•If looks could kill, by now he should've been dead flat on the floor, face-first and choking on his own blood.Veronica stared at the guy sitting on the edge of the bed, watching her with a frown, his dark brows furrowing at her weak attempt to seem totally unemotional at the moment. Despite the worsening pain, embarrassment, and compounding anxiety making her chest hurt like a bitch, she had to put on a straight face. At this point, her pride and what little self-respect she had left just forced her to show him anything but weakness. 1. She had already made the effort. "Efforts" to be exact.2. She had swallowed her damn pride more than twice and flew all the way out here for him. Just for him.3. She also used work as an excuse just to see  him and talk to him again because he'd been avoiding her like the darn

× WARNING! × × GRAPHIC CONTENT NOT INTENDED FOR YOUNG READERS × × READ AT YOUR OWN RISK ×   •   It might have been half an hour ago when she stepped into the bathroom to wash up.  She had to get rid of the unmistakable smell of sex and his familiar scent that was stuck on her skin. To her surprise, Théo followed her inside the bathroom to check on her.  Maybe to make sure she wasn't going to throw up again or anything.  A mild frown made his lips pout as he stood by the sink, his muscular arms partly covered by his shirt. Although she was still having a hard time moving on from the total mess that just happened back on the bed, Veronica let him linger while she washed up in the tub with her feet bare and her hair in a loose bun.  She had to crumple the hem of her thin dress below her navel while she watched the faucet run. When s

7 days left• Rome, Italy •It wasn't supposed to be Raffaele.  The agency didn't say that the son was the target.  Well, the guy was one of the subjects of interest, but Théo certainly recalled he wasn't tasked to dig up dirt on Raffaele Valtieri that would put the guy in jail or prison.He wasn't supposed to focus on Raffaele, but now he felt absolutely triggered to find enough incriminating evidence to rattle the jerk's cages.Although his mission objectives didn't say he should focus on Raffaele Valtieri and temprorarily put the magnifying glass away from Hugo, the patriarch, Théo now felt compelled to keep investigating into Raffaele's recent affairs.  He had to gather evidence to prove that the Valtieri heir wasn't the squeaky-clean golden boy or the overachieving firstborn his family portrayed him to be.His gut feeling wasn't enough.  Gillaume's bosses didn't care fo

•  Rome, Italy •Her attempt at humor didn't make him laugh or crack a half-meant grin.  Not even for a split-second. Even after they'd had breakfast thanks to room service, Veronica  could tell his mood hadn't shifted for the better.  She was merely poking fun at his drab behavior earlier, but, it seemed her ex took it as an insult or something. Maybe he now thought it was her way of telling him what happened the previous night was nothing but another mindless one-night stand.  It kinda was, but...she definitely didn't feel like what they shared was just a night of plain stupidity and senseless sex.She particularly felt last night was more than that when he brought it up half an hour ago, and then apologized for having been "too rough" again in bed.  It wasn't entirely accurate, but she appreciated his honesty and apology.Strange that he was acting like it was the first time they'd had sex...instead

•A concrete barrier. Gray, thick, solid, and almost murderous.For about a second or two, she imagined it would be the end.  Their untimely demise.  How their life stories would be written off... It took her breath away, seeing it all happen before their eyes.  She just didn't think a boring stretch of cement would almost end her and her baby's life today—instead of the loaded gun she held the first minute she'd woken up. Nor did she imagine she would get into a car accident with Théo behind the wheel...and in a foreign country, at that.  He never drove recklessly.  Never. This morning, though, he was just distracted all throughout, acting oddly rattled by something  and the mere sight of that SUV tailing them eventually became too much for him to handle.  Veronica exhaled a delayed sigh of relief amid the numbing shock.  Her unease doubled as she