Blackmailing Aria [Book 1 of the Stavros Series]

2

I spend far too long in the shower after my friends leave. It's the nicest shower I've been in, so it's hard not to relax and enjoy myself. But eventually, my fingers begin to prune and I have no choice to get out.
While rubbing a towel against my short blonde hair, I hear the door to my room opening and closing.

Frustrated, I throw the towel in my hand to the ground while yelling, "Get out of my room, Holden!"

I cannot believe he stayed. But I'm not surprised. I know that he is trying to make up for what he did, but he doesn't understand that every time I see him I imagine that girl underneath him. I imagine his hands on her body, and his tongue licking her lips.

Apologizing won't fix his actions. When you throw a plate on to the ground, it shatters. A simple "sorry" won't fix it. It will still be broken. And the same thing has happened to my heart.

A series of knocks sound on the bathroom door. I roll my eyes, feeling my blood pressure spike. He's going to be the death of me.

I wrap my hand around the brass doorknob, while using my other hand to secure the towel around my chest.

"Holden, what the hell do you think you're-"

I cut myself off, when I see that the man standing in front of me is, in fact, not Holden.

My first reaction is to blink rapidly, believing I'm in a dream. When his image won't disappear, I begin to laugh.  This can't be happening. He can't be here.

His face is just as I remembered, but only for a second. His bright gray eyes turn dark like I've never seen them before. I didn't know they could do that. I thought they were always bright, always happy.

His lips part, but no words escape. He must be thinking the same thing I am.

Why are we standing in front of each other? Again?
He's wearing a crisp white dress shirt, similar to the one he was wearing the night I met him. His dark brown hair is shorter now, and he's grown a short beard, making him look more grown up. More manlier.

"What are you doing here?" I can hardly believe that I could get the words out, since I'm having a hard time controlling my laughter. Fate has something against me, I know it.

I didn't think there would be a chance in hell that I would run into him in New York, or ever. I was hoping I wouldn't.

His hardened facial expression softens, as if he's thinking about something. Then, quickly it goes back to the way it was.

He crosses his muscular arms in front of him, catching my attention. He's been working out.
"I live here."

Three words have never scared me so much, until then.

"You do not," I try to argue, not wanting to believe it.

He leans in close, having to bend over to reach my small height. I almost get lost in his gray eyes like I did when I was nineteen. "Better yet," he murmurs, "I own this place."

No.

I knew he was a lot of things, but I didn't think he was a liar.

"Xander." I haven't spoken his name to anyone else, but him, and that was four years ago. "Short for Alexander."

A smile spreads across his lips, but not one I like. It's sick, twisted, evil. "Alexander Stavros, or also known as Xander Stavros by my close friends and family."

"You lied to me," I whisper, feeling the familiar stab of hurt go through my heart.

"You left me," he growls, his gray eyes sparking with anger.

I cross both arms across my chest, trying to get any type of protection. I refuse to look him in the eye. I've never felt so uncomfortable, so vulnerable before in my life.

Slowly, I back up from him and close the bathroom door. He doesn't try to stop me, he doesn't argue. He stands there, keeping his eyes on me as the door begins to separate us, inch by inch.

I take a deep breath once the door clicks into place. The first tear falls before I can wipe it away.