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TWISTED STUBBORN LOVE 𝟏𝟏
𝐀𝐋𝐄𝐗 𝐏𝐎𝐕:Thayer University’sannual alumni charity gala was the event of the season, but while it did raise money for the latest cause du jour, it wasn’t really about charity. It was about ego.I attended every year.Not because I wanted to be a philanthropist or reminisce about my college days, but because the gala was a fountain of information. Thayer counted the most powerful people in the world amongst its alumni, and they all congregated in the ballroom of the Z Hotel D.C. every August. It was the perfect opportunity to network and gather intel.“…pass the bill, but it’ll get killed in Congress…”I pretended to listen while Colton, an old classmate who now worked in government affairs for a major software company, droned on about the latest piece of tech legislation.He rarely had anything interesting to say, but his father was high up in the FBI, so I kept him in my orbit in case I needed him in the future.It was always about the long gam
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AVA POV:He was furious.He was alive with it, pulsing with it. One hand clutched the steering wheel, knuckles white, while the other rested on the gearshift, flexing and unflexing like he wanted to strangle someone. The glow from passing streetlights illuminated the beautifully carved planes of his face as we sped down the dark streets, throwing into sharp relief the tense set of his mouth and the way his brows bunched over his eyes.When I told him about the incident with Liam outside The Crypt, I almost disintegrated from the force of his fury.“I’m okay,” I said, wrapping my arms around my torso. My voice sounded scratchy and unsure. “Really.”That only made him more furious.“If you’d attended Krav Maga lessons like I’d asked, he wouldn’t have been able to corner you like that.” Alex’s voice was soft. Deadly. I remembered his face when he’d pounded Liam’s face into a pulp, and a shiver skated down my spine. I wasn’t scared of Alex hurting me, b
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AVA POV:I agonizedfor days over whether to shoot Alex in a studio or outdoors.I took all of my photoshoots seriously, but this one felt different. More intimate. More…life-changing, like it had the power to make or break me, and not just because I might submit it as part of my portfolio for the WYP fellowship.I would have Alex Volkov all to myself for two hours, and I wouldn’t squander a single second.I eventually chose to shoot him in a studio. I booked the space in the university’s photography building and waited, pulse thumping, for him to arrive.I was more nervous than I should be, but maybe that had something to do with the wildly inappropriate dream I’d had last night. One that featured me, Alex, and positions that would make an acrobat’s jaw drop.Even now, I flushed at the memory.To stave off the onslaught of unbidden, erotic images, I fiddled with my camera and stared outside the window, where hints of fall bloomed on the trees a
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It’ll be over in a few months.” I leaned back in my chair and rolled my whiskey glass in my hands, watching dust mites dance in the air before me.“Hmmm.” My uncle rubbed his jaw, his eyes sharp as he examined me through the screen. I’d turned the guest room into my home office, as I preferred to work from home on the days I didn’t have to be in the office. Fewer tiresome interactions that way. “You don’t seem excited for someone who’s been working toward this since you were ten.”“Excitement is overrated. All I care about is that it’ll be done.”Despite my words, my chest pinched, because my uncle was right. I should feel excited. Vengeance was so close I could taste it, but instead of sweet relief, it coated my tongue with bitterness and turned my stomach sour.What came after vengeance?Every other purpose I could have paled in comparison to the force that had driven me all these years. It’d held me together while I shattered on the inside. It’d revived me as I lay bleeding, comatos
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AVA POV:Of all the ways I’d pictured my Friday night going, getting trapped in a pool room by a blonde who eyed me like I’d stolen her favorite Prada purse wasn’t one of them.“I’m sorry, do I know you?” I strove for politeness even as I took a step back. The woman looked familiar, but I couldn’t place where I’d seen her before.“I don’t believe we’ve met.” Her smile could’ve cut glass. Objectively, she was one of the most beautiful women I’d ever met. With her spun-gold hair, cerulean eyes, and statuesque body, she was what I imagined Aphrodite would look like had she been a real person. But there was something hard about her expression that made her not attractive at all. “Madeline Hauss of the petrochemical Hausses. This is my house.”“Oh. I’m Ava. Chen,” I added when she continued staring at me. “Of the, uh, Maryland Chens. Can I…help you?” I hoped that didn’t come off rude, considering this was her house, but I hadn’t wanted to attend this party in the first place. Stella, who wa
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ALEX POV:“Where is she?”I grasped Madeline by the throat, resisting the urge to squeeze until I wiped the smug look off her face.I’d never raised a hand to a woman outside the bedroom—and then only if they consented—but I was this close to losing my shit.After I saw the video of Madeline pushing Ava into the pool, which I recognized from my previous visits to the Hauss mansion, I broke every speed limit to get here. By the time I arrived, the party had ended and only a few stragglers remained. I found Madeline laughing with her cronies in the kitchen, but it had only taken a glare from me for her to excuse herself and follow me into the hall.“Why don’t you tighten your hold a little?” she purred. “You know you want to.”“I’m not here to play games.” I was holding onto my patience by a thread. “Answer my question, or Hauss Industries is over.”“You don’t have that kind of power.”“Don’t underestimate me, sweetheart.” It wasn’t an endearment. “Ju
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AVA POV:If I had to describe Alex Volkov, a litany of words came to mind. Cold. Beautiful. Ruthless. Genius.“Patient” wasn’t one of them. It wasn’t even in the top thousand.But over the past few weeks, I had to admit I might have to bump it up on the list, because he’d been nothing but patient as he guided me through a series of visualization and meditation exercises to prepare me for my first real swimming session.If you’d told me two months ago that I would be “visualizing” and “meditating” with Alex freakin’ Volkov, I would’ve laughed my ass off, but sometimes reality is stranger than fiction. And you know what? The exercises helped. I’d visualize myself standing near a body of water, then use deep breathing and relaxation techniques to calm myself. I started small, with pools and ponds, and worked my way up to lakes. Alex also started taking me to bodies of water so I could get more comfortable near them. I even dipped my toe into a pool.I wasn’t cured of my fear of water, b
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ALEX POV:I was on a warpath,and everyone gave me wide berth as I stalked down the hall toward the elevators. My new assistant, who I’d hired after firing the congressman’s insipid daughter for leaking my cell number to the Gruppmann CEO, pretended to be on the phone when I passed, and the rest of the staff kept their eyes glued to their computer screens like their lives depended on it.I didn’t blame them. I’d been biting people’s heads off left and right for the past weekIncompetent, every single one of them.I refused to entertain any other reason I’d been so cranky since my birthday, especially if that “other reason” happened to be five-five with black hair and lips that tasted sweeter than sin.I ignored the two people who scrambled off the elevator when they saw me enter, and jabbed the button for the lobby.That fucking kiss. It’d tattooed itself onto my mind, and I found myself thinking about it—about the way Ava tasted and felt in my arms—far more than I should. Thanks to t
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