Anger

That was all Max felt when seeing his little lamb struggling against the man holding her. The tears falling down her face was all it took for him to reach his tipping point. And that's a bad thing for a man who is known for his anger.

Within a second of seeing his girl, he had quickly put his car in park and bolted out of the car straight towards the man and yanking Stella to safety in his arms.

He could tell she was not comfortable as to how stiff she was while in his arm. It wasn't until she heard his voice did she finally relax in Max's arms.

"It's alright man," the man previously holding his little lamb said casually, "My girl and I were just having a little bit of fun, so why don't you mind your own and keep walking."

If looks could kill, this man would have been dead in seconds from the glare Max was currently sending him.

"Your girl?" Max chuckled as he put Stella behind him and slowly walked closer to the man, "She's not your girl. She's mine. And you just put your hands on her, so now, me and you have an issue."

At this point, Max was in this man's face, ready for him to try to do something stupid just so he could knock this man out.

With a slight smirk and a chuckle, the man looked at Stella from behind Max and said, "Amelia invited us over so I'll see you at home sweetheart."

The man winked at his girl and that was all it took for Max to grab him roughly by his collar and pull him close to his face.

"I swear to fucking god, I will kill you if you ever come near her again," Max threatened. One could probably see steam coming out of his ears with the amount of anger in him in that moment.

"Max," Stella's soft voice broke through his anger as she lightly gripped his arm to grab his attention. He looked back at her and saw her scared and tired eyes and started to relax a bit, "he is not worth it."

Max looked at the man in front of him before shoving him back, "This is your only chance to walk away unscathed."

With one last smirk at the pair, he turned to walk away, "I'll see you later sweetheart."

Max started to go after him again but was held back by his little lamb holding onto him for dear life, "Please Maxie, I want to go home."

With a sigh, he pulled her into a hug and kissed her head as she held onto his shirt so tightly, afraid he'd disappear at any moment.

"Let get out of here, okay?" she nodded at his softly words and he slowly led her to his car.

They sat in a peaceful quiet as Max drove. Stella was trying to digest what had just occurred and how she's going into the same situation at home if what John said was true. She had texted Amelia about it and all she received was a thumbs up on her message. While she didn't know what that specifically meant, she dreaded the worst.

Max quietness was stemmed from his anger. He sat there clenching his jaw as he tried to calm down. He was afraid to take Stella home after the man's words and now he was trying to figure out his next move.

Stella was finally brought out of her own head when she didn't recognize the buildings outside to be anywhere near her own home.

"Where are we going?"

With his jaw still clenched, Max spit out, "Home."

"This isn't the way to my house," Stella voice was laced with confusion.

Max hummed in response.

"Max. Where are we going?"

"My house."

"Why are we going there?"

"Because I am not going to take you to a place where he is just going to show up again," Max spit out in anger,  "I refuse to put you in another situation where you are uncomfortable or unsafe, so you will be staying at mine."

Stella was too stunned to speak in that moment. She wasn't sure if his anger was directed at her or the situation at hand, but she leaning more towards the latter.

"It's fine Max, just take me home," she said innocently, not wanting to be more or a nuisance then she already has been tonight.

"Too late," He mumbled before he got out of the car and quickly made his way to the passenger side to open the door for her.

As Stella stepped out, she looked at an apartment that was nice, too nice for someone like her. She knew he made money, but she could never had imagined that he made this much money.

"I can't stay here," she stuttered out her last bit of resistance, but was cut off very quickly.

With a roll of his eyes, Max reached down and picked her and threw her over his shoulder, "It wasn't necessarily a choice, love."

It took a second for the girl to get over her shock, but she quickly started struggling and wiggling against Max's hold and hitting against his back in frustration, "Let me go!"

"Nope," he stated shortly.

She kept hitting his back and it didn't take long for Max to loosen his arms and for her to slowly start falling. She let out a slight screech as she saw the ground get closer to her, but her fall was stopped and she quickly wrapped her arms around Max's waist.

"Why would you do that?" Stella asked, her heart racing as the man holding he upside down chuckled at her.

"You had to learn your lesson somehow," He said like it was obvious, "Now, are you going to be a good girl and stop struggling?"

She didn't respond but she did, in fact, stop struggling.

Max carried the girl up to his house with a smile on his face. His anger now completely desolate from what it was in the car. Something about this girl made him calm. Never in his life has anyway been able to get his blood rushing as quickly, and at the same time, calm him down as easily as she does.

She was the thunder before the lightning, yet the sun rays breaking through the clouds at the end of a storm.