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CHAPTER 25: CLUES, FIRE, REVELATION
publish date:
2026-05-26 04:36:18
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THE COST OF LOVING YOU CHAPTER 30: INTIMACY AND MIXED FEELINGS
Ava lay curled up on the window seat in the penthouse, phone pressed to her ear as the city lights flickered below. Her voice was soft, almost disbelieving.*Ava:* Tessy… I don’t even know where to start. It’s been weeks now and everything feels so different. I think I’m losing my mind a little.*Tessy:* Different how? Talk to me. You’ve been quiet lately.*Ava:* We don’t talk about the contract anymore. At all. No more counting days, no more “you owe me this many nights.” It’s like we both silently agreed to pretend it doesn’t exist. And what’s replacing it… God, it’s so much more complicated.*Tessy:* Complicated in a good way or a scary way?*Ava:* Both. We’ve become… friends, Tessy. Real friends. The kind who actually talk. And yeah, we’re still sleeping together, but it doesn’t feel like payment anymore. It feels warm. Messy. Real. We lie in his bed for hours… tangled up, no rush to move, just talking about everything and nothing. Stupid stuff, deep stuff… everything.*Tessy:* Wa
THE COST OF LOVING YOU CHAPTER 29: TRUTHS AND SHARED FEELINGS
“He… he seems to hate everything good in you,” Ava said softly, breaking the silence.Nico let out a dry, humorless chuckle. “That’s because he never saw anything good in me. To him, I was always just an asset to be shaped, or a failure to be discarded.”“He’s your father, Nico. How can he be so cruel? So cold?”“Because that is how he was raised. That is the only language he understands.” Nico turned his head to look at her, his eyes clear and raw, stripped of the usual shields. “Do you remember the fire I told you about? The one you read about in the article?”“Yes. You said you ran away from home.”“I didn’t just run away, Ava.” Nico’s voice dropped, becoming heavy with old pain. “I was kidnapped.”Ava’s eyes widened. “Kidnapped? But the news report said you were trapped inside…”“That was the story my father sold to the press. That was the official version to save face.” Nico shook his head, staring at his hands. “The truth is… I was taken from the school grounds by two men hired
THE COST OF LOVING YOU CHAPTER 28: THE THREAT
Richard didn’t even flinch at his son’s words. He just straightened his jacket, a look of pure disgust settling. “I don’t care who she is,” Richard said, his voice cold and dismissive, as if Nico hadn’t just spoken at all. “Or rather, I care exactly about what she is. A girl with no education, barely even finished high school, let alone holds a proper degree. Coming from nothing, raised in filth and poverty. You, the heir to this empire, seen publicly with her? Do you have any idea how ridiculous you look?”He scoffed, shaking his head in disgust.“My colleagues. My business partners. Our friends. They will mock you, Nico. They will laugh behind your back. ‘Look at Jordan’s boy, playing savior to some gutter rat.’ You will be a joke. You will drag this family name through the mud just because you have a momentary soft spot for a pretty face. It is unacceptable. She is an embarrassment, and she will be removed.”Ava stood frozen, her hands gripping the lapels of the robe tight against
THE COST OF LOVING YOU CHAPTER 29: THE MOMENT HE CHOSE HER
Ava scrambled backwards, pulling the sheets up tight to her chin. She looked from Nico, whose body was coiled tight with rage, to the man standing at the foot of the bed. Richard Jordan’s eyes were cold, assessing, stripping her bare with a single glance.“So this is what you’ve been hiding yourself away for,” Richard said, his voice dripping with disdain. He took a slow step forward, his hands still clasped behind his back. “I expected better, Nico. But I see you’ve sunk right down into the gutter where she belongs.”He turned his gaze fully onto Ava, lip curling in disgust.“A lowlife from the streets. I had my people look into you the moment I heard my son was housing a stray. A common therapist, if you can even call it that, goes into people’s homes, pretending to be helpful, pretending to be respectable. But we all know what you really are, don’t we? A whore in disguise. Selling your time, your company, and whatever else men like you peddle just to survive.”Ava felt the blood dr
THE COST OF LOVING YOU CHAPTER 26: THE CONFESSION
“It’s you!” He reached out, grabbing her shoulders, holding her firmly, desperately. “Don’t you see? Don’t you realize? The way you fight… the way you protect the people you love… the way you throw yourself into danger without thinking twice… it’s exactly the same. And that scar… that exact scar… I’ve carried the memory of it on her body for every single day since I was ten years old. I would know it anywhere. I would know you anywhere.”He leaned down, his face inches from hers, breath ragged.“Ava… you are the girl. You are the one who saved me.”Ava stared at him, mouth parting, mind racing, trying to grasp the meaning, trying to remember… but the memory was buried deep, hidden behind years of trauma and hardship. But before she could speak, before she could ask how or when or are you sure, Nico’s control snapped completely.He didn’t let her question. He didn’t let her doubt. He pulled her flush against him, one hand tangling hard in her hair, the other gripping her waist, and cr
THE COST OF LOVING YOU CHAPTER 25: CLUES, FIRE, REVELATION
“It was Parker,” Ava whispered, her voice cracking, eyes spilling fresh tears. “The boy I… the one I told you about. It was him.” Nico pulled out his phone instantly, fingers moving fast. He turned slightly away from her. “Yeah. It’s me. Listen carefully… I need you to find someone. Name’s Parker. Mid-twenties, lives over in Brooklyn… yeah, that’s the block. Bring the whole crew if you have to. I don’t care how you do it, just find him. Dead or alive.” He ended the call and tossed the phone onto the nightstand. Ava sat frozen where she was, heart hammering against her ribs. She scrambled for her own phone still shattered, useless…then looked up at him, terrified. “Nico… wait. What did you just do?” “He touched what’s mine,” Nico growled. “He hurt you. He dies for it.” “No, please!” She grabbed his arm, shaking it, desperate to get his attention. “You can’t just… kill him! Nico, listen to me!” He looked down at her. “Why? You want him alive? After what he did?” “No! God, no, I
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