This Woman (Jesse POV)

Jesse Ward has stumbled through life drinking and indulging himself within the rooms of his high-class sex club, The Manor, numbing himself to the pain, grief, and guilt of his wrongs. Pleasure and alcohol are his medicine. Hedonism is all he knows. It's how he copes. How he survives. Until Ava O'Shea strolls into his office and knocks him back with her breathtaking beauty, ambition, and drive. It only takes one look into her eyes, one touch of her skin, and one word murmured, before his heart is kick-started, offering him something he never thought possible. A distraction from his daily torment. A semblance of peace. Women never reject Jesse Ward. They fall at his feet, melt from his charismatic, devious smile, and obey his every salacious command. All except the one woman who unwittingly becomes his obsession and the only thing that can keep him from the brink of self-destruction. He needs Ava and will do anything to have her. Even hide every last skeleton in his large closet. Because the truth could destroy them both.

The Manor-the heartbeat of hedonism and pleasure, the place where Jesse Ward lost himself for years in women and alcohol, escaping his past-was his life. His everything. Until the day Ava O'Shea walked through the doors and Jesse discovered something else to live for. Her. Their love affair was passionate, intense, and all-consuming. She became his heaven. His escape. And eventually, his downfall. When Ava walked away from him, he was destroyed, even more broken than before. But she's come back, and Jesse vows never to lose her again. Except Ava's only scratched the surface of his broken soul, and as their relationship intensifies and their love deepens, Jesse's pushed to the brink of insanity when his past creeps into his present and risks destroying everything. They will never survive his truths, and Jesse will never survive losing Ava again. So he'll do anything to shield her from his dark, soul-destroying past. Absolutely anything.

Living a life free of demons and finding forgiveness had always seemed unattainable to Jesse Ward. And yet Ava O'Shea offered him a chance of happiness, the possibility of a happy ever after. Their affair has been an intense whirlwind, full of highs and lows, and now Jesses finally on the cusp of realizing what he always thought was impossible. Love. Marriage. Acceptance. Redemption Except for one very important thing. The final part of Jesses past that he's kept from the woman of his dreams. Because surely Ava will walk away if she knows about the most damaging skeleton in his endless closet. As Jesse navigates his wild, infinitely passionate relationship with Ava, the demons stir, threatening to damage their love and trust. His domination and fierceness inevitably intensifies, ensuring he's constantly straddling the line between bliss and complete irrationality. His past is pursuing him. His forever with Ava is uncertain. And Jesses faced with the inconceivable reality that by simply bringing Ava into his world, he's ultimately risked her life.