Enemies to lovers:Rival tech CEOs

Thirty days of hell

Enemies to Lovers: Rival Tech CEOs

Chapter Two — Thirty Days of Hell

Ava Bennett had survived hostile investors, brutal product launches, a company-wide data scare, and eight lawsuits.

None of them had prepared her for the sight of Alexander Cole waiting outside her office at eight o'clock in the morning.

She stopped dead.

He was leaning casually against the glass wall, one hand in his pocket and the other holding two cups of coffee.

As if he belonged there.

As if he hadn't spent the past two years trying to destroy her company.

As if he hadn't been the reason she'd gone to bed at three in the morning more times than she could count.

He lifted one of the cups.

"Coffee?"

Ava stared at it.

Then at him.

"No."

"You haven't even asked what kind."

"I don't care."

"It's black. No sugar."

Her eyes narrowed.

"How do you know how I take my coffee?"

His mouth curved into a slow smile.

"You drink it black every time we meet."

"We don't meet for coffee."

"No. Usually we're arguing in court."

"Exactly."

He pushed away from the wall.

"I thought I'd make today different."

Ava took the folder from her assistant without looking away from him.

"Today is not going to be different."

"Thirty days."

"What?"

"We have thirty days to work together."

"I know."

"Then we should at least pretend to be civilized."

"I'd rather pretend you're not here."

He laughed softly.

"You're charming before breakfast."

"I've already had breakfast."

"Then you're naturally unpleasant."

She walked past him.

"Good morning to you too."

He followed.

She stopped at her office door.

"Are you following me?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because our project meeting is in your conference room."

Ava closed her eyes.

Right.

The court order.

Thirty days.

She had already started regretting agreeing to it.

Technically, she hadn't agreed.

The judge had ordered it.

There was a difference.

She opened the door and walked inside.

Alexander followed.

Her assistant, Maya, looked up from her laptop.

The moment she saw Alexander, her eyebrows shot upward.

Ava gave her a warning look.

Maya immediately looked back at her screen.

"Morning, Mr. Cole."

"Morning, Maya."

Ava stopped.

"You know each other?"

Maya shrugged.

"Silicon Valley."

Ava frowned.

Apparently everyone knew Alexander.

Everyone except her, she reminded herself.

And that was exactly how she preferred it.

She placed the folder on her desk.

"What's the meeting about?"

Alexander sat across from her.

"Project structure."

"I already sent the structure to your team."

"I rejected it."

Her jaw tightened.

"Of course you did."

"You've allocated sixty percent of the development team to user experience."

"Because user experience matters."

"Not before infrastructure."

"People don't care about infrastructure if the application is terrible."

"People don't care about a beautiful application if it crashes."

"Veyra's application crashes."

He leaned back.

"Only twice last year."

"Three times."

"One was caused by a third-party server."

"Still a crash."

"You keep records?"

"I keep records of everything you do."

His eyes held hers.

"Interesting."

The way he said it made the simple sentence sound dangerously intimate.

Ava looked away.

"Let's focus."

"Agreed."

For the next hour, they went through the project.

HeartBridge wanted a platform that could connect people with professional relationship counselors, community support groups, and compatible potential partners.

It wasn't supposed to be another dating app.

It was supposed to be something safer.

More human.

Something that helped people who had never had access to expensive relationship services.

Ava found herself becoming genuinely invested.

She had always believed technology could make people feel less alone.

That was why she'd created LunaMatch in the first place.

Alexander seemed equally invested.

That surprised her.

He wasn't the heartless businessman she had imagined.

He asked questions.

He listened.

He challenged ideas without dismissing them.

And occasionally, he came up with solutions that were so brilliant she wanted to hate him for being good at his job.

By noon, Ava's frustration had reached its limit.

She threw her pen onto the table.

"We're going in circles."

Alexander glanced at the clock.

"You're hungry."

"I'm not hungry."

"You've been staring at that screen for four hours."

"I'm working."

"You're also angry."

"I'm always angry when you're around."

"That's flattering."

"It wasn't meant to be."

He stood.

"Come on."

"Where?"

"Lunch."

"No."

"Ava."

"Alexander."

"You need to eat."

"I can eat at my desk."

"You can also develop an ulcer at your desk."

She stared at him.

He stared back.

Finally, she stood.

"Fine."

His smile appeared immediately.

"But I'm choosing the restaurant."

"Naturally."

"And we're paying separately."

"Naturally."

"And this isn't a date."

He paused.

"I didn't say it was."

"You were thinking it."

"Maybe."

She rolled her eyes.

"You're impossible."

"Yet you're coming with me."

---

The restaurant was only three blocks from the office.

Ava recognized it immediately.

It was expensive.

Very expensive.

She stopped outside.

"No."

Alexander looked over his shoulder.

"What?"

"This place."

"You don't like it?"

"It's overpriced."

"You haven't eaten here."

"I don't need to."

"Why?"

"Because I know what rich people do with restaurants."

He raised an eyebrow.

"Rich people?"

"Yes."

"What exactly do we do?"

"Spend ridiculous amounts of money on tiny portions and pretend it's sophisticated."

He laughed.

"Come inside."

"No."

"Ava."

"I'm serious."

He stepped closer.

"Then I'll take you somewhere else."

She blinked.

He didn't argue.

Didn't tease.

Didn't insist.

He simply turned toward the street.

"Where do you want to go?"

She pointed across the road.

"That place."

Alexander looked at the small family-owned café.

Then at her.

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Okay."

They crossed the street.

And somehow, that simple act unsettled her more than his arguments ever had.

Because Alexander Cole had always been predictable.

He fought.

He pushed.

He wanted to win.

This version of him—quietly giving her what she wanted—was unfamiliar.

They sat at a small table near the window.

Ava ordered pasta.

Alexander ordered a sandwich.

For several minutes, they ate in silence.

It was almost peaceful.

Then he asked, "Why did you start LunaMatch?"

She looked up.

"Why?"

"You never talk about it."

"There's nothing interesting to say."

"I don't believe that."

She hesitated.

"My sister."

Alexander's expression changed.

"What about her?"

"She struggled with loneliness after moving to another city. She tried dating apps, but she hated them."

"Why?"

"She said everyone was looking for the perfect photograph instead of a real person."

Alexander nodded slowly.

"So you built LunaMatch."

"Yes."

"To make dating more human."

"Something like that."

He was quiet.

Then Ava asked, "What about you?"

"What about me?"

"Why Veyra?"

His fingers stopped around his glass.

For the first time since she'd met him, Alexander looked uncomfortable.

"My father."

Ava waited.

"He built a small software company when I was a kid. It failed."

"I'm sorry."

"He lost everything."

Alexander looked out the window.

"I watched him spend years blaming himself. Eventually, I decided I would build something that couldn't be destroyed."

Ava studied him.

There was something vulnerable in his voice.

Something she had never heard during their courtroom battles.

"That's why you compete so aggressively."

He looked back at her.

"That's why I refuse to lose."

She nodded.

Neither spoke for a while.

Then Alexander smiled faintly.

"So we're not completely different."

"Don't push it."

"I wasn't."

"You were."

"Maybe."

She smiled.

He noticed.

Again.

And this time, she didn't hide it quickly enough.

His gaze lingered on her.

The air between them changed.

Ava suddenly became aware of everything.

The distance between their chairs.

His hand resting near hers.

The faint scent of his cologne.

The way his eyes seemed darker when he looked at her.

She cleared her throat.

"We should go."

Alexander didn't move.

"Why?"

"Because we have work."

"We have another hour."

"I know."

"Then why are you nervous?"

"I'm not nervous."

"You are."

She stood.

"Let's go."

He smiled.

"Whatever you say, boss."

---

By three o'clock, the conference room was full.

Engineers from both companies had joined the meeting.

And within ten minutes, chaos erupted.

"This won't work."

"We need more servers."

"The algorithm isn't ready."

"Your team didn't send the data."

"Because your team changed the specifications."

Ava rubbed her temples.

Alexander leaned toward her.

"Your people are about to start a war."

She whispered back, "They're learning from us."

He almost smiled.

Then one of the engineers dropped a tablet onto the table.

"We have a problem."

Everyone went silent.

"What kind of problem?" Ava asked.

"The prototype data."

He turned the screen toward them.

"Some of the compatibility records have been altered."

Alexander's expression hardened.

"Altered how?"

"Someone accessed the development server last night."

Ava stood.

"Who?"

"We don't know."

"Was anything stolen?"

"We're checking."

Alexander's voice became cold.

"Lock down the server."

"It's already locked."

"Then find out who got in."

Ava looked at him.

For once, they were thinking exactly the same thing.

Someone had breached their joint project.

And whoever had done it knew enough to get past the security system.

"Could this be from one of our competitors?" someone asked.

Alexander's eyes moved to Ava.

She immediately shook her head.

"Don't."

"I didn't say anything."

"You were thinking it."

"So were you."

Ava folded her arms.

"I know LunaMatch didn't do this."

"I know Veyra didn't."

Everyone stared at them.

Maya looked surprised.

"You two actually agree?"

Ava and Alexander answered together.

"Don't get used to it."

A few people laughed nervously.

But Ava didn't.

Something was wrong.

She could feel it.

Someone wanted their project to fail.

And there was only one person she trusted enough to investigate it with her.

Unfortunately, that person was Alexander Cole.

---

That night, long after everyone had left, Ava remained in the office.

The building was almost completely dark.

She sat alone in the conference room, staring at the server logs.

A sound came from behind her.

She turned.

Alexander stood in the doorway.

"You should go home."

"So should you."

"I'm checking something."

"So am I."

He walked over.

"Anything?"

"No."

He pulled out a chair beside her.

"Show me."

They worked silently.

Minutes passed.

Then Ava noticed something.

"Wait."

Alexander leaned closer.

"What?"

She pointed at the screen.

"This login."

He studied it.

"What about it?"

"It happened twenty minutes before the breach."

"And?"

"It came from inside our building."

His expression changed.

"Which company?"

Ava zoomed in.

The username appeared.

Neither of them spoke.

It belonged to someone on their joint development team.

Someone they had trusted.

Someone who had access to everything.

Alexander looked at Ava.

"We have a traitor."

She swallowed.

"Looks like it."

His hand moved across the table.

His fingers accidentally brushed hers.

Neither of them pulled away.

For several seconds, they simply stared at each other.

The office was silent.

Too silent.

Alexander's eyes dropped to her lips.

Ava's breath caught.

He leaned slightly closer.

Then her phone rang.

They both jumped apart.

Ava grabbed it.

"Hello?"

Her expression changed.

"Who is this?"

She listened.

Then the color drained from her face.

"What do you want?"

Alexander stood.

Ava ended the call.

He immediately asked, "Who was that?"

She looked at him.

"I don't know."

"What did they say?"

Ava hesitated.

Then she whispered:

"They told me the thirty-day project is going to destroy both our companies."

Alexander's face went cold.

"Did they say anything else?"

Ava nodded.

"They said..."

She swallowed.

"They know what happened between our companies two years ago."

Alexander froze.

For the first time, the confident billionaire CEO looked genuinely afraid.

"What exactly did they say?"

Ava stared at him.

"They said the person who started our war is still inside one of our companies."

Alexander's jaw tightened.

"Then we find them."

Ava nodded slowly.

"But how do we know we can trust each other?"

He stepped closer.

"You don't."

His eyes locked with hers.

"But for the next thirty days..."

He held out his hand.

"...you trust me anyway."

Ava looked at his hand.

Then at him.

She knew it was a terrible idea.

She knew everything about Alexander Cole should have warned her against it.

But she placed her hand in his.

His fingers closed around hers.

Warm.

Firm.

Dangerously reassuring.

"Thirty days," she whispered.

"Thirty days," he agreed.

Neither of them knew that by the end of those thirty days, the greatest threat to their companies wouldn't be the mysterious traitor.

It would be the feelings neither of them was prepared to admit.