“Please, let’s just go inside.”
“Inside. Right. I don’t think so. In the past few days, you’ve kidnapped my husband, drugged me multiple times, tried to get me to join The Board…and oh my goodness, what in the world was that, Sebastian? You’re supposed to be on my side, but you were completely cruel.”
“I had to be!” he said. “But you found him. Thanks to me. Come on, Ava, I practically drew you a map to him!”
Ava’s jaw dropped open. “Are you kidding me?”
“You didn’t think it was strange when I didn’t knock you out before I drove you to his location? I couldn’t have made it any easier.”
“Maybe just don’t kidnap him in the first place.”
He set his hands on his hips, shaking his head. “I didn’t. I’ve been keeping him safe this entire time–for you.”
“Then how did he end up in that facility?”
“Miranda. She’s getting suspicious.” He scrubbed his face. “She upped the timeline without informing me.”
Ava crossed her arms, heaving a sigh. “Must have felt good to shoot her.”
“You have no idea,” he answered before he shook his head. “Come on, Ava. I’m not the bad guy here. I’m trying to stop them and get my family out of this…heinous organization. And I’m taking most of the risks.”
“How do you need our help with this? You must have access to everything.”
“I don’t. The Board is highly compartmentalized. I’m trying to gather enough information to stop them from pulling off whatever their next move is to cripple the world and profit off of the chaos afterward.”
Ava shifted her weight, her head shaking.
“Please, Ava. I need help. We need help. I don’t want this life for me or my parents. I don’t want to be involved with this. But I can’t do this alone. Please.” His voice took on a pleading tone as his features pinched.
She glanced up at him, battling an unwelcome surge of pity, mixed with anger and confusion. She shook her head, crossing her arms tighter across her chest. Her jaw tightened to the point of pain.
She puckered her lips as she returned her gaze to him. “Fine. But we seriously need to discuss next steps because I’m not loving the new direction this is going.”
He heaved a sigh of relief as he nodded before hewrapped an arm around her shoulders and guided her toward the cabin. “We’ll talk inside.”
With an arched eyebrow, she glanced sideways at him. “Can I finally see that photo you hid last time?”
He pressed his lips together as he shook his head. “I guess I have nothing to hide from you anymore.”
“Why did you hide it to begin with?” Ava asked as they pushed into the cabin.
“What did you want me to do?” He shut the door and flicked the lock into place as she wandered further into the room, picking up the picture on the mantel—Sebastian with his mother. “Say, ‘Hey Ava, I know I’m a member of The Board and all, but how about helping me take them down?’”
She set the framed photo down and sliced her gaze to him. “Yeah, that would have worked.”
“Would it? You barely trusted me as it was. And you definitely didn’t trust me as me.”
“And it didn’t occur to you that we didn’t trust you as Raven because you were super creepy with the mask and the voice changer?” She set her hands on her hips. “And why did you make me study your parents? None of this makes any sense.”
“Because I wanted you to get closer to us. I wanted you to see us as people not the enemy.”
Ava bobbed her head. “Ohhh, right. That worked super well when you came across as obsessive.”
“I really can’t do anything right for you, can I?”
“Did you hire those gunmen to take over the party?” she asked.
“No. That was Board-related, though. The Senator is a well-known advocate for them who got on the wrong side of some folks.”
