Page 17 of His Dark Pull

“I like to keep an eye on you,”he replies. “For your safety.”

“Sure you do,”I scoff, rolling my eyes. “Until you leave. Tyler came and saved me that night, you know?”

“Yes, Tyler did,”he says. “I admire the boy. He reacted promptly to my message to come to your office and meet you there.”

“What message?”I ask, confused.

He doesn’t answer. Instead, he reaches for my hand. His touch sparks a familiar warmth, despite my anger. I should pull away, but I don’t.

Alexander somehow knew what was happening in the office that night, and he had sent Tyler a message to come and save me. But why hadn’t he told me? Why the secrecy?

“Why are you with him, Ava?”he asks, his voice low and husky. His thumb strokes the back of my hand.

I hesitate, unsure of how to answer. “He’s good for me, Alexander,”I say.

“I’m good for you, Ava,”he counters, his eyes locking onto mine with an intensity that makes my breath catchin my throat. “We’re meant to be together. So what are you doing with a toy like him?”

“He’s not a toy,”I defend, a surge of protectiveness washing over me. “He’s a lawyer, he’s kind, and I think he loves me. He won’t leave me. Ever.”

A shadow crosses Alexander’s face as he stares out the window, the city lights blurring into a kaleidoscope of colors.

“What, you have nothing to say?”I challenge, frustrated by his silence.

He turns back to me. “I don’t like it that you’re with him when he can’t protect you,”he says, his voice raw with emotion. “He can’t defend you. He can’t—have you.”

His words hang in the air, a mixture of possessiveness and longing. I know I should push him away, sever the ties that bind us together, but the pull of his darkness is too strong. I’m caught in his web, and I’m not sure I want to escape.

“He can have whatever he wants, Alexander. I am with him. I am not yours,”I declare,my voicetrembling with unshed tears. “Not anymore.”

A heavy silence descends upon the car, the rhythmic patter of rain against the windshield and the low hum of the engine the only sounds that fill the void. I can feel Alexander’s gaze on me, intense, but I refuse to meet his eyes.

After a long moment, he speaks, his voice rough. “Ava,”he begins, his words vulnerable, like I’ve never witnessed before, “do you remember the night we met?”

Istiffen, memories flooding back unbidden–the grand opening of the EverBlue Group headquarters, the way his eyes had met mine across the crowded room, the instant connection that had drawn us together like magnets. It was a night that had changed the course of my life, a night that hadbothbrought me immense joy and unbearable pain.

“Of course I remember,”I reply.

“I was a different man back then,”he continues, his gaze distant, as if lost in the past. I was lost, angry, desperate to prove myself to a world that had never shown me kindness.”

He pauses, his jaw clenching as he seems to gather his thoughts. “My father— he wasn’t a good man. He was involved in things he shouldn’t have been. When he was arrested, my sister, mother, and I were left with nothing. We were alone, struggling to survive in a city that didn’t care about us.”

I listen, my heart aching for the young boy who had been forced to grow up too fast, who hadcarried his family’s burdens on his shoulders.

“That’s when I met the guy you saw leave the car,”he continues. “He offered me a way out, a chance to provide. His name is Kovacs.”

Kovacs. The name on the paper.

His eyes meet mine, and I see the pain reflected there. “I made mistakes, Ava,”he confesses. “I did things I’m not proud of. But I did it all for my family. And when she—when my mom was gone, I was lost. I didn’t know who I was or what I was supposed to do.”

He reaches out, his hand cupping my cheek, his touch sending goosebumps rippling across my flesh. “And then I met you,”he whispers,his voicehusky. “You were a ray of light in my darkness, a beacon of hope in a world that had lost all meaning.You made me want to be better, to beworthy of your love.”

I close my eyes. The warmth ofhishand feels good on my skin. I’ve never known this side of Alexander, this vulnerable, broken man who hides behind a mask of strength and control.

“I left because I was afraid,”he confesses.“Afraid that my past would catch up to me, that it woulddestroy you.I thought I was protecting you by pushing you away.”

He opens his eyes, their blue depths like a mountain lake. “But I was wrong. I was a fool to think I could live without you. You’re a part of me, Ava. Always have been, always will be.”

Tears stream down my face, soaking my shirt, making my vision blur as I listen to his confession, the raw honesty of his words breaking down the walls I’d built around my heart. I had judged him, condemned him for his past, but now I see the man beneath the mask, the man who had loved me despite his own darkness.

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