Justin’s POVIt was a happy day for me, it was supposed to be because not only did I succeed in securing a huge contract with the Russians that I’d been chasing five years ago, but I also had Frederick, my dad, finally say those words I'd always longed to hear from him, "I'm proud of you, son." But strangely, instead of feeling elated, I just felt this weird numbness. Like, his words didn't have the impact I thought they would. Maybe it was because I'd grown up and was no longer that young guy who desperately craved his dad's approval. Or maybe it was because I was still mad at him for having the audacity to divorce my mom after cheating on her all 32 years of their marriage. Yeah, it's definitely because of that."Or maybe it's because you can't stand seeing Ayva with Aiden." A little voice at the back of my head said. Normally, I'd argue with that voice, but at that moment, I couldn't. How could I, when Aiden looked exactly like the man I wanted to see behind bars? If it weren't
Justin’s POVAfter I finished feeding Bri, I felt too upset to go anywhere. I called Jace to cancel our plans and told him I didn't want to go to the nightclub to celebrate my win anymore. But then he mentioned that he had invited some friends over, especially Ayva, and suddenly I changed my mind about staying in.I hadn't seen Ayva since the incident at the psychiatric hospital, not because I didn't want to, but because I had been busy with work and she had been focused on rebuilding her life.As soon as I walked into the private clubhouse, Jace exclaimed, "Let's get him something strong so the party can get started!" This earned a few oohs from the other people he had invited. He handed me a glass, and just by sniffing it, I knew it was strong. Jace didn't drink, so it seemed like he was trying to live vicariously through me, enjoying the drink he wished he could have but couldn’t because he quit alcohol.I took a large swig of my drink, and the alcohol burned the back of my throat,
Ayva's POVI suddenly woke up from sleep, gasping for breath and sweating profusely. My hand immediately reached for my bedside lamp and switched it on to illuminate the dark room. 3:07 am, I noticed the time displayed on the digital alarm clock. My breath was still heavy as I kept replaying my terrifying nightmare in my mind over and over again. What made it even scarier was the fact that the nightmare was about something that had happened before. It was the day I had that accident, the day my water broke. But unlike the events of that day, I wasn't the one driving my car but rather the masked man who'd taunted me for years. In my nightmare, he'd refused to drive me to the hospital because 'he'd never let me have another man's child' and instead had purposely driven us off a cliff. I died with my unborn baby on the spot which was what jolted me awake. I glanced down at my stomach and traced the long fading scar on it with tears in my eyes. For two years, I thought the scar was a r
Justin’s POV“Who is he? Please tell me.” Ayva repeated. I glanced down at my drink, swirling my cup before meeting her gaze again. How did she remember that? Even I had almost forgotten that I’d said something like that. “I… don’t know who he is.” As much as I felt ashamed to say my next words, I did, admitting that I didn’t know who he was. “That time, I got the wrong person.” The way her face fell made me feel guilty. She looked so disappointed and I felt as if I was to blame. Of course, I was. I should have never said those words then without doing appropriate findings. I should have made sure that I was right about who the masked man was before telling her anything about it. “Oh.” She said, leaning back in her seat and abandoning her drink. “I thought you did. For a second I thought I could finally get rid of my fears.” I wasn’t sure I was supposed to hear the last part of her statement but I did anyway and that only made me feel more guilty. She’d hoped she’d be able to put th
Ayva’s POV“Ayva,” Justin called after me as I walked out through the garage. I wasn’t going to answer him, I wasn’t waiting, I was furious. He shouldn’t have disrespected me like that and yet expect me to stick around with him. He had no right to have yelled at me no matter how touchy of a subject it was we were discussing. I picked up my pace when I sensed that he was closing in behind me. I was just about to leave the garage for the roadside where I’d be able to baile a cab when a strong hand gripped my arm tightly and then pulled me forcefully until I collided with a hard brick or rather a hard human chest that felt like a brick. “Let me go!” I spat, shooting daggers at him with my eyes. My breath was heavy, my chest rising and falling rapidly with each breath I took. I was so angry and wanted to be anywhere but near him. He was just holding me with one hand and yet I couldn’t pull out of his hold. His other hand reached up and he ran his fingers through his hair, scattering his
Justin's POVA smile appeared on my face when I looked at her face. Her eyes were closed and her lips were... relaxed and inviting. She wanted me to kiss her and that made my heart swell with pride. And for a moment, I almost wanted to abandon what I really wanted to do and just go for her lips but, where was the fun in that? I wasn't about to give in to what she wanted that easily. I grabbed the seatbelt from the other side of the car and clicked it in place. Her eyes snapped open immediately as she realized what had just happened. I gave her a knowing look which instantly made her cheeks tinted red. She looked out the window, trying to hide her face from me and I chuckled at her reaction as I found it too cute. She was too cute. I picked up her hand and before she could realize what I wanted to do and start a protest, I brought it up to my lips, planting a soft heart-melting kiss against her soft skin. "Soon baby, I promise. I'll make it happen soon." I whispered against her hand
Ayva’s POVI’d only ever kissed Justin three times and those times, I realized that not once was I sober. The first two kisses, I’d been so tipsy when it happened and the third, I didn’t even know it was him until we started kissing. But one thing all those kisses had in common was how they made me feel, despite being drunk. I also noticed how he usually tasted like strawberry-flavored Gatorade. And as much as I hated strawberry, I loved it when I tasted it on him. And now that I was fully sober, I couldn’t help but feel drunk by him. His taste, his scent, his everything, intoxicated me and I couldn’t get enough. Justin cradled my face in his hands as his lips continued to massage mine as if he couldn’t get enough of me. I could taste the wine we had earlier on him and somehow I thought it tasted better. One hand reached for my waist and he pulled me closer to him, till we were pressed against each other in ways that made certain thoughts swirl in my head. ‘This is wrong. This sho
Justin’s POV“Are you going to say something?” Ayva asked after a moment as I was yet to answer the question she asked. “What do you want me to say?” I asked stupidly before realizing that I’d said the wrong words. “What I meant was I thought we were clear about how I felt for you,” I said, hoping she’d let the question go but of course that never happened. There was a tense silence in the car and I didn’t need to look her in the face before knowing that there was a frown on it. A hand left the steering wheel and reached out to touch her but she swiftly moved her hand out of my reach, her gaze outside the window. “Ayva,” I called her name, my glance alternating between the road and her side profile. “You’re mad at me.”“I asked you a question and you avoided it, was that supposed to make me happy?” She snapped.“What do you want to hear? How I feel about you? You know that already. You’ve known that for years now.” Everyone who knew me well knew how I felt about Ayva. I might have