Page 116 of Vicious Deception

“I don’t want to see him,” Oliver says flatly.

“I think it would help you.” Rhett hasn’t looked away from him, and his voice is quiet but determined.

“Help?Are you fucking kidding me? Just looking at him would . . .” Shuddering, Oliver turns away.

“He’s not the same,” Rhett says. “He’s broken, O. He can’t even move without crying.”

That gets Oliver to pause, but he still doesn’t look at Rhett.

“I don’t want the most potent memory you have of him to be what he did to you,” Rhett continues. “Replace it with something else.”

Oliver bites his lip while we sit in silence for a second. I’m beginning to wonder if he’ll ever reply when he says, “I’ll think on it, but I’m not making any promises. Anyone else have other plans for today?” He looks to me.

“Ava and I are trying to get together. I’m not sure when—probably later this week. If it’s too soon, I can try to push it back, but she’s pretty worried.”

Elliot shakes his head. “It’s not too soon. But . . . what are you going to tell her?”

“I’m not sure. She deserves as much of an explanation as I can give her, but obviously she can’t know all of it.”

“Do you trust her?” Oliver asks.

“I do. But I can’t tell her you’re hitmen, or that we’ve killed anyone, so . . . I’m kinda at a loss.”

Elliot runs his thumb along his bottom lip as he thinks. “To be honest, it looks like your best bet is to tell her that there’s a lot you simply can’t talk about. It’s for her own protection. Letting her in on what you’ve actually been doing would be incriminating her.”

“You think that’d work?”

“That’s what we told you when we first got together,” Oliver points out. “You went along with it.”

“I did, didn’t I?” I let out a small laugh. “That was a little naive.”

Oliver shrugs. “Or you knew deep down it was the right choice.”

I smile. “Maybe so.”

Rhett serves up the cinnamon rolls, now doused in icing. We all dig in. Just as I’m wondering when the boys will be up, my phone vibrates.

Ava:I’m pretty busy this week, but I’m free this afternoon if that works for you?

Wren:That sounds perfect!

“I’ll go with you,” Oliver volunteers after we pick out where we’re going to meet. “Getting out for a bit sounds nice.”

I smile. It’s their policy—they rarely ever leave home alone. Besides, I don’t really want to be without them. Maybe it’s silly, but I just got them back. I’m not ready to leave them, even if it’s just to visit Ava.

Currently, I think we’re trying to avoid going out much. It’s not fair to Andrew and Benny since they can’t be seen in public. This is an exception, and there probably won’t be many more until they’re back to living with Corinne.

Eventually, the boys come out, and we make a real breakfast while they eat their cinnamon rolls. We keep the conversation light, although I don’t pay close attention. My mind is already on later.

It’s been forever since I’ve last seen Ava. It’s not like I’ve been intentionally avoiding her. We’ve just been so caught up in getting revenge and then saving the guys that literally everything else has fallen to the back burner.

She’ll understand, right?

Guilt winds its way through me. Throughout all of this, Ava has done her best to be there for me. She has no clue what’s going on or why I’ve dropped out of her life, but she’s consistently checked in on me. She even told my mom off for me, for fuck’s sake.

As the guys laugh around me, I make up my mind to change that. I’ve missed Ava, and she deserves better from me. Sure, I’ve been trying to make sure none of us died, but we’re safe now.

As long as Ava can accept my non-explanation, I want to do my best to prioritize our friendship. Now that I’m not working at the coffee shop anymore, we can’t just catch up and talk at work. I’d like to do the same with Aubrey, although it’ll look different, I’m sure.

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