Trapped by His Touch

Ten million bucks

Ava said softly, “Noah, I didn’t go to see him on purpose. The client set up a meeting with me—I only knew it was a woman, not that it was Harper, and I sure as hell didn’t know she’d bring Ethan along.”

Ava’s gentle explanation made Noah’s face ease up a bit.

He glanced at her, expressionless. “From now on, the second you see those two, you turn around and get the f**k out—got it?”

Realizing his words sounded a little like jealousy, Noah quickly added, “Hmph, with your trashy ass, you’d probably cling to them like a leech. The Campbell family can’t afford that kind of embarrassment.”

Ava’s face went pale for a second.

Noah suddenly felt a twinge of regret—had he gone too far with that?

That wasn’t even what he meant.

But asking him to swallow his pride and apologize? No f*****g way.

Ava said quietly, “I got it. I’ll stay away from him.”

“That’s more like it,” Noah grumbled, sounding kinda sulky.

They rode back to the Campbell house in silence.

Ava changed her clothes, came downstairs, and saw Noah on the couch. She asked cautiously, “Noah, you haven’t had dinner either, right? How about I cook something, and we eat together?”

Neither she nor Noah liked having people around, so this huge-ass villa only had a part-time cleaner who came by on schedule—no live-in help.

Stuff like cooking? Ava handled it herself.

“You cook? Is that s**t even edible?” Noah raised an eyebrow.

Noah’s face was all disgust.

Normally, Ava would’ve dropped it right there, but this time, she mustered some guts. “It’s decent. Wanna… give it a try?”

Noah narrowed his eyes.

Under the lights, her lashes fluttered like f*****g butterflies, tickling his heart with every blink.

He acted like he didn’t give a s**t. “Fine, whatever.”

His tone was flat, but Ava perked up, nodded, and headed to the kitchen.

Every day, someone dropped off the freshest ingredients—everything prepped, cut to size, and stashed in the fridge.

Ava grabbed a few things, thinking it over, and got to cooking.

She was fast as hell in the kitchen.

Half an hour later, dinner was ready, dishes done too.

The table was loaded with food, and Ava looked at Noah, hopeful. “Try it?”

“What the hell are these dishes? They look like s**t,” Noah bitched, but he still scooped up a bite with his spoon.

“These tomatoes taste like nothing!”

“This soup sucks.”

“The steak’s cooked all wrong.”

“This crap’s barely fit for humans.”

Noah kept griping, but he shoveled it down fast as f**k.

Ava blinked, suddenly finding it kinda funny.

She and Noah had been married a year, but this was the first time they’d sat down for a quiet, normal meal together.

In her head, Noah used to be this scary-ass big bad wolf.

But now? She thought maybe the big bad wolf was kinda down-to-earth.

“Tastes like ass—total ass,” Noah said, rubbing his stuffed belly, still complaining.

Ava glanced at the empty plates on the table and couldn’t help coughing once.

Noah followed her gaze, then snorted. “I just didn’t wanna waste food.”

“Uh-huh, being thrifty’s a good thing,” Ava said, all serious.

This woman was clearly playing along, but it sounded so f*****g off. Noah couldn’t help glaring at her a few times.

Ava realized her balls had definitely grown.

Like right now—she straight-up ignored President Campbell’s death stare and grinned. “I’ll go wash the dishes.”

When she turned away, Noah caught her shoulders shaking.

This chick was laughing at him!

Noah should’ve been pissed, but instead, he felt this weird mix of happiness.

This was the first time Ava wasn’t all stiff and scared around him.

He even thought—if he could keep her smiling like that, looking a little dumb wouldn’t be a big deal.

After cleaning up, Ava walked over to Noah, speaking softly. “Noah, um…”

“What?” Noah shot her a grumpy look.

“Tonight, you… got any friends coming over?” Ava fidgeted for a bit before asking.

Friends?

Remembering how Ava said she didn’t care if he brought “friends” home to f**k, Noah’s face darkened instantly.

He stared at her coldly. “Pretty damn invested in my nightlife, huh? Should I give you a ‘good wife’ award?”

Noah was obviously pissed.

Ava froze, not sure how she’d set him off again, and instinctively apologized. “S-sorry…”

“You’re so thoughtful about your husband—why the f**k are you sorry?” Noah said icily.

“Because I… because I…” Ava scrambled to figure out what he was thinking.

“Forget it,” Noah gave her a sideways glance. “Spit it out—what do you want?”

No need to guess anymore—Ava breathed a sigh of relief and said quick, “Noah, it’s like this. I wanna go see my brother. I might be back late. If you’re bored alone, you can call some friends over. Just… leave the door open for me, okay?”

“You’ve got this all figured out, huh,” Noah couldn’t help saying.

“It’s only right,” Ava said, all earnest.

Noah glared at her.

Right now, he kinda wanted to strangle this woman.

Then he turned, grabbing his suit jacket.

“You heading out?” Ava asked, all careful.

“Aren’t you going to see William Brooks?” Noah said, face blank.

“You mean… you… you’re coming with me?” Ava felt like she’d just been hit with a shock.

Noah looked at her, annoyed. “You going or not?”

“Going, going, going!” Ava hurried to agree.

At the sanatorium.

Moonlight soft as hell.

William sat on a stone bench in the courtyard, a laptop on the table, his fingers flying over the keys.

“Mr. Campbell, Miss Campbell,” the nurse saw them and jumped up.

“Go take a break—I’ll handle it,” Ava said gently.

She came here a lot, and the nurse knew her well. The nurse smiled and stepped away.

William was hammering away at the keyboard, totally focused. Ava didn’t bug him—she tiptoed over, sat next to him, and peeked at the screen.

The screen was full of random-ass characters—Ava had no clue what it was and started feeling sleepy just looking.

“Your brother—he’s coding or some s**t,” Noah raised an eyebrow.

“Coding?” Ava blinked. “I never knew he could do that.”

“I don’t know much about it—just looks like it,” Noah said.

“Oh,” Ava half-nodded, not really getting it.

Anyway, whatever her brother was up to, as long as he was distracted and doing okay, that was good enough.

Ava watched William quietly for a long time.

After who knows how long, William finally stopped.

He turned, saw Ava, and a faint smile spread across his face. “Ava.”

“Bro!” Ava lit up.

When his schizophrenia first hit, he didn’t even recognize her.

Lately, he’d been getting better—at least he hadn’t forgotten her again.

“Ava,” William smiled softly and kept going.

Right now, the only word he could say was “Ava.”

“Bro,” Ava called back patiently.

“Ava.”

“Bro.”

“Ava.”

“Bro.”

The two of them kept up this pointless back-and-forth. Noah’s face twitched with irritation, but seeing Ava so damn happy for once, he couldn’t bring himself to interrupt—just stood there, bored out of his mind.

Ava chatted with William a bit, coaxed him to sleep, then walked over to Noah, kinda sheepish. “Sorry I made you wait so long.”

“You know you should be sorry. How you gonna thank me?” Noah leaned in suddenly.

The moonlight was soft, his sharp features stupidly handsome.

Ava felt her heart skip a beat.

She stumbled back a step, flustered. “I… you… how do you want me to thank you?”

Noah looked at her, eyes dark and deep. “Rack up a few more favors—then you can pay me back with interest later.”

With that, he turned first. “Let’s go—home.”

Ava watched his back, a tiny smile creeping onto her lips.

Noah didn’t seem as scary as she’d thought.

Back home.

Ava eyed the big bed in the bedroom, a little nervous. “N… Noah, how we sleeping tonight?”

“What do you think?” Noah raised an eyebrow at her. “Together, obviously.”

He dragged out the word on purpose—Ava blushed.

“But don’t get any ideas,” Noah went on. “Same as last night—you sleep your side, I sleep mine. I don’t want you tainting my pure body.”

Ava: “…”

Since when did President Campbell, famous for f*****g around, have anything pure about him?

Tainting?

What, was she some kind of s*x demon?

Still, Noah’s words put her at ease.

She changed into pajamas, wrapped herself tight in the blankets.

Noah glanced over and frowned. “Your pajamas—same ones as yesterday? You don’t even switch it up?”

Ava looked at him, all innocent. “I’ve only got two sets. Weather’s bad today—the one I washed isn’t dry yet.”

Noah was speechless, glaring at her. “I gave you a card, didn’t I? That card’s got enough cash to buy hundreds of pajama sets and then some, right?”

No f*****g joke.

His woman, Noah’s woman, with only two sets of pajamas? If word got out, he’d be a laughingstock.

“I don’t even know how much is on it. I’ve never used it,” Ava said. “I work at Victory—my salary’s enough for me every month.”

Noah’s frown got deeper!

It hit him all of a sudden.

Not just pajamas.

Her everyday clothes? She rotated the same few outfits.

Jewelry and s**t? Never seen her wear any.

Meanwhile, even his side chicks were decked out in bling, but his wife at home was plain as f**k?

Noah’s face darkened as he yanked open Ava’s closet.

The clothes inside were neat as hell, but you could count them with one look.

“You’ve only got two coats total?”

“They’re enough to wear,” Ava said, like it was obvious.

“What brand is this shirt? I’ve never even f*****g heard of it!”

“It’s some no-name brand, but it’s actually kinda pricey—** bucks,” Ava said, looking pained.

If it weren’t for work dress codes, she wouldn’t even spend that much.

Noah was done. He grabbed all her clothes, yanked them out, and stuffed them straight into the trash.

“What are you doing?” Ava rushed over, freaking out.

“My woman wearing this garbage? Ava, you trying to embarrass me on purpose?” Noah glared at her.

“No way! I used to wear stuff that cost a couple bucks. Now every piece I’ve got is ten dollars!” Ava shot back.

Noah suddenly felt his teeth itch.

After a long-ass pause, he tossed out a black card. “Ava, I’m warning you—if I catch you wearing this crap again, I’ll strip you naked right there!”

His face was all mean and s**t—Ava shrank back. “These clothes are actually pretty good quality…”

Noah saw her looking all attached to them and couldn’t tell if he was pissed or cracking up.

After a bit, he said, face still dark, “Few days from now’s the family dinner—you remember, right?”

“I remember. I even set a special reminder on my phone,” Ava said, waving it to prove it.

“You planning to show up to meet your mother-in-law like this? You might not care about looking like s**t, but I do!”

“But… didn’t I dress like this before?” Ava said, all innocent.

Noah choked—his pride had made him ignore everything about Ava before, and he hadn’t even noticed.

“Before was before, now’s now! My mom told you to keep me in line, right? You show up looking like a bum—how’s she gonna believe we’re tight? So tomorrow, I’m giving you the day off. Go buy some f*****g clothes—every piece better cost at least ten grand! And get some jewelry too,” Noah threatened, glaring at her. “I’ll check the bill tomorrow. If it’s less than ten million bucks, you’re dead.”

“T-ten million bucks!” Ava’s mouth dropped open, looking scared shitless.

“Jewelry’s the big spend—make sure you get stuff that holds its own. You make me look bad at the family dinner, you’re f****d,” Noah said, shoving the black card at her, all menacing.

“Okay…” Ava took the card, hesitating. “But…”

“No buts!” Noah cut her off hard.

“Then… what the hell am I wearing tomorrow morning?” Ava said, all innocent. “You threw out all my clothes!”

Noah: “…”

So Noah’s assistant got stuck with the late-night job of buying the president’s wife some clothes.

Next morning, before work, Noah laid it out. “Remember what I said—don’t come back ‘til you’ve blown ten million. I’ve got my driver Jack with you all day. Spend it good!”

“Got it,” Ava said, feeling a headache coming on.

Ten million bucks!

How the f**k was she supposed to spend that in one day?