chapter 1

He has a heart of ice...but for her, he'd burn the world.

Alex Volkov is a devil blessed with the face of an angel and cursed with a

past he can’t escape.

Driven by a tragedy that has haunted him for most of his life, his ruthless

pursuits for success and vengeance leave little room for matters of the heart.

But when he’s forced to look after his best friend’s sister, he starts to feel

something in his chest:

A crack.

A melt.

A fire that could end his world as he knew it.

***

Ava Chen is a free spirit trapped by nightmares of a childhood she can’t

remember.

But despite her broken past, she’s never stopped seeing the beauty in the

world…including the heart beneath the icy exterior of a man she shouldn’t

want.

Her brother’s best friend.

Her neighbor.

Her savior and her downfall.

Theirs is a love that was never supposed to happen—but when it does, it

unleashes secrets that could destroy them both…and everything they hold

dear.

THERE WERE WORSE THINGS THAN BEING STRANDED IN THE MIDDLE OF

nowhere during a rainstorm.

For example, I could be running from a rabid bear intent on mauling me

into the next century. Or I could be tied to a chair in a dark basement and

forced to listen to Aqua’s “Barbie Girl” on repeat until I’d rather gnaw off my

arm than hear the song’s eponymous phrase again.

But just because things could be worse didn’t mean they didn’t suck.

Stop. Think positive thoughts.

“An Uber will show up…now.” I stared at my phone, biting back my

frustration when the app reassured me it was “finding my ride”, the way it

had been for the past half hour.

Normally, I’d be less stressed about the situation because hey, at least I

had a working phone and a bus shelter to keep me mostly dry from the

pounding rain. But Josh’s farewell party was starting in an hour, I had yet to

pick up his surprise cake from the bakery, and it would be dark soon. I may

be a glass half full kinda gal, but I wasn’t an idiot. No one—especially not a

college girl with zero fighting skills to speak of—wants to find herself alone

in the middle of nowhere after dark.

I should’ve taken those self-defense classes with Jules like she wanted.

I mentally scrolled through my limited options. The bus that stopped at

this location didn’t run on the weekends, and most of my friends didn’t own a

car. Bridget had car service, but she was at an embassy event until seven.

Uber wasn’t working, and I hadn’t seen a single car pass by since the rain

started. Not that I would hitchhike, anyway—I’ve watched horror movies,

thank you very .

To be continued.....

Bye........

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