Master of his heart (Brielle and Max)

Max nodded, his eyes lingering on her lips before he chuckled softly. "Still got a headache?" Brielle, a bit slow to catch on, looked away, feeling a tinge of embarrassment. "You should go." "Will you reach out to me?"

"Yeah."

A small smile played on Max's lips as he extended a finger. "Keep it on the down-low?"

Standing by the window, Brielle hooked her pinkie with his. "Yeah."

Max withdrew his hand, feeling as if a weight had been lifted off his chest.

Brielle stayed put, watching the car slowly drive away. It took a moment for her to snap back to reality, patting her cheeks gently. She hadn't met anyone easier to cheer up than Max.

As Patrick drove, he glanced at Max through the rearview mirror. Max's eyes had a certain glow, and a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.

Patrick sighed in relief. Had Max really been cheered up?

Patrick couldn't help but smile himself. People often said Max was just a businessman, indifferent to emotions. But Patrick always thought that was exactly why Max didn't overthink things like other men, who saw showing vulnerability as a sign of weakness.

To harvest flowers, you need to plant seeds. If you plant cacti, you'll only get thorns. In a relationship, if both people just try to conquer and control, neither will be happy. Love needs vulnerability, a desire to protect, and an eagerness to please.

But Max didn't care about any of that, so he was always

heart racing. Only when the car was out of sight did she lean against a nearby tree, her legs trembling from standing

his car, looking at the strand of hair wrapped around

the person next to him. "Get a DNA test done, compare it with

took

tapped his

the window frame,

under your watch. Nol

Keep the whole

shadowy figure nodded and made a gesture, assuring Dustin of his

but his eyes were ruthless.

again

look in his eyes. "Beaconsfield, quite

car was filled with a chill, but neither the

looked at the spot

the hair had been,

have you been