LOGINJaxx's Point Of ViewThe lights in the ballroom dimmed, shifting from the aggressive brilliance of the chandeliers to a soft, amber glow that pooled across the marble like spilled honey. It was time. The first dance of the evening always belonged to the celebrant, and in this house, that meant the world stopped turning until the old man took his place. Every conversation halted mid-sentence. Every glass paused halfway to waiting lips. I stood there, my hand still resting on the small of Elena's back, feeling the way she struggled to breathe through the tension. The subtle tremor running through her body told me everything her composed expression tried to hide. She was terrified, though she'd die before admitting it. Around us, the atmosphere shifted, grew thick and charged. It became heavy with the desperate, suffocating ambition of the women in the room. I could see them… daughters of oil magnates, nieces of senators, socialites with faces pulled so tight they looked like porcel
Elena's Point Of ViewThe old man didn’t say anything for a long, agonizing minute. I could see the questions swirling in the depths of his dark eyes… questions about why she seems familiar, about how I’d found her, and probably about why I looked like I was ready to burn the whole ballroom down if anyone so much as breathed in her direction. But I didn't give him an inch. I just stood there with my hand anchored on her waist, feeling the small, rhythmic trembles of her body against mine, and I smiled. It wasn't my business smile. It was the smile of a man who had finally found the piece of the puzzle he didn't even know was missing.Pops nodded slowly, his gaze finally breaking away from mine to settle on Elena with a look that was surprisingly soft. "She’s very beautiful, Jaxx," he said, his voice carrying that gravelly weight of authority. "You sure have good eyes for good things... just like me."I felt the tension in Elena’s shoulders give way just a fraction, but the moment th
Jaxx's Point Of ViewI felt the tension radiate through her palm before I even heard her breath hitch. Elena's fingers tightened around mine, her nails digging slightly into the meat of my hand, and for a split second, I sensed her take a half-step back, trying to vanish into the shadows of the doorway. Her pulse hammered against my wrist where our skin touched... a frantic, trapped bird desperate for escape. The rhythm was erratic, panicked, and it sent a jolt of something fierce and protective straight through me.I didn't like it. Not one bit. The protective instinct that roared to life in my chest was primal, immediate, and entirely foreign to me. I'd spent years building walls, cultivating distance, making sure no one got close enough to matter. Yet here she was, trembling beside me, and every instinct I possessed screamed at me to shield her from whatever had put that fear in her veins.The air in the ballroom hung thick with the scent of lilies, expensive champagne, and the
Elena's Point Of View A soft, breathless "Oh" escaped my lips as I absorbed the sheer scale of the landing we had reached. The ceiling soared so high it seemed to possess its own weather system, crowned by a chandelier that resembled a frozen explosion of diamonds cascading toward the marble floor below.Jaxx leaned in, his shoulder brushing against mine as he caught the faint sound of my voice. "Yes... oh," he echoed, that signature dark amusement threading through his tone. "Welcome to the family fortress, Bambina. Try not to get lost; I'm not sure I'd find you until the next century."My pulse quickened at his proximity, at the casual way he claimed this palatial space as simply 'home.' "I believe it," I whispered, my eyes darting from one gold-framed portrait to another, each depicting stern-faced ancestors who seemed to judge me from their gilded perches. "Is there a map? Or perhaps a trail of breadcrumbs?"He didn't answer with words, just released a low, vibrating hum of lau
Elena's Point Of View I sat there, frozen on his lap for a heartbeat too long, my brain feeling like it had been scrambled and then fried in the heat of that kiss. The driver's words were still echoing around the cabin, and I was trying to reconcile that information with the fact that my lipstick was smeared and my soul had practically left my body. My pulse hammered in my ears, a frantic rhythm that matched the chaos in my chest. "We are going to my grandfather's birthday party, Elena," Jaxx said, his voice returning to that smooth, effortless baritone that made it sound like we hadn't just been trying to consume each other moments ago. "What else would we be doing at an airport?" The casual tone of his question made my head spin even more. I scrambled off his lap, smoothing the silk of my dress with hands that refused to stop shaking. My fingers trembled against the delicate fabric, betraying every ounce of composure I was trying to maintain. "But... I thought we would use
Elena's Point Of ViewI stared at him, my heart hammering a frantic, irregular rhythm against my ribs that had absolutely nothing to do with the car's motion and everything to do with the heavy, dark promise burning in his eyes. I blinked, my brain momentarily stalling as I processed what he'd just said."What?!" I managed to gasp out, my voice sounding far thinner than I liked. Heat crept up my neck, and I could feel the flush spreading across my cheeks.Jaxx didn't even look away. His gaze remained fixed on my mouth with a focus that felt borderline illegal, as if he were memorizing every curve, every detail. "You heard me, Bambina. You wanted to talk about debts. I'm giving you a way to settle the ledger."A sudden, sharp spike of self-consciousness shot through me, and I darted my eyes toward the rearview mirror. The driver… God bless his soul, was a picture of professional stoicism, his hands steady on the wheel and his eyes glued to the Lagos traffic as if we weren't even there
Elena’s Point Of ViewI stared at him.At this hot, infuriating, stupid man.At the way his dark eyes burned into mine, his smirk so smug, so knowing, like he had already won. Like he knew I was his, even when I wanted to scream, even when I wanted to fight him. His body was pressed against mine, h
Jaxx’s Point Of View The room was quiet… too quiet, except for the soft, steady rhythm of her breath. Elena. My Elena. My fucking princess.She lay sprawled across me, boneless, trusting, completely surrendered, her body pressed tight against mine, her legs tangled with mine, her hands dropped pos
Elena’s Point Of ViewI was still trembling, still gasping for air, still drowning in the aftershocks of the orgasm that had wrecked me, when the world tilted again.One second, I was sprawled over his face, my body boneless, my mind floating in a haze of pleasure. The next… Whoosh. A blur of moveme
Elena’s Point Of ViewMy body was on fire.No… it was burning alive, every nerve ending screaming, every inch of my skin tingling with the ghost of his touch, the ache of his absence. I was trembling, my thighs slick with need, my breath coming in ragged, broken gasps as I clung to the edge of the







