Ava clicked the knittingneedles together and loved the soft pastel wool as it slowly turned into something.She loved following a pattern, even if it meant she had to mark every single line she made, and count as she went.
At the end of a hardworking day, sitting in front of a roaring fire, this was the life.She had the home security tablet in front of her, which showed every camera on the property, along with any potential alert to an intruder.On the coffee table was a gun, a simple Glock, and a hunting knife, for a just-in-case occasion that she needed to use it.Blondie’s husband had already gone to bed, as he spent another five hours complaining about the female species and how unfair it was.A rich man could no longer trust women as they were all just after his money.She couldn’t dispute his assessment.
The man was hiding out with her and Knox until he decided how to handle his wife.Blondie One was starting to panic as the money was not as easily accessible as she thought it would be.It was becoming a bit of a headache.
Ava was tempted to take the bitch out herself, but that was against the rules, and besides, she had only ever fought in self-defense.She also knew she hadn’t killed but maimed the intruder, while Knox came in and finished him off.She had yet to kill anyone.
She didn’t know if she should be disturbed by the fact death didn’t bother her.The first time she met Knox, it had been as he killed a man intent on killing her.The piece of shit had already stolen her off the streets and chained her to a large dartboard, using her as target practice.
Ava didn’t know how she had gotten so unlucky, yet finding Knox had to have been the best thing that ever happened to her.She had never gone back to her shitty apartment, which, no matter what she did, seemed to be infested with some creature.She hated mess.She loved to keep everything neat and tidy.
It was strange, because her style often didn’t match her mood.Some might consider her to have a dark personality, after everything she had seen and witnessed.Yet, she wore pastels.Like now, she wore a pair of light blue jeans, a pink, three-quarter-sleeve shirt, and a pair of bright yellow socks.Her blonde hair was pulled into a ponytail, and she had even put a little pastel pink at the tips of her roots.She couldn’t help it.She loved pink, and blue, and green.She loved bright colors.
However, she didn’t cry at romance movies.She laughed at horror films.
And she also loved to knit and keep everything neatly organized.
Knox’s profession didn’t faze her at all.He was a contract killer and her best friend.In fact, he was the only friend she had ever known.She had never made friends easily.For all her love of bright colors, she didn’t have a bubbly personality, and she rarely smiled.
Ava didn’t move as she heard the main door open and close.She had already seen Knox arrive home and park his car in the driveway.He never used any of the garages for his cars.He didn’t believe cars needed an extra home.She didn’t care what he used his garages for.
She continued to knit, finishing off a line of purl stitches as he entered the main sitting room.There was no need to ask Knox where he had been.She had already caught the news and had a feeling Knox had a hand in Pete’s death.
“Good evening, Ava.You’re all on your own.”
“Blondie’s husband went to bed.He is ...torn, and he hates women again, but not enough to put the kill out on his wife,” Ava said.She put her knitting back into her bag and got to her feet.
Knox looked good.He always did.It didn’t matter if he had gotten off a job, like now, or just woken up.He was a man always in control.The shirt he wore had a few buttons open at the top that gave a hint of the ink on his chest.She was already aware of his heavily inked body.His arms, chest, and back were covered in many different tattoos.There were also some on his legs, but it wasn’t overkill, it was just enough.Ava tried not to notice how good her boss looked.There was more to life than just looks, but Knox had the whole package, and this had nothing to do with his wealth.
Sure, there were some women who’d be a little put off by his day job.Being a contracted killer would seem a little extreme, but Ava knew there were times he had no choice in his line of work.He’d saved people and killed people.She was not here to judge what he did, only to handle his personal and sometimes business affairs.
“That’s the way you’d handle it?”Knox asked.“Just put a kill out on the wife?”
She sighed.“We’re aware of the extended hit she has ordered.There has already been an attack on this place, while we house him.So far, she’s desperate, because the funds she thought she had access to have dried up.Blondie is a gold-digger, and he can do so much better.”
Knox chuckled.“You’d be surprised how many women out there only want him for his money.Marshal will handle this when he’s good and ready.Until then, we’ll keep him safe.”
She was not going to argue with him.He was, after all, the boss.She only worked here.
It was getting late, and she’d been sitting up knitting, waiting for him to get home, after she got the call that his business was concluded.She was not going to ask him where he was, because she had a funny feeling he’d lie.Even though she knew he’d gone to one of her ex-foster homes.
Pete Carmichael had been a sick and twisted individual.She refused to let him warp her mind.There were scars on her body she was never going to forget she got while in his ...care.Not that any true human being would call anything relating to Pete Carmichael as “care.”He’d loved that they were younger.She couldn’t believe what he had gotten away with and the number of complaints against him.She was aware there were hundreds.
One of the benefits of working with Knox was, he had access to multiple files at the click of his fingertips.Ava had accessed Pete Carmichael’s file a long time ago, but it had been long enough to make her sick.She wondered if she’d left some trace of her work, which made Knox do what was necessary.Pete Carmichael hadn’t stopped fostering children, however, they were becoming fewer.
She pushed all that crap out of her mind.It had no place in her thoughts anymore.Carmichael was gone, thanks to Knox.
“Are you hungry?”Ava said, brushing past Knox and trying not to feel every little thing.
For the longest time, men were just the opposite sex.Pains in the asses, who caused more trouble than they were worth.That had been her experience.The men she’d met were only interested in two things—sex, and hurting other people.She had never been lucky enough to see any kindness, until she met Knox.He was cruel, potentially a monster, a killer, but he was kind.
That was when she knew she was messed up.Out of all the people she’d been around growing up, it was Knox she felt the safest with.But he was the only one who had seen her in a terrible predicament, and he didn’t hesitate in saving her.
“I’m starving.”
She walked across his hallway, through the dining room, and headed straight for the kitchen.Every now and then, he did have a chef on hand to cook any dish he desired, but that was on rare occasions.
She had opted to be his cook, cleaner, and PA.There was nothing else she wanted to do with her life, and right now, devoting it to Knox had been the best decision she had ever made.
