaos.
Before any of them could even properly react, armed agents stormed the parking lot from black armored vehicles that had appeared alongside the helicopters.
"ON THE GROUND!"
"NOW!"
Red laser sights swept across their bodies.
Bobby cursed loudly as he was shoved face-first against the truck. William immediately raised both hands, his expression darkening in fury. Jonathan instinctively moved toward Alexander, only for two agents to pin his arms back.
Maximilian’s eyes sharpened dangerously.
He could have resisted.
Every instinct in him screamed to retaliate.
But the moment he saw the number of rifles pointed toward the brothers, he slowly lowered himself to one knee instead, hands visible.
The Preston brothers all carried firearms.
"DISARM THEM!"
Agents swarmed forward. Guns were ripped from holsters. Hunting knives confiscated. One of the agents roughly shoved William flatter against the asphalt when he tried to ask what was going on.
"What the hell is this?" Bobby barked. "Do you people know who we are?"
No answer came.
Instead—
Alexander was suddenly grabbed.
Hard.
Two agents seized him by both arms and dragged him away from the others.
"What are you doing?" Alexander demanded, struggling once before stopping himself. "On what charges?"
"MOVE!"
"Alexander!" Jonathan shouted furiously.
William tried to rise and immediately got a boot shoved between his shoulders.
"Stay down!"
Maximilian’s expression changed instantly.
Cold.
Lethal.
Not fear.
Calculation.
Because this was not a random operation.
This was targeted.
Specifically targeted at Alexander.
"Where are you taking him?" Maximilian asked calmly, his voice carrying over the chaos.
No one answered him.
That silence alone told him everything he needed to know.
Alexander twisted his head back toward them as agents forced him toward one of the armored vehicles.
"Call Roxana," he ordered sharply. "Don’t let her panic."
Then one of the agents slammed his head down hard enough against the vehicle to shut him up.
Bobby exploded. "HEY!"
The brothers all struggled at once now, fury overtaking reason.
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