Page 71 of A Heart So Savage

Ava screamed again when he shoved her into the limo. He quickly slid in behind her, blocking the open door with his body before slamming it shut.

“I want you to follow my orders, Ava,” he bit out.

“Oh my God. Kingston! You’re bleeding!” Ava said in a voice strangled by terror. She pressed an open palm against the wound to stem the copious bleeding while with her other hand, she snatched napkins from the limo’s bar. But when she tried tending to him, Kingston gripped her hands.

“It’s minor, Ava.” He squeezed her hands until she gasped in pain. “Listen to me now. You’ll be taken to my building by my security team. They will escort you inside through a private entrance. Only certain people are authorized to bypass the fingerprint security and access the penthouse. They are people I trust, and now that includes you. The code to lock and unlock the doors is zero, nine, two, two.”

Ava’s stared at him, dazed. “You’re bleeding.”

“Ava!” Kingston barked. “That doesn’t matter right now. Do you understand what I just told you? About the code? Repeat it back to me.”

“Zero. Nine. Two. Two.” Ava’s gaze dropped to where he held her hands, their fingers now bloodstained. “I don’t understand. The numbers. They are the same as my birthdate.”

“That’s always been the code, Ava. Just like you’ve always been mine.” Kingston released her hands only to lift her chin using his index and middle finger. He stared intently into her eyes. “I told you there are no coincidences. Not in my world, anyway.”

“Who just shot at us?” Someone wanted them dead. Someone had just tried assassinating them both.

“I don’t know for certain.” Kingston’s jaw clenched. “Several times today, I felt we were being followed. It could have been paparazzi or something more sinister—I wasn’t sure until this.”

Ava shook her head. “Who would do this?”

“Someone attempting to steal what matters more to me than anything else in this world.” He leaned forward, staring into her eyes. “I wanted to tell you this at the right time, but it can’t be helped now. My hackers uncovered the evidence proving Carson murdered your parents. And Judd Vanderhoff, along with his father, helped him. They’ve all been blackmailed by Carson using the video of your assault. Your brother still intends to sell you to pay his many debts. And Ava, you would not survive the buyers he has lined up. Your broken body would be found much later, allowing him to eventually claim your inheritance.”

Fear spread like icy spiderwebs through Ava’s vein as she listened. Carson was responsible for her parents’ deaths.

Carson.

Her greedy, murderous brother.

“But why kill me now?” Ava was numb. She couldn’t make sense of the past few moments. The information Kingston revealed had the effect of a bomb landing on her.

“You aren’t the one he wants dead. I’m pretty sure both of those bullets were meant for me. Once I’m out of the way, there is no obstacle to Carson carrying out his plan.” Kingston pressed a hard, quick kiss to her mouth. “You must go now, Ava. My men will keep you safe until I return.”

Ava’s heart thumped hard and fast inside her chest as an awful suspicion reared its head. “You knew he killed my parents. You knew last night, and you didn’t tell me.”

“I don’t have time to explain everything right now but I’m trying to take care of you. You must trust me. Can you do that? Can you trust me, Ava? To keep you safe?”

Ava could not answer his question. Not when it felt like the world was crumbling away beneath her. “When did you know?” The insinuation hung in the air, poisoning it. Did Kingston know when he made her fall apart for him in a crowded restaurant? Did he watch the video and decide to one-up her brother? Or had he simply used her with the belief she enjoyed everything those men did to her that awful, stormy night?

Nausea saturated her body when she realized Kingston likely watched the video. Maybe it turned him on to see her held down and forced to submit. After all, he freely admitted to doing such things and gaining pleasure from it. The things he did to her was proof of that.

Images flashed in her mind’s eye like a slow-moving photo reel. Her chained to the dungeon wall, locked in that cell. Anchored over Kingston’s lap and spanked until she couldn’t think straight. Crawling to him on her hands and knees. That chase through the woods and how he laughed at her struggles when he bound her hands with zip-ties.

And how could she forget the belt around her throat? The way he groaned with pleasure as she choked on his cock while his men listened and lusted.

Hot tears of shame stung Ava’s eyes. Because while she hated her brother and his friends for what they’d done, she couldn’t say the same about Kingston. She obeyed his twisted command and followed his rules because she needed it. Even if she despised the overwhelming desire to fall further into this man’s grasp, she would let herself sink. She would believe him. Let him take care of her. Give him the power that somehow, irrationally, made her stronger.

“It wasn’t until you fell asleep that I got the call from Paulie.” Kingston’s hand curved around Ava’s jaw, smearing it with blood. “I can’t say anything more right now. Just do what I tell you, Ava. For fuck’s sake, we can argue over this and anything else you want later.”

“Just a few minutes ago, you promised to take care of me. Do you remember saying that? Come with me now, Kingston. Take care of me.” Her challenge was brash and heated despite the frozen bite of fear chilling her bones. She hoped she was making the right choice. “Come with me and let me take care of you.”

Kingston’s face softened. “I won’t apologize for this, Ava, or even be sorry for disappointing you. Keeping you safe takes priority over what you want. Now, I’m going to go take care of business and you are going to the penthouse. End of discussion.”

“But your wound. You need medical attention. We should be headed for the hospital instead of hunting down whoever shot at us.”

“I don’t have time to blister your ass for ignoring my order,” Kingston said, moving to exit the limo, even as Ava grabbed hold of the corner of his suit coat to prevent his leaving. “But later, you can be sure I will do just that.”

ChapterTwenty-Eight

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