She’d agreed to dinner with him. After riding multiple waves and laughing and simply enjoying the sunshine and the surf, Ares had asked her to have dinner and she’d agreed. She knew in her heart of hearts Dimi would have pushed her to go.Now she was pacing in the living room, Jinx giving her dirty looks for disturbing her relaxation and feeling her nerves creeping up on her again. Miklos had tripled the security at the house but she had let the man currently at the end of the driveway know she was expecting Ares Winter.A single knock on the door made her jump nervously and she gave one last kiss to the top of Jinx’s head and moved to open the door. She stepped outside, not quite ready to let him into their space.Ares stood there in a pale blue suit which was almost silver in color and a white shirt opened at the color. No necktie was present but he was wearing a pocket square which was a blue which was almost perfectly matching his eyes. She

Magda was sitting in Ares’ office of his building in LA on the sofa while he was in the hall outside. The only light coming from a couple of lamps were on aside from the dimly lit hall which was filtering in through the partially opened door. From what she could gather someone had used a taser on the security agent who worked the desk overnight and the other security desk who was doing rounds had made a call to Jake and then went radio silent and they couldn’t find him.Now, Magda was tucked into the office after Jake had scoped it out and said it was the safest place for them to be while his team sorted out what was happening. The door ajar she could hear Ares arguing with Jake.“We’d be equally as safe on the boat.”“Unless it was a diversion tactic and the plan is to get you away from me and the team. I can’t keep you safe if I don’t know have eyes on you and until I know what we’re dealing with, I would prefer to keep you close.”“How much longer until you complete the sweep?”“At

Tuesday morning Ares was ready to pull his hair out. He’d given her the day to rethink the words she’d said to him but by this morning she hadn’t so much as texted him. Was she really so pissed off about him not calling she would end things without allowing any explanation at all?It was six in the morning and he was outside her house. Jake was distracting the security guards by arguing with them over their slack behavior and he managed to slip past them and knocked on the door. He could hear someone moving about inside and muffled speaking and then the dog yipping when he knocked again.“Magda!” he yelled her name on the other side of the door. At the very least, she was going to hear his side of the story and if after this she was truly done, he knew he had to respect her decision but he wasn’t giving up without her knowing the truth of what happened. He heard the curse from one of the women and then frantic movement, “sweeth

In the back seat of Miklos’ limo, Magda was wedged between Sienna and Ajax and was happily sipping a glass of prosecco. Sienna and Ajax were discussing their shared love of books and reading while Darya was pushing Miklos to teach her the ways of his life.“I’m only saying, if you let Dimi do it, then any woman should be given a fair shake,” Darya wasn’t backing down.“Darya, Dimitra herself does not enjoy the work in the warehouse.”“I want to whip a dude until the skin peels off their back,” she said bluntly.Magda groaned, “Miklos, she had a half bottle of vodka before we left your place. She’s drunk. She doesn’t mean it.”“Yes, I do. I really want to cause pain which will not result in my sub coming all over himself.”Miklos choked on his own spittle as Dimi roared with laughter and Magda and Sienna both shook their heads at Darya’s antics. &l

Magda followed Ares into the house and felt her stomach flop in amazement at the incredible place he called home. She paused in the foyer and looked around, her eyes as wide as pie plates, she was sure. Her parents were wealthy but this place was next level and she did a slow turn in the space incredulously.“Ares, this is –” her words trailed off as she looked around.“I hope it’s a good loss for words.” he chuckled as he tossed his keys carelessly into a dish on a side table.Two staircases wound around the circular foyer they were in to reach the second floor but where one of them stopped on the second floor, the other continued up to a third floor. The ceiling felt it was stupendously high as she looked up at the black chandelier hanging from it over the entrance. The floors were a stark white marble tile beneath her feet. She had a strange urge to take a running start and then slide across the expansive hall.