AllFreeNovel
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Do yourself a favor, brother. Give her the truth or, I promise, you’ll lose her and all hope I have of you healing.
“His wife left him,” I blurt quickly, praying this isn’t the beginning of the end.
She doesn’t even flinch. “Because you slept with her.”
I swallow, whispering a pathetic, “Yes.”
“When?”
Give her the truth. But the truth really could be the end of all hope too. “Months ago, Ava.” How has it come to this? Fighting for my life, but in a very different way. “She was the woman who turned up at Lusso,” I explain, hoping a little goes a long way. “I’ll tell you before you threaten to leave me again.”
Her look softens, and the strangest expression makes its way onto her face. One I never expected. Acceptance. “She wasn’t worried about you, was she?”
“Yes,” I answer, sounding willing.Feelingoddly willing too, because with each question I answer, she’s settling more, showing less signs of turning and walking out. “Probably,” I add. “But she wants me too.”
“Who wouldn’t?”
You, I think, if you really knew me. Truth kills hope. “I’ve made it clear, Ava,” I add. “I slept with her months ago, and she’d gone back to Denmark. I don’t know why she’s decided to pursue me now.”
She nods, if mildly, absorbing my lie of omission. “So he wants to take me away from you, like you took his wife from him.”
Jesus. “I didn’t take her away, Ava. She left of her own accord.” Because her husband is a lying, cheating bastard.Like me. And you’ll probably leave me when you discover my sins.“But yes, he does want to take you away from me.”
“But you were all friendly,” she exclaims, her acceptance making way for confusion. “You bought Lusso.”
All friendly? My God, I never truly appreciated how naïve she really is. The tension in that room was so thick I could hardly see Mikael. But she had no reason to believe there was anything in it other than me being...well, me. Protective. Possessive. “It was just a front, Ava.” A front as wide as the moon. “On his part. He had nothing on me, nothing he could hurt me with because I didn’t care about anything.” For a time, he disliked me simply because I owned The Manor. He disliked me because his wife simply looked at me. He disliked me because Freja didn’t mourn the loss of her marriage. He disliked me because my manor gave his wife a needed distraction from his wrongs when she finally decided to leave him. Mikael finding out I fucked Freja recently probably wasn’t even required for him to retaliate. “But now I have you.” I show her the fear in my eyes, praying she sees it and appreciates it. “Now, he knows where to stick the knife in.” And he’s doing a fine fucking job of twisting it. Worse still, I know he’s not done.
Ava’s lithe, delicate body shrinks, and she comes to me as I welcome her with open arms, literally, helping her onto my lap and cuddling her so hard. So desperately. She smells so amazing. Clean, pure, untarnished. Good. She’s good, levelheaded, and what we have together is making her slightly crazy. Is that what love does? Send you crazy? “I’ll die loving you,” I whisper. “I can’t let you go to Sweden.”
“I know.” No fight, no protest. Because she understands.
“And you should have let me deal with your things,” I go on. “I didn’t want you seeing him.”
“I know.” It’s a small win when I feel like I’m constantly losing. “He knows about you.”
It’s confirmed the fucker has been sniffing around outside The Manor, but I still tense because...what does he know? “Knows about me?”
“He told me you’re a raving alcoholic.”
“I’m a raving alcoholic?” I laugh. And who the fuck has he got that bullshit from? Naturally, I think about Coral’s husband, Mike. He’s top suspect for tipping off the immigration police too. I’ve not heard from that bastard since I battered him. Still holding a grudge? I don’t know but, thank God, only my closest have every dirty detail of my past.
“It’s not funny.” She glares at me, unimpressed. “How does he know?”
I’m not mentioning Mike, since he’s a link to Coral. “Ava, I honestly have no idea. Anyway, he’s misinformed because I’m not an alcoholic.”
She bites her lip briefly. “Yes.” It’s a dreary reply. “I know.” She loses her tired expression and finds a worried one. “Jesse, what am I going to do?” she asks. “Mikael is an important client.” Important? I’d rather give Patrick a million quid of my personal savings than let Ava work with him. “Did he rehire me for the Life Building just because of you?”
God love her. “No, Ava. He didn’t even know aboutusuntil yesterday. He hired you because you’re a talented designer. The fact that you’re also stunningly beautiful was an additional benefit. And the fact that I happened to fall in love with you was an even bigger bonus for him.”
“You exposed yourself. If you hadn’t trampled my meeting, then he might never have made the connection.”
Not true. He would have found out sooner or later. I made it sooner. Later would have been preferable. “I acted on impulse when I saw your diary. Anyway, he would have pursued you whether he knew you were mine or not. Like I said, he’s relentless.”
She doesn’t look too sure. Another sign of her naivety. “How do you know?” Her head tilts. “He’s married. Well,wasmarried.”
“That never stopped him before, Ava.”
She falls into thought, anxious, no doubt wondering how she comes out the other side of this with a job. I can’t lie, I wouldn’t mind if she lost her job. I would mind, however, that it would make her sad. I cup her cheeks and aim her face at me, set on distracting her from her woes. “How did you get here?”
