The Bull Prince | Max Verstappen

Chapter 39

Warning: Hello, this is not a warning about something which happens in the story. I just wanted to say that I won't have much time in the near future, so this one is the last part I will update for some time, but I'm not stopping, only taking a small break. Promise. 

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Joanna had to almost violently force Max to let her out of the house on her own to go grocery shopping. It was a sad day. But she needed some time on her own, time to breath. They never were like this before and Joanna doesn't know how to handle the situation. Max being next to her 24/7 isn't bad perse but it's so unfamiliar. They lived together by now even though Max still had his apartment which is now nothing more than an overpriced storage room. But that never meant they were inseparable. They both had their life went on with their days and came back home to each other at the end of the day, now everything was different.

When Max suggested that they should go out together for a run, Joanna was fine with that. It was sweet, he cared so much. They were going through something she would never wish her worst enemy but once he started to check on her repeatedly when she was in her office to work and feel normal for a while, the barrel began to overflow. Yesterday, he happened to have to look for something in the bathroom just when Joanna was taking a bath, and she was on the verge of running out of patience. She knew he meant well. Max only ever meant well.

The Duchman wanted to help her but what did he expect? That she would drown herself in her own bathtub while he played FIFA in the living room. That would be so silly, if Joanna took her own life, she would simply overdose, which is apparently what Max suspected, so he moved all the medications into the top bathroom cabinet, where Joanna couldn't reach them without help. He was a bastard. A carrying one but a bastard, nevertheless.

That's why they were flying out to the US together, even though Joanna had told him over and over again that she was fine, which she was, most of the time. She was still able to breathe, Joanna was fine. 

Max stopped the car in the car park, which caused Joanna to unbuckle, ready to get out of the car, but Max stopped her, his hand on her thin. Looking over at him, Joanna knew that expression. The first time Max had ever looked at her like this was after they slept with each other for the first time ever right before she told him to be gone before she would be back from her shower. He wanted to say something but didn't dare to. He was afraid of scaring her away. 

"What is it?" She asked, which caused Max to intervene their fingers on Joanna's thin. 

"I know we're still a secret but if something's wrong ... call me." He told her, leaving no room for an argument. Joanna knew that he only wanted to help. Max wasn't Mark. He didn't try to control or manipulate her. 

"I grew up in the paddock, Max. Here I'm an unstoppable force of nature. Nothing can hurt me." Joanna promised, before looking left and right to see if someone was paying them any attention. As she realized that they were unobserved, she leaned over to capture his lips in a sweet kiss, causing Max to relax instantly, before leaning in and burning his hand in her hair, pulling her closer. 

She understood that Max worried about her, but there was really no need for that. She wasn't a victim of her life. What she went through made her the woman she was today, the woman, who held Max's heart. Who was loved by so many. 

"You are not immortal, no one is. I'm here to help should you need me." Max promised before kissing Joanna again to make sure she understood what he just told her. For better or worse. He had promised her that. 

"I know you are," Joanna muttered as she leaned her forehead against his collarbone for a moment, before straightening up again and giving him one of her media-trained smiles.