The city never slept, and tonight, neither did Ava. The stakes had never felt higher. She stood at the massive windows of her penthouse, the Manhattan skyline sprawling before her, glittering like a sea of jewels. The evening had grown darker, the air thick with the promise of an approaching storm. Ava felt the weight of it pressing down on her, a reflection of the storm brewing within her life.
Jaxon's visit earlier had thrown her off balance, but it had also sharpened her resolve. Someone was trying to sabotage her company's merger, and the thought of being outmaneuvered in her own domain was intolerable. Whoever had leaked the information to Jaxon was playing a dangerous game, and Ava was determined to find out who it was and stop them before they could do any more damage.
Her phone buzzed on the marble countertop, and she picked it up, her pulse quickening when she saw Jaxon's name on the screen.
Need to see you. Now. - J
Ava's heart skipped a beat. His message was brief, but it carried the urgency she'd come to expect from Jaxon. Without hesitation, she grabbed her coat and keys, her mind racing as she headed for the door. Whatever Jaxon had discovered, it couldn't wait.
The drive to Jaxon's penthouse was a blur. Ava barely registered the city lights flashing by, her thoughts consumed by the mystery they were unraveling together. The closer she got, the more her anticipation built, a mix of excitement and dread tightening in her chest.
When she arrived, the elevator ride to his penthouse felt agonizingly slow. But the moment the doors opened, she was greeted by the sight of Jaxon, standing in the center of the room, his expression dark and intense. He didn't wait for her to speak; he simply crossed the space between them and pulled her into a deep, demanding kiss, as if he needed the contact to steady himself.
When they finally broke apart, both were breathless, the air between them charged with an electricity that only seemed to intensify the closer they got to the truth.
"Ava," Jaxon said, his voice low and urgent, "I found something."
He led her to the sleek glass coffee table where his laptop sat open, the screen displaying a series of documents. Ava leaned in, her eyes scanning the text as Jaxon explained.
"I've been digging into the origins of that email," Jaxon began, his tone clipped, focused. "Tracing it back through the server logs, I found something interesting. The email was routed through multiple dummy accounts and VPNs, but I managed to track down the original IP address."
Ava's heart pounded as she looked at the data on the screen. "And? Who sent it?"
Jaxon hesitated, his jaw clenched as he glanced at her. "It came from someone inside Sinclair Capital."
The words hit Ava like a punch to the gut. She had feared as much, but hearing it confirmed was a different matter entirely. Someone she trusted, someone within her own company, was working against her. The betrayal cut deep, and for a moment, she felt the walls of her carefully constructed world start to crack.
"Who?" Ava's voice was steady, but her eyes burned with a mix of anger and hurt.
Jaxon turned the laptop screen to face her more directly, highlighting a name on the document. Ava's blood ran cold as she read it.
Richard Devlin.
Her trusted advisor. A man she had worked with for years, someone she had considered a close confidant. The revelation was staggering, but it also made a twisted kind of sense. Richard had access to all the sensitive information about the merger. He was in a position to leak it, and to orchestrate a betrayal that could bring her company to its knees.
Ava's hands clenched into fists at her sides, her mind racing as she tried to process the enormity of the situation. "Why would he do this?" she whispered, more to herself than to Jaxon.
"Money, power, leverage," Jaxon replied grimly. "Maybe all three. But whatever his reasons, it's clear he's working against you. And he's not doing it alone."
Ava looked up at Jaxon, her eyes narrowing. "What do you mean?"
"There's more," Jaxon said, his voice hardening as he pulled up another document. "I found a series of communications between Richard and an unknown party. They're using encrypted messaging, but I managed to decrypt some of the files."
He clicked on one of the messages, bringing it up on the screen. The text was brief, but it was enough to make Ava's blood boil.
Make sure she doesn't see it coming. We need this to look clean. - R
Ava's mind spun as she connected the dots. Richard was planning something big,something that went beyond a simple leak. He was setting her up, positioning himself to strike when she least expected it. And he was working with someone else, someone who had just as much to gain from her downfall.
"We need to stop him," Ava said, her voice firm with resolve. "Before he can do any more damage."
Jaxon nodded, his eyes blazing with determination. "Agreed. But we need to be smart about this. If we confront him now, he could destroy any evidence linking him to this."
Ava knew he was right. They had to play this carefully, strategically, if they were going to bring Richard down and protect her company. But the thought of playing a waiting game, of letting Richard think he was still in control, made her stomach turn.
"What's our next move?" she asked, her mind already racing through the possibilities.
Jaxon's gaze met hers, and she saw the fire in his eyes, the same fire that had drawn her to him from the start. "We let him think he's winning," he said. "We gather more evidence, make him comfortable, and when the time is right, we strike."
Ava's heart pounded in her chest, the adrenaline surging through her veins. It was risky, dangerous, but it was their best chance of bringing Richard down without tipping him off. And with Jaxon by her side, she knew they could do it.
But as they laid out their plan, the tension between them simmering just below the surface, Ava couldn't shake the feeling that this was only the beginning. Richard's betrayal was just one piece of a much larger puzzle, and the deeper they dug, the more dangerous it would become.
Jaxon's hand found hers, his grip firm and reassuring as he looked at her with a fierce determination. "We'll get through this, Ava," he said, his voice steady. "Together."
Ava nodded, her resolve hardening as she met his gaze. "Together," she echoed.
But even as they solidified their plan, the storm outside began to rage, lightning flashing across the sky as thunder rumbled in the distance. Ava knew that the real storm was yet to come, and when it did, it would test everything they had built both professionally and personally.
As the night wore on, the city below them seemed to pulse with the same urgency that throbbed in Ava's chest. She had no illusions about what lay ahead; the path they were on was fraught with danger, and the stakes were higher than ever.
But Ava Sinclair had never been one to back down from a challenge. And with Jaxon by her side, she was ready to face whatever came next even if it meant confronting the darkest corners of her own world.