Chapter Twenty-Three

"I'll miss you guys," she said as she held the bag and her trusty sidekick, her phone.

"Are you sure we shouldn't drop you off? Are you sure you'll be fine?" Bella said with Daniel's hands around her waist. She held his left hand.

She wanted them to have some privacy. She felt like she was stopping them from enjoying themselves.

"I'll be fine. You guys just stay safe. Talk things out and fuck. I'll give you some privacy," she said, and Bella's face turned red.

"Ava! Daniel called her name before she faced him and laughed.

"What? I'm stating the facts here. I mean what could you possibly do with a house to yourself?" she said and shrugged.

"I'll smack your face," he said and laughed.

"I love you," she said, and she hugged both of them before entering the car.

She was leaving. She'd probably go back to modeling. She just had three months before her internship was over. Who knew how much her life would change in just three months? Three freaking months. Noah was right. She needed a runway. Not a job in an office.

So much for the 'new rules' mantra she'd chanted. It felt like just yesterday that she'd met Noah in the office. She smiled as she remembered how she'd cussed at him. Everything was still fresh.

She never even saw Ryan again after that day. She shouldn't have let him in her. She should have left him the way he was.

"Ava, you feel bad. Ava, you feel bad," she said to herself. He was her past now. It was going to be hard to forget those green eyes. She sighed deeply before she rested her side on the window.

'I hate the fact that I can't forget you,' those words still haunted her.

She stared at her phone and tried to call him. But she stopped. It wasn't like he cared if she was going back to Vegas. She breathed out heavily.

It wasn't until the driver turned off the car that she noticed they had stopped.

"Ma'am, the road is blocked. We have to go another way," he said as he looked at her through the mirror. She just nodded her head in acknowledgment.

She had a bad feeling in her gut as she approached the airport, but she ignored it. She still went ahead. She bid the driver goodbye, and he left.

She walked in with her luggage and sat down on the benches. Her phone rang loudly.

"Hello?" she answered with a frown.

"Hello, Ava, I need you to come outside," Noah's voice said from the other line, and her heart skipped a beat.

She hadn't expected him to call, so she rushed outside through the second door. She saw his black car in the lot, and she rushed towards it. But it wasn't Noah. They were two men inside. And they didn't look like any of Noah's men. Immediately, she turned around to run away, but two other men barred her way. Before she could run, she felt huge hands cover her nose with a cloth. Then she lost consciousness.

It felt like an eternity in the darkness before she felt cold water pour on her body. She opened her eyes, and she saw feminine legs. She tried to move, but she realized her hands were tied to her legs.

"Even if you tried to escape, you wouldn't be able to leave because of the security that exists in this place, Ava," the very familiar voice said. The person she despised the most in her whole life.

She looked up at the face, and she saw those stony high cheekbones and brown eyes. In her usual high ponytail, she was always mistaken for Gal Gadot, and right now, the similarities were obvious.

"Kendra Wilkinson!" she pronounced her name bitterly.

"Yeah, that's right, baby. I'm back. And there's someone I'd like you to meet. Come in," she said, and he came out into the light.

She felt as if she was going to cry. The person she'd trusted and believed in had stabbed her in the back. She suddenly realized the pain Noah must have felt after he found out.

"Louis," she said almost in a whisper.

"Sweet, Ava. I solemnly apologize for the harm my men caused to you. They almost killed you. If I had known you were the girlfriend, I wouldn't have harmed you. Yet," he said with a grim smile.

"How could you do something like that, Louis?" she said with tears in her eyes. "How could you fucking do that to me, you bastard? Fuck you! I freaking hate you, Louis. I hate you!" she screamed at him. But she felt a strong hit on her face, and the tears that had welled in her eyes finally fell. She felt heartbroken.

"I FREAKING LOVE YOU, AVA. YET YOU WENT BACK TO THAT FOOL!" he yelled, referring to Noah. "Where is your lover now that you need him? You are paying for your betrayal and your brother's sins," he said to her face, and hot, burning tears just flowed down her cheeks.

"My brother has nothing to do with this freaking mess," she warned him.

"Is that what you think, Ava? Do you know who Bella is? She's my frigging sister. She will always listen to him, and she broke our bond, Ava," he yelled at her bitterly. "Be with me, Ava. Noah will do you no good. He will keep on playing with you till he is content. I love you, Ava," he said as she placed his palm on her face and cupped her chin.

"Fuck you, bastard!" she said as she spat at him. She received another hit on her face, and she spat blood.

"I thought I could save you and only use you as bait. But I was wrong. You deserve to die, you bitch," he screamed before he dragged her by the hair. She yelled in pain.

***

He kept trying to unlock her phone, but he kept failing. He tried her name. Her best friend's name. Her brother. But nothing. He'd even tried his own name. The hint said, 'Heartbreak Anniversary by Gideon.' Then it hit him.

He tried the year, and it rejected it but said almost there. Then he put the full date. And it was correct.

He scrolled through her messages, but nothing. Then, he checked the last call she'd received before she went missing and took note of the number.

He called the number on her phone, but it was locked. Then, he realized the call was recording. An idea clicked in his head, and he checked her audio files for a recorded call and opened the last recording.

He played it, and he heard his own voice. "How is this possible?" he said to himself. But his thoughts were not there at the moment.

"Ava is in danger," he said to himself, and he ran back to his car.

Then, he called the number on his phone.

"Where the fuck is Ava, you son of a bitch?" he screamed into the phone as soon as he answered.

"Woah, Noah, you need to take it easy there. She's safe here with me. Ava, dear, speak to your ex," he said before he placed the phone to her lips.

"Don't come here! He will kill you. Please, leave your car, Noah. There is a—" She was cut short with a strong hit to her head, and she screamed in pain.

"Fuck! Ava!" Noah screamed over the phone as he heard her muffled cry.

"This is a fight between the two of us. Why is she there? She doesn't even know Edmund. You have no right to do this. You should know your place," he angrily uttered through his phone.

"What does the mafia know about rights!? You have been breaking rules since you were a kid. What do you know about the law, Noah!? What do you frigging know? You have just an hour to save little miss Ava. It would have made me happy to be with Ava, but she chose you over me."

"Where are you, Louis? Let's solve this man to man. That is, if you're strong enough," Noah threatened him. "I'll leave my location. Find me," he said before he hung up, and Noah threw his phone on the car floor.

He grabbed the phone off the floor and left the car. He then hurried to the hacker lounge downtown.

He placed his phone in front of one of the hackers with $2,000 beside it.

"I need you to track that number," he said, and the kid immediately rushed to type up a search.

"Found," he said after 20 minutes.

"Downtown, close to the fishing ports," he said, content with how fast he replied.

Immediately, he rushed out to the car and headed to meet Ava.

The place was silent as a graveyard, but then he heard heels on the wooden path. It was loud, but then it grew faint.

He entered the house, and he saw Ava tied up. She whimpered from the pain.

Her lavender eyes met his, and she kept shaking her head for him to not come closer. But he ignored her.

"You think it's that easy to forget someone and leave? You betrayed me and picked Ava instead of me. There is a price to pay for that."

She thrust a cucumber in her mouth, and she gagged.

"If you come closer, she will get electrocuted," she said as she held the remote control in her hands.

"Arrrgh," Ava screamed as she pressed the button.

"What do you want, Kendra!?" he screamed as he couldn't watch Ava screaming anymore.

"Break off all ties and then turn yourself in and probably get a life sentence," Louis said with hands in his pockets.

"You fucking bastard," he cussed and tried to charge at him, but Kendra pressed the button and Ava screamed in pain again.

"Please, Noah, I can't take it anymore," she said in a whisper. But Kendra only increased the speed, laughing.

Noah used the opportunity and dragged her by the hair. Then he heard sirens outside. He pulled on her hair and threw her on the floor. He brought out his gun.

He shot at the approaching guards as they caught up to him. But the cops came in, and they started to arrest the guards. By the time this was done, Louis had already carried Ava to another side, Kendra too.

Louis placed a knife on her neck. Without hesitation, Noah brought out his guns and shot his arms. She tried to get away, but he caught her legs and dragged her down.

Then it became a fistfight. In the process, he mistakenly shot Kendra in her lower chest.

She fell on the floor with blood everywhere.

Noah kept hitting Louis with his hands until he couldn't breathe and he collapsed on the floor.

"Next time you try to harm my family, come fully prepared. Because if you don't, I'll kill all the people you love one by one," he said as he held on to his collar. "If you ever touch Ava again, I'll kill you," he said and left to approach Ava. He helped her up and untied her hands. She was weak, but she gave him a hug and cried.

"I'm so glad you came for me, Noah," she said through tears. "Noah, I still—" But she was cut short by her own gasp when she felt a bullet pierce her body.