Chapter 1
🖤 CHAPTER ONE
Cat Eyes
Ava
I was sixteen the first time I saw Bruno Moreno.
The dance studio smelled of sweat, wood, and the instructor’s cheap perfume. The mirrors reflected the light sharply—almost painfully. I stood barefoot on the cold floor, wearing black leggings and an oversized sweatshirt that hid everything I didn’t yet understand.
The first notes of “Ride It” by Jay Sean flowed from the speakers.
The bass vibrated low in my chest.
That song always made me feel more confident than I truly was.
I counted the steps in my head.
I breathed in time with the music.
And then he walked in.
The door creaked softly, but I felt it anyway. As if the air in the room had suddenly thickened. I lifted my gaze and saw him standing in the doorway.
Tall. Too grown for this place. Short, slightly wavy brown hair. Black eyes—dark, calm, dangerous. A sun tattoo peeked out from beneath the sleeve of his T-shirt, still fresh, as if it had just been burned into his skin.
He wasn’t dancing.
He was watching.
Straight at me.
— Who is that guy? — Sofia Evans whispered beside me, adjusting her blonde hair.
I didn’t answer.
The music kept playing, Ride It, the chorus hitting harder, and suddenly I forgot the choreography. Forgot where I was. He started walking toward me slowly, as if the rhythm belonged to him.
He stopped too close.
— You have cat eyes, — he said in a low voice, almost drowned out by the music.
My heart started beating too fast.
— And you have no manners, — I replied, lifting my chin.
He smiled crookedly. Not pretty. Real.
— Bruno.
He didn’t offer his hand.
Good. I wouldn’t have taken it.
— Ava.
He studied me carefully, as if memorizing every detail. Green eyes. The tremble in my fingers. My breathing.
— You’ll dance, — he said.
It wasn’t a question.
— No.
His smile only deepened.
— You will, cat eyes.
I turned away and started dancing again. When the song ended, I stepped off the floor and passed him without even looking. But I stopped and said quietly,
— What do you want?
He answered with just one word.
For a moment, I looked at him in silence. The corner of my mouth twitched—barely noticeable.
That won’t happen.
I turned around and walked away, not knowing
that this song would come back to us.
That it would become a memory from before everything broke.
I didn’t know that this man would save my life.
And that we would both pay the price for it.The hall throbbed with bass, but between us it suddenly became strangely quiet.
Ashar stood beside Bruno, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. He looked like someone who knew every kind of pain — and had just discovered a new one.
“Bro,” he said without taking his eyes off the dance floor. “We’ve got heaven on earth.”
Bruno let out a short, dry laugh.
“Heaven on earth has cat eyes,” he replied. “And it just burned me.”
Sofia raised an eyebrow and shot me a knowing look.
“And I told you,” she whispered — loudly enough for everyone to hear. “I read people at first glance.”
Her gaze slid to Bruno.
“This one? He burned.”
Then to Ashar.
“And this one…” she smiled broadly. “For him, heaven came down to earth. Just to burn him.”
Ashar laughed quietly and shook his head.
“We burned,” he murmured. “Quietly.”
“Not yet,” Bruno replied calmly. “It’s only just beginning.”
I looked at him. Without fear. Without running.
“Mr. Moreno,” I said, lifting my chin. “Next time, please be careful.”
“About what?” he asked.
“Not to tremble,” I added. “And not to feel pain in your heart when you see me somewhere else.”
Silence fell.
“Wow,” Sofia and Ashar said at the same time.
Sofia choked on her water.
“Ava…” she croaked. “You just killed him.”
Ashar looked at Bruno in disbelief.
“Bro… you’re done.”
Bruno didn’t even blink.
“I already feel it,” he said, looking only at me. “Every time I look into your eyes.”
Sofia coughed again.
“Alright,” she said. “It’s official. There’s a fire here.”
Ashar smiled crookedly.
“We’re both MMA fighters,” he added. “And we still don’t stand a chance.”
I smiled for the first time.
And back then, we still didn’t know that all four of us had just stepped into a story that would burn us.
