Chapter 15 #2
"You have no idea what you're talking about." Vance's voice drops, dangerous now. "You're a foolish girl playing in a world you don't understand. The people I'm connected to, the resources at my disposal, you can't even comprehend what you're up against."
"Is that a threat?"
"It's a fact. And here's another fact. Victor Castellano was weak. He was going to betray people far more powerful than himself to save his own skin. So yes, his death was convenient. Convenient for a lot of people who'll do whatever's necessary to protect their interests."
"So you admit you're part of it. The trafficking operation."
"I admit nothing. This conversation is over." Sound of a door opening. "Leave. Now."
"Ava, get out of there," Agent Monroe orders. "We've got what we need."
I'm already moving toward the elevators when Ava emerges from Vance's office, her face pale but composed. She sees me and some of the tension leaves her shoulders. We're in the elevator before Vance can follow, descending fast while FBI agents move into position to arrest him.
"Did you get it?" Ava asks, pulling out her earpiece. "Was it enough?"
"His admission that Castellano's death was 'convenient' combined with the financial evidence? Yeah, we've got enough to bring him in." Agent Monroe's voice comes through my earpiece. "Good work, Ms. Langley. You got him to slip."
In the lobby, chaos erupts as FBI agents flood the building, moving to secure Vance before he can destroy evidence or flee. I pull Ava outside to where our SUV's waiting, needing to get her clear of the situation.
"You okay?" I ask once we're in the vehicle with Falcon driving us away.
"I think so. Shaking, but okay." She looks at her hands, which are indeed trembling. "He's terrifying, Mason. The way he talked about having Castellano killed like it was just business. These people, they're monsters."
"And now they're going to pay." I pull her against me, feeling her heart racing. "You did good. You got him to admit involvement."
"Did I? All I did was make him angry."
"You made him defensive. Made him justify actions he should've denied. That's more than the FBI's gotten in months of investigation." I press a kiss to her temple. "You're incredible, you know that?"
"I'm terrified and nauseous and definitely going to need therapy after all this."
"But you're alive, that's what matters."
We're back at the compound within thirty minutes, brothers gathering around to hear what happened. Ava recounts the interview, her voice getting stronger as she talks, and I watch her transform from scared civilian to fierce journalist again.
"Vance is in custody," Agent Monroe reports through a call to Falcon. "He's already lawyered up, but we've got enough evidence to hold him while we build the full case. The threat's neutralized."
"What about his people? The ones who were surveilling us?" Vulture asks.
"Being rounded up as we speak. Vance kept detailed records of his security contractors, which is going to make prosecution easier.
" Agent Monroe pauses. "Ms. Langley, you should know that what you did today, it's going to save lives.
We've identified at least three other trafficking operations connected to Vance's network. You helped bring down an empire."
After the call ends, Ava looks at me with exhaustion written all over her face. "Is it really over? Can we finally stop looking over our shoulders?"
"Yeah, sweetheart. It's really over." I stand, pulling her up with me. "Come on. Let's get you upstairs. You need rest."
"I need you." She wraps her arms around my waist. "I need to feel alive after spending an hour with that monster."
"Then let's go feel alive."
In my room, we strip each other slowly, relearning familiar territory with desperate hands. When I push inside her, we're both already trembling, the adrenaline and fear and relief mixing into something explosive.
"Love you," I say against her mouth, setting a rhythm that's hard and deep. "So fucking much."
"Love you too. Always." Her nails dig into my shoulders. "Mason, I need, I can't..."
"I know. I've got you." My hand slides between us, finding her clit. "Let go. Show me you're alive."
She comes apart with a cry that echoes through the room, and I follow her over with her name torn from my throat. We collapse together, hearts racing, both of us breathing hard.
"We did it," she whispers against my chest. "We actually did it."
"You did it. I just watched and tried not to have a heart attack."
"Team effort." She props herself up to look at me. "So what happens now? We go back to normal life?"
"Define normal."
"I don't know. I finish my apartment, you do your club stuff, we figure out how to be together when we're not constantly running from threats?"
"Sounds good to me." I trace the line of her jaw. "Though I'm going to miss having you here every night."
"Who says I'm leaving? Maybe I like being here, maybe I like being close to you and the brothers." She grins. "Plus, Harrior's cooking is way better than anything I can make."
"You want to stay? At the compound?"
"Not permanently. But maybe split my time. Few days here, few days at the apartment. Best of both worlds." She's watching me carefully. "Unless that's too much. Too domestic or whatever."
"It's perfect." I kiss her softly. "You're perfect."
"I'm really not. I'm stubborn and reckless and I almost got myself killed going after Vance."
"All true. But you're also brave and brilliant and you make me believe in things I'd written off years ago." I pull her closer. "So yeah. Perfect for me."
We lie there as the sun sets, wrapped around each other, and for the first time in weeks I let myself relax. The threat's neutralized, Ava's safe, and we've got a future to figure out together.
It's not going to be easy. Our worlds are too different, our careers too conflicting, for smooth sailing. But we'll make it work.
Because the alternative, life without her, that's not acceptable.
She's mine. And I protect what's mine.
Always.
Three months later, I wake to the smell of coffee and the sound of Ava typing furiously on her laptop. She's sitting cross-legged on my bed, wearing nothing but one of my shirts, completely absorbed in whatever article she's writing.
"Morning," I say, my voice rough with sleep.
"Morning." She doesn't look up, fingers still flying across the keys. "Give me two minutes to finish this thought."
I watch her work, still amazed that this brilliant, fierce woman chose me, and chose this life.
I’m so proud of her, my ol’ lady. The club accepted her when I claimed her in front of my brothers The trial's ongoing, Vance facing decades in prison, and Ava's been covering every development with the skill that made her famous.
She's also been splitting her time between the compound and her apartment like she suggested, and somehow we've made it work. Some nights she's here, curled up in my bed while brothers party downstairs. Other nights I'm at her place, playing the domestic role I never thought I'd want.
It works. We work.
"Done," she announces, closing the laptop. "Sorry. Deadline."
"What're you working on?"
"Follow-up piece on the trafficking survivors. Where they are now, how they're recovering. It's going to be powerful." She sets the laptop aside and crawls over to me. "But right now, I'm more interested in you."
"Yeah? What about me interests you?"
"Everything. But specifically the way you're looking at me right now. Like I'm the best thing you've ever seen."
"You are." I pull her down for a kiss that quickly becomes something more. "Best thing that ever happened to me."
"Right back at you, Ice Pick." She grins against my mouth. "Now show me what that mouth can do besides talk."
I do, spending the rest of the morning proving exactly why she chose me.
And when we finally emerge from the bedroom, the brothers give us knowing looks but don't comment.
Because this is our normal now.
Dangerous, complicated, absolutely perfect.
Just the way we like it.