by Cat Mann
Chapter 16
I lied.
My eyes opened to bright blinding lights. My right hand was tucked firmly inside someone else’s. Forcing my eyes to adjust to the brightness, I slowly focused in on . . .“Margaux?” I croaked. “Margaux, what are you doing here?”
She gave a frilly, fake laugh.
“Why wouldn’t I be here, Ava? It’s not every day that my only granddaughter gets shot twice and lives to tell about it.”
My hand quickly pulled out of hers and flew up to my gunshot wounds. My shoulder was covered in thick gauze and pain immediately filled my body, followed by a flood of all the memories that came with it.
“Where is Lauren?” I started to panic, “Is she ok?”
Margaux, looking less than concerned, peered down at her fingernails. “Yes, I think she is fine. . .just a few cuts. They released her the same evening.”
“Where is Ari?”
“That boy, along with the rest of the Alexanders, is in the waiting room. The hospital has you under strict surveillance; you aren’t to speak to anyone until the police arrive. Ava, let’s cut to the chase. You can’t fool me. I know what you are and let’s just say that those two men were just the beginning. They aren’t going to stop until they get you. You should have been able to see this coming a long time ago. . . and you probably would have, if you hadn’t been so busy screwing that Alexander boy.”
My mouth hung open in shock, “Margaux, I…”
She held her hand up to stop me.
“I don’t want to hear the dirty details, Ava. The truth is that you are lucky to be alive and you are lucky that young girl is alive. Those men know where you are and they will pick that family off one at a time if that’s what it takes to get to you. If you have any heart at all, you will leave and finish this on your own. Andrew should have known better than to let you in to his family’s lives. You aren’t good enough for them.”
Ouch.
“Since I am still your legal guardian, I have arranged a place for you to stay in London. I own some property there and I have a flat that is currently vacant. You will finish school in London at Wheatin Prep. Unfortunately, I don’t think it is safe for you to attend class there, so I am working some things out with a private professor. As soon as the doctor releases you, we will be leaving. Your belongings at the DPI dorm will be packed up and placed in storage.”
I stared at her in disbelief. “You knew what I am and you never said anything?”
“Ava, it was not my place, simply put.”
My soul felt as though it was being hollowed out, I was empty inside; I had to leave Ari. Margaux may have been a cold and ruthless monster, but she was right. The Kakos would kill him if that is what it would take to get to me. I had no choice. A tear slipped down my cheek.
“If you weren’t recovering from two gunshot wounds, I would smack you,” Margaux spat at my slight show of emotional distress. “It’s time for you to grow up; this is bigger than some silly boyfriend, Ava. It is time you realized the severity of the situation and start to figure out some kind of resolution. Turn your feelings off and focus.” Her fingers snapped loudly, inches away from my face.
I nodded my head in agreement and wiped my own tear. “When will I be okay to travel?”
“You will have a day or two to recuperate here. I’ll let the nurse know that you are awake and able to speak with a detective. As soon as you get your release, we will be on the next flight out of town. Now, I have to leave. You will need a physical therapist in London and I have to get on the phone with the school to ensure you graduate this spring.”
She took a step towards the door then turned back to face me.
“When the police come, do be vague, dear; you don’t want to have yourself committed. Do you understand?”
“Yes ma’am.” I answered in a pathetically small voice.
Margaux left and I allowed myself a moment to cry. I thought about Ari. I didn’t want to leave him. He had made me happier than I had ever been. I loved him, but I would do anything to save his life.
As soon as the doctor came in, I wiped my tears away and shoved my emotions into the recesses of my mind. He gave me a breakdown of the injuries I had sustained. I had several cracked ribs and I had been shot twice in the left shoulder. I had required surgery and both of the bullets had been successfully removed. He told me that it was a miracle that I had survived the first shot at all as it was particularly close to my chest
“I’m sorry to say that it took the paramedics fifteen minutes to arrive at the Alexander’s home. If it hadn’t been for their boy performing CPR, we would not be having this conversation.”
Thinking back to my last conscious moment – seeing my blood-stained handprint on the Alexander’s glass door, gave me a rush of cold shivers that tingled along my spine.
“Detective Scott is outside and waiting to speak with you, Miss. Baio. Is it okay to send him in?”
I nodded.
Detective Scott entered right after my doctor left. He was all business, dressed in a very nice suit, black hair slicked back without a single stray strand on his head. I knew immediately that I had seen him before; he had been at the restaurant Providence the night I first arrived in California. He was a friend of Margaux and knew I was Adrian’s daughter. Detective Scott introduced himself and began right away with some questions. They were all basic, my-side-of-the story type stuff. When he got near the end of his questioning, he paused for a moment.
“There is just one thing I don’t really understand, Miss Baio. How did you know where to find Lauren, if you were at a concert at the time of her kidnapping?”
“Uh,” I stalled, “I don’t actually know the answer to that. I hit my head really hard at the show and I don’t remember much of the night. I guess maybe she sent me a text or something.” My excuse sounded lame even to me and I swallowed hard.
“Hmm,” he said, looking at me intently. Then he handed me his business card with his private number circled in ink.
“If you have anything more you would like to tell me, call me at once.”
Fat chance, buddy.
I agreed to do so as I watched him walk away.
Ari came in a few minutes after Detective Scott left. He looked exhausted and as if he were in a pit of utter despair. He placed his hand on my cheek and I looked into his deep dark eyes, forcing my mind to remember every single detail. The little crease in his forehead when he was thinking or concerned, his soft, full, pink lips that made my skin tingle whenever he kissed me and the clear dark brown eyes I knew so well, and the way his long fingers felt like feathers across my skin.
“Ava,” he whispered, “I’m so sorry.”
“I’m ok, Ari,” I said as I lifted my good arm up and placed my hand against his scruffy cheek. I was craving one last touch. He closed his eyes and moved my palm to his lips, filling it with kisses. Butterflies fluttered. . .and I killed them with one deep breath. I blinked away my love and turned my heart to stone. I took my hand out of his. I was about to hurt the people I loved the most.
“Ari, I’m leaving,” I said curtly. “I can’t allow something like this to happen again. Lauren could have been killed, and if I stick around, they will just try again – and I am sure they will succeed next time. I can’t put our relationship in front of the lives of your family.”
Shock washed over him. “What does that mean?”
“I can’t be with you anymore.”
“You can’t, or you don’t want to?”
I closed my eyes and suppressed the evil bile that was rising up in my throat.
“I don’t want to,” I lied.
He let out a long breath before speaking, his hands were shaky and his voice was in a panic. “We will get through this, Ava. I love you. You can’t walk away from me now, not ever. I won’t let you.”
“You don’t have a choice, Ari. I’ve made up my mind. It’s too late.”
“I don’t believe you. How can you sit here and lie to me l
ike this? Say it, say you are lying, just please tell me you’re lying.”
I shook my head no, I couldn’t bear to look him in the eyes.
“Don’t ever lie to me, Ava! Stop it now!”
“I’m not lying.” My face was stone. My emotions were kept so tightly in check that I could hardly breathe.
“Tell me you don’t love me.”
“I don’t love you.” I lied.
“You are a liar.”
“No. I am not a liar, Ari. I never loved you.” I lied again and again.
Ari stood by my bed for a few minutes, hell, maybe a few hours, I don’t know. I was absolutely numb to everything. My mind had shut down and I was just a shell of person. I was not at all prepared for the pain that this giant hole in my heart was causing.
Ari put my hand back in his before he left, and brought my fingers up against his soft lips. “I know when I am being lied to. Just promise me this one thing; that when it’s time for you to come home, you will come home to me and you will tell me the truth.” I looked up at him and stared blankly in to his eyes. He dropped my hand and left.
I don’t know what Ari told his family, but to my surprise they each came in to see me. Lauren cried and begged me to stay and though my heart broke again, I pushed back tears and remained firm and distant. Rory came in hand in hand with Julia and I felt a small hint of a smile play on my face. I was glad to see that things were starting to work out for him. He said very little to me; I had hurt not just Ari, but all of them with my decision to leave. I prayed and hoped that they could see my decision was for the best. Margaux was right; they were better off without me.
Andy came in with Aggie. She looked tired and sick. I am sure she was distraught by what had happened with Lauren and her obvious anguish made me feel even more sure that I was making the right move.
“You don’t have to do this, Ava.” Her tone was severe; she was angry with me.
“You belong with us. We have waited seventeen years for you to come home; we are your family, damn it.”
“No, you aren’t my family, Aggie.” I closed my eyes to push back the hot tears I could feel forming behind my eyelids. I turned away from her. She stood there for a moment speechless and then sobbed into Andy’s silent arms and they left the room.
The nurse followed in after they left and checked my blood pressure.
“I don’t want any more visitors coming into this room, do you understand?” My tone was neither kind nor warm.
“Ok, I’ll make sure of it. What about your guardian?”
“Do I have a choice?” I snapped.
“No ma’am, I’m sorry you don’t.”
“Then why the hell did you even bother asking me?”
“You’re right, I apologize.”
I gave her a bone-chilling stare and watched as the goose bumps rose on her arms and up the back of her neck. I felt a strange rush of power and an unbelievable amount of control. I sat up a little straighter and clenched my jaw. The nurse tore the Velcro from the blood pressure cuff off my arm and rushed out of the room as if her life depended on it. A big NO VISITORS sign was hung on my door, but that nurse didn’t return to my room for the rest of my stay.
