Ties That Bind Us

by Nicole Knight

  “I’m sure that will be easy. There are a lot of defense attorneys in the city.”

  “Actually, I had another idea. The only reason I was going to be a defense attorney was for my father, and that seems kind of obsolete now. I was thinking about maybe working with victims of abuse. Becoming a prosecutor and helping them confront their abusers and move on.”

  “Baby, that sounds incredible, I think that’s a great idea.”

  “Thanks!” She let out a sigh of relief. “I’ll only have to take a few extra classes, but I think it will be good. And Columbia even has this really awesome program where you get to work with victims and help them through the legal process so that they can hold their abusers accountable. It’s kind of perfect for me.”

  “Ava, that’s incredible. It does sound perfect for you. And I’m so proud of you for choosing to do something for yourself.”

  “Well, it’s all thanks to you and your faith in me.” She smiled. “I love you.”

  “I love you, too, Ava. More than anything.”

  She fell asleep on my shoulder and slept for the rest of the flight. It seemed like I had eased her fears at least for the time being, but I knew the worst was yet to come. It was one thing to be okay with all of this when we were thirty-thousand feet in the air. It was going to be a lot harder when we were facing her family, mostly her father.

  I had a few choice words I wanted to have with him, but I wasn’t going to put Ava in a situation where she had to listen to them. As far as I was concerned, I didn’t want her around him without me being there as well. He was a snake, and now that I had her away from him, I would stop at nothing to destroy him.

  Chapter 31

  Nick

  I had always loved New York this time of year. The leaves on the trees were just starting to turn and the weather was getting chillier. The streets were thinning out of tourists, who had all gone home after their summer adventures, and things were quieting down, if only a little bit. My dad thought it was the perfect time of year for fishing, and when we were younger, he used to take us all the time. We hadn’t been in years, though. Maybe once all this shit with Alessandro and the Russians was done, we could go.

  I loved the weather, but after spending the last several days in the tropics, it was a harsh walk from my car to my dad’s office. The warehouse was busy today, and I waved at a few people as I made my way to his office in the back corner. I hadn’t talked to him since the day of the shooting, and a lot had changed since then. I knew he’d be pissed that I’d left him in the dark about setting Alessandro up with the hotel, and marrying Ava in Saint Lucia, but this was something I had to handle on my own. I would be Don in a few weeks, and I stood by my decisions. He’d come around to it once he understood what we were dealing with.

  When I opened the door, he looked up from his computer briefly and smirked. “Well, welcome home, nice of you to come into work for a change.”

  “I worked a majority of the time I was down there, actually. Ava was pissed about it.”

  “As she should be.” He shut his laptop loudly and slid it to the corner of his desk. “You should have taken advantage of the vacation while you had the chance. Once you’re Don, vacations come few and far between.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind.” I let out a sharp laugh. He was right, I could count on one hand the number of times my dad had taken a real vacation since he took over for my grandfather. We traveled frequently, but it was always wrapped around the business in some way. “How have things been here?”

  “Chaotic.” He shook his head, sighing. “You’ll be happy to hear the Morettis put a hit out on the Russian who shot up the dress shop.”

  “Good.” I nodded, even though I already knew that. Vince and I had been in touch over the last few days and he was keeping me updated on how things were progressing over there. For the most part, Alessandro was laying low, which I figured was a result of his botched plan to frame me for cheating on his daughter.

  “I’m not so sure.” My dad frowned. “I’ve known the Asnikovs a long time, and a move like this will only fuel their fire. I know how upset everyone is, but I’m worried it’s going to put everyone in even more danger.”

  “Yeah, I wanted to talk to you about that, actually.” I shifted my weight. This wasn’t exactly how I had planned on telling my father that I was married, but nothing about mine and Ava’s relationship had gone according to plan. “I want full security on Ava at all times.”

  My dad’s face fell. “Nick, you know I can’t authorize that. Ava is part of Alessandro’s family and that means she is his responsibility until—”

  “Until we are married. I’m aware of the rules.” I pulled a copy of our marriage certificate out of my pocket and handed it to him. We’d done everything completely legally, and as of this morning, our license had been filed with the City of New York as well. Our marriage was airtight; there would be no loopholes Alessandro could find.

  My father’s brow furrowed as he unfolded the sheet carefully. His eyes scanned the document, widening as he realized what I was saying.

  “Nick, tell me you didn’t fucking marry her in Saint Lucia,” he seethed. Not exactly the reaction I was expecting.

  “I married her in Saint Lucia,” I said, smirking.

  “Jesus Christ.” He threw his head back dramatically. “Do you have any idea what this is going to do? Does Alessandro know about this?”

  “No, he doesn’t.” I frowned, getting a little defensive. I had thought this entire thing out, and he had no right to question it. “I know exactly what this is going to do. It’s going to keep Ava safe, and as far away from Alessandro as possible.”

  “This is outrageous. Don’t expect me to believe you thought about this any further than how it would benefit you,” he hissed, standing up. “You’re going to put us in the middle of a war with both the Morettis and the Asnikovs. You think we’re equipped for something like that?”

  “This isn’t about business, Dad.” I gritted my teeth. “I love Ava, and I don’t give two shits what Alessandro thinks of it. He is a bastard who has been playing us from the beginning. He’s been abusing Ava her entire life. Leo said you wanted us to move the wedding up anyway—I don’t know why you’re so angry about this.”

  He clenched his jaw. “I’m angry because I’m still in fucking charge around here, Nick. You should have talked to me about this before you went ahead and did it.”

  “What, so you could tell me not to?” I scoffed.

  “No,” he hissed. “So we could figure out the best course of action to get the wedding moved up. We, at least, needed it to look like we were working with Alessandro instead of you running off and getting married in a foreign country!”

  “You actually did it?” Leo appeared, a goofy grin plastered on his face, holding a bag of bagels.

  “You knew about this?” my dad bellowed.

  “Well, um, yeah. We’ve been working with Vince and—” Leo stuttered, looking back and forth between me and our dad, trying to figure out what he was supposed to say.

  “The two of you have been working with Vince Moretti?” My father’s voice hinged with suspicion.

  “Yeah. He’s been feeding us information about Alessandro. That’s why we knew that Nick needed to get Ava out of the country.” Leo set the bagels on the desk and wandered over to the empty chair next to me.

  “Somebody better start explaining what the fuck is going on and why I wasn’t made aware of it,” my dad growled, trying his best to remain calm.

  “Look, Dad, Alessandro was never going to let the wedding happen. Vince said he’s gotten himself into some deep shit with the Asnikovs and he can’t deliver. His only hope was getting Ava into our family and using her to feed the Russians information. When he started to see that Ava and I actually loved each other and he wasn’t going to be able to control her anymore, he changed his tactics.”

  My dad tapped his fingers on the desk, processing what I
had just told him.

  “The treaty has always been a cover. He wanted to hand us to the Russians on a silver platter, but he realized his plan wasn’t going to work.”

  “He’s been trying to drive a wedge between Nick and Ava from the beginning so that they would end things and he could be kept out of it,” Leo added.

  We both sat silently, waiting for some kind of response from our dad. He looked intent, mulling all of this over.

  “And so you married Ava before he could stop you?”

  “Yeah. Vince tipped us off a few weeks ago and we’ve been careful about it since. We had to be sure Alessandro was actually spying on me before we could do anything, so when Ava and I left, we sent a guy to sit in a hotel room in Chicago booked under my name. Alessandro sent a bunch of hookers there to try to make it look like I was cheating on Ava.”

  My dad frowned. “Why the fuck wouldn’t he just say the deal is off? Why go to all this trouble?”

  “Because he’s trying to save face,” Leo said. “He needs the Russians to believe he is doing everything he can to help them infiltrate us, and if he calls off the deal, he goes down as the bad guy. The Asnikovs will eat him alive.”

  “That’s what the shooting was about,” my dad said flatly.

  I nodded. “Mrs. Moretti took his car that day. Vince thinks that the Russians thought it was him in there, not even realizing it was a wedding boutique, and were trying to send him a message.”

  “Did you explain all of this to your new wife?” My dad turned his attention to me.

  “More or less. I left out some of the details, but I told her that he was trying to set us all up.”

  “She must be devastated.” He sighed, rubbing his chin.

  “She’s having a tough time with it, but I think she understands. She knows that Alessandro is using her as a pawn and doesn’t really care what happens to her in the process.” It sounded even more harsh as I said it out loud, reigniting my anger at him.

  “I’m still pissed you two decided not to tell me about this.” My dad glared at us. “But I understand why you did it. We’ll just need to be prepared for whatever is to come. Alessandro won’t take this lying down.”

  “I know,” I agreed. “But I wasn’t going to take any chances where Ava’s safety was concerned. That’s why I want to get men on her immediately. He’s going to try to see her now that we’re home.”

  “And she hasn’t told her family that you’re married?”

  I shook my head.

  “Let’s keep it that way for now,” he said. “I’d like to feel all this out with Alessandro.”

  I didn’t want to wait but I wasn’t really in a bargaining position. I had already lied to my dad about most of this, so I knew he’d be keeping me under his thumb for a while.

  “We have a fundraiser coming up in a few weeks. I’ll arrange for Alessandro and his wife to be there, and depending on how things are, we’ll use it to announce your marriage.” He continued, “In the meantime, you better make sure that this document is legit.” He handed it back to me. “When Alessandro finds out about this, you want to be sure there are no loopholes and everything was done legally.”

  “I looked into everything, but I’ll get it to the lawyers.” I folded the certificate up carefully and put it back into my pocket.

  “I’ll get some men on security for Ava. Make sure she knows, though. I want her aware of everything that is going on so Alessandro can’t argue that we’ve forced her into anything. It has to be on her terms.”

  “Good idea,” Leo agreed.

  It was hard to admit defeat, but I knew I should have come to my dad sooner. He thought of things that hadn’t even crossed my mind, and I was thankful for his support. We would need it if Ava and I were going to war with Alessandro.

  Ava

  Nick and I had been home for almost two weeks when his parents had us over for a graduation BBQ for their youngest son, Frankie. At Nick’s insistence we hadn’t told many people that we were married, and I was still having a hard time wrapping my mind around it as well. He had been so persistent about marrying me in the first place, it felt odd that he didn’t want to tell anyone yet. I didn’t mind, though—not much had changed between us, and once the marriage was out in the open, I was worried it might.

  Nick was working quite a bit and I was busy with school. I’d finally found an internship where I was working with survivors of abuse, and had just started training this week. So far it was just as incredible as I thought it would be, but by the time I got home at night, I was exhausted. Today was the first full day we were spending together since we had been back. The BBQ was early in the afternoon and after that, we planned to have dinner and go see a movie. It wasn’t glamorous in comparison to the dates Nick normally planned, but I was just looking forward to spending time with my husband.

  Husband. That was still going to take some getting used to. Even the word gave me butterflies in my stomach. For so long, I had detested the thought of being tied to someone, but it was completely different with Nick. He was right—we worked as a team, and he was always so considerate of me, making sure I felt comfortable and taken care of, but still had my independence. It was like a dream. I was even surprising myself with how much I was adapting. I got so much joy out of doing even simple things for him, like his laundry or cooking him dinner. Nick had taken care of me for so long, and as I settled into my new role as his wife, I felt a sense of pride to be able to do that for him.

  Nick held my hand tightly as we walked up the steps to his parents’ house. Balloons lined the path, and I could already hear people talking and laughing in the backyard. I was excited for our time alone together, but I knew Nick was looking forward to spending a little time with his family too.

  The party was much bigger than I expected. We had to park a long way away and the house was crammed full. Nick had made it seem like a small get-together, but I didn’t recognize anyone in the room, and I suddenly felt self-conscious.

  Nick and I wandered into the backyard, and his mother rushed toward us and threw her arms around my neck.

  “Oh, there you are! I’m so glad you could make it!” She kissed my cheek. “How are you?”

  “Hi!” I smiled, giving her a tight squeeze.

  “Give her a little space, Mom.” Nick hugged his mother warmly.

  “Can you blame me? I have a new daughter.” Mrs. Caponelli beamed.

  My eyes widened. I knew Nick had told his father about our marriage, and I guess I should have assumed his mother would know too.

  “Mom!” Nick groaned.

  “Oh, don’t worry. Your secret’s safe with me, I just couldn’t contain my happiness.” She grinned. “Why don’t you guys go get something to eat, we have so much food.”

  “We will. Thanks, Mom. See you later.” Nick laughed and led me over to a picnic table where all the food was set up. Lasagna, spaghetti, sausage and peppers, and all kinds of other dishes were plated around the table. It smelled incredible, and I couldn’t wait to dig in.

  “Oh my god!” A shrill voice came from behind us. “Nick?”

  I whirled around to see where the voice came from just in time to see someone with a pair of long, tanned legs and dark hair wrap her arms around Nick’s neck. He looked a little bewildered but hugged the woman back.

  “Hi, Gina,” he finally managed to say, pulling away from her.

  I felt myself getting a little possessive. Who was this girl and how did she know my husband? Did she not see me standing right here?

  “I was hoping I would get to see you.” She beamed, not picking up on the tension mounting by the minute. “You look amazing, how have you been?”

  “Good, I’ve been great! I can’t believe you’re here,” Nick said. He hadn’t looked my way since she’d appeared. Thinking it was best to leave them be, I tried to slip away but felt Nick’s grip tighten on my wrist.

  “You’re not going anywhere, beautiful,” he whispe
red, hot against my ear. “Gina, this is my beautiful fiancé, Ava. Ava, this is Gina, an old family friend.”

  “Fiancé?” Gina’s eyes got wide and she flashed her perfectly straight teeth at me in a big grin. “I never thought I’d see the day. Ava, it is an absolute pleasure.”

  She gave me an awkward hug.

  “It’s nice to meet you too.” I gave her a tight-lipped smile. Everything about her made me uncomfortable, starting with the way Nick looked at her.

  “I’ve known Nicholas forever. We’ve been friends for a long time.” The way her tone changed on the word friends made me uneasy, like there was much more underneath that term. I got the feeling that they weren’t just friends. There was a little more history between the two of them than Nick was insinuating, I was sure of it.

  Chapter 32

  Ava

  Sitting here listening to Nick and Gina reminisce was not exactly high on my priority list today. The longer we sat, the more irritated I became. Although Nick had his hand on my knee, he had hardly said two words to me the entire time. I was learning that family friend was a very loose term to characterize Gina. I had a strong feeling they had been more than that, and the fact that she was here made me uncomfortable. So did the way she kept casually touching Nick’s arm and twirling her hair in his face.

  It didn’t help that she was the definition of perfection with her perfectly manicured fingernails and dark-brown spiraled hair. She had a tone of voice that sounded much more like singing than speaking, and her smile was nearly blinding. Of course she had probably been more to Nick—he had probably fawned all over her when he was younger. I was confident in our relationship, but it still didn’t feel good.

  From their conversation, I gathered that they had gone to high school together. Gina brought up all kinds of memories like senior prom and some graduation camping trips. She talked about how cute Nick looked in his football uniform, and all the times their families vacationed together. If she was such a fixture in his life, it was interesting I’d never heard about her. The more she spoke, the less I believed the family friend cover story. The way Nick blushed at some of the memories she brought up gave him away even more. There wasn’t a shot in hell they hadn’t slept together. When she finally got up to refill her wine, and Nick turned his attention back to me, he gave me the opening I needed.