Novels by Bee Edmund

Ava's POVI felt like I was losing the argument, the moment he asked that question.“Yes, I have. But I trust your team will handle it very well.” It was a lie I made up without thinking, out of fear of being the bad one in front of him. Ivan made a look on my face, which told me he was not convinced. “That's right, but you haven't mentioned me once."My mouth opened, but I closed it because he had a point. The entire conversation had been about the foundation, my reputation and not him or at most, us."I know it affects you too.""Do you?"The question wasn't hostile, he sounded disappointed and I didn't know what to do with that. “Ivan—”“Don't say anything out of pity or fake concern, tell me what you think from your heart. If Olivia does something, it'll affect both of us but the whole night had been about the foundation and I understand that, but I also want to know.”My heart's strings started pulling at each other, when he said that. It was funny that I didn't even think abou

Ivan's POVThe second the question left her mouth, I knew the conversation wasn't going to end well. She sat across from me with a stiff posture, someone who wasn't close to her would not have noticed it.But I did. Over the past weeks, I had gotten better at reading her mood — when she's angry she get loud, she talks too much whenever she's embarrassed and right now, I could tell she was nervous.Over the past few weeks, I'd gotten better at reading her moods.Without anyone telling me, I knew she was overthinking things. “Nothing is going to happen.”The expression on her face alone, was enough to tell me she hated that answer. "What do you mean nothing is going to happen?""It's exactly what the words means.""That's not reassuring in anyway.” She was not going to let this go. "What kind of reassurance do you need, Ava?”"Maybe one that involves a plan."“Look at me.” I pulled her chin up to face my eyes. “Olivia might just be calling our bluff, you can never tell.”“That's the r

Ava's POVBy the time we arrived at the beach, I was beginning to regret every life decision that had brought me there.Not because of the ocean or surfboard or even the clothes I had on that made it obvious Ivan's body was built like a machine.It was because Ivan had spent the entire ride there reminding me whose idea this had been."I still don't understand why we're doing this.""Because it's fun.""You've never surfed before.""Neither have you.""That's my point."I rolled my eyes but the instructor approached us before I could come up with a suitable insult.He looked energetic for someone standing under the sun. "Good morning!"Ivan looked at him with a look that said ‘I got pulled here.’A knowing smile appeared on his face. "First lesson?""Unfortunately," Ivan replied.The instructor laughed, but I did not find it funny because Ivan sounded offended to be there.After introducing himself, the man spent fifteen minutes explaining balance, posture, and how not to panic.I un

Ava's POVThe first thing I noticed when I opened my eyes was that my neck didn't hurt, which was strange because I remembered sleeping off on the couch the previous night.My eyes narrowed as I sat up and looked around the room. I was on the bed, not the couch or the chair or worse still the floor."Wait—" I blinked a few times.My gaze drifted toward the sitting area and there Ivan was. He had curled my body in an awkward way on the couch.One arm hanging off the edge, with a cushion half on the floor and the blanket barely covering him."Did we switch places?" I asked myself.The memory came back gradually, the soup, teasing, his accidental compliment, my attempt to get him to repeat it and the nothing after that.I must have fallen asleep, somewhere between plotting how to embarrass him and doing it.A smile tugged at my lips, he looked uncomfortable on the couch. It was not even that small but he had managed to make it look like a punishment.A knock interrupted my thoughts, thre

Ivan's POVI looked up from the pot and saw it, the smug smile she always wore whenever she thought she had caught me in a weak moment."I have a university degree."She nodded. "Congratulations.""Thank you.""Unfortunately, that doesn't answer my question."I grabbed the wooden spoon and pointed it at her."Do you want soup or not?""I do.""Then stop distracting the chef.""The chef?" She looked around the kitchen. "Where?"I clicked my tongue. "Very funny.""It was, actually."The annoying thing was that she wasn't wrong. The kitchen looked like a disaster zone with vegetable peels covered one corner of the counter.The cutting board looked like it had survived a small war and there were water stains everywhere.Somehow espite following a recipe that literally listed every step, I still felt like I was one mistake away from poisoning us both.Ava looked into the pot. "That smells amazing.""I think the word is edible.""It's the same thing.""No, it isn't.""Trust me.""Why would

Ivan's pov The second she asked that question, I shot a bloodthirsty looking eye at her. “What?”“The thing is I'm craving for something homemade.”I stared at her, she stared back with my eyes and smiled.“Ava.”“Yes?”“What exactly are you expecting me to do with that information?”“Cook.”I laughed at the joke but noticed that she did not. That was when I realized she was serious.“You can't be serious.”“I am.”“No.”“Yes.”“No.”“Yes.”I pointed at myself. “Do I look like someone who cooks?”“Not particularly.”“Then why would you ask me that?”“Because I don't cook.”I blinked. “I’m not the kind of man who would limit a woman but, you don't cook?”“No.”“You run a charity foundation, organize event, manage volunteers and speak in front of thousands of people.”She rolled my eyes at me. “I do.”“But you can't fry an egg?”“Correct,” she giggled. “Everyone has weaknesses.”“That is not a weakness, I feel it's even classifiable as a crime.”“Don't be dramatic Ivan.”“I'm not being

Finale.I did it all.Fucked Mike and Lena up on the wedding day, left LA for Italy with Vince and my mom after getting all the money in the joint account, I had persuaded Mike to open.Within a year, I had my father's empire rebuilt and handled whatever distraction that came up. By distraction, I meant enemies. Including the woman, who claimed to have loved Vince once.Yes! I could kill without batting an eye now. It made Vince question my humanity at some point. But, I reassured him I was still in touch with humanity.“Hey babe,” Vince called me one sunny morning.“What's good?”“Get dressed, we're going to Columbia,” he informed me.My eyes left the papers I was reading and moved straight to his face. “What's wrong? Something going on with your men? Do you need me to handle it?”“They'll shit in their pants, if they hear you're the one coming over.” He sat back on a chair. “I hate to admit it but, you seem to scare them more than I do these days.”I couldn't contain the smile that

Iris pov. “Do you know him, mom?” I asked confused. She wanted to reply, but placed her hand on her lips to stop any sound from coming out. Her eyes were still on Vince which was leaving me more confused, so I faced Vince. “Have you met my mother before ?” “No, this is my first time.” He replied immediately. “What's wrong with you mom? Is everything okay?” I asked her. Vince came closer to me and patted my hands. “I think you mom has a lot to tell you, I'll be right by the door. Call me if you need me.” “You should tell her everything, there's no point in hiding it or would you like me to?” He asked my mom, then left before she could even say a word. I tried to calm myself to fully understand what was going on here, but the tension was killing me from the inside. I could even feel my headache becoming worse. “Mom, how do you know him?” I asked again. “I don't think I have ever introduced you two.” “Baby.” She managed to say between sobs. “There's something I have to tell you.

Iris pov.When I opened my eyes first, everywhere looked strange. As I tried to understand my surroundings, I saw him. “Vince.” The word came out of my mouth, before I could think of anything.His eyes were bloodshot and he looked like he had not slept at all. So, when that phone call kept coming in, I asked him to take it.My mind tried to process what I had just gone through, I looked at the IV lines I was connected to and instinctively touched my head.“Phew! It's a good thing they cut from down here, if it had been any higher I'll have to do a messy bun on that miserable wedding day.” I whispered to myself.Even if I was not doing this with all of my heart, I still cared about appearances.Vince got off the call and stared at me, like he did something wrong.“Why do you look grim?” I asked. “Who was on the phone?”“Your mom.”“What?” I had completely forgotten about her, to think that she called now of all times. A mother's instinct for sure was always right. “Can you call her b

Vince's pov.I’d paid them half a million, wired before the scalpel even touched her skin to buy this wing of the hospital for the night. This was different from her surgery bill, but I did not care at this point.“How did things go with the men who got her?” I asked Phil, when he came to check on me.“We have one with us, with time he'll spill and let us in.”“Don't go easy on him.” I looked at Phil with bloodshot eyes. “They're the reason she has to fight for her life in there.”“Alright boss.”He stepped out and brought me coffee, then left to handle things after some time. I paced until my legs burned, then sank into the chair again with my head in my hands.My Iris was going under those knives because of me. The guilt filled my chest, causing me pain I had never felt before. Right now, I was just a man terrified of losing the only light in his darkness.My phone buzzed with updates from the streets, about what had just gone down but I silenced it. Nothing mattered except the woma

Vinces pov.“Boss, we found her.” Phil informed me, making my eyes to open.“Let's head out!” I thundered as I stood Phil looked at me for a second. “We can handle the rescue operation ourselves, you don't have to get involved. What if something goes wron—”I did not allow him to finish the words, before cutting him off. “She's already in danger and you expect me to choose safety?”“I'm sorry boss.”“Get everything ready, we're going together.”This time he did not try to argue. “Yes boss.”Within minutes, he had prepared my men and gathered all we needed as we headed out towards the location they had tracked.When the car came to a stop, I looked around and observed that it was some good distance away from where people lived.“Do you think gunshots will travel very far from here?” I asked Phil.“It's hard to tell, but I find that very unlikely.” Came the response.“Let's move in.” I signalled to my men as I took the lead.My boots hit the concrete like thunder as I kicked in the sid

Iris pov.One thought crossed my mind after overhearing them. Vince was definitely looking for me.“At least, I know I'm safe now.”That made me feel some form of relief, as I closed my eyes and drifted away to sleep land with a smile.There was nothing peaceful about the way I slept, since I was tied up and could barely move around. But being in situations like this, gave you little to no choice on comfort.I was somewhere in that strange, heavy corridor between consciousness and sleep when the door slammed open so forcefully that it hit the concrete wall behind it.I opened my eyes and looked around, the air felt like it was another morning since it was hard to know what time it was.There were three men this time, the first two who had come before and a third I hadn't seen before. He was younger with the particular brand of restless energy that made him immediately the most dangerous person in the room. “Good morning.” I greeted them, before I could think.I mean, there is no one