“Ava, come on in.” His eyes soften some as she smiles up at him.
“Thank you, Dom,” she says in a soft, sweet voice. I place my hand on the small of her back and lead her in front of me. Dom’s eyes harden and narrow as he watches me. I know he’s wondering what the fuck is going on. Quite frankly I’m wondering, too. There’s something between us. Given the situation, it wouldn’t be right of me to say she’s my girl. But that’s exactly how I feel. She’s mine.
We walk in relative silence through a large foyer and down a hall to an office. The first thing I do is count how many men are in the room as Dom shuts the door behind us.
All eyes are on me when I walk in. Dom’s behind me. Vince is at the desk. I recognize Tommy to the right, leaning against the wall, and I assume the older man in the chair to my left is Mr. Dante Valetti, the former Don, and Dom and Vince’s father. I give them each a nod in greeting.
“Mr. Valetti,” I say, extending my hand to Dante.
His brows raise and he shakes my hand firmly. “Kane. It’s nice to have you here. I’m sorry for your loss.”
My chest tightens with pain. I respond with a small, “Thank you.” I walk Ava over to the chair and settle her in the seat. They’re the only two, but I don’t mind standing.
“You want Ava to stay?” Dante asks. Before I respond, he addresses Ava directly. “No disrespect, Miss Ivanov. We usually try to keep women away from business matters.” It gives me pride that they’re talking to her, but she goes still at the question, and looks to me rather than answering.
“She’s involved to an extent that I feel she deserves to know everything.” I gently place my hand on her shoulder. I look down at her as I add, “But only if you want to, Ava.” I should’ve asked. I feel like an asshole for assuming she’d want to know. Shit. I need to stop doing that.
She turns her eyes to Dante and answers, “I’d like to stay, if that’s alright.” She looks so small and vulnerable sitting beneath me.
“Let me grab another chair,” Dom says, as he opens the door behind us.
“If that’s what you want, that’s fine with me,” Vince says, exchanging a look with his father and then giving Ava a sad smile. “I’m sorry you’re in this situation, Ava.”
He looks at me and starts to speak, but the noise of the door opening and Dom carrying in another chair stops him. I’m quick to take it, but it makes me feel weak. Both hands are on the chair, and I’m in a room with four men who could kill me at any time. I quickly set it down to the right of Ava and take a seat. My heart beats heavy and fast in my chest.
I clear my throat a bit and take a deep breath. “Vince, I need to know where your head’s at.”
His eyes search mine as he places his elbows on the table and forms a steeple with his fingers. His chin rests on his hands and he deliberately looks at Ava’s collar. My fists clench, but I give him a moment to fucking say whatever’s on his fucking mind.
“I think I’d like to know where your head is first, Kane.”
“Fair enough.” I push out the words and lean forward in my seat. “I told you I won’t be the go-between for you and Abram. I told you before I don’t handle this sort of business.”
“What is that you did for the Armenos?” he asks, interrupting my train of thought.
“I was in charge of...” I trail off, and look to my left at Ava before answering. I don’t want her to know. I don’t need her to know this shit. I don’t want her to look down on me either, so I choose my words carefully. “I did the collecting mostly. Occasionally I had to help with assisting people with their memories.” I fucked people up when they didn’t pay, and when they didn’t talk. That’s the truth.
A corner of Vince’s lips kicks up into an asymmetric smirk. His eyes dart to Ava and then back to me. “You sure you want her here for all of this?” he asks.
“No.” I settle back in my seat and run a hand down my face. “But she said she wants to stay, so I kinda fucked myself over there, huh?”
The men in the room laugh but Ava looks at me nervously and sets her small hand down on my forearm. She lowers her voice and leans in to talk to me, “I don’t have to.”
I lean over the chair and give her a quick kiss. I know she likes it when I do that. “Stay right where you are. I want you to know what’s going on.”
“I’d like to know, too,” Vince says, as I turn back to him and take Ava’s hand in mine.
I give her hand a squeeze and get to the point. “Abram wants a meeting tomorrow.”