Page 81 of Fallen to Thievery
My name circled. The stripped room. He had planned on taking me. Gemma in the bathroom, telling me there was more to it. My breath left me in a stagger as I recalled his words the previous day, right when he was getting ready to fuck me.
“From the first time I laid eyes on you, I wanted to let your hair loose from that uptight bun and wrap it around my fist.”
When was that? How long has he known me? That photo was taken five years ago.
I stifled a sob. He had been planning this for at least five years. Planning on taking me, upheaving my life. Making me fall in love with him, then making love to me for hours like hefeltsomething for me. For what? For a fuckingdiamond?
Had it been a sick game to him? A challenge to see how fast he could get in my pants? Get me to do his bidding? Had the paint been a test? Tosee if I would help him steal something? Gods, I was the most ridiculously stupid, foolish woman to have ever walked this earth, I was sure of it.
I had to get out. The emotionsburnedin my chest. Hurt. Anger. Embarrassment. I couldn’t breathe the same air as them anymore. I had to get out. I whipped past Hunter hurtling towards the door as Gemma called out to me, the sound coming from a mile away. I willed my shaky legs to climb up the stairs to freedom.
Finally outside the bunker, I started running into the woods, away from the cabin. I didn’t care where I was going or that I could get lost. I just wanted to get as far away from them as possible as my mind spiralled and spiralled. Recalling everything, every good memory with them, and calling it lies. Shattering some of my happiest memories with Grayson to reveal that it had been fake, a forgery, all along.
I came to a halt as a stream blocked my path and collapsed on the bank. I dug my fingers into the dirt as the sobs racked my body, as I let those burning feelings consume me, fuelled by the cruel, ruthless thoughts shredding their way through me.
No one had ever hurt me like this. No one had ever made such a fool out of me. I replayed all of it. All the signs I missed. All the things I ignored and blinded myself to. Even Grayson himself had warned me. Had told me that I would regret him.
My heart shattered anew as I realised that the regret of knowing him wasn’t coming. I couldn’t find it in me, no matter how hard I looked. He had lied to me, used me, but I would give anything for him to look at me, touch me, hold me like he had.
Stupid,stupid, girl.
Even if it were a sham, it had been the most beautiful lie I had ever experienced. And if I was being ruthlessly honest with myself, had I any choice, I would choose it again. I would relive all of it again. Even this very moment.
I had cried myself numb. The only thing I could feel was the sting on my hip. My knees were clutched to my chest while I rocked back and forth, probably looking every bit as insane as I was. I was staring out over the stream, letting the water soothe my ragged and tortured mind when I heard his silent approach. His boots a mere whisper on the ground. But I knew it was him. I could always tell. He stopped a few feet from me, silent for a few minutes.
“Princess,” he almost whispered.
“Don’t call me that,” I snapped hoarsely, as anger flashed through me again, but only an echo of what it was earlier. Hearing him still call me that hurt more than I cared to admit. He needed to leave. I needed answers, but not right now. Another blow to the heart would end me.
“You can continue to hate me all you want later, but I’m going to talk and you’re going to listen. Understood?” His voice was firm.
I shook my head. I wanted to tell him to go fuck himself. I wasdonetaking orders from him. I wanted to curse him before the gods, offer up my last breath to the Dark Ladies, so he could suffer this pain I felt, for the rest of his existence.
But all that came out was, “I want to go home.” I was tired. So utterly tired.
“I will take you home, Ava. But first, you listen.”
Did I imagine pain in his voice? He came to sit beside me, bracing his arms on his knees with a sigh. He was too close and too far away at the same time. I wanted to lose myself in the comfort of his arms, like I had done so many times, but also hated the idea of him ever getting to touch me again. He was the snake in my garden. An alluring, detestable thing. I turned my head away from him, so I wouldn’t have to look at him.
“Your little boyfriend’s father was the man that had my mother and sister killed.”
My head snapped back to him. No, it couldn’t be. Not Charles Anderson. I had known Charles to be a ruthless man, one that always made my skin prickle. But a killer of women and little girls? No, I couldn’t wrap my head around it. Was Grayson making this up? The latest lie of his sick mind games?
Fuck. I could see it in his eyes. He wasn’t lying. He truly believed what he’d said. My stomach turned. Could it be? Had I dined and laughed and even celebrated Winter Solstice with the man that was responsible for those gruesome deaths? For the trauma a ten-year-old boy had to endure, that still haunts him incessantly? My gut screamed yes but not once had I felt like I was in danger around Charles.
Grayson handed me the picture of the red diamond that was pinned to the board. “He had his hit men takethisthe day they murdered my family. It was my mother’s ten-year anniversary present from my father. Anderson had always had his eye on it. My father had outbid him at an auction. I believethatwas the start of their rivalry.” Grayson scratched at his chin.
“That’s the only reason he’s still alive. I don’t know the location of the diamond. The security around his vaults makes it impossible to slip in unnoticed. It might not even be in there. And I can’t just take Anderson and torture it out of him. He’s notorious for not breaking. I’ve been stuck for ten years.”
“So that’s where I came in,” I stated bitterly. What had he planned for me, expected me to do?
Grayson sighed, and was quiet for a while, staring out at the water. “I was staking out the bank, about three weeks before the robbery. Imagine my surprise when you came walking out.” He smiled to himself. “The few times I had seen you with Shaun, I had always been struck by you. You were too good for him, you know?” he added. “But that day at the bank, you were throwing your head back, laughing as you came through the door. You had overalls on and a dirt streak over your cheek. And I swear I had never seen anything more beautiful. So I followed you. Like a fucking perverted stalker, I followed you around town, and watched you run errands, stopping to chat with people and picking up trash around the base of an oak tree, patting its trunk, like you were apologising to it.” Grayson laughed at the memory, shaking his head. “I was drawn to you because I found you to be so pure-hearted, such a beautiful, odd little thing. And that somehow made me hate you, because how could I like someone that Anderson was so fond of?” Grayson rubbed at his neck. “Even now he has people searching for you.”
Anderson. He wasn’t talking about my ex-boyfriend Shaun. He was talking about Charles, his father.
I shook my head. “Charles isn’t that fond of me. Not likethat.” He had always saved me a seat next to him when I joined them for dinners and other occasions. But he had told me that he enjoyed my conversation and philosophies. It wasn’t that big a deal, was it? My head was spinning.
“Ava, the man was smitten with you. I’ve seen the way he looks at you. You were probably the only thing he wanted that he didn’t dare to just take.” Grayson paused before continuing.
