Page 35 of Call It What You Want
“I remember her,” he adds. “You talked about her often. The girl. The estate manager’s daughter. Ava. Wasn’t that her name?”
My muscles tighten. “Don’t.”
“I warned you, Jackson. She’s not one of us. I told you she’d drag you down.”
“She didn’t drag me anywhere.”
“No?” He tilts his head, like he knows more than he’s saying. “Then why are you so desperate to keep her name out of this?”
I take a step toward him, my pulse pounding. “Because I know, if given the chance, you’ll use her.”
“Obviously,” he says, like it’s the most reasonable thing in the world. “She was there that morning. We can make her presenceuseful.Redirect the FBI. Protect you, and by extension, the Crown.”
“You mean sacrifice her.”
He doesn’t even flinch. “You can’t save everyone. The organization survives on strategy, not sentiment. If you’re willing to give an official statement implicating the girl, the council will make this disappear. Clean. Efficient.”
“Fuck. You.”
“Son.” His mask slips, revealing the machinery beneath the calm. “The girl has no power, no family name, no influence. The Burning Crown owes her nothing. She’s expendable. That’s what you need to understand.”
“She’s not your fucking solution.”
“She’s beneath you,” he says, voice hardening. “Always has been. She’s the help, Jackson. Don’t rewrite history. You could have had anyone, and you chose a girl who could never understand what you are.”
I take a menacing step closer. “She’s the only person who’s ever made me feel human.”
“Being human is overrated.” For a heartbeat, the words hang between us. Then he exhales, slow, disappointed. He walks back to his desk, the conversation already over for him. “Think about my offer. If you want this cleaned up, I’ll need a statement. The council meets again in a week. After that, the window closes.”
I turn and walk out without another word.
Outside, the night air hits like a slap, cold wind cutting through my T-shirt. My pulse pounds in my throat. He’ll never see Ava as anything more than dirt on the soles of my shoes. But she’s the reason I’m still breathing.
As I pull out of the driveway, the portraits of McKnight men watch from the windows—centuries of men who traded their humanity for power.
Power first. Humanity last.
Fuck that.
He thinks I’ll bend, that I’ll let him decide who’s worth saving. But there’s more than one way to make someone untouchable.
And by tomorrow, no one will ever question who Ava belongs to again.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Ava
Gradually, I drift back to consciousness, with no sense of time passing. My head feels thick, and there’s a wet patch on the pillow. Perfect. I’ve been drooling. I wipe my chin with the back of my hand, grimacing at the sheer amount of saliva. I only drool like this when I’mreallyout.
Slowly, I push myself up. It’s gotten dark. Moonlight seeps through a crack in the curtains, casting a thin silver glow across the floor. My body feels heavy, sluggish, but I feel more human now. That long nap was exactly what I needed.
My stomach growls, a reminder that I haven’t eaten since breakfast. I swing my legs off the bed with one goal in mind—get something to eat.
The rug is soft under my bare feet as I walk to the bedroom door, unlock it, and wander down the staircase to the kitchen. I’ve just hit the bottom landing when someone calls my name.
“Oh, hey, Ava!”
The voice cuts through the kitchen noise, and I pause, glancing around for who just called out to me. A girl rises from the breakfast nook and comes to stand at the bottom of thestairs, looking up at me expectantly. She has long, light brown hair and a pretty smile. She’s wearing a thick, navy blue robe, clasped at her throat by a crown pin. “Oh, hey, I was just about to come up and grab you. I’m Lindsay. Jackson asked me to get you ready for the ceremony.”
