Chapter 12
AVA
Ava wrenched herself free from Raven’s grasp, her heart still thudding dully against her ribs as she stared in disbelief at the face that had hidden behind the mask. “I can’t believe this.”
“Ava, please…” He tilted his head, his jaw clenching.
She clapped her hands onto the top of her head as she paced in a small circle. “This isn’t happening.”
“Come on,” he answered.
She shook her head, disbelief tightening her jaw as she took in the familiar yet shocking face of Sebastian Bancroft. The truth hit her like a tidal wave. “No. No!”
“You can’t tell me you didn’t suspect.”
“Didn’t suspect?” Her voice rose with incredulity. “How could I possible suspect this? You’ve been playing both sides!”
His set his hands on his hips, his gaze going to the ground.
“This is insane. I can’t believe we just got into an argument over my loyalty when you’re Board.” Her fingers curled into fists as her nostrils flared.
“Oh, come on, Ava. I have every reason to question your loyalty to me.”
Her eyes went wide, her jaw dropping. “Says the man who drugged me and dragged me all over the place when he wasn’t luring me into his painting studio and asking me to join The Board. Sebastian! How are you saying all of this with a straight face?”
“I had to make sure you were serious about taking down the board.”
“So, you tried to convince me to marry you and join The Board?” Her voice turned incredulous as she stretched her hands to the sides.
“And you said no. Test passed.”
She cocked her head. “And yet you still questioned my loyalty.”
He ran a hand through his hair. “Because I can’t be certain you’ll actually go to the mat for me. Obviously, you will for Alex.”
“I’m pretty sure I just did for you, too.”
“So did I, Ava. I protected you…again,” he shouted, his voice turning heated.
She blinked at him, pulling her chin back to her chest. “What do you want, Sebastian? A medal.”
“I want to be sure you’d do the same for me.”
“I have!” she exclaimed. “But you keep questioning us continuously.”
“Can you blame me?”
“Uhh, yeah. I’m done with this charade.” She shook her head as she skirted past him, trying to head down the driveway.
“Ava!” His voice boomed behind her as he stormed closer.
“Stay away from me, Sebastian. I’m done with your manipulation and lies.”
“Listen to me.” His feet pounded the gravel as he trudged toward her, closing the gap quickly. “I’m not Board, okay?”
He grabbed hold of her arm, tugging her back.
She yanked his wrist higher. “Your tattoo says otherwise,” she spat, pointing accusingly at the mark on his wrist.
He shook his head. “I was Board. I’m not anymore.”
She ripped her arm free of his grasp. “That’s weird, because there was a guy who looks just like you who weirdly was at a Board stronghold. In fact, he was there when Alex was kidnapped. I mean what the hell was that, Sebastian? What kind of sick game is this for you?”
“It’s not…look, just come inside, and I’ll explain everything.”
“Come inside. Uh-huh, right. Yeah, I’ll just follow you into your creepy cabin never to be heard from again.”
“Damn it, Ava, this isn’t a game. It’s very serious.”
“No kidding! You’ve been toying with me for months, playing this disgusting cat and mouse game as both Raven and Sebastian. And now, you’ve set it up so the world thinks I’m dead. How perfect for you.”
“This wasn’t my doing,” he said through clenched teeth, trying to convey sincerity.”
“Then who did?” she demanded.
“Please, let’s just go inside.”
“Inside. Right. I don’t think so. In the past few days, you’ve kidnapped my husband, drugged me multiple times, tried to get me to join The Board…and oh my goodness, what in the world was that, Sebastian? You’re supposed to be on my side, but you were completely cruel.”
“I had to be!” he said. “But you found him. Thanks to me. Come on, Ava, I practically drew you a map to him!”
Ava’s jaw dropped open. “Are you kidding me?”
“You didn’t think it was strange when I didn’t knock you out before I drove you to his location? I couldn’t have made it any easier.”
“Maybe just don’t kidnap him in the first place.”
He set his hands on his hips, shaking his head. “I didn’t. I’ve been keeping him safe this entire time–for you.”
“Then how did he end up in that facility?”
“Miranda. She’s getting suspicious.” He scrubbed his face. “She upped the timeline without informing me.”
Ava crossed her arms, heaving a sigh. “Must have felt good to shoot her.”
“You have no idea,” he answered before he shook his head. “Come on, Ava. I’m not the bad guy here. I’m trying to stop them and get my family out of this…heinous organization. And I’m taking most of the risks.”
“How do you need our help with this? You must have access to everything.”
“I don’t. The Board is highly compartmentalized. I’m trying to gather enough information to stop them from pulling off whatever their next move is to cripple the world and profit off of the chaos afterward.”
Ava shifted her weight, her head shaking.
“Please, Ava. I need help. We need help. I don’t want this life for me or my parents. I don’t want to be involved with this. But I can’t do this alone. Please.” His voice took on a pleading tone as his features pinched.
She glanced up at him, battling an unwelcome surge of pity, mixed with anger and confusion. She shook her head, crossing her arms tighter across her chest. Her jaw tightened to the point of pain.
She puckered her lips as she returned her gaze to him. “Fine. But we seriously need to discuss next steps because I’m not loving the new direction this is going.”
He heaved a sigh of relief as he nodded before he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and guided her toward the cabin. “We’ll talk inside.”
With an arched eyebrow, she glanced sideways at him. “Can I finally see that photo you hid last time?”
He pressed his lips together as he shook his head. “I guess I have nothing to hide from you anymore.”
“Why did you hide it to begin with?” Ava asked as they pushed into the cabin.
“What did you want me to do?” He shut the door and flicked the lock into place as she wandered further into the room, picking up the picture on the mantel—Sebastian with his mother. “Say, ‘Hey Ava, I know I’m a member of The Board and all, but how about helping me take them down?’”
She set the framed photo down and sliced her gaze to him. “Yeah, that would have worked.”
“Would it? You barely trusted me as it was. And you definitely didn’t trust me as me.”
“And it didn’t occur to you that we didn’t trust you as Raven because you were super creepy with the mask and the voice changer?” She set her hands on her hips. “And why did you make me study your parents? None of this makes any sense.”
“Because I wanted you to get closer to us. I wanted you to see us as people not the enemy.”
Ava bobbed her head. “Ohhh, right. That worked super well when you came across as obsessive.”
“I really can’t do anything right for you, can I?”
“Did you hire those gunmen to take over the party?” she asked.
“No. That was Board-related, though. The Senator is a well-known advocate for them who got on the wrong side of some folks.”
“Oh, good. Glad to know the armed takeover of your party wasn’t just a setup.” Ava huffed out a breath as she shook her head.
“Come on, Ava, can you cut me a break at all?”
She tapped her puckered lips as she pretended to consider it. “Hmmm, nope, don’t think so. You could have played this a thousand different ways, but the one you chose was really awful. And this latest little scenario…not cool.”
“I’m sorry, but that one you can’t hang around my neck.”
“No? That’s weird because it feels like it’s your fault. I could just go home, but you’re basically not letting me.”
“Ava Collins needs to be dead while we clean up a few lower echelons so we can dismantle The Board from the top down.”
“Like who? Miranda?” she asked.
“Miranda Vale is dangerous, but she’s not the one responsible for the bomb on that plane. She’s not the one who made it possible for The Board to kill you.”
Her eyebrows furrowed. “Who?”
His jaw flexed as he huffed out a sigh. “You can thank Chris Maxwell for that.”
Her stomach twisted into a tight knot at the words, and she tilted her head. “No. No, that can’ be.”
“Can’t it?” he shot back. “It was Chris who went to Miranda. Miranda who went over my head after the incident at The Fortress. You’re lucky I got wind of it, or you wouldn’t be here.”
Her heart hammered faster against her ribs as she bit into her lower lip. “Chris told them?”
“Yes. And can we talk about this, by the way. What the hell were you doing with DHS?”
“Trying to save myself and my husband in any way I could. Come on, Sebastian. The Board is after us, ‘Raven’ wasn’t much help–”
“Wasn’t much help? I literally went to the mat for you to rescue Alex. I not only acted suspiciously as Sebastian, but I shot Miranda.”
“And enjoyed it,” she retorted. “I don’t blame you. She’s the world’s biggest pain. But that’s beside the point. Alex had just been kidnapped. He could have been killed. DHS offered us immunity.”
“In exchange for what?”
“All the details we had, including on you.”
Sebastian’s face went ashen as he stared at her. “What did you tell them?”
She sucked in a deep breath. “Nothing about you…yet. I played everything off not knowing anything, let them believe I was having an affair with Doc–”
“He’s another one we need to discuss.”
“Oh? You jealous over Doc now?”
“He’s a wild card we can’t afford,” Sebastian answered.
“Doc’s a good kid with some unconventional ideas. We need his help. And we need Alex’s. Which is why this plan won’t work.”
“You need to stay dead until we get Chris to leave The Board.”
Ava’s features twisted with annoyance. “Come on…is he that important?”
“He’s dangerous. It’s personal for him. We need Chris Maxwell dealt with, and then we’ll tackle the big players.”
“Alex needs to know I’m alive.”
Sebastian shook his head. “No way. He’ll blow it.”
“He’ll blow it if he doesn’t know. Sebastian, this will kill him, and we need him.”
“That’s a bad idea, Ava.”
She curled her fingers into fists. “I don’t care. I’m not going to do this to him. He’ll be devastated.”
Silence stretched between them as he refused to give in. She tossed her hands in the air. “Fine. I’m going home.”
She stepped toward the door when he stopped her. “No, Ava, can’t let you do that.”
“We need to tell Alex,” she said firmly. “I’m not doing this without telling him—it’s non-negotiable.”
“Ava…”
“Sebastian,” she said, laying a hand on his arm, “you need to start trusting us. We can do this. We can take them down but not when you’re trying to control everything including me.”
He slid his eyes closed before he popped them open, glancing up at her. “I need you to swear on your life and his that we will take them down.”
“I swear. We’ll do this. But we need Alex.”
He dug into his pocket and pulled out a phone. “This is a burner. Untraceable. I hope you know his number.”
She snatched it from him. “Of course, I do.”
After dialing the number, she let the line trill, wondering if the news of her demise had hit the Hamptons yet. She paced the floor, the boards creaking under her weight until she heard him pick up, his voice a slurred murmur.
“Ace?”
No one answered her.
“Alex? Are you there?”
The line remained silent before it finally went dead. She pulled the phone from her ear, staring down at it with confusion. “What the hell?”
“Maybe he hung up on you because you’re dead.”
“That’s funny, Sebastian. Really cute.” She tried to dial him again, but Sebastian ripped the phone from her hands.
“No more. We can’t afford for you to get caught.”
She stared at him, her features incredulous. “Then you have to tell him.”
He scoffed. “I don’t think so.”
“Sebastian, you have to do this. Alex needs to know. You have to tell him.”
He pressed his lips together, shaking his head before he met her gaze again. “Fine. I’ll handle it. But you need to stay here and out of sight. Ava Collins is dead. That’s what the world has to think.”
He shoved the phone back in his pocket before he stepped toward the door. “Promise me, Ava.”
She raised her hands in the air, showing her defeat. “I’ll stay here.”
He bobbed his head as he stepped toward the door, tugging it open.
She called after him. “Sebastian?”
“Yeah,” he asked, twisting back to face her.
“Thanks,” she murmured, still reeling from the revelations.
He nodded again before he left the cabin, leaving her behind in the quiet space. She stared at the picture again of Sebastian and his mother. With a heavy sigh, she second-guessed her decision. Could she trust Sebastian, or was she stepping into another trap?
If she couldn’t trust him, this might be the most catastrophic mistake she’d ever made. After all, she’d trusted Chris and had almost ended up dead because of it.