Ava~~~I’ve had more nightmares about that voice than I can count. Restless nights where he calls my middle name over and over. In the early days, right after I ran away, I’d dry heave over the side of my bed when I thought about him, when he called my name wrapped his clammy hand around my mouth.And yet nothing could have prepared me for hearing him again after 4 years. His voice still has the same erratic undertone, and suddenly I’m transported back to being with him.My insane, abusive ex. It’s really him.I try to say something, but a pathetic choking sound is forced out of me. He must take it for my sadness over the fight Leonel and I had, because the moment he hears it, he rushes to say, “It’s okay, Jade, the bastard is gone.”No, I think as I shakily sit up, trying to get my bearings and remember what’s at stake.The bastard just entered the chat.I breathe in, breathe out. This is for Oliver. I have to make sure no harm will ever come to him on my behalf.I morph my face in
HIM~~~Since setting up the cameras in Jade’s room, I’ve watched her more religiously than anything else in my life.I come home after a long day? Straight to watching Jade.I stay out too long? I tune in to Jade on my phone wherever I am.Whether I’m in the kitchen, in the shower, fucking some other woman I found at the nightclub, or doing anything that takes too much of my free time, I drop it all and tune in to see what my magnificent Jade is doing.Of course, I told Helen the reason for this was the plan, that we needed to see Jade at every moment so we could know when to strike, and while that has always been a side reason for watching her, my main one has been just to see her.To watch her silky hair tumble down her shoulders as she leans over her paint pad, I see her laugh on the phone when she talks to her best friend.Even to see her touch herself to that stupid billionaire is enough, because I know soon it’ll be me she’s caressing, me making her cum.Me who finally slits he
Leonel~~~I hear the door of the boardroom creak open, and I just know it’s Ava. I can sense her presence whenever she’s near.My heart skips a beat as she comes closer, but I don’t take my eyes off the guest list. Looking at her now may make me do things I’m not meant to do with her at this critical time. But if she got the information we needed about where the cameras are, then maybe we’d be able to touch after all.Her strawberry scent finally fills my nostrils as she appears before me. I look up at her, using all my strength to keep the nonchalant look on my face.“Well?” I say in a monotone voice.She nods at me, inching closer. “It’s only my bedroom that’s wired,” she says, a mixture of relief and disgust in her voice.Hearing the rest of the mansion is free from her ex’s watchful eye melts my persona. I reach up and pull her face toward me, indulging in a long, lingering kiss.She kisses me back softly, as if she’s forgotten the particular shape of my lips and needs time to me
Ava ~~~ Leonel and I get back to the mansion around the same time in the evening. I don’t ask him where he went, knowing wherever it was, he went there for my sake. Watching him get out of his car and run a hand through his wavy hair is a lot sexier than it should be. I bite my lip and tear my eyes away from him. Now that we’re back on the surface, we have to start our act: pretending we don’t want each other and refraining from touching the other person. He comes beside me, the same longing in my eyes reflected in his grey ones, and I just know this is going to be more challenging than either of us expected. But we have to. For Oliver. When I got to the hospital and saw him, a crushing guilt overtook me at the thought of the poison in his viens. Every time time he gave me one of his charming smiles or held Evie’s hand, I remembered what’s at stake. I’d pretend not to want Leonel for a year if it meant I could keep my friends safe. Leonel eyes me head to toe, an ac
Leonel~~~Stacy, The Madame, puffs another ring from the end of a blazing cigar where she’s sat. Her thick eyebrow is quirked up at me in question. “Well, Mr. Sinclair, what is it?” The Madame asks me, though the smile on her face suggests whatever it is, she's going to use it and exploit me. Fucking great. “I need your help,” I say again. “Someone I know is in trouble.” She leans forward, that sinister smile never once leaving her face. “You mean the little fool?” she asks me mockingly. “Her name is Ava.” I snap, momentarily forgetting I'm supposed to be sucking up to her. Her smile only stretches. “Ah yes, my old tenant. When is Ava not in trouble? Though, I must thank her, 'cause it's her constant penchant for trouble that has given me all this,” she says proudly, gesturing around the room as if she earned a single thing in it. I sigh, knowing for all Stacy’s faults, she's right. When I'd first wanted to marry Ava, I’d forced The Madame to back off “punishing” her
Leonel ~~~ I watch Ava’s glimmering green eyes widen, already shaking her head of red hair no. “Mi Valienta,” I say, persuading, “Think about it. We know the house is wired, we know he can see you. If you just pretend to love him, he may reach out, and then you could postpone your meeting him if he thinks you’re on his side. Maybe you give him an excuse that you need to stay with me for three more weeks, and by then we’d have the cure for Oliver.” Her eyebrows crease gently as if considering my words, and even with the tension of everything going on, watching her think so deeply while wearing my shirt is more attractive than it ought to be. I feel my cock twitch. “So what?” she asks finally. “I just walk into the mansion and start talking to him? Tell him I need to stay an extra three weeks? We don’t even know where these cameras are.” Though, the way her voice dips, I can tell she has an idea—the same one I do. My jaw clenches at the thought that he has hidden them in her r