#Chapter 170: Paradise Cut Short

Ava I woke to the soft clacking of keyboard keys, the sound pulling me from a deep and restful sleep. Blinking away the bleariness, I found Chris sitting up in bed beside me, his laptop balanced on his knees as he typed away. The soft morning light was barely even filtering through the lace curtains, indicating that it was early—far too early for work. “Morning, workaholic,” I mumbled, my voice still thick and gravelly with sleep. Chris only looked up from his computer for a second to plant a kiss on my temple. “Morning. Sorry if I woke you.” I pushed myself up one one elbow and rubbed the sleep from my eyes. “What time is it? And what are you working on so early?” “Just after six,” he replied, his eyes flicking momentarily over to my bare shoulders before returning to the laptop screen. “And just some business stuff. You know how it is.” I nodded, though I didn’t really know. Chris’s human businesses were still somewhat of a mystery to me. “A