Chapter 74

Chapter 74
\[AVA\]

“I’m sure she didn’t mean it, Ava,” Miranda tries to say, but she might as well accept that her daughter will never see me as someone to be trusted.

Whatever I’ve done to piss this woman off, one thing is certain—I don’t care anymore. I neither have the time to bother myself with her nonsense nor the mind to focus on anything but my current situation.

“Thanks,” I say to the older woman, and she nods as if she understands everything I’m not saying. “You should check on Sean now. He’ll want someone by his side when he wakes up.”

“You’re right.” She gives me a small hug, opens the door to Sean’s room, and slips inside.

I, on the other hand, pull out my phone and dial Aaron.

He picks up on the second ring. “I don’t think we can do anything here anymore. Sean’s mom is staying with him for the night.”

“Figured as much.”

“So, I was thinking—maybe we should report this threat now. The longer we wait, the worse it could get. We can’t let this slide after everything that’s already happened. Right?”

There’s a pause on the other end, and for a moment, I think Aaron might disagree. But then, he exhales sharply.

“Right. I’m in the parking lot. We can leave whenever you’re ready.”

“Alright. I’m on my way.”

I end the call and head straight for the elevators. While I wait, my phone rings.

I check the caller ID, and relief washes over me.

It’s Brian.

“Hey,” I say as soon as I pick up. “Are you here already?”

“Not yet. But I’ll be there in the next few hours. You’re okay, right?”

The elevator arrives, and I step in, pressing the button for the ground floor. “For now, yeah. I sent Mom and Dad to Aaron’s place uptown. He said they’ll be safe there.”

“Aaron?” I hear the surprise in his voice, and honestly, I’m not shocked. Aaron and I have never exactly seen eye to eye, and Brian knows that better than anyone. “Are you sure you want to trust him with something like this?”

“I know what you’re thinking,” I say, because God knows I had my doubts too. But I trust Sean, and Sean loves Aaron—that’s enough for me. “It’s alright. I trust him. For now. He’s helping me with this.”

“Well, if you trust him, then sure,” he says, though he doesn’t sound fully convinced. “I just want you to take care of yourself. I’ll be there as soon as possible, and I expect to see you in one piece. You hear me?”

“Absolutely clear.”

“Also, you have keys to my place, right?”

“Yes, I do. Why?”

“I want you to stay there until all of this calms down.”

“Brian…”

“You can’t ‘Brian’ your way out of this, Ava. I mean it. There’s nothing more important than you right now. Once I’m there, I’ll handle the situation. In fact, I already have one of my friends looking into this.”

“You did?” I step out of the elevator as the doors slide open on the ground floor. “Who?”

“A cop. Mathias Marchand. He’s a captain and promised to put his best detectives on it.”

I’m not even surprised by the kind of reach this man has. I shake my head. “Well, that’s good to hear. Because Aaron and I were on our way to report the threats. We thought it was time.”

Brian exhales sharply, clearly frustrated. “I wish I wasn’t this far away to begin with. If I were there, this would have never happened.”

“You can’t say that, Brian.” I try to soften the situation, but let’s be honest—I can’t. “Whoever is behind this would have come after me anyway. I don’t know who they are or what they want, but I sure as hell know that things wouldn’t have been any different if you were here.”

“You don’t know that, Ava. It happened when I was gone. Someone was making sure I wasn’t there to handle this. Trust me.”

I don’t know if it’s Brian’s paranoia talking or his sharp instincts, but I can’t deny the truth in his words. The threats started coming in right after he left for the trek. As if someone had been waiting for me to be alone—helpless.

A shiver crawls down my spine just thinking about it, but I shake it off. Now’s not the time to let fear sink in.

“We’ll figure it out,” I say, more to myself than to him. “I just need you to get back to me as soon as you can.”

“I’m already on my way.” His voice is firm, but there’s something else beneath it—something raw. Guilt, maybe. Anger. “Until then, I need you to promise me you won’t do anything reckless.”

I press my lips together. “Define reckless.”

“Ava.”

“Fine,” I sigh, pushing open the glass doors and stepping into the night. The city hums around me—cars passing, neon lights flickering, people lost in their own little worlds. But none of it feels real right now. “I’ll be careful.”

“You’d better be,” he mutters. “Because if anything happens to you—”

“It won’t.” I cut him off before he can finish. “Just hurry back, okay?”

A pause. Then, “Okay.”

The line goes dead.

I find Aaron exactly where he said he would be.

He’s leaning against his car, white smoke curling from his lips.

“So, turns out we don’t have to report it for now,” I say. “Brian called—he already talked to one of his cop friends, and they’re looking into it.”

Aaron nods, taking another slow drag of his cigarette. “Sounds good. So, what now?”

I step beside him, leaning against the car, my gaze drifting upward. The stars are barely visible tonight.

“He told me to wait for him at his place. Think you can drop me off?”

“Sure.”

“So, did your FBI friend find anything? You said they were checking the CCTV feeds.”

“Yeah, he called. They caught the bike, but it didn’t have a license plate. And the guys on it? They were wearing masks. So, basically, we’re still fucking clueless.”

That pisses me off. Someone went out of their way to make sure they weren’t caught. Which means this wasn’t just a random attack—it was planned. And not by just one person.

They’re after me.

So what the hell did I do to get their attention?