44. Ava
AVA
L ooks like your little boyfriend isn’t going to show,” Alex says, glancing at the Rolex on his wrist, his voice casual—mocking.
I don’t know how much time has passed—hours? Days? Time’s been eaten alive by the dread pounding in my chest—but I know my jaw aches around the gag, a dull, constant throb that’s begun to blur into the rest of the pain.
I glare up at him, defiant through tear-clumped lashes. My cheeks are raw, streaked with salt and desperation, but I don’t look away. I won’t give him that.
Alex exhales as if bored, stretching like he’s just gotten out of bed, and rises to his feet with a grunt.
“Well, I guess that’s that,” he says, almost disappointed. “I gave him a chance. Unfortunately, you’ll pay for it with your life.”
Panic claws at my throat when he steps forward. I jerk back instinctively, a strangled cry caught behind the gag. The rope around my wrists bites deeper into my already raw skin as he hauls me up like I’m made of rags.
No!
I’m so damn sick of everyone thinking they can toss me around like I’m disposable.
I twist violently in his grasp, and the back of my head slams into his nose. The sickening crunch of bone meets my ears, followed by a sharp, guttural curse.
“Fuck,” he growls. “You’re more trouble than you’re worth.”
He lunges again, grabbing a fistful of my hair and yanking me backward until my spine hits the unyielding steel of his chest. I cry out, breath stolen from my lungs. The gag is ripped from my mouth, and I sputter, choking on the bitter taste of cloth and fear.
“Ava Lynn,” he hisses, breath hot against my cheek. “You’re going to pay for that.”
A cold kiss of metal slides across my throat—his knife—angled just enough to remind me how close I am to the edge.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”
The voice is low and controlled.
—But it hits like a fucking lightning bolt.
“Levi!” Alex clamps a hand over my mouth, pulling me back into his front.
He came . . .
No, no, no, no . . . why is he here?
“I’m here, baby girl,” Levi says, stepping out of the shadows like a god of vengeance, eyes stormy and jaw clenched so tight I swear his teeth might crack.
I want to sob in relief, to collapse into him and let this nightmare fade. But I can’t. Because I know something he doesn’t seem to. There’s no way in hell we both make it out of here alive.
“Isn’t this sweet?” Alex chuckles, voice curling with venom. “Come to join the fun?”
“Let her go, Alex.” Levi’s voice is calm and collected, but I can see the tightness in his shoulders. The way his knuckles are nearly white from how hard he’s clenching his fists.
He looks awful. Like he hasn’t slept in weeks. Dark circles ring his eyes, and he hasn’t shaved.
My heart sinks, knowing that he’s been struggling by himself. Knowing that even if everything between us started out as a job, he’s just as lost without me as I am him.
Paulina was right. He destroys everything he loves before it can destroy him. He was just too late this time.
“She’s not a part of this.”
No, no, no, NO . . .
“Let her go.”
“Don’t come any closer,” Alex orders from over my shoulder, the tip of his blade digging in deeper. I feel the warm tickle of blood slide down my throat. “You know I love the sight of blood spilling from pretty little women.”
Levi’s face is unreadable. He doesn’t look at me, but I can’t take my eyes off him. My hands shake where they’re tied behind my back, my eyes swimming with tears that threaten to spill down my cheeks.
“This is between you and me,” Levi continues, his voice eerily calm. “Ava has nothing to do with this.”
“Is that so?” Alex laughs through his teeth. “I think we both know she has everything to do with it, doesn’t she?”
My eyes fall closed, all the blood rushing to my head with my ragged heartbeat.
“Tell me,” Alex starts, his hand brushing down the other side of my neck. Levi keeps his gaze on Alex, never once looking my way. “What was your plan? Send her away and hope I didn’t see the depths of your loyalty to your little whore?”
As he speaks, he digs the blade into the side of my throat, and a whimper manages to slip free from the pain.
Finally, Levi’s eyes cut to mine, and there, hidden in their frosty depths, I can see something I’ve never seen in his eyes before.
Pure, unadulterated fear.
“You had to know I’d take her simply because she was his. He had to know when he ruined my life, I’d ruin the only thing worth a damn in his.”
“What happened to your father happened because he was a criminal. Ava has nothing to do with this.”
“My father was pathetic,” Alex spits. “Marks ruined my future.”
Alex jerks me back, and the tip of the knife nicks me. It hurts, and I gasp at the sting. Levi’s expression slips—just for a second. But it’s enough.
Alex sees it too.
“Ah, yes . . .” I can practically hear the smile in Alex’s voice. “There it is. I never thought I’d see the day. Levi Cross in love with his mousy, little whore.” He flicks the blade, digging it deeper into my skin, and a cry rips free.
“You son of a bitch, let her go!” Levi growls, surging forward, but Alex holds the knife up.
“That’s the problem with you Cross siblings,” he hisses.
“Always so hellbent on being right that you never care to see what’s right in front of you.
” Alex removes the blade from my throat, sliding it instead down my cheek.
“How I was able to take your whore, right out from under your nose. How I was able to infiltrate your house, watch your every move . . . It was too easy, really.”
“Let. Her. Go,” Levi urges. “Take me. I’m right fucking here.”
“I’m afraid I can’t do that, Levi. You see, I’m going to make you watch while I fuck your whore.
Then I’ll slice her throat and let you suffer helplessly while she bleeds out.
Just. Like. My. Father.” Alex turns to grin at me, his hand fisting in my hair.
“And you’re going to love every second, aren’t you, little mouse? ”
“Go fuck yourself,” I grit through my teeth, but he only chuckles.
“My, my, Cross. She is feisty. I can see why you’re so obsessed. She was never this vibrant with me.” I whimper when his knife slips down my throat, over my racing pulse.
The blade digs into my flesh, slicing my skin as it goes. Levi’s wild eyes meet mine, and through the blurriness of my tears, I can see he’s panicking.
“Damnit, Alex! I’m right fucking here. You can have me! Just let her go!”
“How pathetically poetic. Willing to sacrifice yourself for her,” Alex tsks.
“It was always going to end this way. You and me.” Alex leans down, his tongue sliding along the blood on my neck.
Disgust recoils through me, and I try to move away, but he tightens his hold.
The world starts to spin around me, the pressure in my skull setting off a throbbing tempo in my head that matches my heartbeat.
“All the while you were worried about Palmer, I was right there under your nose. At the Tomb. At the funeral for your spineless father. I’m everywhere, Cross! ” he bellows, and I jump.
“Let her go.”
Everything falls silent as Christian steps into the room, Nolan Marks in front of the gun in his hand.
My father.
“Finally,” Alex grins. He lowers his lips to my ear, his breath hot on my cheek. “Daddy’s here, little mouse.”
I blink through the tears as the man who’s supposed to be my father comes into focus. Levi’s eyes never leave mine, his chest heaving with each breath.
“I’m the one you’re after. These two have nothing to do with it,” Nolan says, stepping further into the warehouse.
“Mmm . . . but she does, doesn’t she? Tell me, Nolan, does Ava know the truth?” Alex asks, and the silence in my ears is deafening.
“Ava,” Levi says, his rough voice breaking through the haze. “Look at me, baby.”
Nolan doesn’t answer, his gaze unreadable as it sweeps over me.
“ Ava ,” Levi growls, and my gaze cuts to his. “Keep your eyes on me, baby, please .”
I wish someone would tell me what the hell is going on. I shiver when Alex’s hand slides down my face, to my throat. He swirls the blade along my skin, not slicing, but close enough to threaten.
A silent sob slips free from my lips, and Levi’s face grows redder and redder with suppressed rage.
“What’s the matter, little mouse?” Alex says softly in my ear. “Oh, that’s right. This is the first time you’re really meeting him, isn’t it?”
“Ava,” Levi barks when I look away. My gaze shoots back to his, and the desperation there is enough to frighten me.
“Did you know your daddy was in on it? See, it wasn’t just my father who had deals with the Russians. No. It was yours too,” Alex sneers, his voice maniacal in my ear. “Then your father screwed mine over. My father was murdered.”
“Let her go, Alex,” Marks says from the door. “It’s over.”
“Daddy left when you were just a little girl, didn’t he?” Alex sneers. “He left you all alone with Mommy and her shitty boyfriends. He never cared about you. Not the way you want him to. Who do you think the favorite was?”
“Ava,” Levi growls, but realization is dawning on me.
Alex presses closer to my side.
“Did you really think you were an only child, Ava?”
No.
NO.
Alex grins in my face when reality comes crashing down on me.
“That’s right, sweetheart. Donovan Palmer is your brother.”
Time stands still, and my heartbeat ticks like moments on a clock.
My brother.
Donovan is my brother.
“Why do you think he paid Cross to watch over you?” Alex continues. “Daddy screwed me over and thought he could save the only thing he has left. Doesn’t that piss you off?”
“Fuck you,” I breathe, and he just chuckles.
“Good idea. What do you think he’d say about that?” His free hand starts to roam, while his knife stays against my throat.
Disgust coils through me when he grips my breast through my clothes, and I surge in his grip to try and get away from him. A cry slips free when he tightens his hold on my hair, no doubt pulling strands free.
“Or maybe the boyfriend . . .” he chortles in my ear, moving lower and laying his hand flat over the center of my thighs.
“Mmm . . .” he moans, staring pointedly at Levi.
Levi takes a step towards us, his gaze murderous, but Alex digs the knife into my throat, and I gasp at the pain.
“She’s nice and warm. Tell me, Cross . . . how does she feel? Soft and sweet?”
“Let her go!” Nolan roars. Taking a step forward. Alex drags the knife closer to my throat, hauling me back. I wince, feeling the blood slipping down my skin and soaking the collar of my shirt.
“I’m going to fucking kill you,” Levi says, watching the trail of blood, his voice holding a deathly calm.
“I’d love to see you try,” Alex sneers, and unfortunately, it’s the straw that breaks the camel’s back.
Everything happens so fast.
A shot rings out, and my eyes shoot to Donovan Palmer emerging from the shadows. His eyes meet mine, but it’s only a split second before the most heart-wrenching sound fills the room.
Alex is the first to be shot. He crumples to the floor, and suddenly, I’m released. I fall to my side on the broken concrete, and Levi lunges for Alex, pinning him to the ground.
The two men struggle, and the sickening sound of bone meeting metal fills the air when Levi plunges the knife directly into the side of Alex’s throat.
“No!” I snap when someone tries to tug me away.
DEA, FBI, and the Seattle police department swarm the scene, and Levi’s lost in the sea. I fight to get to him, searching for him in the swarm of bodies.
Levi’s eyes find mine, and I reach for him, everything moving in slow motion.
“Come on, Miss Ava,” I hear, and the hands that can only belong to Hector grip me tighter, attempting to drag me towards the door, but the flash of a gun catches my eye.
Alex may be bleeding out on the floor, but the gun in his hand . . . it’s pointed right at the back of Levi’s head.
This world means nothing without you in it.
I shove away from Hector and dart to Levi, just as the shot rings out through the air.
Our gazes meet.
—Frosty blue and peridot green.
In a flash in time, I knew I’d gladly give my life to save his.
—And then everything fades to black.