Maxwell POV

The lawyer’s words echoed in my head long after I left his office. “Maybe you should get close to Victoria. Play her game. It could buy you time.”

Close to Victoria? As if that was a choice. As if Amelia wouldn’t see straight through it, wouldn’t feel the betrayal bleeding out of my skin the second I tried.

No. I couldn’t do that. Not to her. Not to her.

I sank into the chair in my study, the dim light casting long shadows across the desk. Papers lay ...