AVA'S POV
My head felt like someone had taken a sledgehammer to it. I groaned and rolled over in the unfamiliar bed, trying to remember where I was and why everything hurt. The sheets were too soft, and the room was too big.
Then it all came rushing back. The contract. Gabriel's ultimatum. The signature that had sealed my fate.
I was living with Professor Thorne now. In his apartment. Under his rules.
"God," I muttered, pressing my palms against my temples. "What have I done?"
I forced myself to sit up, my head spinning with the movement. My mouth felt like cotton, and all I could think about was getting some water. I stumbled out of bed, my eyes barely open, and shuffled toward what I hoped was the kitchen.
I was so focused on not falling over that I didn't see the obstacle in my path until I walked straight into it. It felt like hitting a brick wall – solid, immovable, and definitely not supposed to be there.
I started to fall backward when strong arms caught me, steadying me against a broad chest. My eyes flew open, and I found myself staring up into Gabriel's dark eyes.
"Careful," he said quietly, his hands still gripping my arms.
"Professor Thorne," I breathed, suddenly very awake.
He was dressed in his usual work attire – perfectly pressed shirt, expensive tie, suit jacket that probably cost more than my tuition. He looked like he was heading to campus, all polished and professional. Meanwhile, I was wearing nothing but the thin silk robe I'd thrown on the night before.
Heat flooded my cheeks as I realized how much skin was showing. The robe had shifted during my clumsy collision, and I could feel his eyes drop briefly to my exposed cleavage before returning to my face.
"I'm sorry," I stammered, quickly pulling the robe tighter around myself. "I didn't know you were still here."
"Evidently."
I stepped back abruptly, putting distance between us. "I just needed some water. I have a headache."
"I can see that." His voice was neutral, giving nothing away.
I avoided his eyes, too embarrassed to meet his gaze.
Without another word, I turned and practically ran back to my room, slamming the door behind me. I leaned against it, my heart pounding from more than just the collision. The way he'd caught me, the way his hands had felt on my arms, the way he'd looked at me...
I shook my head. I couldn't think about that. He was my professor. My employer. The man who'd basically blackmailed me into living with him.
I waited until I heard the front door close before venturing out again. The apartment was quiet, empty. I found the kitchen and drank an entire bottle of water, then another one for good measure.
My phone was sitting on the counter where I'd left it the night before. I picked it up and scrolled through my contacts until I found Sophie's number.
She picked up on the second ring.
"Ava! Thank God. I've been worried sick about you."
"Hey, Soph." Just hearing her voice made me feel a little more normal.
"How's the new place? You disappeared so fast yesterday, I didn't even get to see it properly."
"It's... nice. Really nice." I walked to the window, looking out over the city. "Probably too nice for someone like me."
"What do you mean?"
"Nothing. Just... you know how I am about fancy things."
"Ava, you're being weird again. What's really going on?"
I opened my mouth to tell her everything – about Gabriel, about the contract, about how trapped I felt. But the words wouldn't come. How could I explain something I barely understood myself?
"I'm fine, Sophie. Really. Just adjusting to—"
The front door opened, and my blood turned to ice. Heavy footsteps echoed through the apartment, moving closer to the kitchen.
"I have to go," I whispered into the phone.
"Ava, wait—"
I hung up just as Gabriel appeared in the doorway. He'd taken off his suit jacket, and his tie was loosened around his neck. He looked at me with those penetrating dark eyes, and I felt like a deer caught in headlights.
"Aren't you going to campus?” He moved closer, and I backed up until I hit the counter.
I looked down at my hands, unable to meet his intense gaze. "I am. Aren't you supposed to be at work?"
"I am. You're coming with me."
My head snapped up. "What?"
"To campus. You have classes, don't you?"
"I can get there myself," I said quickly. "I don't need you to—"
"Drive you?" He shook his head slowly. "I'm afraid that's not how this works anymore. We live together now, remember? We coordinate our schedules."
"But people will see us together. They'll think—"
"They'll think what we want them to think." His voice was firm, leaving no room for argument. "That's the point."
I stared at him, trying to process what he was saying. "You want people to see us together?"
"I want people to see you with me. There's a difference."
Before I could ask what that meant, his expression shifted slightly. Something calculating crossed his face.
"Speaking of which," he said casually, "I heard an interesting rumor yesterday."
"A rumor?"
"About you. About the auction." His eyes never left mine. "Word is, you didn't actually take the money you earned that night."
My stomach dropped. How did he know that? Who had told him?
"I don't know what you mean," I said weakly.
"Don't lie to me, Ava." His voice was quiet, but there was steel underneath it. "L.M. mentioned that lot seven never collected her compensation. That's you, isn't it?"
I couldn't speak.
"So I'll ask you again," Gabriel continued, taking another step closer. "Why didn't you take the money? You went through all that trouble, put yourself in that situation, signed up to be sold to the highest bidder. But when it came time to collect your payment, you walked away empty-handed."
"Because..." I started, then stopped. How could I explain it? How could I tell him that taking money for something that never happened felt like lying?
"Because what?"
"Because you didn't sleep with me," I whispered, my cheeks burning with embarrassment. "So I couldn't take it. It would have been wrong."
Gabriel went very still. The silence stretched between us like a live wire.
"I see," he said finally. "So you have principles, after all."
"I never said I didn't."
"No, you just acted like you didn't." His eyes were dark, unreadable. "Interesting moral line you've drawn for yourself, Ava. You'll sell yourself to strangers, but you won't take money for services not rendered."
His words stung, but I forced myself to meet his gaze. "It felt like stealing."
"And what we're doing now? What does this feel like?"
I didn't answer at first.
Gabriel studied my face for a long moment, then asked the question that made my world tilt on its axis.
"Should I sleep with you then?"