I rescued her from the fatal fire and I should have told someone, but I chose to keep her for myself instead.
MAX I don’t hesitate. I don’t question orders. And I don’t leave loose ends behind. That’s how Station 9 survives. But the night everything burns, something goes wrong. She’s still inside.
Evangeline Clark. She wasn’t part of the plan. She wasn’t supposed to matter. And the second I pull her out of the flames… everything changes. I should walk away. Instead, I choose to keep her.
Hidden. Close. Under my control. Because the more I watch her… the more I want her. And I’ve never been good at letting go of something I want.
EVANGELINE I remember the fire that killed my husband. The heat. The smoke. The moment everything I knew disappeared. And then… her.
The woman who dragged me out of the flames and into something I don’t understand. Max Hale doesn’t ask. She takes. Space. Control. Attention.
Every time she looks at me, I feel it— that pull I shouldn’t trust, that tension I can’t ignore. I should be afraid of her. Maybe I am.
But when she steps closer… when her voice drops… when her touch lingers just a little too long— fear isn’t the thing I feel the most. And that might be the most dangerous part of all.
