Ava's Revenge: (Salvation Series Book 2)

by Jaime Whitley

  “Killian--” I’m at a loss for words right now and I don’t even know what to say to him.

  “That’s not even the worst part. My uncle came here one day to give his condolences. He sat with me for an hour, saying if I needed anything to call him. I insisted I would be okay and that I was even entertaining the thought of moving out of state. It wasn’t until then he had said it’s a real shame that this happened and it would be a shame if something similar happened to my mother. It was in that moment of clarity I knew this wasn’t an accident, but a punishment for me leaving the ‘family business.’ Sal had people run my fiancée, the mother of my child, off the road in hopes that I would come back and work for him and since that didn’t work, he had admitted his guilt without a care and threatened the same fate to my mother.”

  “So that’s why you went back.”

  “I had no choice. He already took away one person I loved, he wouldn’t even give it a second thought to off my mother.”

  “Killian, this isn’t right.”

  “You think I don’t know that?!” His anger seeps through his voice, growing louder with each word. “Do you honestly think I enjoy spending time with the same man who did this?” He points to Aria. “He took everything I wanted away from me! Being a husband, being a father, and living an honest life! I will not let him take my mother from me too! Damn it!” He runs his hands through his hair pulling at the ends of it. Not meaning to, I pissed him off. I decided to let this one go for now.

  “How often do you come here?” I ask lowly, hoping a soothing voice helps calm him a little.

  “Every day.”

  “And the scans? What did they show?”

  “There is no brain activity.” Placing my hand over my aching heart, I realize that he’s holding onto someone who isn’t here.

  “I don’t know what else to say but I’m sorry. But don’t you think keeping her on the machine and seeing her here, like this, every day is keeping you from moving on?”

  “No, it’s a constant reminder of why I can’t live the life I want.”

  I don’t really know what else to say so I go with the truth. “I’m pregnant.”

  Killian begins laughing so hard, he has tears coming out of his eyes. “Ava, your bluntness is so welcoming to me.” I join in on his laugh. He hugs me. “See Aria, I told you.” I smack his chest while shaking my head. “Come on, I’ll take you for some food and you can pay since I clearly have been right about you this whole time.”

  Ever since the day at the hospital Killian has been scarce, keeping interactions with me to work only. I can tell he isn’t comfortable with me knowing about Aria and I hate that. I want him to feel comfortable around me since he is the only one I feel comfortable around lately. He could be the very thing I need to help me make this whole thing go more quickly. The truth is, I’m showing more and more as each day goes by and I won’t be able to hide my pregnancy with clothes anymore. If I can somehow convince Killian to work against Sal without blowing my cover, not only will they have my testimony, but his as well.

  I know Killian has my back, he wouldn’t have told me about Aria if he didn’t trust me, so that makes me feel a little better when it comes down to eventually having to tell Sal about my pregnancy. I’m not sure how he will take it, after finding out about what they did to Aria, but I have to let myself believe that because Sal is my dad, he won’t hurt me. They only hurt Aria to retaliate against Killian for wanting out. Oh my God, listen to me make excuses for them. Lord, help me.

  It’s been almost a week since I’d been to the lake and I’ve been working balls to the wall to set up this gun shipment. It’s going to be a busy day. This is the first deal that I organized without Angelo being the middleman. I’ve been talking with all of our contacts, getting to know each group inside and out. No one questioned the change of command since they all heard about a cop sliding in under the radar and if they didn’t, I made sure to mention it so everyone would be on the same page about the lack of faith in Angelo. He’s about to go into panic mode because he’s being shut out of things left and right. Things are falling perfectly into place according to plan, I need him to feel completely isolated. Whenever Sal is around, I make it a point to dig the knife deeper, reminding him of why I don’t need nor want Angelo’s help. Things run more smoothly without him. Even Sal has made comments on how much more quickly things move along when I facilitate them. I’m hoping by the end of this month, Sal will just find Angelo to be a waste of space.

  I have to oversee the exchange so I picked Killian up on my way over there. Not because I need to, I could handle it myself, but I because I enjoy his company. The car ride is silent and we just sit together, listening to music. When it comes to the exchange, you’re never sure whether Sal will be there or not. He usually doesn’t come because he keeps his nose as clean as possible, and if things go wrong he can throw his hands up and claim he had nothing to do with it. I didn’t bother to tell Director Lance about this drop either, we can’t afford another screw-up and she might take it as an opportunity to get a few more bastards off the street. I feel exactly the same, but I can also see the bigger picture. We need to take down the bigger fish in this operation.

  As I pull up to the new drop location, I’m not happy at the sight I see before me. Angelo’s car is parked in the lot and he’s leaning against it with a smug smile on his face.

  Killian looks at me with narrowed eyes. “Um, what’s he doing here?”

  Parking the car, I take the key out of the ignition and open my door. “I don’t know.” I answer through my clenched jaw, shaking my head. Narrowing my eyes in Angelo’s direction, I slam the car door shut and march over to him.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” I try to keep my voice calm, but even I can hear the venom behind my words.

  “Calm down there, slick.” Angelo rolls his eyes before giving me a dismissive glance.

  “Oh, I’m calm. But I did ask you a question. What are you doing here?” Crossing my arms as my lips press together, I wait for an explanation. My annoyance continues to grow as he doesn’t answer and walks away into the warehouse.

  “Want me to shoot him?” Killian laughs.

  “Don’t I wish, come on.” We follow him into the warehouse where he heads to the table that was preset and takes a seat, picking up one of the water bottles on the table.

  “Why don’t you sit?” he gestures, “I figured if I got here early we can discuss a few things privately. I even got us some food and drinks to munch on while we have our little chat.”

  I roll my eyes, but continue to stand, refusing to sit and talk with him. This is not the place or time for this and he knows it. He has something up his sleeve, I’m just not sure what it is. Killian takes a stand by the door to make sure no one unexpected will join us.

  “If you wanted to have a private meeting then you should have called me and asked. Not show up at a deal where you aren’t expected. You ruffled a lot of feathers with your slip up, Angelo. You can compromise any deals we have just by being here, people are talking a lot of shit about you. Get lost before our buyer gets here and gets scared off.”

  “I just came to see if you needed any help. But okay, you don’t want me here, that’s fine. You’ll soon see that you need me more than you think.” He’s cool as a cucumber, which is sending my stomach into overdrive. When he sees I’m not budging on my demand of him leaving, he gets up from the chair, walks over and kisses me on each cheek. “Good luck with your deal today. Make daddy proud.”

  A shiver runs down my spine at his tone and I’m not even sure what the hell that’s supposed to mean, I’m just relieved he is leaving. Killian confirms he does actually leave before taking a seat at the table where I join him.

  “That was fucked up.” Opening a bottle of diet soda, I drink it to help cool me down. It’s hot as balls today and the extra clothes to hide my bump aren’t helping with the heat. Placing the empty bottle on the table a burp escapes my mouth.

  �
�Look, just because you’re pregnant that doesn’t excuse you from having manners.” We both laugh at Killian’s words.

  “I’m sorry, it slipped out. I swear.” I feel my cheeks heat with embarrassment, shocked at my bad manners.

  “Do you believe him?”

  “Who?” I'm a bit thrown by the sudden change in conversation.

  “Angelo. Do you really think he was here to help?” Killian uses his fingers to make quotations.

  “No, I don’t. I don’t know what he was doing here, but I’m glad he’s gone. It will not look good if he is at any dealings.”

  “I agree. I don’t know what suddenly pushed Sal to put you in charge but I’m glad he did. We needed a change and I’ve been there, done that, definitely not interested in going there again. To be honest with you, I can’t fucking stand Angelo. He’s such a smug bastard and his cologne stinks! He always sprays too much of it.” I can’t contain my laughter at his words. “I mean really, how much shit do you need to put in your hair? It looks greasy as shit and that’s not a good look. If you’re going to take the time to style your hair, you would think you would do it so it looks somewhat nice. Don’t even get me started on the crocodile shoes he breaks out every so often.” I snort through my laughs and start to hiccup.

  “Seriously stop.” Holding one hand over my chest and the other up in the air, I try to catch my breath. “I just drank a whole bottle of soda and you’re making me laugh so hard I’ll probably pee myself if you keep going. You have to stop.” I calm my laughter as another hiccup comes out.

  “Okay, I’ll stop. But you can’t sit there and tell me I’m wrong.”

  “No, you’re totally right. I feel the exact same way about him. I honestly get grossed out whenever he touches me.” I shudder and stick my tongue out. Just then, the sound of car doors closing alerts us that our buyers are here.

  Standing up out of the chair, I lose my balance and fall to the ground. Killian comes rushing to my side, grabs my arm and helps me up. “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah, I must have stood up too fast.” My vision starts to get a little blurry as confusion starts to take over my head. Shaking my head, I try to quickly pull myself together as the buyers walk into the warehouse and greet me. One holds out his hand and I reach in to take it, only I lose the feeling of my muscles and drop my hand. I try to raise my arm back up but feel completely numb. I hear someone speaking to me but I can’t comprehend what they’re saying. I try to say anything, but my words aren’t coming out. The room suddenly begins to spin. Just as I start to feel nauseous, my legs go limp and I collapse into Killian’s arms before everything goes black.

  The sound of soft beeping chimes through my ears and as I open my eyes they are met with bright fluorescent lights. It takes a couple moments for my eyes to adjust but once they do, I see Killian sitting in the chair across the room. My head is pounding and my stomach is feeling a little woozy. Killian drags the chair across the room to the side of the bed and I flinch at the noise it makes.

  “Hey, how are you feeling?” He wraps my hand in his, talking softly.

  “Like I’ve gotten a dirty glass.” Killian’s chuckle sounds forced and his face is covered with concern.

  “Well, I know it can’t be that bad since your sense of humor is still intact.”

  “Seriously, Killian. What happened? Why am I in the hospital?” I look down and see I’m in a hospital gown. “And please don’t tell me you changed me?”

  “You don’t remember anything?” His eyes are searching mine looking for answers I don’t have.

  “No. That’s why I’m asking you.” I place my fingers on the bridge of my nose trying to release some tension in my head.

  “Shit, Ava. You were drugged.”

  “I’m sorry what? How could I have possibly been drugged?” I try to think back to the last thing I can remember but my head is pounding and it hurts to concentrate. Instead of trying to remember, I feel a little kick against my skin. “Oh my God. The baby! Killian, please, tell me the baby is okay.”

  “The doctors wouldn’t tell me anything.” Before I can let him finish, I push myself up quickly and immediately regret doing so. I feel the bile rising from my stomach and Killian must have seen it on my face because he’s right by my side handing me a garbage can. Tears roll down the sides of my face as my head sits in the garbage hurling out all the fluids the IV is pumping into me. When my abdomen is pained and my stomach is finally empty, I lift my head and take the napkin Killian is holding out for me. Wiping the corners of my mouth, he takes the can and puts it outside of my room. Thanking him, I kick my legs over to the side of the bed. “Whoa, whoa! Where do you think you’re going?” Placing his hands on my arms he lays me back into the bed.

  “I need to know if my baby is okay. I need to find a doctor.”

  “You will do no such thing. You need to rest. If you had let me finish what I was saying before trying to get out of bed you would know the baby is okay.”

  “But you said the doctors wouldn’t tell you anything?”

  “They didn’t. That’s why I brought you to the hospital where my mom works.” His goofy smile makes me want to laugh, but the queasy feeling starts to come back, “She can never say no to me, so when I asked her how the baby was she said all tests came back normal and everything looks great. You got lucky, Ava.”

  “Lucky? How is getting drugged lucky? I could have lost my baby!”

  “Because, the doctors seem to think it was a low dose. The said they’ve seen worse cases and this one seemed to be mild. I don’t know what was used, but my mom said I got you to the hospital just in time.”

  “Thank you.” I can’t put enough emphasis behind those words.

  “Can you try and think of the last thing you remember?”

  “It hurts to think.”

  “Ava, this is important. Did you eat or drink anything before you picked me up?”

  “I made myself breakfast, but that was it. I was going to see if you wanted to grab lunch after the exchange so I didn’t eat anything. The only thing I had was… SON OF A BITCH!” Remembering the soda that Angelo brought to the warehouse—that had to have been what drugged me. No wonder he was being so smug.

  “Ah, I see you’re awake.” A petite woman in scrubs comes in the room and stops to place a kiss on Killian’s cheek before tending to me.

  “You must be Killian’s mom.” I hold my hand out.

  “And you’re the mysterious voice on the phone call.” She shakes my hand. “You gave my son quite the scare. Are you sure you two aren’t a thing?”

  “Mom!” Killian’s face turns beet red.

  “What? I just want the best for you honey.” Taking the stethoscope off her neck, she listens to my lungs before taking the rest of my vitals.

  “Well, can you at least do it when no one is around? Geez.” He throws his hands up in defeat as his mom laughs at him.

  “Ava, dear. You were very lucky my son brought you in when he did. I’m sure you have questions and the doctor will be in momentarily to answer them. Just so you know, the baby looks good but we did have to pump your stomach. The doctor will want to keep you here overnight just to keep an eye on you and the baby. Other than feeling like you’re hungover, how are you feeling? Have you felt the baby move or kick at all since you’ve been awake?”

  “As a matter of fact yes. She just kicked moments before you came in.”

  “So it’s a girl?” Killian perks up.

  “I don’t know. I just feel like it’s a girl.”

  “Well don’t go off motherly instinct, my dear. Killian was supposed to be Jillian. We always said we would adopt a little girl, but this little angel came along and I just knew he was my little blessing.”

  “God, Ma, you’re embarrassing me.”

  “Oh hush, anyways, I was there when his mom had him, she was told it was a girl and then out popped a baby with a ding-a-ling.” Killian is cradling his head in his hands. I have to stop myself from laughing. “Now lay
back and rest. I’m going to go tell the doctor you’re awake.” Looking to Killian she nods her head at me. “Take good care of her while I’m gone.” She gives me a wink before leaving the room.

  “I’m going to fucking kill him!” I wait until the door is closed before I talk, my anger seeping through my words.

  “Not if I get to him first.” Killian adds.

  “How bad is it?” My mind goes to the deal I was getting ready to close, I don’t even know what’s going to happen with that.

  “Sal was pissed at first. Angelo made it seem like you were drunk when he came to see us at the warehouse. I assured Sal you were fine.”

  “And the buyers?” Leaning my head back against the pillow, I look to the ceiling and wait for the worst possible outcome.

  “They weren’t too happy but it’s nothing that can’t be fixed. I knew Angelo wasn’t happy with you taking over but this, this is some fucked up shit.”

  “Does Sal know?” Turning my attention back to Killian.

  “He knows you were drugged, he doesn’t know by who though. I thought it would be best if that it came from you.”

  “Thank you, for everything.” Taking his hand in mine I squeeze it.

  After the doctor comes in to talk to me, assuring me that everything is going to be okay, he tells me what I already knew. I’m be spending the night here in hospital, and even though I told Killian he didn’t have to stay, he insisted he wasn’t going anywhere. He said he would stay up and watch cheesy chick flicks with me and hold my hair back if I felt the need to puke. At this moment, I’m so thankful to have Killian in my life and I’m thankful to have him as a friend. I know his intentions are honest.

  As the night goes on, I’m thankful that I haven’t had to take Killian up on his offer to hold my hair back. The nauseated feeling is finally going away and I’m growing tired. I look over to the chair and Killian is hunched over the armrest sleeping. Leaning towards him, I place my hand on his arm and gently shake him. Lifting his head, he looks at me through groggy eyes before rubbing them.