Elena's Point Of View“And where do you think you’re coming from, Elena?”His voice froze me mid-step, sharp and dripping with authority, that same cold entitlement that used to send a shiver through me… not the good kind.I turned slowly, hand still on the staircase railing. Graham stood a few feet away, in a grey shirt rolled up to his elbows and black slacks, like he’d just come from a photo shoot for 'Controlling Husbands Monthly'. His jaw was clenched, a glass of scotch dangling from his fingers. The veins on his arm bulged like he was barely holding it together.I raised a brow, brushing my fingers through my hair, still slightly tousled from the wind and Jaxx’s intoxicating proximity earlier. “Is that how you greet your wife now? With an interrogation?”He took a slow step forward, eyes narrowing. “Answer me.”I scoffed and descended the remaining steps, heels clicking against the marble like war drums. “Out. I was out, Graham. Not that it’s any of your business.”His lips part
Jaxx's Point Of ViewShe was gone.The door clicked shut behind her with a soft, almost mocking finality, and still, I didn’t move. My eyes stayed glued to that spot. That one damn spot where she’d just been standing. Like if I stared hard enough, she might reappear, maybe say something else that would cut me, tease me, tempt me, destroy me.Elena.Her name rolled through my mind like a thunderclap, sharp and heavy, shaking loose everything I thought I’d buried. Everything I pretended didn’t matter anymore.But it did.She did.A slow, dangerous smirk twisted my lips, not the charming kind. No, this one was hollow, crooked, bitter… soaked in a dark kind of satisfaction. The kind that coils in your gut and tells you something's coming. Something ugly.She hated me.Fucking hell, she loathed me.And I could feel it. Taste it. The venom in her glare, the rigid tension in her voice, the fire in her touch when she shoved me away… God, it was intoxicating. She burned hotter than ever. A wom
Elena's Point Of ViewI stared at him for a long moment.The air between us crackled… sharp, electric, charged with something neither of us dared to name. He stood there, framed by the soft glow of the room’s chandelier, his shirt slightly rumpled, sleeves rolled to the elbows, dark veins tracing down his forearms like danger personified. His jaw was tight, his eyes focused solely on me, like I was a puzzle he couldn’t wait to take apart piece by piece.I hated how composed he looked. How he made chaos look like art.My chest tightened, not with attraction… at least that’s what I told myself, but with indignation, pride, and something else I couldn’t quite place. Every rational thought screamed for me to walk away. But what was rational anymore when my world had been blown apart, when the man I gave my vows to was rolling in sheets with his so-called “cousin”?And now this devil was offering me a deal? Something inside me snapped. Slowly, deliberately, I nodded.“Fine,” I said, my voi
Elena's Point Of View“You’ll burn.”The words slid off his tongue like smoke, sultry and threatening. I felt it. I felt it in my bones, in the tremble of my knees, in the way my pulse suddenly throbbed in my throat. And yet, I pushed him away.Hard.“Don’t,” I said, my voice sharp, almost cracking. “Don’t come close.”I needed to breathe. I needed space. I needed… God, I didn’t even know what I needed. Just not him. Not right now. Not this.He raised an eyebrow, amused, unbothered as he stepped back, his muscular frame resting easily against the opposite wall, arms folded. I hated that smirk on his face. That quiet arrogance.And what was I thinking? Letting him kiss me like that? Pushing myself into him like a woman possessed?I shouldn’t have let him get close. I shouldn’t have kissed him. I shouldn’t have followed him here. He was dangerous in a way Graham had never been… unpredictable, sharp-tongued, and always five steps ahead. And worse, he knew how to get under my skin.“All m
Elena's Point Of ViewI didn’t even think.It was like my body acted before my brain could catch up. One second I was glaring hard at something Jaxx said… something ridiculous and shallow, and the next, out of the corner of my eye, I felt him.Graham.Tall. Brooding. Furious.That same furious glare I knew too well. And for some damn reason, it still had the power to send chills spiraling down my spine.I panicked. I absolutely panicked. And the first silly, absurd thing that came to my mind? I turned to Jaxx and kissed him… Hard.His lips were warm. Firm. Surprised. His body went rigid for half a breath as my mouth moved against his. He wasn’t responding, not yet. I could feel him frozen under the weight of my sudden boldness.But I needed him to. Right now. I needed him to make it real.I breathed the words against his mouth, lips brushing as I whispered with desperate urgency, “Don’t ask questions. Just… kiss me back.”His hand, which had been holding his glass lazily moments ago,
Graham's Point Of ViewI stood by the window, watching the door slam shut behind her.The silence she left behind felt like a vacuum. It sucked every last ounce of logic from my brain and replaced it with confusion… and rage. My fists clenched, but not because of anger at her… no, this was different. I didn’t even understand what I was feeling.What just happened?Her words echoed in my mind. “I’m going to get myself a boyfriend.” “Don’t forget… I can open doors too.” A boyfriend? That had to be a joke. A cruel, twisted joke. Elena couldn’t possibly have… A boyfriend? Her?The woman who clung to me like oxygen? The one who cried into my chest, begging me to stay when things went cold? The same woman who used to wait up for me at night even when I returned home wasted from stress?No. Impossible.“Elena,” I whispered, half-expecting her to turn back through that door. She didn’t.Before I could process further, a soft hand curled around my wrist. “Let her go,” Lillian said sweetly, h