Chapter 6 Twisted Alliance's

Veronica's POV

Julian Ward.

I didn't know his name, not until Damien whispered it the next morning like it was a curse. But I knew the moment I saw him this wasn't a stranger.

This was a threat.

He stood in the doorway like he owned the oxygen, smug, poised, expensive in a way that reeked of entitlement and danger. His black tailored suit clung like sin, and his smile could gut a person if they weren't careful. A predator in polished shoes.

"Sharing already, Damien?" he repeated, stepping further inside. "That's so unlike you."

Damien's body stiffened beside me.

I sat up, the silk sheet pulled tight against my chest. My heart beating in my ribcage as I glanced between them.

They knew each other.

They hated each other.

"You weren't invited," Damien said, voice cool but lethal. "Leave. Now."

Julian's eyes flicked to me, and for a breathless second, I felt naked in the most dangerous way.

"Is this her?" Julian asked, walking a slow circle around the room, taking in the disheveled sheets, the collar around my throat, the fading blush on my skin. "The one you broke your silence for? The girl you branded?"

He smirked. "Interesting."

Damien moved. Not rushed, but precise. Controlled rage. He placed himself between Julian and the bed.

"She's off limits."

"You don't get to make the rules anymore, Damien. Not with her. Not with me. Not after Geneva."

My pulse stumbled.

Geneva?

Damien's jaw flexed, but he didn't respond. He didn't deny it.

Whatever Geneva was...it mattered.

Julian's gaze returned to me, more curious than cruel now. "Has he told you the truth yet? About what happened? About what he does to women like you?"

I swallowed hard, sitting straighter.

"She knows what matters," Damien said. "The rest is none of your business."

"Then she doesn't know enough."

Julian turned on his heel, that smug grin still playing on his lips. "She'll come to me, Damien. They always do. You make them desperate. I make them feel."

And just like that, he walked out.

The door clicked shut.

But the damage remained.

---

Damien's POV

Julian's presence was like acid corrosive and impossible to ignore. I wanted to hunt him down, silence him, rip the arrogance out of his smile.

But I had bigger problems now.

Veronica sat quietly on the bed, the sheet still clutched to her chest. Her eyes tracked me like I was the danger now.

And maybe I was.

"He's trying to rattle you," I said.

She nodded slowly. "It worked."

I sighed, rubbing a hand down my jaw. I'd meant to keep her away from Julian. From the world he and I used to rule together.

But I'd underestimated her.

And him.

"What happened in Geneva?" she asked.

Of course.

"A mistake," I said flatly. "One that nearly cost lives."

"Julian said-"

"Julian says what he thinks will make you doubt me. He's not interested in truth, Veronica. He's interested in winning."

She stared at me a long moment, then stood, the sheet slipping slightly. But her voice was steady.

"Are you going to tell me what I just signed up for, Damien? Or am I supposed to find out from men like him?"

I hated the weight in her voice. The disappointment. The fear.

She wasn't just a submissive.

She was someone I'd dragged into a war.

I moved to her, gently touching the collar still wrapped around her neck.

"What you signed was a contract between you and me," I said. "But the world I live in-it has predators worse than me. Julian is one of them."

She lifted her chin. "And you're better?"

I didn't lie.

"No. But I'm yours. And I protect what's mine."

---

Veronica's POV

The next day was a blur.

No commands. No punishments. Just a strange silence that wrapped around the mansion like fog. Damien vanished into his private office. I stayed in the suite.

But my mind wouldn't rest.

Geneva. Julian. Whatever past they shared-it was poison.

That night, a note arrived under my door.

Midnight. East Wing. Do not tell him. – J

I stared at it, the ink burned into my brain.

Was it a trap?

Definitely.

But I needed answers. And maybe, I needed to remember who I was before Damien. A woman who didn't wait to be told what to do.

At 11:59, I slipped out.

---

Julian's POV

She came.

Of course she did.

Veronica Blake was many things, but passive wasn't one of them.

She walked into the east wing like she had something to prove. Her hair loose. Her jaw tight.

Good.

She hadn't been fully claimed yet.

Which meant she was still... bendable.

"You disobeyed," I said, stepping out from the shadows.

She crossed her arms. "I didn't agree to obey you."

I smiled. "No. But Damien thinks you belong to him. He doesn't share well."

She hesitated. "Why did you really come here, Julian?"

I stepped closer, lowering my voice to a whisper.

"Because I know what he did to Geneva. And because I see you. You're not like the others. He'll ruin you trying to make you his. But me? I'll ruin you because I want you whole."

Her breath caught.

Good.

"Ask him what he did. Ask him how Geneva ended up in a hospital for six months. Ask him who walked away."

She stared at me, lips parting.

"And if I don't believe you?"

I leaned in, my breath against her cheek.

"Then come back tomorrow night. Let me show you what it's like to choose instead of obey."

She didn't say yes.

But she didn't say no.

And that... was enough.

---

Veronica's POV

I returned to my room with my heart in my throat.

The collar was still on the vanity.

But I didn't put it back on.

Not yet.

Because Julian was right about one thing:

I had no idea what Damien was capable of.

And suddenly, I wasn't sure who I could trust anymore.

Not even myself.