Chapter 4 - THE PRICE OF LOYALTY
Ava locked herself in the restroom for five minutes.
She didn’t cry.
That surprised her.
Six months earlier, she had cried so hard after Damian’s breakup text that she threw up in the kitchen sink.
But standing beneath the harsh bathroom lights at the Astor Grand, staring at her own reflection, Ava felt something colder than grief.
Clarity.
Damian hadn’t simply stopped loving her.
He had used her.
Her money.
Her work.
Her trust.
Maybe even her name.
Someone knocked.
“Ava?”
Elias.
“I’m fine.”
“That’s rarely true when people say it through a locked door.”
She opened it.
He stood alone in the hallway.
“I’m not going back into that ballroom.”
“You don’t have to.”
“I’m going home.”
“I’ll have a car take you.”
“I can take the subway.”
“At midnight dressed like that?”
“It’s New York. Someone on the train will be dressed stranger.”
A corner of Elias’s mouth moved.
There.
Again.
Almost a smile.
Ava folded her arms.
“You still haven’t explained why you knew so much about me.”
Elias leaned against the opposite wall.
“Because I’ve been trying to find the person who originally discovered the Langford property network.”
“And that was me.”
“Yes.”
“So you investigated me.”
“I verified you.”
“That’s a very billionaire way of saying investigated.”
“Probably.”
She stared.
“Why not just call?”
“I tried.”
Ava blinked.
“When?”
“Three weeks ago.”
She remembered.
Unknown number.
Voicemail from a man named Daniel from Vane Global requesting a meeting.
She had assumed it was some investment sales pitch and deleted it.
“Oh.”
“That was your office?”
“Yes.”
Ava rubbed her forehead.
“And the fiancée thing?”
“A tactical error.”
“You call telling hundreds of people we’re getting married a tactical error?”
“It worked.”
“Damian looks like he swallowed a battery.”
“Then it worked extremely well.”
Ava laughed before she could stop herself.
It was the first genuine laugh she’d had all night.
Elias watched her.
Something changed in his expression.
Then applause erupted from the ballroom.
The charity chairman was beginning the fundraising presentation.
Ava checked the time.
“I really have to go back.”
“You just said you were leaving.”
“I’m the assistant coordinator.”
“You were assaulted by a guest.”
“I was soaked with champagne.”
“In front of your employer.”
“I still have a job to do.”
Elias studied her.
“Why?”
“Because normal people get fired when they abandon events.”
“You won’t be fired.”
“Please don’t buy my company.”
“I wasn’t planning to.”
“Good.”
“I was planning to sponsor next year’s gala and make your continued employment a condition.”
Ava stared.
“That is somehow worse.”
Another almost-smile.
She shook her head.
“You’re impossible.”
“So I’ve been told.”
They walked back toward the ballroom.
Just before they reached the doors, Elias stopped.
“One thing.”
“What?”
“If Cross approaches you again, don’t go anywhere alone with him.”
Ava’s smile disappeared.
“Why?”
“Because he knows someone found the report.”
“So?”
“So people who steal information for powerful families rarely react well when the original owner discovers it.”
Ava swallowed.
“You think Damian is dangerous?”
“I think scared men do stupid things.”
Across the ballroom, Damian stood beside Victoria.
He was staring directly at Ava.
Then he raised his phone.
A message arrived on Ava’s screen.
UNKNOWN NUMBER:
YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU’RE GETTING INTO.
DELETE EVERYTHING VANE GAVE YOU.
OR I’LL TELL THEM WHAT YOU DID.
Ava’s heart slammed against her ribs.
Elias read her face.
“What happened?”
She showed him the phone.
His expression turned to stone.
May you like
“What,” Ava whispered, “does he think I did?”
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