The Choice Is Yours: Chapter 1, Part 1

𝑨𝑬𝑽𝑰𝑨 𝑪𝑳𝑶𝑽𝑬𝑹. Someone who had spent the past three years crafting the perfect moments for other people—weddings, galas, high-profile charity events—but for once, this cruise was hermoment. Seven days of salt air and sun, away from the demands of her career, away from her phone, away from the constant pressure to perform.

The last thing she needed was to get tangled up with him.

Mavros Alore.

She recognized him the second he bumped into her, nearly knocking the glass of champagne from her hand. Even if she hadn’t seen his face plastered across magazine covers or heard the endless speculation about his love life on entertainment news, he had an energy—the kind that sucked all the air from a room and made it impossible to ignore him.

“Watch where you’re going,” she said, taking half a step back.

The corners of his mouth curled into a smirk. “You walked into me, querida.”

Aevia’s eyes narrowed. “And querida means?”

“Something flattering.” His Spanish accent wrapped around the word like silk, but Aevia refused to be charmed.

“Try again.”

Mavros chuckled, adjusting the cuff of his linen shirt. “It means ‘darling.’ And you should take it as a compliment. I don’t say it to everyone.”

Aevia let out an unimpressed huff. “Lucky me.”

She turned, fully intending to put as much distance as possible between herself and the walking tabloid scandal. But his next words stopped her cold.

“I need a favor.”