Chapter 45 THE STAND OFF
Ava's POV
There was a gun in Marcus's hand and I couldn't make my brain process what I was seeing.
"Marcus what are you doing," Dominic said and his voice was steady but I could see his body tensing ready to move.
"I'm sorry," Marcus replied and he actually looked sorry which somehow made it worse, "I didn't want it to come to this but you forced my hand by getting Robert arrested."
"So it's true," I said even though I'd already known, "you've been working against us this whole time."
"Not against you Ava, I actually care about you which is why this is so hard," he gestured with the gun toward the chairs around the conference table, "sit down, all of you, we need to talk and I need to know you're not going to do anything stupid."
We sat slowly and Isabella's hand found mine under the table squeezing tight.
"How long," Dominic asked quietly as he lowered himself into a chair, "how long have you been planning to take my company."
"Three years," Marcus admitted and he sat across from us but kept the gun pointed in our direction, "ever since you promoted Victoria over me even though I'd been here longer and worked harder."
"So this is about a promotion from three years ago."
"It's about respect, I built this company with you from nothing and you treated me like I was replaceable," his voice was rising now getting more agitated, "you brought in people like Victoria and Isabella and gave them power that should have been mine."
I watched him carefully trying to figure out if there was a way to get that gun away from him and the conference room door was maybe fifteen feet behind us but we'd never make it before he could shoot.
"And Ava," Dominic said, "where does she fit into your plan."
"She doesn't, she was just collateral damage," Marcus looked at me and something in his expression softened, "I really did have feelings for you on that beach, that part was real."
"But you still let someone film us," I said.
"That wasn't supposed to happen, Robert got overeager and sent his guy to follow you without telling me first."
"So you've been working with Robert this whole time."
"He approached me about a year ago after I'd already started gathering information on Dominic, he offered to help in exchange for a cut of the company once I took over."
The pieces were clicking together in my head now about all the times Marcus had been in the right place at the right time to overhear conversations or see things he shouldn't have.
"The night at the club when we met," I said slowly, "you were already working with Robert then weren't you."
"I was supposed to get close to you and find out what Dominic was planning but then I actually started to like you and it complicated everything," he ran his free hand through his hair looking genuinely distressed, "I never wanted to hurt you Ava."
"But you did hurt me, you used me and you filmed me and you let that video get released to the whole world," my voice was shaking with anger now, "don't sit there and tell me you care when everything you did was a lie."
"Not everything," he insisted.
"Enough," Dominic cut in and his voice had that dangerous edge again, "what's your endgame here Marcus, you're holding us at gunpoint in my building, how exactly do you think this ends."
"You're going to sign over your shares of Hayes International to me right now," Marcus pulled out a folder from under the table and slid it across, "I had the paperwork drawn up this morning, once you sign I'll have majority control and you can walk away."
"And if I refuse."
"Then I shoot Ava."
The gun swung toward me and my whole body went cold as I stared down the barrel.
"Don't," Dominic said quickly standing up, "don't point that at her, I'll sign whatever you want just put the gun down."
"Sit back down and I'll think about it," Marcus ordered.
Dominic sat slowly and I could see him calculating angles trying to figure out if he could reach Marcus before a shot went off.
"You won't get away with this," Isabella said speaking for the first time since we'd sat down, "there are cameras in this building, security will see what you're doing."
"I disabled the cameras on this floor an hour ago," Marcus replied, "no one knows we're here and no one's coming to help."
My phone was in my pocket and I thought about trying to text someone but Marcus must have seen me thinking it because he shook his head.
"Phones on the table, all of you, slide them over here slowly."
We complied and he collected them then threw them hard against the wall where they shattered.
"Now sign the papers Dominic," he pushed the folder closer.
"I need to read them first."
"You don't have time to read, you have about thirty seconds before I start getting impatient and when I'm impatient I make mistakes with guns."
Dominic pulled the folder toward him and I watched his eyes scan the document quickly.
"This gives you everything," he said, "the company, the assets, even my personal accounts."
"I'm being thorough."
"You're being greedy."
"Sign it."
The room went silent except for the sound of traffic from the street below and I realized we were forty floors up and even if someone screamed no one would hear us.
Dominic picked up the pen that Marcus had left with the folder and I watched him hesitate with the tip hovering over the signature line.
"If I sign this you let them go," he said, "Ava and Isabella walk out of here safely and you never contact them again."
"Deal."
"I want your word."
"You have it."
Dominic signed and the scratch of pen on paper felt like the end of something.
Marcus took the folder back and looked at the signature then smiled.
"Pleasure doing business with you," he said and stood up keeping the gun trained on us, "now we wait thirty minutes for the paperwork to process and then you're all free to go."
"Thirty minutes," I repeated.
"I need to make sure the transfer goes through before I let you leave, can't have you running to the authorities before everything's official."
We sat there in horrible silence and I kept looking at the door wondering if anyone would come looking for us but the executive floor was mostly empty on weekends.
"Can I ask you something," I said to Marcus after maybe ten minutes had passed.
"Sure."
"The person who's been sending me threatening texts since Robert got arrested, that's you isn't it."
"Smart girl," he said, "I needed to make sure you stayed scared enough to not dig too deep into who Robert was working with."
"And my mom, the photo of her at the hospital, was that a threat."
"That was motivation, I needed you to understand that I could get to anyone you care about if you didn't cooperate."
Rage burned through me hotter than the fear and I stood up before I could stop myself.
"You used my mom to manipulate me," I said and my hands were clenched into fists.
"Sit down Ava," Marcus warned raising the gun higher.
"No, I'm done sitting here listening to you justify what you've done," I took a step toward him, "you're a coward and a liar and you don't deserve anything you're trying to steal."
"I said sit down!"
"Make me."
Everything happened fast then and I saw Dominic move at the same time I did both of us lunging toward Marcus from different angles and the gun went off with a crack that made my ears ring.
I hit the floor hard and felt pain explode in my shoulder and when I looked down there was blood spreading across my white shirt.
"Ava!" Dominic's voice sounded far away like I was underwater.
I tried to respond but the room was spinning and the edges of my vision were going dark and the last thing I saw before everything went black was Marcus standing over me with the gun still in his hand looking horrified at what he'd done.
When I opened my eyes again I was on the floor and Isabella was pressing something against my shoulder and crying.
"Stay with us," she was saying over and over, "please stay with us."
I tried to sit up but the pain was too much and I fell back down.
"Don't move," Dominic said and he was on his phone talking fast, "we need an ambulance at Hayes International, fortieth floor conference room, gunshot wound to the shoulder, she's losing a lot of blood."
"Where's Marcus," I managed to ask.
"Gone, he ran as soon as he realized what he'd done," Dominic knelt next to me and his hands were shaking as he helped Isabella apply pressure to stop the bleeding, "but we'll find him, I promise we'll find him."
"Hurts," I whispered.
"I know baby, I know, just hold on, help is coming."
I could hear sirens now getting closer and footsteps running down the hallway and then paramedics were flooding into the room pushing everyone aside.
They loaded me onto a stretcher and I grabbed Dominic's hand as they wheeled me toward the elevator.
"Don't leave me," I said.
"Never," he promised.
At the hospital everything was chaos and noise and bright lights and doctors asking me questions I couldn't focus enough to answer and then they were wheeling me into surgery and giving me something that made the world go soft and quiet.
The last thing I heard before the anesthesia took me under was a nurse saying "we found something else, she's pregnant.”