Execution (Off Balance, #2)

by Lucia Franco

This man surprised me every day. One minute he made my blood boil, the next he was the most encouraging person in my life. It physically hurt to see such anguish fill the depths of his beautiful eyes, but I knew in that moment I needed to stay strong. Otherwise, if I caved, then I’d be tolerating his heinous actions, and I couldn’t allow that. It would only give way for it to happen again in the future.

This fucking man and the way he stared at me. My heart raced a million miles a minute, and in this moment, I could forgive everything he did just from the way he looked at me.

"Why the hell would Kova care that Hayden is there anyway?" "From everything you’ve told me, he sounds like a jealous ex and can't stand to see you around another guy. Taunting him with what he can't have would be fun after what he did. You should want to make him want you."

"I cannot believe your father let you wear that." I finally glanced over my shoulder and pushed myself up. "Why not?" His piercing eyes looked at me in disbelief. Kova stepped forward until we were face-to-face with just a handful of inches separating us. I leaned my hip against the railing as he stared down at me. In complete bluntness he said, "Because it screams sex, Ria. I want to rip that dress off you and spend hours inside you."

This MF Man

"Don't you need to find Katja? The ball is going to drop, and you need to be with her when it happens." I was supposed to be Hayden's midnight kiss, so said Avery. Kova stood still as he looked deep into my eyes. With a subtle shake of his head, my stomach flipped. "I am right where I want to be," he murmured.

Do you understand what I am asking of you now? Why you are here?" I nodded. "I do now. Thank you." My eyes softened. "I want only the best for you. You come out on top, we both come out on top." "Sometimes you can be so nice, you know." He chuckled. "Do not tell anyone. You will ruin my cover."

"You." My voice cracked. "You are my strength, Kova." God, it was so true, and it nearly knocked the wind from my lungs. He really was what I relied on to give me what I needed, and I didn't realize it until recently. He didn't gloat. "What inspires you?" "You," I said softly. "Ask me what inspires me." I asked him. "You," he said. My stomach fluttered. "What drives you to push harder?" "You," I said.

"I am not the asshole you think me to be." "It was an asshole move, Kova. Therefore, you're an asshole." He smiled and chuckled, and it pierced my heart. He sat back and strummed his fingers on the table. "You know, I would not let anyone else talk to me like that." I blushed, trying not to smile. "But you let me." He shook his head. "And I have no idea why,"

think my girl likes the idea of me holding her down and surrendering to me," he said, his words surrounded me like a tightening rope. I did. I really did. "I could take away your power, your control, and make you forget your name."

"I wish you could see yourself through my eyes, only then would you realize how much you mean to me."

You are mine and only mine." He wrapped his arms around my back and grasped my neck and lower back as he pushed off the couch and drove into me like a fucking pro. "Only you, Ria," he groaned, "only you. I cannot live without you or this feeling you bring me. I want to be in you every day, all day, for the rest of my life. I want to wake up next to you, make you only mine, and do this every fucking day. This is heaven. You are my everything."

"I thought you hated me." Kova ground into me at the word hate. Fuck. My eyes became heavy with desire. "I do hate you. With every bone in my body." God, I was a mess. Kova chuckled. "You have a weird way of showing it."

I'd been so close to stepping out of bounds. I almost lost it all because I had a moment of uncertainty and doubted myself. But Kova brought me back. He centered me and helped make my dream a reality, because he believed in me. I owed him so much.

"I lost a little of myself this past week," I admitted so quietly. My heart was racing so fast. "So did I, Ria… So did I." My eyes shot to his and my heart broke hearing the truth in his whispered words. In those three little words, Kova said more than he’d ever had, and it concerned me deeply. Not once has he ever opened like he just did. Whatever was raging inside this beautiful man, he needed to get it out, and I wanted to help him.

"By the way, I would find you anywhere." I tilted my head to the side in confusion. "You said you are going to move so I cannot show up whenever I wanted. Ria, I will always find you. You have a part of me that no one has ever had, as I do with you."