LOGINVeronica's POV:"This is what I want... for you to lose yourself in me." Max growled.His hands gripped my hips harder, his breath hot against my neck, and I felt myself spiraling toward that edge where nothing else mattered except...CRASHThe sound of something heavy dropping outside the cabin shattered the moment like glass.We both froze.Nothing in the world could have interrupted us from that moment except for that. The noise was too loud to be an animal or the wind.Someone was out there.Max immediately pulled back, his body going rigid with tension, his protective instincts overriding everything else.He looked toward the door, his jaw clenched, eyes sharp and alert."Someone's really there," he said quietly, already moving away from me and reaching for his discarded clothes.My heart was pounding, but now it was from fear rather than arousal.The stalker. The anonymous messages. The person who'd been watching me at the carnival.Had they followed us here?"Max, wait..." I st
Veronica’s POV:“Not enough.” Max sounded rough, and it sent a strange shiver down my spine.I blinked at him, still slightly breathless from everything that had just happened, my back pressed lightly against the car.“What?” I asked.His eyes didn’t leave mine.“That,” he said, his thumb brushing slowly against my jaw, “was not enough.”My heart skipped.Before I could even process what he meant, he leaned closer, and God, he looked so dashing this way.“I’m not settling for moments like that anymore, Veronica,” he said. “I’m going to make you fall for me completely. Head over heels.”My breath caught.“There won’t be any confusion,” he continued, his gaze burning into mine. “ Passion is what you should feel for me, Veronica. I'll show you the depth of the pleasure. ""You think I'm not passionate?"" No. Not enough. ""That is quite insulting." I sighed. "I thought I was hot."" You don't have to try hard, " Max said. "I'll make you feel everything that you are currently suppressing
Veronica's POV:I stared at the message from my stalker, my blood boiling with a mixture of fear and anger.This was insane. I wasn't going to play along with some anonymous blackmailer who thought they could manipulate me with vague threats and promises of "truth."I typed furiously: I'm calling the police. This is harassment and blackmail. Stop contacting me.The response came immediately:Unknown Number: Go ahead. Call them. But you'll never know the vital information I have about Chase Pemberton. My fingers froze over the screen.Chase. This person had information about Chase.Me: What kind of information?Unknown Number: The kind that explains why he's so obsessed with you. The kind that might change everything you think you know about your family. About his family. A horrible thought occurred to me.What if the stalker was Chase himself? What if this was some twisted game he was playing, trying to manipulate me further, to get me alone somewhere?The thought made my skin crawl
Veronica's POV:It was dangerously easy to get lost in Max.That was the first thought that crossed my mind as our lips met.Max had a way of loving in an all-consuming way, it was visible in the way he gripped my waist tighter, his tongue went deeper into me deeper.All of his gestures said that he was safe with him, he would protect me until the end of the world.Knowing all this, but even as I kissed him back, even as I tried to feel what I was supposed to feel, my mind kept drifting to green eyes instead of blue.My phone buzzed in my pocket, breaking the moment."Sorry," I murmured against Max's lips, partly thanking my buzzing phone as I pulled back slightly. "Let me just check...""It can wait," Max said, trying to pull me back in.But something made me look. Some instinct that this wasn't just another news alert or social media notification.I pulled out my phone and felt my blood run cold.Unknown Number: You think Laura is your problem. You must know about your father.I sta
Veronica's POV:I had forgotten that it was possible to feel like this light, and unburdened by life's struggles.The laughter bubbling out of me felt so unfamiliar, almost foreign, as if it belonged to a younger version of myself I had lost somewhere along the way.For a brief moment… I was twelve again. Max did fulfill his promise by making me feel this way.The merry-go-round slowed to a stop, and I stepped off, still smiling, my fingers brushing over the painted horse I had been riding as if I wasn’t quite ready to let go of that feeling yet.“Is that all you’ve got?” Max shouted behind me, teasing me playfully. “Seriously, Just three rounds on a merry-go-round and you’re done having fun? ”I turned to him, narrowing my eyes playfully at him, though the smile still lingered on my lips.“Excuse me, that was not just three rounds,” I said, placing a hand on my hip. “That was a very important emotional reset.”He laughed softly, shaking his head.“Right. Very intense therapy session
Max's POV:Something was really wrong with Veronica.I could feel it in the way she sat beside me in the car, staring out the window with blank eyes. In the way her hand felt limp in mine, no squeeze back when I tried to offer comfort.This wasn't her. This wasn't the woman who'd stormed onto that stage to save me.Was she already having second thoughts? About us? About the choice Theo had forced on her last night?For fuck's sake, was she regretting it already?"Are you okay?" I asked, even though I knew the answer."I'm fine," Veronica said automatically, looking lifeless. "Just exhausted. All this drama, the press conference, everything. I'm tired."She trailed off, and I saw her eyes getting distant again."I miss my life when I was twelve," she said suddenly. "Everything was so peaceful then. Simple. I didn't have to worry about scandals or family feuds." She stopped herself. "I just miss being twelve.""You were practically just a child," I said gently."Yes," Veronica sighed. "
Veronica's POV:“That is enough,” my father thundered, his voice slicing through the café like a whip.Every muscle in my body locked. No matter how old I became, his tone still reduced me to that frightened little girl who could never do anything right.“I am tired of your drama, Veronica,” he spat
Veronica's POV:I waited for him to move, to take me further, but Theo froze… his jaw tight, his body trembling with want, yet his gaze steady with restraint.“Are you sure you want this right now, Veronica?” he asked quietly, looking at me with a mix of care and desire.His question stunned me. Tha
Veronica's POV:I was curled up like a ball on the bed, staring dazedly at the pillow beside me, too numb to get up and eat dinner… even though I knew Theo and Max were waiting.“Hey… Veronica…” I heard a knock on the door, followed by Theo’s calm voice. “I’m coming in. I figured you must be feeling
Veronica's POV:Just as I had feared, the first blow came fast — and it came hard from none other than my father.Three hours after the scandal leaked, my father had already sent a legal notice to Theo and Max, accusing them of kidnapping me and hiding me from my family.I stared at the P*F on my ph







