I opened the file and looked down at the photo of the very typical blond-haired, blue-eyed beauty that was Avion’s best friend. I could only imagine that they had to beat men off with a stick when they went out, but by comparison to Avion, Lorie was no contest, at least in my eyes. “Does she seem to be suspicious of Avion’s disappearance?”
“I reached out to our contacts in Chief Erickson’s office, and it doesn’t appear as though any information has hit the desks there about Avion’s disappearance. I followed Lorie for a bit. She’d be easy enough to snatch if we needed to, but I don’t think it’ll be necessary. She’s living life as if everything is fine, so I don’t believe she’s worried about her friend missing.”
I nodded and set the folder to the side. “Very good. And the other thing?”
Milli flipped open his file and looked down at the information on it. He exchanged a look between the file and me before finally lifting an eyebrow and asking, “Why did you want this information?”
At first, I didn’t answer him. The truth was, I didn’t know, I just felt compelled after my last conversation with Avion. “Research,” I settled for.
Whether or not Milli accepted that as an answer, I wasn’t sure, but he pressed on, looking down at the information and beginning to report on it. “Clairette and Verne Lemaire are both still alive. Clairette is 77 yesterday, and her husband, Verne, is 82. They currently live in a small house in Bordeaux. They outlived both of their children. Their son, Iven, died of cancer about ten years ago, and their daughter, Evelyn died of a communicable disease she developed due to childbirth after coming to the United States. She survived the birth of her daughter, Avion, but died a handful of years afterward. It seems her marriage to Curtis was a mail-order bride situation.” He closed the folder and held it out towards me, but when I reached out to take it, he yanked it back. “What are you doing here?”
“I don’t know what you mean. I was just curious. Avion mentioned not knowing if her grandparents were still alive.”
Milli’s expression hardened. “Why would that matter to you? You’re not developing feelings, are you?”
I scoffed even though my heart thudded a little harder at the insinuation. “Of course not. Do you buy a car without knowing the specs?” Milli seemed to accept that as an answer and finally relinquished the folder to me. Though I was desperately curious to look inside, I made sure to set the folder aside as if I didn’t have a care in the world about it. “Is that all you have to report on?”
“For now,” Milli said. “Do you have anything else you’d like me to look into? Perhaps Avion’s favorite color?”
I gritted my teeth and glared over at him. “You can go.” He simply gave me a smirk as he rolled his eyes and stood up from his chair. He turned his back to me and walked towards the door. When he got to the door, he stopped and glanced back over his shoulder at me but said nothing. I kept my eye on him and eventually said, “Yes?”
A dark chuckle bubbled out of him. “Nothing.”
He left then without another word, and I didn’t like the ominous feeling he left in his wake. If I were to guess, he’d be calling my father within the hour to tell him everything that had gone wrong here. I punched the bridge of my nose and took a deep breath. Annoyed with Milli though I was, I was more frustrated with myself.
WhatwasI doing?
I remembered the look on Avion’s face as she told me about her mother and her grandparents. She tried her hardest to remain neutral, but there was sadness there. Her brothers were as cruel as her father, but Avion was different from them. She must have loved being in contact with her grandparents from France for it to still be hanging in her mind like it was, but once her mother died, her father likely made no effort to keep her in touch with them. It made me not just sad for her, but also for her grandparents in France who one day lost a daughterandgranddaughter. Why did I care so much?
In truth, when I asked Milli to look into it, it was with the hope that I would one day be able to confirm for Avion that her grandparents were alive. Milli probably could get contact information for them if he hadn’t already. If she wanted to get in contact with her grandparents, would I allow that?
If it would make her happy… I think I would.
I picked up the file and flipped the lid back and looked at the collection of photos inside. A smile came to my face as I looked at Clairette Lemaire. Avion took after her a lot. They had the same long, fine hair, though Clairette’s was all gray now. She had freckles on her face too, though they were more abundant, a trait I could see she gave to her daughter, Evelyn as well. Verne was a bristly looking fellow, balding on top and it seemed Avion had gotten his thin, slender nose. They looked like her real family, and a far cry better than the one she’d been left with when her mother died.
She probably would be happy to go and live in Bordeaux with them…
I slapped the file shut and slid it back to the side. I did want to tell Avion about them, but not at this point. For now, I had other things to focus on, including getting her to bend to my whims. I’d laid all the groundwork, all that was left was to wait for her to get caught in my trap.
Grabbing my laptop and opening it, I quickly navigated to my surveillance app and moved to the feed into Avion’s room.
And an actual gasp left my lips.
A smile rose to my face as I took in the sight before me. “It looks like you’ve taken the bait sooner than I expected.”
16
AVION
My room was so much hotter than I remembered it being. My windows didn’t open, of course, because I was a prisoner, but I don’t think that would have made much of a difference even if they did. I laid in bed, hoping that I could just sleep away the visions I’d seen in Gio’s room with that woman, but before I knew it, my hands were wandering across my body of their own volition. They smoothed down my skin and between my legs, or up in search of my breasts. I didn’t understand what was happening to me. I was like a dog in heat all of a sudden.
I just wanted him to touch me.
The look on that woman’s face danced across my brain. That absolute euphoria she appeared to be experiencing. I’d had sex before, but I’ve never felt likethat. Honestly, I never believed that sex could feel like that. It always felt like a chore with my ex. When I lost my virginity, it was mostly to tick the box. I’d never really viewed sex as a fountain of pleasure more than a human need like food or water.
But what that woman was feeling in Gio’s room, I wanted that. She was wrecked from head to toe, totally submissive to Gio and doing anything he asked her to. My skin burned and my breath ran short as I thought about it. No one else would be able to do it for me.
I just knew that it had to be him.
