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“I can always come to your house to work on it.” I hope my intuition is wrong. Maybe I’m reading the situation wrong.
“Max, I care about you a lot. But you know how Viktor feels about you. Viktor and I are married. I don’t want to cause unnecessary fights over something as simple as having you over. That’s why you now work with Maddie.”
“It’s better to be honest than pretend, right?”
With her brows crinkled, she replies, “Always.”
She pushes her chair back when I stand in front of her, and the electricity her closeness surges through my body has me speaking words at a million miles an hour. “I love you, Ava. Everything you’ve been facing, almost dying, you don’t need that. Viktor is wrong for you. I’m the right man for you. You deserve better. I can give you the life you deserve. Leave him and be with me.”
She rushes to the other side of her desk to create distance between us. It is upsetting that she can’t see what is happening. Viktor has manipulated her to the point where she is blinded by his facade. “You should go, Max. Going forward, I’ll review the magazine with Maddie, and you guys can make the changes together.”
“Please, Ava. I might not be Viktor, and I’m not rich like him, but I love you more. I can make you happy and give you a normal life. The life we always talked about.”
I step toward her, but she holds out her hand, stopping me midstride.
“Max, please leave. Don’t make me call security…”
Those were the last words she said to me. I still don’t understand what she sees in that man. He’s in the fucking mafia. Everyone knows it.
“Max,” Maddie calls, distracting me from my thoughts.
“Sorry, what?”
“I said that Ava wants more diversity in the magazine.” She tilts her head and bows a brow. “Are you okay?”
I nod to hide my grimace. “Yes. Why?”
She ponders for a moment before replying, “You seem distracted. Why don’t we call it a day?”
“Have you heard or seen Ava?”
Maddie packs away her stuff with more aggression now. “You need to let her go. She’s married and happy.”
“I don’t call almost dying on her wedding day happy.”
She acts as if I never spoke. “Tell you what, I’ll make the changes and email them to you. After you’ve taken a look, we’ll go from there.”
“He’s wrong for her.”
Her hands spread across her hip after she cocks it. “Even if that is the case, it’s her life. You need to move on.”
Not wanting to entertain the lie—Ava needs me—I head for the closest exit. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Maddie.”
There has to be someone who understands where I’m coming from. Someone who also sees how wrong Viktor is for Ava and Niko. The man is forcing her to raise his ex-wife’s daughter. What kind of man would do that to the woman he supposedly loves?
I need to get her and Niko away from Viktor’s clutch before it’s too late.
* * *
I’ve been at the bar for about an hour. I’m a smart man, so it won’t be hard for me to take Viktor down. He is a criminal. He’s probably already on the police’s radar. Men like him are constantly being watched by the authorities. He’s probably also murdered a lot of people. All I need to do is find someone willing to come forward. They’ll prove to Ava that he is the wrong man for her.
“Hi,” I’m greeted by a voice I don’t recognize.
I turn to face the stunning woman standing next to me. “Hello.”
“Buy me a drink?” Her voice is a soft purr.
“Do I know you?” I stare at her, confused. “Have we met before?”
