Criminal Affinity [18+]

Chapter 65

As per her request, Marvin was sent back to where he was taken from a week back. That didn't mean Ava was done with him. He would be tracked, tapped and followed.

He wouldn't take a breath without Ava knowing. He just didn't need to know that.

In the meantime, Ava had her mind on nothing fighting and eating. The last time she saw her sister was right before she had that wretched dream. Upon asking, Ivan told her she was readying the house for Malika in Milan.

She didn't have to do that. He didn't have to do that either.

Her days had muddled into hours of training and big meals and cold showers. She could almost taste it—normalcy. She fit normalcy well, just that it didn't fit her anymore.

The meetings would be long, about patrols, trafficking goods and security. It was tighter than ever before, but it wasn't defensive and insecure. Ivan seemed to know the difference between guarded and imprisoned.

Ava often kept quiet, listening and learning. This is her home, for a while anyway. But she couldn't whisk it away.

She was unhappy. Not in pain, not depressed—just so unhappy.

Any time she saw someone smiling, the bitterness grew inside her. A week was enough for the feeling to calcify and take home in the center of her chest. She hated being that way, but it was what she had become.

At least she wasn't crying herself to sleep every night, right?

"Are you going to be alright?" Ava asks Malika as she shakes her head. It's become more and more difficult to stay present.

Malika only nods. Ava doesn't remember the last time she looked Ava in the eyes. It hurts her so much, but she offers the other woman a smile, anyway.

Even though no one sees it.

"It's ready for you. You will have everything you need." Ava tries again.

Malika goes still, so Ava goes still, too. Those empty sober eyes raise to Ava and a chill snakes down her back.

"Everything I need?" Malika's voice is low, almost a growl. "Everything I need?"

Ava withdraws a step, then another. "I'm sorry."

Malika rises to her feet and Ava flinches back further. The other woman stares at her with wide eyes before sitting back down. Embarrassment races through Ava, but the fear of being hit again blocks her from saying anything.

Ivan exhales loudly behind her, not pleased.

"I-I wasn't going to hit you." Malika's voice turns scratchy, a quality of insecurity Ava has never heard before. "What do you think I am, a monster? Like you?"

A monster. Ava evens her breathing before grounding her feet into the floor. This is supposed to be goodbye, not Ava being her punching bag. But Ava can't help the hurt coursing through her at Malika's accusation.

"You can give us a call, for anything at all." Ava tells her, in an attempt to forget all of it. "There will be a cook, a cleaner and some therapists. The house is going to be busy for a while—"

"I don't need all that shit." Malika spits. "I just need my plug."

"Your...plug?" Ava incredulously stares at the woman. "Are you serious right now?"

Ava's core turns cold, hands clammy and knees weak. This is a woman who's been destroyed to such an extend that all she can think about is drugs. It's not her fault. It's not her fault.

"How much did you fuck him for this?" Malika asks Ava brazenly. "I know men like him. They don't hand out favors to people like you."

"Your husband was a person like me, Malika." Ava retorts before Ivan can take a breath.