Chapter 21 No self-control
Veronica's POV:
As I heard a calm, masculine voice call out my name, it broke the spell that was going between me and Max.
“Veronica…”
His voice... was deep, calm... unmistakably Theo’s.
My entire body froze.
My heart stopped, then started again in a frantic rhythm. It pounded in a way that made my breath catch.
I turned sharply, my eyes wide, and I instinctively moved a few steps away from where Max stood.
I looked over my shoulder to gaze at Theo... standing by the doorway in his crisp white shirt, his expression a mixture of confusion and disbelief.
His green eyes flicked between Max and me, trying to piece together the scene in front of him.
For a heartbeat, no one spoke. The silence was deafening.
Then, Theo broke it.
“Why are you here, Veronica?” he asked.
I could barely swallow. “I... I was just...” I stammered, stepping back instinctively, putting some more space between myself and Max.
My skin still burned in the area where Max had touched me.
Max was watching me now with an expression that was unreadable... somewhere between amusement, guilt, and something far too raw to name.
Theo’s gaze turned to his brother. His posture straightened, his calmness slipping just slightly. “Max… don’t tell me you’re bothering her again. I told you not to nag her...”
Max lifted his hands in mock surrender, flashing a lazy grin that didn’t reach his eyes. “No, brother. Definitely not bothering her,” he said smoothly, his voice dripping with his usual playful charm that barely masked the tension. “Just talking. Nothing more.”
But his eyes... those piercing, conflicted blue eyes... told a different story. He was clearly hurt, hiding it well.
Before I could say anything to clear the air, Theo was already by my side. He stepped close, his presence was steady and grounding. The contrast between them couldn’t have been sharper... Theo’s calm control against Max’s wild chaos.
Theo reached out and placed a gentle hand on my shoulder, his voice softening as he looked at me. “Come on, Veronica. Let’s get back to our project work. Don’t waste your time with him.”
Then, in a gesture that made my stomach twist with guilt, he leaned in and pressed a brief kiss to my cheek... which was innocent, affectionate… and completely in the wrong moment.
My body went still.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw it... the flicker of fire that ignited in Max’s gaze.
His playful smirk disappeared, his jaw clenched, and his whole posture stiffened like a man restraining himself from breaking something.
That one small kiss... which was so harmless, so familiar... seemed to light an inferno in the space between the two brothers.
Theo turned to grab my laptop from the desk, the same desk where, moments ago, I’d been standing next to it... beside Max, tracing the ink and scars on his skin.
I wanted to say something... anything... to diffuse the sudden tension and come out clean with the two brothers... but my throat refused to work.
“Let’s go,” Theo said, his hand brushing my arm as he guided me toward the door.
I followed numbly, my feet moving, but my thoughts trapped somewhere behind me... in the blue fire of Max’s stare.
As we walked out, I couldn’t help glancing back.
Max was still standing where I’d left him, his hair tousled, his tattoos half-hidden under the dim light.
But his expression… God, it broke something inside me.
He wasn’t angry at that moment... not fully. He looked… shattered. Like the ground had been pulled from beneath him.
His lips parted slightly as if he wanted to say something, but no words came from him.
And I knew he understood. He knew what had just happened... that I’d chosen to walk away with Theo, right after kissing him.
Theo, too, who had no idea that just a minute ago, his brother’s lips had been pressed against mine.
As we stepped out into the hallway, I could still feel Max’s gaze burning into my back — which was unrelenting, and full of something like a heartbreak.
Theo kept his arm around me, steady and warm, whispering something about the project, about work, but I wasn’t able to concentrate.
My pulse was a mess, my mind a storm.
For the first time, the warmth I usually felt when Theo touched me wasn't helping me to stay clam — it was replaced by guilt that gnawed deep inside.
Because no matter how much I tried to tell myself otherwise, my heart wasn’t calm anymore.
It was divided... torn between two brothers who were both beginning to mean far too much to me.
And as I followed Theo down the hallway, pretending everything was fine, one thought kept echoing in my head:
What have I become?
Why was I messing with two men?!
This was too wrong of me. I knew I had to make a choice... for the sake of my own sanity, for the sake of morality, for what was right.
As Theo and I worked side by side, the rhythm of his typing, and hearing his calm voice offered a slight distraction from the storm that was brewing inside me.
He was focused, his bright green eyes were scanning the screen with that quiet intensity that just too adorable to look at.
Theo was peace. Logic. Everything a woman should want.
He had given me purpose again, trusted me when no one else did by giving me this partnership oppurtunity. Even my own father hadn't believed me this way!
So Theo should be the one for me... for sure.
And yet, the moment I realized that fact, a wave of guilt crushed me... as I was feeling half-empty inside.
If Theo was what I wanted... if he was everything right... then why did I even willingly kiss Max? Because even he was quiet this time, I was the one who pulled him...
Why did I have no self-control in me?