Veraciously Yours,

Javier Carlsen, the son of the legendary chess grandmaster Gander Carlsen, has lived his life in the shadow of his father's brilliance-and his countless scorned lovers. Raised by Gander alone, life was no walk in the park. Javier was his "golden son," groomed for greatness, but that golden boy was only a pawn in a game of power and manipulation. His father's empire was built on cold strategy, but the lines of betrayal were longer than Javier ever could have imagined.

Zeva Hayek, a force of nature, was no stranger to pain and revenge. Fueled by the desire to get back at Gander for the lies and deceit he'd woven into her life, Zeva was ready to strike when the time was right. And when she found the perfect way to exact her vengeance, she didn't hesitate. She took the one thing that meant most to Gander: His son. Javier.

Kidnapped, tortured, and pushed to the edge of his own limits, Javier is forced into a brutal and twisted battle of dominance with Zeva. It's a vicious power play-a clash of wills and desires that ignites a fire neither of them expected. Every moment is a game of control and destruction, a war waged through hate and raw need. They're both playing their own twisted versions of chess, only the stakes are higher and the moves more dangerous.

But beneath the hatred, beneath the dominance, something shifts. They begin to wonder-could there be more to this connection than just pain and revenge? What if what they needed most was what they already had-each other? The question lingers, as does the tension-could they survive the game they've started, or will it consume them both?

Tenth Book of the V-Series
A Stand-Alone Novel.