I flick the first page and my jaw tightens even harder. Her parents were murdered in a robbery when she was fifteen. There weren’t many details on it, only that she was sent to live with her grandmother after. I can only assume that was the only family she had left.
After that, the path seems straightforward. In and out of art programs, building her life in creative direction and interior styling. Although she did a minor in criminal psychology, I can tell why.
The more I read about her, the more I understand the type of woman she is—I’m digging myself deeper into a hole of obsession. She’s the type. Creative. Ambitious. A little more complicated than the usual women who cross my path.
I skim through the page, reading about her hobbies, where she spends time, who she’s been seen with.
Then my gaze lands on the back page, and my pulse spikes.
A list of names. Exes. I go through them one by one, the typical college romance nonsense. Until I get to the last name. Jason.
I stop.
She was in a relationship with him the longest and that’s what gets my attention.
There’s a photo of him—smug, smiling like he’s got the world in his hands. The kind of guy I hate. Trust fund kid, probably used to getting everything handed to him. He was in her life for almost two years, and that’s what I can’t get past. The thought of him—anyone—touching her before I did.
Rage curls in my gut, dark and vicious. The thought of him with her, the way he probably touched her the way I did—it claws at me. Even before me, he thought he had a claim on her.
But that doesn’t matter anymore.
She’s mine now.
I took her first, and I swear no one else will take her like I did. I’ll kill to make sure it stays that way.
I’m done staying away.
The thought hits me like a wave, sweeping everything else aside, erasing the noise, the anger, and the control I’ve tried to maintain. I won’t hide behind the walls I’ve built around myself anymore.
I want her.
With a hunger and a passion I’ve never experienced before. The kind of desire that burns so hot it makes everything else seem insignificant, like I’ve been living in a cold world and she’s the warmth I’ve been starving for.
I’ve been lying to myself, pretending I can just let her go, let her be just another fleeting encounter. But I can’t. Not anymore.
I’ve felt it in every part of me, from the moment she stepped into my life. The way she looked at me, the way she trusted me—she might not even realize it yet, but I know it. She gave herself to me, and that means something.
She’ll come to me, whether she wants to or not.
I’ll make sure of it.
I don’t care if I have to wear her down, make her see how this pull between us isn’t something she can ignore. She’s not just some woman who came into my world for a brief moment. She’s different. She’s the one I won’t let slip away.
I’ll pursue her relentlessly, like a predator chasing its prey. She won’t be able to escape me. And when she gives in—when she finally sees what this is—I’ll make sure she feels it too. The obsession. The desire. I won’t be the only one burning. I’ll make her burn for me the way I do for her.
No more hesitation. No more holding back.
She’s mine now, and I won’t stop until she knows it.
I pick up my phone, the cold screen lighting up in my hands. I text Arseny in a few quick strokes.
In my study. Now.
I don’t wait for a response. It’s not necessary. Arseny knows what I need, when I need it. He’s already on his way.
Moments later, he’s standing in the doorway of my study, as calm and collected as always. His expression doesn’t shift when he sees me, but there’s something in his posture that communicates that he’s ready to do whatever I need.
I don’t waste time. I walk toward him, the dossier still in my hand. My gaze falls on the pages again, Zoe’s name glaring back at me. The intensity of my feelings for her swells in my chest, sharper with every passing second.
