Page 33 of Revenge

“Goodnight, Ava. I’ll see you tomorrow when I get home from work. I don’t need to tell you what will happen if you try and run.”

“I won’t run, at least not tonight.”

“Good. Do you want Dr Farmer to drop by your room to check your bandage?”

“No, thank you. It feels fine. Maybe tomorrow,” I suggested.

“As you wish.”

As I watched Kai walking away with determined steps I realised the true meaning of the phrase pipe dreams.

The void between Kai and me was now evenbiggerand I couldn’t understand why that made me miserable considering everything we had done to each other.

I was so weary of it all. The mafia had been systematically inserting itself into every part of my life for years and I just wanted out.

As I went up to the room I had been forced to occupy, I knew I couldn’t allow Kai to get under my skin again.

If I did, my struggle for freedom and independence from that life would be over for good.

Five

Kai

“Would you say I’m a dictating tyrant?” I asked my friend and second-in-command, Nico.

He smirked, raising his eyes from his phone, before shrugging, “Not to your face.”

Nico could be such a dick. Rolling my eyes, I moved on.

“Did you ever see my father act—inappropriately around Ava?”

At last, I had said it,purposefullyforced that unpalatable wheel into motion. After Ava’s comments at dinner, I now couldn’t let that shit lie. And that was the crux of the matter,rightthere. What if it wasn’t shit?

It was quiet in my study apart from the faint ticking of the grandfather clock in the corner of the room. I was a collector and owned various models, both traditional and modern. The noises they made were calming to me. And Ineededcalm at that moment.

The collar of my shirt suddenly felt too tight even though I’d lost the tie and had undone several buttons. The material had started chafing my neck during dinner. In my youth, Ihatedformal dress and now tailored suits were my signature look. I partly blamed Ava for strutting into the dining room in her jeans and tiny top. She’d made me feel like a stuffy old motherfucker.

I’d removed my jacket and started to fiddle with my cuffs as I waited for Nico to look up from the document he was reading.

Today shithead!

My office was at the back of the house, overlooking the gardens. The windows were bulletproof and I considered the space my sanctuary.

When I arrived, Nico was already perched in front of my desk. The faint scent of cigarettes revealed that my second had been smoking in my office, something I found aggravating. I hated the smell of nicotine after spending so many months surrounded by it during my time in the States.

After receiving Nico’s text to report that they’d located Quinn, I left the dining room immediately. Ava and I still had things to discuss but she looked tired and I knew it would be better to leave it until another day. Give her space and time to settle, before I explained what was expected of her.

“Nico, did you hear what I said?” I grunted, snapping closed my laptop and blasting him with my disdain. I didn’t like to be kept waiting.

Rolling my sleeves up, I glared at him across the desk.

My second seemed to takeforeverto answer as that wave of annoyance continued to roll across my bones. I was used to people jumping to it when I spoke.

Nico lowered the file he clutched and peered at me over the top; his expression quizzical. He took a beat longer to digest my question before saying, “What do you mean?”

Shoving my elbows on the desk, I glared across at him, “Did I fucking stutter?”

Nico sighed and placed the folder down before leaning back in his seat, “Define inappropriate,” he replied with a wave of one hand.

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