Chapter 3 THREE

Chapter 3

The sun rose and the curtains to the room parted a little to admit the first glimmer of dawn. Ava was at the kitchen counter; she had a coffee cup in her hands but she never tried to take a sip. She was sitting there with her mouth wide open and her eyes big and round staring out the window for a solution to all her problems. The small apartment that she considered her home seemed alien today; Damon Blackwood had taken root in her mind.

She'd barely slept. Each time she tried to get some rest, she saw him in the meeting, saw the burning look in his eyes, and heard the anger in his tone. It was as if he had come home with her, wrapping her in his darkness and holding her close. She despised the fact that he already had this sort of hold over her.

Ava placed the cup on the table and massaged her forehead, attempting to expel him from her thoughts. But the more she tried, the stronger his image became-the way his jaw clenched when she refused to back down, the brief look of something she couldn't quite name in his eyes.

She could not afford to be distracted, not now. There was too much at stake. Her mother was in the hospital, and the money she would earn from this job was the only thing that was keeping her afloat. Whatever tricks Damon Blackwood had in his sleeves, she had to expect them. However much he tried to make things hard for her, she would always find a way out of it.

Her phone rang on the side of the table and the sound brought her back to reality. She looked at the screen and hoped that there was a message from Claire but there wasn't. It was a message from Blackwood Enterprises – it was a notification about the meeting that she was supposed to attend and prepare for.

Great. Just what she needed-another reason to think about Damon.

Damon sat down in his chair, tapping idly on the smooth surface of his desk. This meeting with Ava Monroe had left its mark on him, a mark he had never expected to have any hope of receiving. He just could not stop thinking about her and their conversation, searching for something that would make him understand the feelings he had for her.

It was not in him to be disoriented by anyone, let alone by someone like her. She was confident, sure, but she was also fragile. He could see it in the way her lips pulled into a thin line when she believed no one was observing her, the way her hands fidgeted when the stress in the room became unbearable. He was used to women who were beautiful, sophisticated, and well-mannered and there was something about her that was so real and unpolished.

And that made her dangerous.

He could not afford to be relaxed, not when the stakes were this high. Lucas Hawthorne had already started his play and Damon was aware that more was yet to come. All the choices he was going to make from this point forward would define the fate of his empire. There was no room for weakness.

But still, Ava lingered in his thoughts, a quiet disruption that unsettled his usually rigid control.

His phone rang on the desk and he picked it up, waiting for a message from Justin or an update on the Hawthorne case. But it was just a message from his assistant informing him about the meeting he had with Ava in the later part of the day. Damon's hand clenched the phone tightly as he read the words.

Another round with her. He could not decide whether he was eagerly awaiting it or was afraid of it.

Stepping into a large building that housed Blackwood Enterprises, Ava was not afraid, but her heartbeat quickened. The glass panels, the shiny marble floor – all the trappings of the corporate world were evident in this building. But beneath the glamour, she sensed the presence of something else.

Something darker.

As she walked through the lobby, she saw a couple of workers, who were also walking with determination and rarely looked at anyone directly. It was as if they were all in a large well-organized conspiracy, a well-greased and well-tuned mechanism. And she was the outsider.

The strap of the bag was clutched firmly in her hand as Ava headed for the elevator and she could feel her pulse racing. She had to blind herself to everything that was beyond her tasks and concentrate on the tasks upon her. Whatever transpired in this meeting, she could not afford to let Damon see that she was nervous. He fed on vulnerability, and she wouldn't allow him that pleasure.

The doors of the elevator opened with a ding sound and she entered it and pressed the button of the top floor. When the doors shut, her face was reflected on the metallic surface, she looked poised and collected, but her heart was pounding.

The ride seemed interminable, and as the floors rose higher, she went through the last time they were together in his office. There had been something about her that reminded him of an electrical spark that made everything between them a little seductive. And she could not even decide which of the two emotions dominated her.

The doors opened and Ava stepped out onto the executive floor; her high heels made a faint sound on the polished floor. She walked down the hallway, glancing at the modern art on the walls, and the furniture that was placed with such precision. Everything here was perfect-cold, controlled, and untouchable.

Just like Damon.

She reached the door of his office and for a while, she had her hand on the handle before twisting the handle and opening the door. The room was clean and dull as it was when she left; it had a large window with a beautiful view of the city. And there he was standing by the window with his back towards her.

For a moment she was enchanted by the sight of him. He remained standing like a statue, a man of great stature, his body dominating the room even when he was not speaking. It was as if there was a tension between them, a cord that could snap the moment she crossed the threshold of the room.

"Ava," Damon's voice was deep and calm, interrupting the silence. He didn't look at her and didn't even bother to turn around, but she could sense his gaze on her at the same time. "You're early."

"I prefer to be prepared," she replied, her voice steady, though her nerves were far from calm.

"Good," he said, finally turning to face her, his eyes sharp, assessing. "You'll need that."

The look in his eyes made her skin crawl, but she did not look away from him. She wasn't here to be intimidated. She was here to prove herself.

Damon's face was a blank mask, but there was a brief flash of something in his eyes, something that echoed her own confusion. For a second, they were two individuals who were in front of something that was beyond both of them.

But that moment did not last long and the animosity between them resumed immediately.

"We have a lot to talk about," Damon replied his tone as calm and composed as ever. "Shall we begin?"

Ava nodded, stepping further into the room, her pulse racing. She could not comprehend what was in store for her but she was sure of one thing; this was just the start.