Page 39 of Capturing Ava
I couldn’t let him find her. I couldn’t let Nikoli take her. I wasn’t sure why he even wanted her or where he could have met her. Had she tricked him the way she had tricked me? No, she wouldn’t even still be breathing if that was the case. The instructions were Ava was to be brought to him unharmed like a priceless artefact. She was important to him, and that made me want to shield her from him even more.
Nikoli Belvedere was notorious around New York City. The mob boss who ran the entire city. Nothing happened in the city without Nikoli having his nose to the ground, which was why it was interesting that every act I had committed had gone unnoticed. Maybe he had met his match, but that day had never come. He stayed out of my affairs and I stayed out of his. Well, that was until I ended Victor Rossi’s life. Then I had his attention, even though that was never the plan. I just couldn’t stand there and allow him to defile that little girl. Death was a kindness to him, but that was one less bastard left to roam the earth.
I remember his daughter Audrey had come to me ten years ago with a problem. Audrey feared her father would capture and harm her, believing that if the sadness didn’t kill her, her father would. I wouldn’t get involved in Nikoli’s affairs. That was the one rule Damon and I had agreed on so that we would be free to run our side of the city. I wanted to stick to that rule, but Audrey had begged, she had begged me to help her and all I had to do was tap into a secure connection that nobody could hack. I wasn’t very tech-savvy, but Miles was. Damon secured a getaway that night for her to run, and I secured the area so that she could escape undetected. There was only one rule: I could never know her identity. I was fine with that, but I always wondered what happened to that girl who escaped the entrapment they had locked her in.
I hoped her life was better. That she got the freedom that she deserved. That’s why I couldn’t leave Ava to her life, not now. I didn’t want that life for her. feeling that death was the sole means of escape. That was no life, and she deserved so much more.
I was the lesser of the two evils. Ava would forgive me in the end and if she didn’t, at least I would know even through her hate for me I had kept her safe and if that meant she hated me, then I would let her.
Capturing Ava was no longer something I was doing for myself. I had to keep her here to keep her safe. At least here she would be safe. still a prisoner, but safe. I wouldn’t let anyone hurt her.
I walk up the cellar steps with her in my arms, no longer anxious that my brother might catch me because this wasn’t about him. It was about her and if he couldn’t understand that, I would let him believe what he wanted to believe about me. It wasn’t about anyone other than Ava, that’s all I cared about—keeping her safe.
Opening the door, everything is silent and I creep up the stairs, hoping that I didn’t run into one of them because how would I explain what I’m about to do? I picked this room because it was the only room in the house where the window was free from shielding the light. I had learned a lot about Ava during the months I had spent with her and she had an aversion to the dark and I wanted her to feel as comfortable as possible here.
Placing her little warm body on the bed, I hear a sigh pass her lips as I watch her snuggle into the covers I place across her body. So pretty, she looks innocent lying there, unaware that I’ve done what I had planned to do. I had taken her. I had expected to feel something more than what I felt now, victory, and excitement, but I felt none of that. I didn’t even feel the warmth spread across my body. I just felt numb because I had ripped her from her happy place and now she was here, unaware of why I had done what I had done.
Sliding my hands across her face, I slip her hair from her eyes. I had watched her many times like this, and each time, it elicited a new feeling. Like I was seeing her for the first time, something new would overcome my body each time I looked at her this way. She looked so small, like a child you wanted to protect, but she wasn’t a child, she was—shit; I didn’t know what she was, but I knew one thing. Ava was something that I couldn’t let go of, danger or no danger. I had to have her.
I walk away from her and plug the night light into the socket on the wall. I stand there as soft light illuminates the dark room, and it is almost like when the moonlight had illuminated her face. The soft glow around her head makes her look like a pretty sleeping angel, and the warmth that had been missing from my body hits me like a ton of bricks.
Something as simple as just watching her sleep makes me nostalgic for a life I will never have. It makes me feel like I’ve found a home, but that’s a lie. She was here by force. I could never have the version of her I created in my head. All I could have was the lie.
17
WHOAREYOU?
AVA
“Why is this door locked?” I hear a scream from outside of the room.
“Because I locked it.” I hear Chase respond.
“Why?” Then silence. “Open it, now.”
“No.” I hear Chase’s gruff response.
“You know, brother, you’re pissing me off.” Chase had a brother? That was news to me, although I guess in between robbing him and running from him, there was never any conversation about family history.
“Only starting.” I hear his smart response.
I hear a twist in the lock and scuffling from outside the door. God, they were acting like children and I was just stuck in here listening to the drama unfold until they both crashed through the door and landed in a heap on the floor.
“Who are you?” The angry face asks me.
“I’m Ava—.”
“Of course you are.” He smirks. “Nice to see the thief in the flesh.” I scowl at his rude comment.
“No offence, but you don’t know what you’re fucking talking about.” I spit back.
“So, you didn’t steal from my brother?”
“Well, yes but—,”
“Like I said, nice to meet you, thief.” I shake my head because what was the use of trying to defend myself? He was as stubborn as Chase. I watch as they both scramble to their feet. “You,” He turns to Chase. “Explain.” Chase shuffles his feet nervously. “Chase Knight, you better have a good fucking excuse for bringing her here.” He screams at him.
“You know why she’s here.” He grits back at him.
