Chapter 28
Ava
Owen didn’t leave my side for the two days I’d spent in the hospital.
Not that I could remember much of the first night, past the headache and dizziness, when the concussion hit hard.
I remember Rachel and my parents showing up in the middle of the night.
I remember Mom tying my hair back while I vomited my guts out over the toilet, and Rach shooing Owen out the bathroom, knowing I felt embarrassed as he watched me too closely.
“It’s not the first time I’ve seen her vomit,” he’d protested, but there was no getting around Rachel.
After that, I had slept through the night and morning, only waking late afternoon. My family was speaking in hushed tones, and I almost couldn’t focus on what they said through the splitting headache.
“We have been quiet and supportive, but this is insanity! I cannot watch my daughter risk her life like this,” my father hissed, and I flinched. He was usually the calm one.
“She keeps ending up in a damn hospital! Where will this end, Becket? This needs to stop.” Rachel’s voice quivered, and my insides twisted.
“I agree,” Owen whispered.
That sent a shot of anxiety through my fragile system, rousing me more from the haze in my mind. I opened my eyes to look at him. His head hung low, his hands deep in his pockets. His hair was messy and there was a smudge of blood on the shoulder of his white shirt. Probably mine.
“So we all agree. She’s coming home with us,” my mother said, crossing her arms in finality.
Would Owen do it? Would he let them take me away like that?
Would he leave me? I swallowed down the sharp stab in my throat—that old familiar ache.
“Don’t I get a say in this?” I huffed hoarsely, trying to pull myself into a sitting position.
Everyone turned to me, and Mom rushed to help me, plopping two pillows behind my back to support me.
Dad ran a hand over my arm. “How do you feel, kiddo?”
“Like I was headbutting a bull.” I rubbed at my aching temples, my aching throat.
“I’ll go get the doctor to give you more pain medication,” Owen said and turned for the door, not taking his eyes off me.
“Use your gun if you have to,” I joked.
He mustered a small smile for me and disappeared out the door.
“They are releasing you tomorrow, but the doctor said to keep you in bed for at least another week. We’re taking you home. You can stay with me and Dad for a while, so we can keep an eye on you.” Mom turned to Rachel. “Rach, will you be staying with us too? I’ll get the spare bedroom ready and…”
Mom ranted on, but I couldn’t hear what she was saying.
There was no way I could go home. The Russians were after me, and I didn’t want to put them in danger.
Hell, if I had my way, they would be in witness protection.
It wasn’t above the bad guys to go after the people you loved.
Look what happened to Liam. And the auction was in a few weeks.
“I’m staying here,” I blurted over my mother, silencing her.
How much did they know about what was going on?
Did Owen tell them about the Bratva? Gods, I hoped not.
Or they would never leave. And I needed them far away and safe.
The FBI needed to get a protection detail on them as soon as possible.
I would beg Director Devereux on my knees if I had to.
“Honey, why would you keep putting yourself in danger like this? And since when do you care for a job of such a violent nature? This is not who you are, Ava. I don’t understand what is happening to you and I don’t know how to help you.
Please, kiddo, we just want our daughter back.
We can’t bear seeing you like this.” Dad’s eyes were teary and desperate as he clasped my hands in his.
My own tears welled, and for a split second, I considered going back. Back to my hometown and my old life. To put the Apparitions behind me and try to live like I had, before I met them—before they had changed everything.
And I understood my father’s desperation.
To them, I must seem crazed. Their once peaceful and steady daughter was running around with the FBI, stabbing mobsters and raging at ghosts who left cuts on her throat.
They knew me to shine bright and warm like the sun, but that part of me was ripped from my chest, and instead of finding it again, I’d chosen to embrace the darkness in me.
And unlike the daughter they knew, I had chosen wrath over forgiveness.
That rebellious resilience in me, urging me to fight, instead of accept.
My chin quivered as I realised—Grayson never broke me. He wasn’t able to. But the hell he unleashed and every agonising step I took after had only forged me. I never lost my glow. It just changed. Now I glowed like a sword, right out the forge.
And I liked the new me better. I was strong and a force to be reckoned with. Instead of waiting on Karma to stand up for me, I stood tall and wielded her wrath myself.
Even after I settled my score with the Apparitions, I couldn’t go back.
I had outgrown that life. It was hard to admit, but being with Grayson had ignited that wild spark in me for excitement and freedom and even danger.
He might have been the one to light it, but that spark hadn’t died when he left me.
It had always been a part of me, lying dormant, waiting on me to recognise it.
And now that I have, it was impossible to put out.
It was true then, at the side of the road beside Grayson’s car, and it was still true now—I wanted more.
More than what my small town had to offer.
I smiled at my father and squeezed his hands. “I know I have changed. And I know it looks scary, Dad, but I like what I’ve become. I’m stronger. I’m smarter. And I’m not afraid anymore.” I chuckled. “Yesterday, I made a grown man scream for his life.”
Dad shook his head, his eyes weary. “But the Ava I knew wouldn’t even let me kill a spider.”
Rachel stepped closer, and sat on the foot of the bed, smiling through her tears. “That Ava was too soft for this world. She was bound to unleash her wicked witch, someday.” She winked at me, and my heart squeezed.
I looked between my mom and dad. “I’m okay, I promise. I like working with the FBI. It’s exciting and thrilling. Me and Owen make a mean team, actually.”
“Yes, we do.” Owen smiled at me from the door, his eyes soft, not caring that my family saw him looking at me like that. My heart skipped a beat. “Just so you know. She still won’t let anyone kill a spider.”
A few hours later, I finally convinced my parents to let me stay. I was glad Owen hadn’t told them about me being on a mob’s hit list, or it would have been impossible. They soon left for their hotel to get some sleep—Rachel barely able to keep her eyes open.
Owen came out the bathroom, steam wafting around him. He squirmed uncomfortably and pulled at his pants. “She brought my most uncomfortable pair of underwear.”
Syntax had been kind enough to bring us some toiletries and a change of clothes.
She knew Owen wouldn’t leave me. He was being overly protective again.
There were two agents outside the room and who knew how many others around the hospital.
It was overkill but appreciated. I wouldn’t be able to fight off another bear of a man in this state.
My family also had a protective detail, unbeknownst to them.
“I’m not sleeping on the chair. We’re sharing the hospital bed,” Owen stated and scooted me over.
I snickered. “Won’t be the first time.” I settled into his arms, sighing out a breath of relief, letting go of the anxiety that had been twisting in my guts.
“I still agree with your parents. Maybe you should go back to Bentley Cove. I can protect you there. It’s a small town—”
“Or you could take a year off,” I interrupted quietly, “and we could sail across the seven seas together. See the world. Disappear into the ocean where it’s just you and me and the sharks. No one would be able to find us.”
Owen smiled down at me, brushing his thumb across my lip. “Ava Beaumont. Are you asking me to run away with you?”
“Yes,” I whispered against his finger. “You and me, O.”
He kissed me, his lips crushing against mine. He moaned into my mouth as his tongue touched mine.
Gods, I wanted him so bad. His hands on my body ignited a fire in my core.
I didn’t care that there were two agents outside the door.
I didn’t care that my head was still throbbing.
I managed to get halfway on top of him, but the damn IV-line in my arm stopped me.
I cursed against his lips, tugging at the little tube.
Owen chuckled and in a smooth motion—much more graceful than I had managed—he flipped us over. He lowered his weight on to me and I gasped at the feel of him between my legs.
Yes. I wanted him so damn bad.
I twisted my fingers in his hair, pulling him even closer to me, savouring the taste of his mouth. He ground his hips into mine, the pressure against my core feeling like ecstasy. I tugged at his pants, but his hand closed around mine.
“Wait, Ava. Slow down. You’re injured,” he said between kisses that trailed down my neck.
I huffed a frustrated breath. “I’ve been waiting. Why are you so hard to get? Don’t you want this?”
“I want you more than anything. You know that. But…”
“No more buts, Agent Becket,” I protested. “You’re going to fuck me in this hospital bed, then tomorrow we’re going to pack our shit, and head to the harbour.”
Owen’s face turned serious. He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, not looking at me. “Our problems won’t magically disappear if we run, Ava.”
My stomach dropped. “It’s a no, then. You don’t want to go away with me.”
“Of course, I do, A. But I can’t leave now. Let’s finish this first. Let’s get the Apparitions behind bars and get the Russians to back off. Then I’ll take you anywhere in the world. But if we start running now, we’re never going to stop.”