LOGINScarlett's POVIsla wasn't done."Preston deserves someone who actually belongs in this world," she said. "Someone who understands what this family is. There's already a person who's right for him. Someone who's been there for years. Not some agent who showed up six months ago and decided to make herself useful."She didn't say the name. She didn't have to.Someone who's been there for years.Something cold settled in my chest. I opened my mouth and then closed it again.I had a response ready a second ago and now I couldn't find it. The words were just gone."Isla."The voice came from behind me. Quiet, even, and completely cold.I turned around.Preston had come down the side path, his wheelchair moving at a pace that made it clear he hadn't been strolling.He stopped a few feet away and looked at his cousin with an expression I hadn't seen on him before. Not angry exactly. Something past that. Something contained and very deliberate."What are you doing?" he said.Isla's whole post
Scarlett's POVI told Preston I'd go to the dinner.But I had a condition."The tournament filming," I said. "I want full access. Behind the scenes, pregame, everything. If I'm going to show up at your family's house and play the part, I need something in return.""So you'll come to dinner," he said, "but only if I let your cameras follow my team around.""That's the deal.""Scarlett." His voice dropped into something warmer. "You could have just asked.""I'm asking. With terms."He laughed. Low and easy. "Okay. Deal."That was it.No negotiation, no pushback. I'd expected at least some resistance, some back-and-forth, something I could push against.Instead he just looked at me with that expression and agreed without blinking, like he'd give me whatever I asked for .I did not handle it gracefully.I said something like "okay, good" and hung up and walked straight back to my car before my face could do anything embarrassing. I sat in the driver's seat and didn't start the engine.I j
Scarlett's POVIt took less than ten minutes for everything to hit the trending page.I was still in the arena when Sarah texted me the first screenshot. The Silver Reapers' win was trending.The video was trending. Pierce's name was trending, and not in any way that was going to help him. By the time I got to my car, Madison's name had climbed above his.Sarah sent another update twenty minutes later. Pierce Sterling's company stock had dropped eleven percent in after-hours trading. The drop was still moving.I pulled up my own company's numbers.They were going the other direction. The Silver Reapers' win had something to do with it, the investment narrative had shifted fast once the final buzzer went off and people started connecting the dots.But the rest of it was the video and everything that followed, the confrontation, the screen, Pierce standing in the middle of a packed arena trying to win me back in front of several thousand people and a few hundred active phone cameras.I
Scarlett's POVPierce was over her, his hands pinned into the mattress, muscles rippling with every heavy, rhythmic thrust.Madison was beneath him, her hair a wild halo against the white sheets, her legs locked tightly around his waist as if she were trying to pull him into her soul.Then, the sound hit.The stadium’s high-fidelity subwoofers caught every wet sound, every ragged breath, and transmitted them with a booming, predatory clarity."Pierce... please," Madison’s voice cracked through the arena, sounding both tiny and god-like in its amplification. She sounded breathless, her head lolling back as she surrendered to him. "God, don't stop. Right there... please."Pierce didn't answer with words at first, only a low, guttural groan that vibrated through the floorboards of the stadium. He leaned down, his lips brushing her ear, his voice a dark, possessive rasp that everyone in the nosebleed seats could hear."You're mine, Maddy," he growled, his pace quickening, his breathing be
Scarlett's POVI heard Madison's voice before I fully turned around.She was still somewhere in the crowd, the same sharp, disbelieving tone she'd used when the final buzzer went off.I found her near the glass, Pierce at her side, both of them watching the Silver Reapers celebrate on the ice with expressions that didn't know what to do with themselves.I walked over.Madison saw me coming and pulled herself together fast. Her chin went up. Her expression shifted into something cooler, more composed.I stopped a few feet away and looked at her calmly."Congratulations to the Silver Reapers," I said. "Must be disappointing.""They got lucky," she said. "That's all that was.""Was it?" I kept my voice even. "Or did you tamper with their equipment and mess with the ice surface and they still won anyway?"Madison's mouth opened. Then closed."I don't know what you're talking about," she said."Sure you don't." I tilted my head slightly. "Because you were so certain they'd lose. You said i
Preston's POVThe second period was harder. The Wolves were physical and disciplined and they knew what they were doing.But the gaps I'd called were there, and Jake hit three of them.We traded goals back and forth, both teams playing at the edge of what they had, and going into the third period we were tied at five.Then, with about nine minutes left, Cody went down.He didn't get hit. He just took a stride and his leg went out from under him, awkward and sudden, and he caught himself on the boards before he fell. He skated to the bench slowly, favoring the ankle, and I came over."What happened?""I don't know." He looked down at his skate, flexed his foot. "Something feels wrong in the boot. Like it's moving when it shouldn't."I looked at the skate.The blade housing was loose on one side.Not completely, just enough that it was shifting under pressure.I looked at Tyler. He checked his own skate without being asked.Then Jake.Jake held his up and showed me the same thing on the
Scarlett’sPOVI stood frozen, my brain struggling to process what Preston had just said.Marry her? Within three months? Was he insane?The reporters were practically climbing over each other now,
Preston’sPOVThe door to my office swung open, and my assistant walked in—the same guy who'd greeted Scarlett at the front desk earlier.He had this stupid grin on his face, like he knew something
Scarlett’sPOVThe reporters pounced like sharks smelling blood in the water."Ms.Huntington, you just admitted your PR team coached you on how to manipulate public sympathy. Can you explain that?"
Scarlett’s POVThe kiss caught me completely off guard. I shoved him away hard."What the hell are you doing?" I demanded."Just collecting interest on my investment."Before I could even process that, he pulled me back in. This time it was a full French kiss, his tongue sliding past my lips.He wa







