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Most, if not all, were trained at the compound.
The Kavanaugh school didn’t sound much different.
The silence inside the room grew stifling after my father left. Everything was finally out on the table. Well, almost everything. As much as I turned to Matthias for support, there was a heavy wall between us that felt immovable.
“Don’t shut me out,” he breathed, his voice low and regretful. “I can see the wheels turning in your head. Talk to me.”
I snorted a laugh. “Where do you want me to begin?” I rasped. “The divorce papers? Or how about the gala? Should we discuss that? How you broke my heart and shut me out after making me believe we’d finally come to some sort of peace? You ignored me. Treated me like I was nothing but your whore in front of the people who should have known me as your wife.”
“Ava—” he pleaded, his eyes brimming with regret and sadness.
“No,” I cut him off sharply. “I’m tired of excuses, Matthias. I heard what you told Leon. That once the gala was over, you were done with me. That all you needed was the information I could provide. And then—” I choked on a sob, refusing to allow it to bubble to the surface along with my anger. “And then you kissed her, Matthias. Kissed her.”
“Actually, she kissed me.” It was jarringly straightforward. So like my monster.
“Then you faked your own death,” I spat at him. Honestly, I was more pissed off about that than anything else. I couldn’t kill or maim him for leaving me, but I could kill or maim that bitch for kissing him.
After I got Vas to give me her name.
Matthias took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. His face moved closer to mine, his palm cupping my cheek. He smelled so good. Pine and leather that evoked nothing but the feeling of safety and home.
His stormy eyes held mine, the turmoil in them stalling my own breathing. This was the most vulnerable I had ever seen him. The most open. He’d once said I was the chink in his armor. That he couldn’t love me. Not the way I loved him.
His eyes told a different story.
“I don’t regret that, Ava,” he told me unapologetically. “I made a decision to protect you. To help you. My men were angry at me for not telling you the plan. For leaving you in the dark, but you needed to believe I was dead.”
“Why did you make mePakhan?” I asked. “Because Vas didn’t want it?”
Matthias chuckled and shook his head. His face was so close that his nose brushed against mine. “No, little psycho,” he breathed. “Because you were ready to be queen. You just needed a little push.”
That was more than a little push. He’d practically shoved me into the deep end without a life jacket. Fuck, I still barely knew anything about our legitimate businesses.
“Are you going to take it all back?” I wondered. He could, by right. Everyone in the upper circle knew he was alive the entire time. Succession would revert to him since he hadn’t really been blown to pieces.
“I thought we could do it together.” The words surprised me. Before his sudden “death,” he hadn’t been interested in sharing anything. He never included me in meetings or kept me up to date. Then again, we’d spent a lot of time fucking or fighting. In some cases, both.
“No more secrets,” I told him. “That’s the deal.”
Matthias smiled and my heart stuttered. Damn, he was gorgeous when he smiled. I’d almost forgotten.
“No more secrets,” he agreed breathily, leaning in to kiss me.
“This doesn’t mean I’ve forgiven you.” Matthias smirked against my lips before he dove in, taking no prisoners. My fingers laced through the soft strands of his hair, gripping them tightly as his hot tongue slid between my lips, stealing my breath away. Warmth pooled between my legs. My nails scraped over his scalp, and he let out a soft groan of pleasure into my mouth.
This wasn’t just a kiss; it was a claiming. Our mouths devoured one another, tongues dueling for control as we allowed ourselves to be consumed. Somehow, even amid our carnal desire, he was gentle with me. His hands caressed my body, kneading my flesh, massaging out the knots in my muscles as he lit my body on fire.
Matthias pulled back, and I whimpered at the loss of his body on mine. He leaned back on his knees and smirked down at me. Grabbing the hem of the long shirt I wore, he pulled it off me in one swoop. I moaned wantonly when he leaned back down, his mouth latching on to my breast, dragging his teeth across the nipple. Heat shot through me, zipping down between my thighs.
My hips bucked into his. I’d been completely bare beneath the shirt, and the feel of his jean-clad erection against my aching clit had my body wrapped in fire and begging for more. Groaning, he slid one hand between us, cupping my sex. His palm rubbed back and forth, a firm pressure against where I needed him most.
“Matthias.” My head fell back against the pillows as I moaned his name. I arched into him, silently demanding more.
“So fucking ready for me,” he growled, lowering his head to suck my nipple into his mouth. He slid two fingers inside me. I groaned at the pressure that filled me, threatening to send me over the edge before the party had even begun.
He drove me to the edge with his fingers. Alternating between fast and languid. Matthias didn’t seem to be in any hurry to end what we started, but the fire burning between my thighs was raging.
“Fuck,” I moaned. “Matthias, please,” I begged as he brought me to the edge.
