Page 73 of Rescuing Nathaniel

“What are you doing?” Mother demanded, a tiny hint of uncertainty in her tone. Not something Ava was used to hearing when it came to her mother. The woman was always in control and always so infuriatingly positive she was correct.

“Calling Eagle Oswald,” she replied, sifting through her contacts until she found her big boss.

Even for people not in the special ops world, that was a name that carried a lot of weight. The Oswalds were billionaires, they donated a lot of money to charities, including the ones run by the youngest sibling, Dove. Her family might be wealthy, but they weren't Oswald wealthy and her mom knew it.

“Why would you need to call your boss?” mother asked.

“Because you won't give me back the key you had illegally made. Eagle will make sure all three of you are properly dealt with for theft, breaking and entering, and anything else the cops can get to stick. You should know my boss has a lot of connections in the police department,” she added.

“Hey, I don’t know anything about a stolen key or breaking and entering. Your mother told me that after your kidnapping you were ready to make some changes in your life and settle down. I was under the impression you knew I was coming here with them this morning,” Bentley quickly informed her. “I don’t want anything to do with the cops. I'm out of here. And, Ava, if you do ever change your mind I don’t want to hear from you. It’s over.”

“It was never started to begin with,” she reminded the much older man as he tossed the velvet box with her grandmother’s bracelet inside onto the table and hurried out of her kitchen without another word.

A moment later, she heard the front door slam closed.

Turning to her parents, she arched a brow. Did they really think she wouldn't follow through on this? They’d committed a crime, and she wanted them out of her life for good.

“Well? Are you following him out the door, or do you want to be dragged out in handcuffs?” Ava asked.

“You're being a drama queen again, Ava,” Mother snapped.

Shrugging, she started typing out a text. Eagle would not only make sure her parents were taken care of, he’d also make sure he organized security for her. Right now, she didn't have the mental energy left to help Nathaniel deal with his issues, so it would be easier for all of them to have someone else watching over her.

“You wouldn't,” Mother ground out through clenched teeth.

“I am,” she countered.

“Fine.” With exaggerated care, her mother removed the key from her key chain and placed it on the kitchen table beside the velvet jewelry box. “I hope you know what you're doing, Ava. Choosing that riff-raff over your family, over the expectations on you. You're a disappointment to all of us.”

Thing was, she seemed to be a disappointment to Nathaniel as well.

But that was the thing her mother had never gotten. It wasn't about anyone else, it was just about being true to herself.

“I’m not choosing anything or anyone else over the life you want for me, Mother. I’m just choosing me,” Ava said simply.

With the most unladylike snort she’d ever heard come from her mother, the woman turned on her heel and stormed out of the room. With a shrug, her father followed.

When the front door closed behind them a moment later, she sagged back to rest against the counter. What a morning. It wasn't at all what she’d envisioned or what she’d hoped for when she walked into the kitchen to find Nathaniel making her breakfast.

How could things go from perfect to a disaster so quickly?

Her appetite had gone up in smoke along with her happiness, and she tossed the pancakes in the trash. There was no point in keeping them, not only would the maple syrup have made them go all soggy, but they were a reminder of who Nathaniel could be if he stopped judging her for things she’d never said or done.

After that, she began to tidy up the kitchen, taking out her frustration on each utensil and bowl as she washed and dried them. Just as she was putting the last thing away there was a knock on her front door.

Nathaniel coming to grovel perhaps?

Not that she wanted a grovel per se, more just for him to acknowledge that he couldn’t keep putting his own fears and insecurities on her shoulders. She might have grown up rich, but she wasn't some spoiled, snobby princess. If she was even going to entertain the notion of giving them another chance, he had to prove to her that he wasn't going to keep throwing non-existent issues in her face.

At the door, she pushed up onto her tiptoes to peek through the peephole, and was surprised to find it wasn't Nathaniel on the other side. It was a man who looked like he was dressed in jeans and a T-shirt. The shirt with a moving company logo on it. Behind him she could see a sofa sitting half in and half out of the door to the apartment directly opposite her and another man trying to push it through. She hadn't even realized her neighbors were moving out, so much had changed even in the short time she’d been held captive.

“May I help you?” Ava asked as she opened the door.

“You certainly can,” the man who’d had his back to her answered as he turned around to face her.

It took a couple of seconds for it all to click together.

Those eyes.

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