Page 89 of Little Fury

“Yes.”

“Do you think your brother scares me?”

“I don’t know Ava. There are things about you and him that I was not privy to, apparently.”

“Guess if you leave here, you’ll have to have a few words with the older Campbell brother. I should have known, though. Thinking back, you both kiss the same, and you both are ass men.” Declan growls under me, not enjoying my words. I snap my fingers, my brain clicking.

“Matt! Tell Parker to sweep for bugs. That’s what Liam did. When I spoke to Harry four days ago, he greeted me with, “Little Fury, have you learned to make any good CostaRican foods yet?”I don’t need him to confirm it for me. I know I’m right.

“Ava, I’m not going to put up a fight, but I really do need my hands for work. If you let me up, I’ll go.”

I nod then get off him. I turn, dismissing him, and walk into the kitchen. I grab the burgers and head outside to cook them. Declan tells Matt he is staying at the Casa Flora in town. But I keep walking. Matt joins me outside a few minutes later, handing me a beer and taking the flipper from me to take over cooking the burgers.“I’m going to make a salad.”I start to go back inside.

“Just sit, Ava. We can throw a salad together when I take the burgers off the grill.”

“How am I not dead, Matt?”he looks at me, trying to figure out my thought process.

“Look at the last year of my life. How did I survive as a fucking paid killer for years when in the last year, two of the biggest parts of my life lied to me. One tried to have me killed, and the other one played me for six months. Matt, I wanted to walk away for Jake. I wanted to sign everything over to Marcus. I wanted a white picket fence life with Jake. And it turns out that Jake doesn't even exist.”

“Ava, you’re very good at your job. You’re one of the best in the world. The jobs you did over the last few years and the amount people paid you prove that. But you loved Marcus since you were seven. No one with a history like yours would have seen what Marcus had planned. You trusted him. You guys had each other's backs for a long time. We all missed it, Ava. I’ve known Marcus a while. I never liked him, but I also never questioned his love for you.”

“I think maybe you knew. You did set Costa Rica up without any question.”

“No, that’s more of a‘we follow Ava’s orders kind of thing,’and I wanted to be here. We didn’t see you andMarcus grow up together. We came in in what turned out to be closer to the end than the middle. And as for Jake Ben ran him multiple times. Nothing was ever even remotely off.. There was no way you would have known unless he slipped up, which he never did.”

“Ben is going to be so mad when you tell him he missed that Jake's whole life was a fake.”

“I’m telling him?”Matt asks me as he flips the burgers.

“You’re telling me you aren’t going to enjoy his little meltdown when you tell him he fucked up?”

He doesn’t say anything, just smirks and sips his beer.“What are you going to do about the Irishman?”

“I have no fucking clue, Matt.”

The next couple of days pass quietly. Declan has been out to my place every day, managing to make friends with Caden and Matt. He’s been helping them build a pergola. Ben won’t speak to him, furious that the Campbells have someone better than him. He’s been obsessively trying to figure out who it is. Declan won’t tell him anything, making Ben even more obsessed. I told Caden to give him one more day before stepping in to force Ben to stop.

“Ready, Matt?”I ask as I come out to where they are building.

“Yeah, let me just get this last screw in.”

“Have you beat him yet?”Caden asks me with all seriousness.

“No, Caden. I have not. Once he has me under him, I can’t move him, so I will keep trying.”

“You’ll get it. Then youcan Pin Matt.”

“He likes that position, so I don’t think he’ll mind too much.”I cackle at that.

“Fucker,”Matt says and punches Caden when he walks past him.

“Ava,”Declan says, but I just walk by, ignoring him. I hear his sigh, but I keep walking like I didn’t.

“Sorry man, she’ll come around,”Caden says to him.

“No, she won’t. She’s done with men who lie, or try to kill her,”I throw back at him.

We head into the gym and start stretching and warming up. Matt has been trying to teach me how to get out from under a man faster. I’m small, which makes me quick, but I’m always at the mercy of my size if my opponent gets the jump on me. That’s why I’m always on the offensive when fighting or killing. I need to take them out or incapacitate whoever they are faster than they can get a hold of me. I can get out of a lot of holds, but once I’m pinned, like I had Declan pinned, I’m fucked.

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