Chapter 34 Ava
Ava
The safehouse feels wrong.
Too clean.
Too quiet.
After the chaos—after the fire and gunshots and shouting—this silence presses in like something unnatural.
Soft lighting hums overhead.
Walls unmarked.
Air still.
No blood.
No danger.
Except the faint sting in my side—
and the memory of everything that just happened.
Ethan doesn’t leave.
Not when we land.
Not when Ronan starts briefing the team in the other room.
Not when Aaron says something that makes Jonah snort.
He stays.
Close enough that I feel him even when he’s not touching me.
Like if he steps away—
I might disappear again.
I don’t hate it.
I sit on the edge of the bed while he kneels in front of me, pulling the bandage back.
Slower this time.
More careful.
His fingers brush my skin—light, precise—but there’s nothing detached about it.
“You should rest,” he says.
I tilt my head slightly.
“Is that an order?”
His mouth shifts.
“Yeah.”
A small smile pulls at my lips.
“I’ve missed that.”
His hands still.
Just for a second.
Then his gaze lifts to mine.
“You missed me telling you what to do?”
“Mm,” I murmur. “Something like that.”
The air changes.
Not sharp.
Not tense.
Just… heavier.
Quieter.
Charged.
He rises slowly, closing the space between us until I feel the heat of him.
“You disappeared for eight years,” he says, voice low.
I swallow.
“I didn’t mean to.”
“I know.”
His hand lifts—
hesitates—
then brushes a strand of hair back from my face.
The touch is soft.
Careful.
Like I’m something he’s afraid to break.
“I should be angry with you,” he says.
“Are you?”
His eyes lock onto mine.
Steady.
Certain.
“No.”
The answer hits harder than I expect.
“Why?”
His jaw tightens, just slightly.
“Because you’re here.”
That’s it.
That’s everything.
No past.
No blame.
Just this moment.
Something inside me shifts.
My hand lifts, pressing lightly against his chest.
Solid.
Warm.
Real.
“I thought about you,” I whisper.
“Yeah?”
“All the time… after my memory came back.”
His breath deepens.
Closer now.
“Good,” he says.
Barely a sound.
His hand slides to my waist—careful of the injury—but firm enough to pull me closer.
I don’t resist.
I step into him.
Like it’s the easiest thing in the world.
Like it’s always been this way.
The kiss isn’t hesitant.
It’s not careful.
It’s everything we lost.
Everything we didn’t get to finish.
His grip tightens.
Mine follows.
We’re both breathing harder—
closer—
closer—
A knock slams against the door.
Sharp.
Unforgiving.
Reality crashes back in.
We both freeze.
Aaron’s voice cuts through from the other side.
“Hope I’m not interrupting something important—actually, I definitely am—but we’ve got a situation.”
Ethan exhales, forehead dropping against mine.
“Of course we do.”
A quiet laugh escapes me.
“Later?”
His eyes lift to mine again.
Darker now.
Promise sitting right there.
“Yeah,” he says. “Later.”