Page 34 of Revenge

I slammed the palm of my hand on the surface of my desk, “What thefuckNic, youknowwhat inappropriate means!”

The grooves on his forehead at my outburst deepened. I rarely lost my shit with him.

Nico shrugged lazily, “Not that I remember. Why?”

And that was the million-dollar question, right there. Not why in the context Nico meant but why did I care?

Because you're now doubting yourself that Ava was lying about your father being a gross predator who preys on little girls.

Little girls? There wasnothinglittle about Ava now; she wasexactlywhat I had called her, a beautiful woman. When I’d first seen the images of her last year when Cillian had found her in Milan, I’d thought I was hallucinating. It had been a week before her nineteenth birthday. She’d looked so grown up, nothing like the child or reckless teenager I had known. I had intended to surprise her on her birthday but she’d disappeared again. She was still in Milan but on the opposite side of the city. It had taken several more months to track her to her new apartment (where Hamish had lost her again) before finally finding her living in Quinn’s apartment.

As she had appeared at dinner, I realised she looked even more grown up, fucking stunning. And of course, she would do, she would be twenty soon.

I’d be lying if I said my body hadn’t taken note of that. Masculine enthusiasm wasn’t foreign to me; I enjoyed women, usually regularly but I had never seen Ava like that, until now. Something had shifted and I knew she’d noticed that too. I wondered if it was automatic, due to my plan for her. That plan was to take Ava Cawthorne as my wife.

I thought back to those early days.

As Ava had said at dinner, before they got together my father had known Ava’s mother Susannah for several years. She had been the new wife of an associate of his, Alasdair Wilkinson, a man who was loosely part of our organisation.

I remember the day Suki married Alasdair as I had been pressured into attending their high society wedding. I hadn’t belonged there; it had been a tiresome and nauseating event—until her.

Boo. That little girl who had hidden herself from a group of bullies, her tights ripped and her knees skimmed. I remembered how they’d called her trash. Little monsters in the making, hoping to one day follow in their parent's footsteps.

Ihatedpeople who preyed on the weak.

The only men I had taken out during my career in the mafia had it coming. They were criminals, bad men. I hadneverkilled an innocent man in cold blood and never would. It was against my code. I’d tortured a few but when the truth was out I more than made up for any wrongdoings. Collateral damage went with the territory, unfortunately.

Leaning back in my chair, I pulled the folder towards me and lifted it, allowing the contents to spill onto the desk.

The file was on Quinn and all his known associates. From the looks of things he was loosely connected to one of the London Gangs but he’d been inactive for years.

Nico’s chair creaked and I slowly shook my head as he went to light up again. His calmness was a blatant contrast to the silent storm brewing inside of me.

“Google this address, will you?” I requested, shoving a bit of paper towards him with my finger.

My second rolled his eyes, shoved his pack of smokes back into his pocket and withdrew his phone.

“Who’s is it?”

“It’s the place Quinn used to live when he was younger but there are little to no details about his parents in there.” We’d been batting the file backwards and forwards for the last hour.

Shifting my gaze back towards the documents and photographs, I looked closely at the picture of Quinn as a child. He was dressed in a suit with an expression that suggested he hated being trussed up.

I used to be the same and memories of the day I first met Ava, came flashing back. I too had been trussed up that day, suited and booted to fuck.

At the wedding, I hadn’t realised Boo, aka little Ava was the bride’s daughter. Suki had been a woman who was far too touchy-feely with my father, considering she’d promised herself to another man only hours before. I should have expected what happened to pan out when they eventually got together years later.

It had only taken a few months after that wedding before a full-blown affair started between Gerard and Suki behind Wilkinson’s back. And all that time she had been the mother of Boo, aka Ava.

Ava Cawthorne.

During his affair with Suki, things had become a shit show with my father’s organisation. Due to being wrapped up in the shenanigans of hiding their relationship, my father took his finger off the pulse and some of our business went bad. Coincidently, Alasdair Wilkinson went missing allowing my Da to go public about his feelings for Suki. Gerard eventually moved Susannah and her daughter into the family estate whilst vehemently denying he had anything to do with her husband's disappearance.

It was only when I came back to London to help my father clear up his fuck ups that I met Ava again at thirteen. I was twenty-one and in the process of setting up my own business; Titan Events and Promotions.

I knew she was the little girl I had met at that wedding but I never reminded her of that day and she didn’t appear to recognise me.

At thirteen, Ava had been an awkward, skinny, shy girl who followed me around like a fucking puppy. I’d humoured her at first, feeling sorry for her but by doing so I’d given her mixed messages. I wasn’t the hero; I was a villain through and through. I was also in the process of trying to launch my own legitimate business. Distractions of any kind had not been welcome. I had never been one to play well with others but with Ava, we’d just clicked.

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