“For now.” I answer as honestly as possible. All eyes dart to Ava as she takes a ragged breath in. When she notices how much attention she brought on herself, she cowers in her seat and looks to me with a sad expression. Her lips part, but I quickly shake my head, stopping her. I don’t want to hear her say she’s sorry. She’s said it too much already.
I brush my thumb along the back of her hand. “It’s alright, Ava.” I try to reassure her quietly before turning back to Vince. “The circumstances are different today than they will be in the future. I just need to get a handle on how you run this operation.” The questioning look on his face vanishes and is replaced with a hard, no-fucking-nonsense look. His gives a nod and rises from his seat. I do the same and Ava quickly follows suit. Her other hand covers the back of mine and she walks closer to be by my side.
She’s scared and obviously unwell. I would give anything to ease her pain. I wish I could say she was mine and that I was taking her away from this shit. But I can’t. And I won’t lie to her.
“I have a shipment coming in any time now. We’ll wait outside.” He walks around the front of the desk and meets my eyes, before walking toward the doors. “I’m not sure what all could possibly be different on our front that Abram would need to know. But I’ll let you have a look.” I give him a tight nod as my muscles coil.
He’s right. It’s a simple operation. I don’t know what Abram has planned, but I can’t imagine there’s anything the Valettis do that would be a surprise to him.
I walk behind him with Ava gripping onto my hand like she’s afraid I’ll let go. I won’t. I pull her closer to me and just barely resist the urge to kiss the temple of her forehead.
Abram already knows everything except simple numbers. He must want something else.
I hadn’t thought of it before, but now that the realization has hit me, I don’t fucking like it.
Kane
I watch as the last forklift moves across the ramp with the container secured. I’ve seen this shit a million times. The waves crash against the dock and beyond that it’s relatively quiet. A few men are shouting in the distance. Vince is quiet next to me with his hands shoved into his pockets. Ava is somewhat settled in a folding chair a few yards from us. It took her a while to feel comfortable after the shit that happened in the office, but she seems to be okay now. Although, her eyes have lost the bit of vibrancy I saw this morning, and a small frown mars her beautiful face. I wish I could take her unhappiness away.
“She’s fine, Kane.” Vince’s words distract me from my thoughts and I turn to face him. “She’s not gonna fucking dive in.”
My face contorts with anger, and I have to bite my tongue.
“What? Is that not what you were thinking?” He huffs a humorless laugh and looks over the bay. “I’d fucking jump before I’d go back to that fucker.” My heart stops beating and my throat closes. It’s so fucked up, but it’s true. She’s such a sweetheart, such a good girl, and the fate she has is such fucking shit. It’s a nightmare.
I feel tears pricking at the backs of my eyes thinking about the hell she’s been through. It’s not fucking right. My jaw tics as I stare off into the distance and watch the waves form and crash along the beach. I want to save her from that shit. But I don’t want us both to wind up dead.
I open my mouth, ready to tell Vince what a fucked up position I’m in. I might as well. Maybe I’ll die for it, but something about him makes me think I can trust him, even if I don’t fucking like him. The sound of fast-paced, heavy footsteps coming closer makes me turn away from Vince and toward the men walking toward us.
I practically growl in anger when I see that bastard Felipe stalking toward us with his gaze firmly locked on to my good girl. That fucker shouldn’t even be allowed to look at her. I clench my teeth tighter to stop myself from saying shit that’ll get me killed. I have to remind myself that I’m on my own, and I’m the only thing standing between all these fucking pricks and Ava. I can’t do something stupid.
“You got this one, or is it on me?” Vince asks, with a touch of humor in his voice. If I was in a better position I’d find it funny, but I don’t.
“What the fuck is she doing here?” Felipe yells out loud enough so Ava can hear as he stomps closer to us and it pisses me off.
I don’t like that he knew where I was. My eyes drift to Ava. He was tracking her with that fucking GPS chip in her arm. My jaw clenches and my hands ball up into fists.
Like he fucking owns her. She’s mine.