Slinging her backpack over her shoulder she adjusts the straps before giving her co-workers a smile as she steps out from behind the workspace.

"I'll see you guys in a couple of days." (Y/n) says as she waves to her co-workers.

"Be safe!" One of them yells.

"I'll try my absolute best!" (Y/n) says before stepping out the café, she stops in her track when she spots Max leaning against one of them any sports cars he owns, his hands were buried in his pockets as he waited for her, sunglasses covered his eyes, but she could feel his eyes almost staring through her soul. "What are you doing here?" She stops a few feet away from him.

"Picking you up from work," Max says as an almost cocky smile spreads across his lips, she licks her lips as she adjusts the strap on her shoulder. "I'm also taking you to the beach."

"The beach?" (Y/n) asks as she stares at him with disbelief. "Right now?" They hadn't gone to the beach the previous day when he had taken her to the aquarium, they had spent too much time walking through the exhibits and time had gone by too quickly, and he had taken her home, promising to take her another time.

"Why not?" Max asks as he removes his hands from his pocket, he pushes himself off his car and takes a step towards her.

"You're wearing a suit and I'm in my work clothes." (Y/n) states. "We're not dressed to go to the beach." Max softly chuckles and licks his lips.

"I don't mind a little dirt," Max says and reaches for her backpack. "I heard the sunset is supposed to be a sight to see." He takes hold of the strap from her bag and pulls it down her arm. "You should witness at least one sunset in Velours." (Y/n) opens her mouth to protest, but no words came out. "Come." Max opens the passenger side door for her. "I'll take you home afterwards."

"I hope you mean my home, not yours." (Y/n) says as she steps towards his car.

"Your apartment," Max says, she stops in front of the door about the climb in. "Unless you want to come home with me instead." She turns to look at him with wide eyes. "I'm joking, go on, get in, we don't have all afternoon." (Y/n) lets out a sigh and climbs into the car, he hands her the backpack he took from her and she placed it on her lap after putting on her safety belt, he closes the door and walks around the car and climbs in.

"Have you seen the sunset at the beach?" (Y/n) asks as he drives away from the café, he glanced at her before focusing on the road ahead.

"No.," Max says sharply. "I'm sure my mother took me when I was a child, but I don't remember it." (Y/n) nods her head, she didn't know much about his family, what had happened to his mother? What about his father? He hasn't talked much about himself, only asked questions about her.

"You don't talk much about them." (Y/n) says. "Now that I think about it, you've mostly asked me questions about my life, but you never talk about yours." She could see his jaw clenching for a moment before the muscles relaxed, her eyes move to his hands gripping the steering wheel.

"I prefer hearing about you," Max says. "But I'll tell you about them in the future." (Y/n) nods her head and looks ahead of her, deciding to rather not push him, he'll talk when he was ready, soon enough he pulls into a parking space near the beach and cuts the engine, he climbs out the car and walks around to open her door, only for her to step out the car, he waits for her to step away from the car before closing the door and locking his car. "Let me carry that for you." He takes her bag and slings it over his shoulder.

"You don't have to." (Y/n) says as she pulls at the shirt she wore.

"I don't mind," Max says, they approach the beach before stopping to remove their shoes, once she steps onto the warm sand her feet sink into the golden coloured sand.

"Just don't run away with it." (Y/n) jokingly says as he steps onto the sand, the sand almost feeling foreign underneath them, it had been years since he last stepped foot on the beach.

"I don't plan on going anywhere," Max says as they approach the water. "Have you ever been to the beach?" Canridge didn't have a shoreline, which made him curious if she had ever seen the ocean.

"Once." (Y/n) says. "Many years ago, I remember the crystal clear water, it was absolutely beautiful." Max nods his head. "It was just that one time, we never went again after that."

"Why not?" Max asks, the cold water spills over their feet as they reach the ocean, she shrugs as she looks down at the water.

"I don't know, they never gave me a reason and I never bothered to ask." (Y/n) says. "Could have been a money issue, could have been something else." Max slightly frowns. "But it's okay, I'm at a beach now." The sun slowly begins to disappear, the golden rays falling onto her skin, making her almost glow.

"I hope you can stay in Velours," Max says as he watched her, she looks up from the ground to look at him. "It would be a loss to not only me but Velours as well." She could feel blood rushing to her cheeks. "A beautiful face like yours would be missed."

"Now you're just talking nonsense." (Y/n) says as she turns her head away from him to look at the sun, he stops and takes hold of her wrist, stopping her in her tracks, he pulls her back and turns his body to face her.

"Don't insult me like that," Max says. "Many of the women in Velours would kill to have your natural beauty." She looks past him, trying to avoid eye contact with him. "Avoiding eye contact won't make me change my mind about you."

"I've seen the women in Velours, they're beautiful, Max." (Y/n) says. "I'm not even close to them."

"Yet I chose to take you to the beach with me," Max says. "You're the one that caught my eye, and I'm not the only one that's looking at you." She meets his eyes. "I've seen other men looking at you, admiring you from afar." But they wouldn't dare make a move, especially not knowing that Max had taken an interest in her, yet all the enemies he's made would love nothing more than to touch her, ruin her and kill her for the sake of revenge, When those words left his lips, all she could do was stare at him, blinking at him, obviously refusing to believe that and he knows, he could practically see what was running through her mind. "We might not know much about each other, and we might have only met a week ago, but I can't help but feel attracted to you."

"I, uh." (Y/n) stutters, her mind practically freezing up at his words.

"I can't help but miss your company when you're not near," Max says. "I find your presence calming, and the heavens know how long it has been since I've felt that." She searched his eyes for lies, looked over his face, searching for a sign that he was lying, but couldn't find anything. "If you're looking for a sign that I'm lying, I'm not." He lifts his other hand and gently caresses her cheek, he brings the hand he was holding up to his neck, he placed her fingers against the skin. "My heartbeat won't lie to you." She could feel his pulse underneath her fingers. "You're beautiful, no other women in Velours can compare, I enjoy your company and I hope to heaven and hell that you don't have to leave Velours at the end of the year." How was she supposed to respond? She found him attractive, but she didn't think that in a million years that he would find her beautiful, his fingers trail down her cheek before settling underneath her chin. "Tell me to stop if you don't want me to continue." His hand releases
her hand that was on his neck, his arm wraps around her lower back and pulls her flat against him, his lips brushed against hers, kissing her passionately.

For the first time, Max wasn't paying attention to his surroundings, which had made it easy for his enemies to spot him on the beach with (Y/n), giving them an idea for a plan. "He's got himself a bitch." The sinister smirk spread across the man's face as he watched Max lean in and press a kiss to (Y/n)'s lips. "And we're about to take advantage of it."