“Ah, that’s what I like to see. Hugging it out is a great thing!” Penelope says from behind. “Can I get you guys some water or anything?”
“I’ll take a water please and is everything okay in there? We heard a crash.” I try to look behind her, but I can only see the hall, and no further.
“A crash?” She looks to Sylva with an almost panicked look.
“I’m sure I’d just stacked a few the dishes wrong. Why don’t you grab us two glasses of champagne when you get Ava’s water?” Walking over to his wife, he kisses her cheek and whispers in her ear. She blushes before pulling back and facing me.
“Ooh! Champs! What are we celebrating? Not that you ever need a reason to drink champs but still, are we celebrating?”
“Ava just told me she’s having twins.” She squeals really loudly and claps her hands as she runs over, pulling me into a hug. “I guess I’ll go grab the champagne and check the noise.” She shoos him off with her hands.
“How exciting! Are they girls or boys? Or both?” She asks excitedly
“I’m blessed to be having one of each. My perfect little complete family.” Every time I think about what I’ve been given I can’t help but smile, to have the chance to have both a son and daughter from Dante.
“Have you picked out any names yet?”
“I haven’t really given any thought to it yet.” Sylva comes out from the kitchen handing us each a glass. He’s put my water in a champagne flute and I can’t help but laugh at his efforts.
“To Pop Tart one and two.” I clink my glass against theirs, feeling settled now things are settled with Sylva.
I stay a little while longer and talk with Sylva about work. He’s been swamped with cases from his department and hasn’t really been able to catch up on what’s been going on with my case. I feel like they’ve been shutting him out a little but he doesn’t seem to mind since he’s so busy. He and Joe are working on some other things that he can’t really say too much about so I didn’t press him any further on the matter. I know what it’s like to be working on something that you can’t share. I’m just happy that he holds no ill feelings towards me and we can move forward and put our petty fight behind us.
There’s a big deal going down today involving guns and although it would make for a great bust, there’s an even bigger one that’s happening in three weeks involving guns and drugs. Unlike this deal, the next one will have all the big bosses there to discuss new delivery arrangements and how we can all move forward in the future. I specifically requested this meeting so not only can I get everyone together in one room, but I can have things ready to plant on them as well. Sal was hesitant at first, but I told him that everyone needed to be able to trust me and feel confident in the direction I'm going to take us in.
I can tell the department is starting to get nervous with my continued presence here, since hearing the news about the twins they have been wanting to move things along quicker. I continue to growing bigger and bigger and I can see them get more concerned about my health and well-being each time I meet them for a briefing. Their lack of faith in me is a little disappointing, but understandable. I’m sure if the roles were reversed, I would have the same concerns. I just have a hard time remembering that and take things too personal.
Sal will be meeting with us today since he’s leaving the country for a couple weeks. He’s leaving me in charge of everything while he’s gone and I couldn’t be happier. Not having him around will make it a lot easier to orchestrate the perfect takedown. When I told Lance about the deal that was going to happen, she was more than eager to get the ball rolling. She wasn’t too thrilled that Sal was leaving the country, but I told her she had no cause for concern.
We moved on to talk about logistics of what needed to happen and I assured her with Sal gone, it would ensure I could choose the location. I would pick somewhere he didn’t own so she can go in before everyone arrives and set up surveillance without anyone knowing. Everything can and will be tied back to him, so as soon as he steps foot back onto U.S. soil, he will be locked up. She voiced her concerns on him finding out and not returning back, but I assured her I would be in constant contact and make sure he doesn’t have a clue what’s happening.
I’m waiting for Killian to pick me up from my house. I’m trying not to drive anymore unless I really have to. I’m short, so I need my seat to be pretty close to the steering wheel so I can reach the pedals; and having a big protruding belly, doesn’t make driving too comfortable. Sadly, it’s not the first time the steering wheel has gotten stuck on it, and of course that had happen when I was with Killian, there hasn’t been a day since that he's let me live it down. There’s a knock at the door, so I slip on my flats, yelling that it’s open.
“You don’t even check the door these days? I could have been a serial killer looking for my next victim.” Killian says, shutting the door behind him.
“Let’s be honest, the only thing you can do harm to is a damn clown. I have a selection of them placed around the house so I always have one at hand to scare you away.” I joke and laugh as he shudders
“That’s just mean. It’s a legit fear. I’m not the only one who has a dislike for them, scary fucking things. No one knows what they’re thinking about, hiding under all that makeup.” Pointing at me trying to make his point, I continue to chuckle at him as I look for my keys that seem to have disappeared. “You ready to go?”
“I just have to find my keys so I can lock up.” Walking over to the kitchen, I look but they aren’t on that table either. Yelling in frustration, I run my hands through my hair. “I swear, you get pregnant and you literally forget everything.”
“Where was the last place you remember having them?” Killian starts to help me search.
“I could have sworn I put them on the living room table when I got home last night, but they aren’t there.” I walk back over and check again. I start to bend down to look under the table.
“I got it.” Killian gets down on his knees and checks under the table. I nudge him with my foot in his side but he pushes it away.
“I’m perfectly capable of bending down you know. I’m pregnant, not disabled.” I stand back as he stands, unfortunately empty hands.
“Yeah, but you’re having twins and no offense but if you fell I don’t think I’d be able to pick you back up.” I can tell he’s trying to keep a straight face but is unable to as he bursts out with laughter.
“Oh my God! You’re such an asshole!” I punch him in his abs, satisfied when he lets out a puff of air.
“What? You’re the one always saying how big you are and how you are going to have twin skin and blah, blah, blah.” He’s now mocking me. “I just want to make sure I don’t throw out my back by picking you up. One of us needs to be able to walk into the deal today without looking like we’re ninety.”
“If you don’t quit fucking around with me the only place you’re going to end up is the emergency room.” I warn. “Plus we still need to find these damn keys.” I put my hands on my hips in frustration.
“Did you check your shoes you were wearing last night?” His face is straight when he asks this and I have the urge to hurt him ... badly.
“Why the hell would I do that?”
“Because you have pregnancy brain. Aria had it and she was always putting shit in weird places. That’s why I asked about the shoes. I found her keys in them before.” His voice always sounds soft when he talks about his memories with Aria, his love for her shining through.
“Considering I’m wearing the shoes I wore last night, they definitely aren’t there. I swear, the only thing I did last night was throw my keys on the table and grab some ice cream before I went to bed.”
“Ah, hah!” Snapping his fingers he walks to the kitchen opening the freezer and pulls out my keys. “Found them!”
“I seriously don’t even remember putting them in there.” It's official, I may be losing my mind.
“Clearly.” He tosses the keys to me. “
Okay now lets head out.” Smug looking bastard.
From the moment we get into the car until we arrive at the exchange, Killian is awfully quiet. I keep trying to make small talk but he isn’t paying attention to anything I tell him and I’m having to repeat what I’m saying. Before Killian can get out of the car, I put my hand on his arm, preventing him from exiting it.
“What is with you today? Is everything okay?”
“I’m fine. Why would you think there’s something wrong?” He still won’t look at me properly, making me duck my head to meet his eyes.
“You were fine at my place but as soon as we got in the car you were just, I don’t know, distracted?”
“I haven’t told anyone yet but I went to see Aria last night and her parents were there. We had a very long talk and they told me I needed to let go, that it was time for me to move on. They were actually there to say goodbye to her because they couldn’t bring themselves to visit anymore. They want to bury their daughter and respected the fact that I was waiting for a miracle to happen, but they need to move on too. I’ve been putting off the inevitable of having to visit her grave that I didn’t even realize that I was holding her family back from saying goodbye to their daughter. It’s not fair to them and so I finally decided that after today, I’m going to take her off life support.” I pull him over to me, wrapping my arms around his neck.
“I’m so sorry, Killian. If you need to go, I can handle this by myself.” I pull away.
“No, it’s okay. If you think about it, when all this is over with, I wouldn’t be able to come back and visit her anyway. She would be all alone in that room and it wouldn’t be right.”
“You don’t have to leave, Killian. The whole reason of you helping us is so you can live the life you’ve always wanted.”
“That was a life planned for Aria and me. I can’t start over here. I need to go someplace where I can figure out how to be me. I’ve only been my father’s son and who I wanted to be for Aria. Outside of that, I have no idea who I am.”
“Well, when you figure out who you are, you know you can always come home. And wherever you end up, I expect updates all the time. If you don’t I will personally come with kids in tow and kick your ass for not keeping in touch.”
“Well then, maybe I won’t contact you so I have an excuse to get you to come see me.”
“You will never need an excuse Killian. We’re friends. Everything you’ve done for me, that I will never forget. You have stepped up and been here for me even when I was stubborn as shit about it. I just want you to be happy, you deserve it. And if you can’t be happy here then go venture out into the world and find your happiness.” A bunch of cars start to pull up, including Sal’s. “Well, it looks like we better get this show on the road.”
“You know, you could have at least put pants on for this meeting.”
Glancing down quickly at my pants I purse my lips at him. “Leggings are pants, Killian. Geez. You act like I’m dressed in pajamas. I look hot and my shirt is super fancy at least that’s what the lady at the maternity store told me.” We laugh getting out of the car.
Walking over to Sal, he shakes Killian’s hand before pulling me into a hug. Stepping away he places his hand on my stomach and I want to slap it away immediately.
“Ava dear, you look beautiful as ever. And how are my grandkids doing today?”
“They are doing great. Me, not so much. This diet for the gestational diabetes sucks. I just want to eat everything and I can’t.” My current food dilemma brings humor to Sal.
“That’s because you’re Italian. Us Italians love our food. You will be able to eat whatever you want before you know it. Now come on, let’s hurry up and get this over with. I’m meeting someone for a round of golf soon.” He look over at Killian as we enter the building, “Give me a quick rundown of what’s on the schedule today since I’m not going to be around.”
“Well, we have this exchange and then I’m going to go down to the restaurant to meet with Michael real quick. He has some new items on the menu he wants me to try out. After that I’ll be heading down to the lawyers to get that paperwork taken care of that you inquired about.”
Nodding, “Very good.” He pats Killian on the back like a proud father.
Looking at Killian I raise an eyebrow and mouth the word ‘paperwork’ and he just shakes his head, letting me know it’s nothing I need to worry about. When we enter the building, I walk over to the crates, opening each one. I made sure to get my hands on a large array of weapons so that the word spreads and the buyers will be more enthusiastic for their visit in a couple weeks.
Once everything is open and on display I clear my throat to grab everyone’s attention. “I just wanted to say a little something real quick before we start distributing merchandise. I know we had a couple bumps in the road with Angelo and many of you doubted us, but nonetheless, you didn’t jump ship.” I walk over to the crate that is separated from all the rest, placing my hand on it. “To show appreciation for that, with a little hard work, I was able to get my hands on some new guns. Ones that I can guarantee that you won’t be able to find anywhere else in town. Consider this a thank you on my behalf for making it easy to take over and work with you. You are all class act professionals and you really do make my job easier. Take a look at the new products and see what you think.” Smiles stretch across the buyers’ faces with the announcement of new guns to be bought. Everyone likes shiny new things so I know for a fact that this will assure that no boss tries to back out of coming to our next meeting. As I figured, they all flock over to the crate I’m standing at first.
They pull out each gun, inspecting each and every one, and getting a feel for each different piece. I never leave ammunition with the products for safety reasons and will never have it on the premises either. These are heavy duty weapons and I don’t need them being used to rob us. The AK-47 is usually the most popular with this group so I know those will move fast. I hate knowing that they are going to end up on the streets, but I also know that if it’s not me distributing them, it will be someone else. At least I can track who buys what so we have a headcount of how many guns we should expect to find with each raid.
Walking across the room to where Sal and Killian are standing, I give everyone a minute to make sure everything checks out on their ends. They’re in charge of their own inventory and making sure their orders add up. I’m never wrong, so I refuse to double check for them. If they want it done, they can count each item themselves.
“I have to say, Ava, I’m really proud of you. What you just did back there with the new shipment was a stroke of genius.”
“I wish I could take all the credit but it was actually Killian’s idea.” I look to him and he just smiles, shrugging like it’s no big deal.
“Well, I commend you both for how much you’ve managed to do with such little time. You make an excellent team.” His phone rings and he excuses himself, walking over to his car to take the call. It isn’t until he is gone; that I notice Killian is sweating profusely as he paces across the room. I place my arm on him and he jumps, causing me to jump as well.
“Jesus Killian! What has gotten into you?” I place my hand over my rapidly beating heart, trying to get it to calm down.
“What? Nothing. Well besides the obvious.”
“It’s just another deal, same as always. I’ve never seen you this worked up before.” He draws his lip into his mouth, biting on it. I stare at him firmly and he lets out a sigh. “Okay, Ava there’s something…”
“Ava,” Sal’s voice calls out to me. Turning my head to him, he waves his arm over to his car. “Come here. I have something I need you to see.”
“Okay,” I yell out. Looking back to Killian, “I don’t know what’s going on but we’re going to get to the bottom of this as soon as I get back. Got it?” He nods, but he doesn’t look any more relaxed than he did a moment before.
Walking over to Sal, I make a short stop to check in on the guys counting their inv
entory. “Everything good here so far?” They all mutter and nod. Seeing that everyone is happy for the moment I continue my way to Sal’s car.
He’s standing in front of it with a box in his hand and when I reach him, he extends his arm out. I stare at the box for a moment before slowing reaching my hand out taking it from him. “What’s this?”
“Open it and you’ll find out.” Unwrapping the blue paper from the box, I’m unable to get an idea of what could be in it. It’s just a plain brown box without any writing on it. I open it up, seeing that there are sheets of papers inside, all of them neatly folded into threes. Unfolding the papers I read each one before looking back up to Sal who has a big smile spread across his face.
“You bought me land?” I question, holding up the deed to a property.
“I did.” He looks so happy with himself, and if I didn’t hate him so much I might feel some happiness with his present.
“Okay, but why?” I’m totally confused as to why he bought me a piece of land and then I remember what Michael told me that night at Sal’s house.
“Now, don’t get mad at Killian, but he wanted to surprise you with a house and apparently there was a bidding war on the land he wanted, so I put in a bid that I knew the other person wouldn’t be able to beat.”
“Well, you should tell Killian not to get mad at you.” I joke. “But really, this is too much and I, we can’t take this.” I hold the box out to him but he steps back, his hands up in front of him and he’s shaking his head in refusal.
“It’s already done. The deed is in both your names and I won’t take no for an answer.” Before I can argue on it any further, tires screeching across the pavement fill the parking lot, followed by sirens. There are officers coming from all directions shouting “FBI Freeze! Hands in the air where we can see them.”
Before I can even throw my hands up, shots start firing, causing me to jump and duck. My body is shaking as the adrenaline starts to pump through it. From what I can see, everyone tries to make a run for it. Some cops are wearing ski masks to hide their identity, which is normal if they work undercover, and others are just in the simple raid uniforms with all the protection gear. Before I can even wrap my mind about what to do, a hand grasps my arm, pulling me up from my crouched position and rushes me into a car where the door is slammed behind me. Sal runs around the car and jumps in quickly starting the engine and flooring it, the car fishtailing out of the building.
Ava's Revenge: (Salvation Series Book 2) Page 16