Page 64 of Ties That Bind Us

Alessandro scoffed. “She’s only lived with you a few weeks, I’d hardly call it her home.” Was he seriously going to do this right now? His daughters and wife had just been nearly killed and he wanted to pick a fight with me about semantics.

“Nick’s right, Dad. No sense in changing things on her right now. I’m sure he’ll take good care of her. Is that what you want, Ava?” Vince asked.

Ava nodded as Alessandro’s jaw clenched. I hated how they talked about her like she wasn’t standing right here with us.

“Why don’t you wait for me right over there, baby? I’ll just be a second,” I suggested, pointing to some chairs in the waiting area. Normally, she would want to know what was going on, but she had had enough for one day.

Once she was out of earshot, I turned my attention back to them. “What have you got so far?”

Leo handed me a playing card that had the Asnikov family symbol on the bottom of it. “This was left on their car out front.”

“This is your fault,” Alessandro hissed. “This is about that hit you guys planned a few weeks ago.”

“Are you sure it doesn’t have something to do with you?” I growled, begging him to challenge me. I’d give anything to knock him out right now. I had a lot of pent-up fury, and he was as good a target as any.

“I don’t like what you’re insinuating, boy,” Alessandro grimaced.

“Nick, you need to take Ava home. Everyone is stressed and this is no time to discuss this. We’ll meet first thing tomorrow.” My dad intervened, and it was a good thing he had because Alessandro and I were damn close to coming to blows.

“Call me if anything changes,” Alessandro spat, and took off.

Jesus Christ, I couldn’t wait until Ava and I were married and that fucker didn’t have any leverage over us anymore.

Chapter 24

Ava

Nick took me home as soon as the doctor released me and I had finished giving a statement to the police. It had been a whirlwind of a day and all I wanted to do was crawl into bed. The doctor had given me some Valium to help me relax, but so far it wasn’t working. I couldn’t get that vision out of my head. That poor woman struck by a bullet was not even a foot in front of me. The way she fell into me, taking her last breath in my arms. The metallic smell of blood was still in my nose, making me nauseated. The screams of my sisters rang in my ears. The medication had calmed my body a little, but it had done nothing to quiet my mind.

Walking as if I was in a trance, I went out onto the balcony of our bedroom and leaned over the railing. Even this high, I could hear the honking of horns and laughter of some passing tourists. It was almost surreal how easily life continued. A woman had died, and things went on as if nothing had happened. She was someone’s daughter, someone’s friend, and now she was gone. Nick had insisted that this wasn’t about me, but I wasn’t convinced. With all the things happening in our life, it was a little too coincidental that there would be a drive-by shooting at a wedding dress shop on a busy block of New York. I could tell by the little things he did that he wasn’t convinced either. The way he scoped out the garage before parking in our usual spot, refusing to ride the elevator with another group and insisting we wait until we could go ourselves, triple-checking the locks on all the doors behind us. He was worried about something, and that scared me more than anything.

After a few minutes, I heard the bedroom door open, but didn’t turn around. I could tell by the footsteps it was Nick. He joined me on the balcony, leaning against the railing next to me in silence for a few minutes. Even just standing here with him, I was starting to feel a little better.

Nick reached over and put his hand on top of mine. “Leo brought over your prescription for pain meds and Valium. I’ll keep them with me, but let me know if you need anything, okay?” he said.

I nodded. I could tell by the flat tone in his voice that he was concerned about me taking pain medication. I couldn’t blame him. It was a scary thought for me too.

“Are you doing okay?” He ran his finger over the back of my hand.

I wasn’t sure I would ever feel okay again. “I just can’t get it out of my head, you know?” I admitted, biting my lip nervously.

“I know, baby. I’m sorry. I wish I could say it was going to get easier, but you went through something really traumatic. Sometimes that takes a little while to work through.”

“How many people have you seen die?” I asked.

Nick hesitated for a second. “More than I would like to admit.” He wrapped his arm around my shoulders, pulling me close to him. “What you’re feeling is totally normal, Ava. It’s never easy, but the first time is the worst.”

“The first time,” I repeated, realizing that this probably wouldn’t be the last time.

Nick didn’t respond. There wasn’t much to say.

“Do you know who did it?” I asked, knowing he probably wouldn’t tell me if he did.

“I don’t want you to worry about that. Just focus on getting better.”

“I am going to worry about it,” I argued. “A woman died in my arms today, all because you and I are getting married. That doesn’t bother you at all?”

“Of course it bothers me, Ava. I would rather die than have you hurt like you were today.” He took my chin softly in his hand and turned it toward him. “Look at me—what happened today has nothing to do with you and me getting married. It has nothing to do with you, period. I know it doesn’t feel that way, but you have to trust me. In the scheme of things, our marriage doesn’t really mean all that much. Certainly not enough for someone to want to kill either one of us. Something bigger is going on, and I need you to trust that I am going to take care of it.”

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