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TWISTED STUBBORN LOVEĀ Ā Ā šš
ššš ššš:The experiment is a failure,but at least itās over.ā I sucked down the rest of my cranberry vodka. Iād nursed it for so long all the ice had melted and it tasted like fruity water. āThank God.āāToo bad.ā Bridget looked disappointed. āI was looking forward to seeing Alex lose his cool.āāHe still can. The experiment isnāt over yet.ā Jules wagged her finger in the air.Unease crawled down my neck. āYes, it is. We decided on four phases: sadness, disgust, happiness, and fear.āāThere are five phases.ā Julesās hazel eyes sparkled with mischief. āThe last is jealousy, or did you forget?āāI never agreed to that!āWe were at The Crypt, Thayerās most popular off-campus bar, for one last hurrah before classes started Monday. Students had started trickling back, and the bar was way more packed than earlier this summer.āBut itās the best one,ā Jules argued. āDonātāāāAva.āI stiffened at the sound of my name said in that voice. The voice that used
TWISTED STUBBORN LOVEĀ Ā Ā šš
šššš ššš:Thayer Universityāsannual alumni charity gala was the event of the season, but while it did raise money for the latest cause du jour, it wasnāt 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.āā¦pass the bill, but itāll get killed in Congressā¦āI 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
TWISTED STUBBORN LOVEĀ Ā Ā 12
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.āIām okay,ā I said, wrapping my arms around my torso. My voice sounded scratchy and unsure. āReally.āThat only made him more furious.āIf youād attended Krav Maga lessons like Iād asked, he wouldnāt have been able to corner you like that.ā Alexās voice was soft. Deadly. I remembered his face when heād pounded Liamās face into a pulp, and a shiver skated down my spine. I wasnāt scared of Alex hurting me, b
TWISTED STUBBORN LOVEĀ Ā Ā 13
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. Moreā¦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 wouldnāt squander a single second.I eventually chose to shoot him in a studio. I booked the space in the universityās 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 Iād had last night. One that featured me, Alex, and positions that would make an acrobatās 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
TWISTED STUBBORN LOVEĀ Ā Ā 14
Itāll be over in a few months.ā I leaned back in my chair and rolled my whiskey glass in my hands, watching dust mites dance in the air before me.āHmmm.ā My uncle rubbed his jaw, his eyes sharp as he examined me through the screen. Iād turned the guest room into my home office, as I preferred to work from home on the days I didnāt have to be in the office. Fewer tiresome interactions that way. āYou donāt seem excited for someone whoās been working toward this since you were ten.āāExcitement is overrated. All I care about is that itāll be done.āDespite 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. Itād held me together while I shattered on the inside. Itād revived me as I lay bleeding, comatos
TWISTED STUBBORN LOVEĀ Ā Ā 15
AVA POV:Of all the ways Iād pictured my Friday night going, getting trapped in a pool room by a blonde who eyed me like Iād stolen her favorite Prada purse wasnāt one of them.āIām sorry, do I know you?ā I strove for politeness even as I took a step back. The woman looked familiar, but I couldnāt place where Iād seen her before.āI donāt believe weāve met.ā Her smile couldāve cut glass. Objectively, she was one of the most beautiful women Iād 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. āMadeline Hauss of the petrochemical Hausses. This is my house.āāOh. Iām Ava. Chen,ā I added when she continued staring at me. āOf the, uh, Maryland Chens. Can Iā¦help you?ā I hoped that didnāt come off rude, considering this was her house, but I hadnāt wanted to attend this party in the first place. Stella, who wa
TWISTED STUBBORN LOVEĀ Ā Ā 16
ALEX POV:āWhere is she?āI grasped Madeline by the throat, resisting the urge to squeeze until I wiped the smug look off her face.Iād never raised a hand to a woman outside the bedroomāand then only if they consentedābut 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.āWhy donāt you tighten your hold a little?ā she purred. āYou know you want to.āāIām not here to play games.ā I was holding onto my patience by a thread. āAnswer my question, or Hauss Industries is over.āāYou donāt have that kind of power.āāDonāt underestimate me, sweetheart.ā It wasnāt an endearment. āJu
TWISTED STUBBORN LOVEĀ Ā Ā 17
AVA POV:If I had to describe Alex Volkov, a litany of words came to mind. Cold. Beautiful. Ruthless. Genius.āPatientā wasnāt one of them. It wasnāt 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 heād 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 youād told me two months ago that I would be āvisualizingā and āmeditatingā with Alex freakinā Volkov, I wouldāve laughed my ass off, but sometimes reality is stranger than fiction. And you know what? The exercises helped. Iād 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 wasnāt cured of my fear of water, b
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