Twisted Hate: An Enemies with Benefits Romance

Ah, fuck. If I teared up over something Alex said, he’d never let me live it
down. 
But I knew how hard it must’ve been for him to admit that. Alex was as
sentimental as a porcupine was cuddly, but for all his faults, he was a good
friend in the only way he knew how—loyal, unquestioning, and willing to
burn the world down for the people he loved. 
“Fuck, man, you should’ve warned me you were going to get all
sentimental and shit. I would’ve brought more Kleenex.”
The words came out more choked than I would’ve liked.
A small smile graced his mouth. “It’s facts, not sentimentality. On that
note…” He reached into his pocket and retrieved a small velvet box. “I’d like
to formalize the relationship.”
Were my ears deceiving me, or I did detect a touch of nervousness?
I stared at Alex blankly. Part of me knew what he was hinting at, but my
sluggish brain couldn’t catch up in time. “Formalize what relationship?”

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“The family one.” He snapped the box open and nearly blinded me. 
Holy fucking crap.
The ring nestled against the velvet cushion gave the Wollman Rink a run
for its money in terms of size. I didn’t know much about diamonds, but I
knew this one had to cost at least five figures. 
It blazed like a fallen star in the dying late afternoon light. Smaller
diamonds dotted its platinum band and threw rainbow prisms across the
room, and the silver letters stamped on either side of the ring cushion read
Harry Winston.
“I wanted to tell you before I proposed.” Alex closed the box again,
saving my retinas from being seared right off. “You know how I feel about
Ava, so I won’t bore you with a regurgitation of the facts. I also despise the
outdated tradition of asking permission to marry. That being said, I know
how much she values your opinion. I do too, and while I don’t need your
permission…” He swallowed hard. “I would very much like to have it.”
Silence rang in the wake of his words.
Alex. Proposing to Ava. So he would be my brother-in-law.
The disjointed yet connected thoughts tumbled through my head. Holy
fuck. I’d known Alex and my sister would be endgame since the day I learned
he gave up his company for her. He got it back after she forgave him, but for
him to even consider doing something so drastic, he had to be in deep.
Yet I never could’ve imagined the proposal would come so early, or that
he would ask for my permission.
Alex never asked for permission from anyone.
“I didn’t want to propose until after you and I…sorted through some of
our issues.” Alex watched me with sharp eyes, his features taut with tension.
“I didn’t want to put either of you in that position.”
I finally found my words through the well of emotion in my chest. “My
sister’s rubbing off on you. You actually sound human.”
“I’m good at imitations.”
There was a moment of stunned silence before a laugh burst from my
mouth. “Shit, Volkov, don’t kill me with shock before the wedding. Ava will
be pissed.”
Alex’s lips curved. “Is that an implicit blessing?”
“Don’t get ahead of yourself.” I sobered. “You’re right. We have very
different worldviews, and we hit a bit of a, ah, rough patch over the years. I
still think you’re an asshole eighty percent of the time. But you…you walked

---

my sister home every day for a year like a psycho Romeo. You always put
her safety and well-being ahead of yourself, which for you is saying a
fucking lot.” I swallowed hard. “Ava is my only sister. My only real family.
I’ve always taken care of her growing up, and I don’t trust her with just
anyone. But I trust her with you.”
If there was one thing I was certain of, it was that Alex would lay his life
down on the line for her. He may be an asshole to everyone else, but I could
always trust him to take care of Ava.
I clapped him on the back as the tightness in my chest intensified. “So
yeah, you have my fucking permission. Just don’t kill her with the ring,
because that shit is bright as fuck.”
A suspicious brightness glowed in Alex’s eyes before he blinked and it
disappeared. He let out a relieved-sounding laugh. “She’ll be okay. She’s
tougher than you.”
“That’s true.” Despite her sunny optimism and what some would call
naïveté, Ava had always been a survivor. I shook my head in my disbelief.
“Can’t believe I’ll be stuck with you forever as my brother-in-law.”
I didn’t doubt Ava would say yes, but having Alex Volkov as my brother-
in-law…Lord help me.
“Lucky you.” A small smile remained on Alex’s mouth, but his eyes
turned serious again. “Speaking of which, I also have a proposal for you.”
“Alex.” I clutched my chest. “Ava’s not gonna like it if you propose to
me too. Bigamy is illegal in D.C.”
“Funny.” He walked to the bar and poured two glasses of whiskey, one of
which he handed to me. “If Ava says yes…”
“She’ll say yes.”
An uncharacteristic hint of nerves coasted through Alex’s eyes before it
vanished beneath cool green ice.
“When she says yes, I’ll need a best man.” He rubbed his thumb over his
glass, his tense shoulders at odds with his casual tone. “Since you’re my best
friend, and one of the few people I can stand to be around for more than five
minutes at a time, consider this my official ask to you.”