Ava's POV
The echo of my heartbeat thundered louder than any siren, louder than my thoughts. My image frozen on Jaxon's laptop bloodied, vulnerable, exposed burned into my memory.
I wasn't just being watched.
I was being studied.
Tracked. Profiled.
The realization sat heavily in my gut, a slow, creeping nausea. How long had I been the focus of someone's obsession?
Before I could close the file, a message popped up on the screen. It wasn't from Jaxon.
UNKNOWN: It's not him you should be worried about.
I stumbled back, the air sucked from my lungs.
What the hell did that mean?
My mind raced how had they accessed the laptop? Had I triggered something by opening the file? Or was I already too far down the rabbit hole to escape now?
Before I could think further, the lock on the penthouse door clicked.
I spun around just as Jaxon entered. His expression was unreadable, but there was a tightness in his shoulders, a subtle rigidity in his jaw that hadn't been there earlier. His eyes landed on the laptop.
And then on me.
"You opened it." Not a question. A statement.
"I saw the camera," I snapped, stepping in front of the laptop. "And yes, I opened it. You're going to have to explain everything now."
"I was going to," he said tightly, closing the door behind him. "But I needed to be sure you were safe first."
"Safe?" I laughed, short and bitter. "Is that what this is? Because having cameras trained on me and my entire life doesn't exactly scream 'safe,' Jaxon. That looks a hell of a lot more like stalking."
He stepped forward, calm but intense. "I didn't put those cameras there."
My breath caught.
"Then who did?"
He didn't answer right away. Instead, he reached past me and shut the laptop. "Someone from my past. Someone who wants control of my company and now, of you. Because you matter to me."
I stared at him. "You don't get to say that right now."
His jaw clenched. "You have no idea what I've been trying to protect you from."
"Then tell me!" I cried. "Tell me why I've been dragged into a war I never signed up for. Because I didn't ask for this, Jaxon. I didn't ask for"
"You didn't ask for me," he interrupted, voice low and raw. "But here we are."
Silence stretched between us, thick with things neither of us wanted to admit.
Then he said something I wasn't prepared for.
"I think it's Carter."
My blood ran cold. "My Carter?"
He nodded once. "Carter Wynne. I had someone trace the footage streams. The system routes through a secure server in Berlin one of Carter's known aliases pinged off that server six weeks ago."
I shook my head. "No. He disappeared years ago. You said he was dead."
"I said I thought he was," Jaxon corrected. "But someone's gone to great lengths to make sure we both believe that."
My knees buckled, and I dropped onto the edge of the couch. "Why would Carter spy on me? What does he want?"
"You," Jaxon said simply. "Leverage. A distraction. Or maybe something more."
I covered my face with both hands. "This is insane."
He knelt in front of me. "We're not safe here anymore. If Carter's back, he won't stop. He's always had a thing for chaos."
And me.
I didn't say it aloud, but the memory twisted in my stomach. Carter had been charming and dangerous in equal parts the kind of man who made you feel alive just before he tore your world apart.
I looked up at Jaxon. "Then we need to outsmart him."
His lips twitched in the faintest smirk. "Now you're talking like me."
He stood, offering me his hand. "Pack what you need. We leave tonight."
"Where?"
"Somewhere no one can watch us."
As I grabbed my bag, the laptop chimed again. Another message.
UNKNOWN: Too late. We're already inside.
Jaxon grabbed the laptop, yanked the battery out, and tossed it onto the floor with a grunt. "We're leaving. Now."
But just as he opened the door, the hallway lights flickered once, twice and then died.
And from the darkness came a voice I hadn't heard in years.
"Going somewhere, Ava?"
My blood froze.
It Was Carter
I didn't need to see him to recognize the voice.
It was laced with arrogance and venom. The same voice that had whispered promises in the dark and left bruises no one could see.
"Carter," I breathed, the name tasting like ash in my mouth.
Jaxon stepped in front of me instinctively, his body tense, eyes locked on the black hallway ahead. "How the hell did you get in here?"
Carter's voice echoed again, smooth and calm. "Let's not pretend I haven't always known your codes, Jaxon. Old habits… never die."
Jaxon moved quickly, ushering me behind him as he pulled open the coat closet and retrieved something I didn't expect: a slim black handgun. Not bulky. Not flashy. Professional.
My pulse spiked.
"You always keep that in the closet?" I asked.
"Only when I know someone like him is circling," Jaxon muttered. "Stay behind me. No matter what."
I gripped his arm. "Please don't kill him."
Jaxon gave me a sharp glance. "I won't unless he makes me."
From the shadows of the hallway, Carter's silhouette emerged. Calm. Suited. Too clean for someone who'd just broken into a penthouse mid-blackout.
But his smile? That was pure chaos.
"I knew it would be you," he said, eyes sliding to me. "The one girl who could ruin everything."
"Cut the monologue," Jaxon snapped. "Why are you here?"
Carter's smile faded. "You stole something from me."
Jaxon laughed once. "Ava was never yours. Not then. Not now."
Carter's gaze locked on mine, and something flickered behind his eyes—regret? Rage? I couldn't tell.
"You think he's your savior, Ava?" Carter stepped closer. Jaxon raised the gun, stopping him mid-step. "Think again. He's been playing this longer than I ever did. At least I was honest with my games."
"That's rich coming from the guy who ghosted after selling private footage of me," I shot back, voice trembling with fury. "You don't get to walk in here like this and pretend you're owed anything."
Carter's jaw tightened. "You never knew the full story."
"And I don't want it now," I snapped.
The lights flickered again, momentarily revealing a second figure lingering in the shadows. Smaller. Female.
My stomach dropped.
Jaxon noticed her too, the tip of his gun shifting ever so slightly.
The woman stepped forward and my heart nearly stopped.
Sienna.
Alive. Barely.
She looked paler, thinner, one eye bruised and her lip split but she was here. Standing.
"Sienna?" I whispered, stepping around Jaxon before he could stop me. "Oh my God, what"
"Don't," she croaked. "It's not what it looks like."
Carter moved to her side, his expression unreadable. "She came to me. Said she needed protection."
Jaxon barked out a bitter laugh. "From who? Us? Or the people you sold us out to?"
Sienna's lips trembled. "You don't understand. There are people watching you both. This… it's bigger than Carter. Bigger than me. They're coming for you, Ava."
My legs wobbled, but I held myself up. "Who?"
Sienna's eyes darted toward the window toward the blinking red light of a drone now hovering just beyond the glass.
Jaxon cursed and pulled me back, shielding me as the drone zipped away into the darkness.
"They know we're moving," he said, low. "And they want to scare us into stopping."
"Then why bring Carter?" I asked Sienna.
Her face broke. "Because he's the only one who knows how deep this goes. And he says… he can end it."
I looked at Jaxon, whose jaw was clenched so tight I could hear his teeth grind. "He's lying. This is his mess."
"And if it isn't?" I said quietly. "If he's right what then?"
For a long moment, Jaxon didn't respond.
But then he lowered the gun, eyes never leaving Carter's. "One chance. You talk. You tell us everything. But if I even feel like you're playing us"
"I know," Carter said, lifting his hands. "You shoot first."
He smiled faintly.
"And you ask questions never."
But before another word was said, a sharp explosion rocked the floor beneath us—somewhere in the lower levels of the building. The penthouse windows trembled violently. The power died again.
Sienna screamed.
And the last thing I heard before the emergency lights flickered back on… was the sound of the elevator doors jamming mid-floor.
Someone was cutting us off.
The lights overhead buzzed and flickered like they were gasping for air, casting everyone in sharp, fragmented shadows.
Jaxon moved fast, shoving a sleek black go-bag into my hands and grabbing my waist. "We're taking the stairs. Now."
I didn't argue. The sound of emergency alarms echoed in the distance, dull, then sharper, like they were getting closer.
Behind us, Carter grabbed Sienna's hand. "Stay close."
The four of us spilled into the hallway, adrenaline pounding in my veins like war drums. My fingers were still trembling from the blast below.
"How the hell did they get in?" I hissed as we ran.
"I don't know," Jaxon growled. "But whoever it is they don't want us dead. Not yet."
That "yet" rang in my ears like a threat.
We reached the stairwell door. Jaxon shoved it open, and the cold sting of concrete air hit us. Somewhere down the shaft, the building creaked like it was alive. Breathing. Hunting.
Step by step, we moved.
Fiftieth floor.
Forty-ninth.
"Where are we going?" I asked between breaths.
"Underground garage. There's a secure exit behind the generator room," Jaxon said. "No cameras. No trace."
Sienna grunted behind me. "You think they haven't thought of that?"
Carter's voice was sharp. "You brought us into this. At least try not to bleed sarcasm."
Sienna stiffened. "You don't get to guilt-trip me, Carter. Not when I've been"
"Save it," Jaxon barked. "You two can hash it out if we survive."
By the fortieth floor, I was shaking. Part fear, part fatigue, part disbelief that this was my life now—fleeing into shadows with a billionaire I barely understood and an ex-lover turned threat pacing behind me.
And yet… there was something in Jaxon's hand on my back. Steady. Fierce. Like he was tethering me to this reality when everything else tried to slip through the cracks.
We hit the thirty-eighth floor when the stairwell lights snapped out.
Pitch black.
I gasped. My foot missed the next step and I stumbled. Jaxon caught me, his arm a vice around my waist.
"Easy," he murmured near my ear. His breath was warm. Grounding.
"I'm fine," I whispered. "Just keep moving."
He didn't let go.
Something rustled below us.
Footsteps.
Fast.
Too many.
My stomach twisted. "They're in the stairwell."
Carter cursed under his breath.
"Split," Jaxon said, already moving. "I'll take Ava. You take the service elevator shaft. Meet at Sub-Level 3."
"You're trusting him?" Carter snapped.
Jaxon turned his head, voice like ice. "No. But I trust that he wants to live."
With that, we split Carter and Sienna peeling off through a maintenance door while Jaxon and I kept running, his fingers gripping mine tight.
The footsteps behind us grew louder. Closer.
Then gunfire.
Pop. Pop. Screams.
I ducked instinctively, heart in my throat.
"Keep moving!" Jaxon shouted, dragging me into the emergency corridor of the 33rd floor. He slammed the door shut behind us and braced it with a security bar.
"Why is this happening?" I gasped, chest heaving.
He turned to me, eyes burning. "Because someone thinks you're the leverage. You, Ava."
I stared at him. "But I don't have anything."
"You have me," he said.
And just like that, the walls between us cracked a little more.
His voice dropped, quiet now, almost intimate. "If they want to hurt me, they go through the person I'd bleed for."
That stopped my breath.
"You'd bleed for me?" I asked, barely audible.
"I already have," he said.
And then he kissed me.
Hard. Urgent. Like he didn't know if we'd survive the next ten minutes.
And I kissed him back because I was tired of pretending that everything inside me wasn't aching for this exact collision. Him. Me. This madness.
But the heat between us shattered when a single, sharp ping echoed throuThe lights overhead buzzed and flickered like they were gasping for air, casting everyone in sharp, fragmented shadows.
Jaxon moved fast, shoving a sleek black go-bag into my hands and grabbing my waist. "We're taking the stairs. Now."
I didn't argue. The sound of emergency alarms echoed in the distance—dull, then sharper, like they were getting closer.
Behind us, Carter grabbed Sienna's hand. "Stay close."
The four of us spilled into the hallway, adrenaline pounding in my veins like war drums. My fingers were still trembling from the blast below.
"How the hell did they get in?" I hissed as we ran.
"I don't know," Jaxon growled. "But whoever it is they don't want us dead. Not yet."
That "yet" rang in my ears like a threat.
We reached the stairwell door. Jaxon shoved it open, and the cold sting of concrete air hit us. Somewhere down the shaft, the building creaked like it was alive. Breathing. Hunting.
Step by step, we moved.
Fiftieth floor.
Forty-ninth.
"Where are we going?" I asked between breaths.
"Underground garage. There's a secure exit behind the generator room," Jaxon said. "No cameras. No trace."
Sienna grunted behind me. "You think they haven't thought of that?"
Carter's voice was sharp. "You brought us into this. At least try not to bleed sarcasm."
Sienna stiffened. "You don't get to guilt-trip me, Carter. Not when I've been "
"Save it," Jaxon barked. "You two can hash it out if we survive."
By the fortieth floor, I was shaking. Part fear, part fatigue, part disbelief that this was my life now fleeing into shadows with a billionaire I barely understood and an ex-lover turned threat pacing behind me.
And yet… there was something in Jaxon's hand on my back. Steady. Fierce. Like he was tethering me to this reality when everything else tried to slip through the cracks.
We hit the thirty-eighth floor when the stairwell lights snapped out.
Pitch black.
I gasped. My foot missed the next step and I stumbled. Jaxon caught me, his arm a vice around my waist.
"Easy," he murmured near my ear. His breath was warm. Grounding.
"I'm fine," I whispered. "Just keep moving."
He didn't let go.
Something rustled below us.
Footsteps.
Fast.
Too many.
My stomach twisted. "They're in the stairwell."
Carter cursed under his breath.
"Split," Jaxon said, already moving. "I'll take Ava. You take the service elevator shaft. Meet at Sub-Level 3."
"You're trusting him?" Carter snapped.
Jaxon turned his head, voice like ice. "No. But I trust that he wants to live."
With that, we split Carter and Sienna peeling off through a maintenance door while Jaxon and I kept running, his fingers gripping mine tight.
The footsteps behind us grew louder. Closer.
Then gunfire.
Pop. Pop. Screams.
I ducked instinctively, heart in my throat.
"Keep moving!" Jaxon shouted, dragging me into the emergency corridor of the 33rd floor. He slammed the door shut behind us and braced it with a security bar.
"Why is this happening?" I gasped, chest heaving.
He turned to me, eyes burning. "Because someone thinks you're the leverage. You, Ava."
I stared at him. "But I don't have anything."
"You have me," he said.
And just like that, the walls between us cracked a little more.
His voice dropped, quiet now, almost intimate. "If they want to hurt me, they go through the person I'd bleed for."
That stopped my breath.
"You'd bleed for me?" I asked, barely audible.
"I already have," he said.
And then he kissed me.
Hard. Urgent. Like he didn't know if we'd survive the next ten minutes.
And I kissed him back because I was tired of pretending that everything inside me wasn't aching for this exact collision. Him. Me. This madness.
But the heat between us shattered when a single, sharp ping echoed through the hallway.
The sound of an elevator arriving.
Sub-Level 3.
Someone had beaten us there.
And from the hum of the control panel ahead, I already knew it wasn't Carter or Sienna.
Jaxon pulled back, his jaw locked.
"They've reached the garage."
He grabbed my hand again.
"We go now. And this time, Avano more running."