Prologue: The Incident

Ava - 4 years ago

~~~

I smile into our frantic kiss as he deepens it, his tongue tracing the bottom of my lip like he’s begging for permission. I grant him his wish, allowing our tongues to intertwine as he lets out a deep groan.

He’s not the best kisser, but I love him, and that’s enough to make my skin flush under his touch. I'm desperate to feel all of him, for him to take my virginity and push into my pulsing core.

In the background, the TV blares annoyingly. It’s some news story about a billionaire named Leonel something, who owns a massive tech company, and is in the middle of a divorce.

I feel sorry for him, I really do, but it’s hard to care when I’m grinding on the love of my life and I feel his cock writhe under me.

I can't believe this is happening.

He breaks the kiss, and even as I try and look him in the eye, he evades me, pulling off my shirt in one swift motion to expose the red lacy bra I bought just for him. It was expensive, probably the nicest thing I own, but I knew it would be worth it to see the look on his face.

Except… there’s no look. He simply snaps the bra off, tossing it aside, leaving my bare chest out in the open for the first time ever.

I’m a little disappointed, but I’m able to ignore that over how swollen my breasts are, with my nipples so taunt they’re begging to be sucked.

Like he can read my mind, he bends to take one boob in his mouth, and the feeling of his wet lips on the sensitive peak is almost too much for me.

“Oh my God.” I moan out, my wetness now slick against my thigh.

He flicks my rock-hard nipple with his tongue, biting a little hard, but again, I let that go.

He hurriedly moves to my other boob, and the rush leaves me feeling slightly disappointed.

“Hey,” I say shyly, “Maybe we shouldn’t move so fast for our first time.”

Only then does he look at me, his usual warm brown eyes seeming distant. How did I not notice this before?

“There’s no time, Jade.” He says my middle name quickly, as he always does, before jerking his head to the door, “There’s just no time.”

He sounds crazy, almost paranoid, and even though I should ask what’s wrong, I’m more worried about ruining the moment and causing him to walk away. So I bend down and kiss his swollen lips in the desperate way he did it earlier. I’ll do anything to keep him.

I’m so tired of losing people.

He responds wildly, dipping two fingers past my soaked panties and into my clit in a motion so shocking it makes me gasp. My core goes molten as I grind against them, feeling like my climax is rushing near.

Fuck, this is everything. This is…

There’s a bang on the door that makes us spring apart.

The abrupt way his fingers pull out from me leaves me feeling cold, but the fear of who is at our apartment is much stronger.

I scramble for my shirt, wearing it shakily as the banging becomes more insistent. When it's finally over my head, I try and fix my appearance, but it feels impossible; I must look like a trainwreck.

I turn to him, the only man left in this world I can trust, but he’s just staring blankly at the door, not reacting even as the men on the other side yell a name.

Wait… his name.

He turns back to me, that almost empty look in his eyes becoming a little harder to ignore.

“Baby,” I say, my voice shaking like my hand as I reach up to cup his face, “What’s going on?”

He doesn’t say anything, only leans into my palm in the same lifeless way he was staring at the door, and presses a light kiss to my finger, his eyes unblinking.

“Do you love me?” He asks gruffly, his voice still low from his arousal.

Another bang slams into our weak door, this one so strong I hear a bolt from the hinges clatter to the ground.

My heart pounds in my chest, “Babe, wh-what’s going on?”

“Do you love me enough to forgive me?” He asks in a flat tone.

The world suddenly seems to tilt off its axis, and everything bends in a dizzying wave.

“What have you done?” I tremble out, a cold sweat running down my temple.

The door bangs again, each loud boom making my heart give one jolt after the other. Instead of answering me, he grabs my face, pulling me in for a rough, desperate kiss. It almost feels like a goodbye.

Disoriented, I kiss him back, tasting my salty tears between our lips. When he breaks away this time, his eyes have darkened, and he looks like a stranger, a boy I don’t know who has taken my love’s place and found his way into my bed.

“God,” He says, his voice distant, “I hope you survive.”

My teary eyes widen at his words, but before I can ask him what he means, He wraps an arm around my mouth, silencing my muffled screams, and stands us both up.

‘It’s fucking open!” He yells.

2 men burst into the small bedroom, looking like something straight out of a horror movie.

Nausea crawls into my throat, and I think I may throw up all over his hand. I try and kick, but he only holds me tighter against my struggle.

“Don’t fight it, Ava.” He whispers viciously in my ear, “Don’t fight it or I’ll end you myself.”

“The cash is in the bathroom.” He says to the thugs, “But she’ll make up for the rest of the payment as I promised.”

The black-clad men look at each other, nodding in unison. Together, they go to the bathroom, leaving me half-dressed, screaming for their help in the firm hand of my lover.

“Be a good girl, Ava.” He purrs into my ear, “That’s what your parents would have wanted.”

I stop thrashing, my watery eyes looking up at him. Heat rises in my chest, replacing the familiar feeling of panic. This is something else, something I haven’t felt in years.

I clench my hands at my sides, remembering Mum and Dad, how much they loved me, how much they trusted him, and it's the realization that he’s also betraying them that causes my anger to boil over.

With all the power I can muster, I chomp down on his hand, satisfied when his metallic blood fills my mouth.

“You bitch!” He yells, letting go of me as I fall to my knees.

I don’t stay down long enough for him to grab me again. I snatch my phone from the dresser near the door as speedily as I can, and the next thing I know, I’m flying down the street, winding past oblivious strangers, as I still hear the love of my life, the worst betrayal of my heart, call my name over and over.

But I don’t stop. All I do is run.