It was an oasis of calm in the middle of the chaos.
Leone and Franco walked with purpose, guiding Ava down the long hallway toward the double doors.She tried to ignore the tightness in her chest, but each step felt heavier than the last.
A well-dressed man sat behind a desk outside the doors—Jordan Kinsley.He looked up as they approached, his expression remaining unchanged, as calm and controlled as the silence around them.
“He’s waiting for you, Ms.Santos,” Jordan said, his voice cool and polite, though something flickered in his eyes—a warning, maybe even pity.He tilted his head toward the double doors.“Go right in.”
The words landed like a verdict.The moment stretched out before her, taut and suffocating.Every instinct screamed at her to run, to bolt down the hallway and never look back.Anything to avoid stepping into that room.
This was it.
And yet… she didn’t move.Her heels rooted to the carpet as though the floor itself had turned to wet cement.
Ava clenched her fists, nails biting into her palms until the sting gave her something solid to hold onto.Fury, frustration, and a rising tide of panic coursed through her veins.How had it come to this?
She had spent her entire life clawing for control.Growing up, she’d been dragged through her mother’s chaos—watching her ping wildly from one “grand idea” to the next, from boyfriend to boyfriend, leaving Ava scrambling in the wake of the storm.No stability.No safety.Just the endless, exhausting unpredictability of someone who never thought ahead, who never cared what it cost her child.
So Ava had built herself into the opposite.She’d forged her company with the precision of a jeweler cutting stone—every decision measured, every risk weighed, every detail under her thumb.Her business wasn’t just her livelihood.It was proof she could make order out of the mess she’d been given.
And now, someone was threatening to take that away.Piece by piece, sabotage after sabotage, her careful control was slipping.And waiting behind those double doors was the man who could strip it away completely—because he didn’t just make her feel powerless in business.He made her feel powerless inside her own skin.
Her chest tightened.Her breathing came too fast.She hated it—the very thought of owing him anything, needing him for anything.The injustice of it clawed at her, suffocating.
She still didn’t move.She stood there, body tense, shoulders drawn tight, practically vibrating with the effort it took to hold herself together.Her gaze locked on the double doors as though, if she just glared hard enough, maybe—just maybe—she could burn a hole straight through them, reduce the man on the other side to ash.
But the cruelest truth sat heavy in her chest.She didn’t really want to destroy him.No, what she wanted was worse.She wanted not tofeelanything for him.She wanted to silence this messy, maddening storm inside her—the fear, the pull, the furious attraction she had no business indulging in.
Her heart thudded faster with every second she hesitated, betraying her resolve.
Unfortunately, reality didn’t care what she wanted.
“Be stubborn,” Franco whispered, his voice low, as if sensing the crack in her armor.
Leone nudged her forward, an unspoken command.She could feel his steady presence beside her, pushing her toward what she couldn’t face but knew she had no choice but to confront.
Ava paused long enough to throw a venomous glare at her best friends—her anchors—but even their teasing couldn’t distract her from the weight of the decision she was about to make.The tightness in her chest wouldn’t ease.Her legs felt like lead, but there was no turning back.
She straightened her shoulders, forcing the defiance to swell inside her like a balloon ready to burst.With an abrupt movement, she shoved through the double doors, the sharp click of the latch echoing like a starting gun.
And as the doors swung wide, she stepped into the unknown, ready to face whatever he would throw at her.
Chapter 2
LucaBernardihadwatchedthe whole thing on the security monitors—the way Ava Santos froze outside his office doors, her spine stiff and proud, but her hands trembling slightly as she clenched them into fists.He saw the hesitation, the long pause, the battle she fought with herself before finally moving.
And then she stormed in.
The transformation was breathtaking.
His breath caught in his throat as the most glorious woman he had ever known stalked into his office like she owned it.Ava Santos.She hadn’t walked in timidly or meekly—no, she burst through the doors as if daring him to stop her, her defiance blazing through every line of her body.It thrilled him.
Her long, dark curls tumbled over her shoulders, framing a face set with fiery intensity.Her dark eyes locked onto him, sharp as daggers, and the sheer force of her gaze sent a jolt of lust straight to his core.
Every step she took seemed deliberate, commanding the space, her presence filling the room in a way that made the air feel charged.Dressed in black, the fabric skimmed over her curves with sinful precision, hugging her figure in a way that mocked restraint.The sway of her hips was unconscious, but Luca’s eyes followed helplessly, drawn like metal to a magnet.
What was it about Ava Santos that made his body react so violently?It wasn’t just her beauty—though God knew that was enough to undo a man.It was the contradiction.He had seen her reluctance seconds ago, her fear of walking through those doors.And yet here she was, defying that fear, standing in front of him with a fire that dared him to look away.No one else had ever challenged him like that.
His body tightened, the raw, untamed need to bend her over his desk rising fast and merciless.He wanted to strip away her control, to strip away her clothes, to claim her in every possible way.And yet, the truth was undeniable—her defiance captivated him as much as it infuriated him.
