Criminal Affinity [18+]

Chapter 38

Break down, only alone I will cry out now.
You'll never see what's hiding out.
Hiding out deep down.

| Unstoppable - Sia |

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Ava wakes up alone in her room. Despite the pain in her entire body, Ava stretches all her muscles out before stepping out of the bed. Last night's memories rush her like a swarm of hungry birds, too loud and too eager.

Neil's lifeless eyes, Sirena's betrayal, Lily's guilt. Ava's hands turn to fists. Ren's broken heart. The filthy things that happened in her washroom—breaking William Chevalier the same way he did her in.

Guilt presses against her chest. She pushes it far.

Gian. He was still in the house. So is Malika.

Ava allows herself a moment of silence before walking through the door. The house is shrouded in dark, yellow dim lights making every arch and beam sharper and more dangerous.

Ava takes a deep breath before heading towards Ren's wing. Dusk has broken, the house should be up and pumping. But darkness follows her every step, literal and in the air. His broken door is slightly ajar, so Ava walks in.

"Ren?"

Ava's eyes adjust to the darker inside of Ren's room, to see him and Katrina sitting in grim silence. Her back straightens as the other girl's face contorts to irritation.

"What are you doing here?" Katrina's voice is dripping with contempt, as if talking to a maid.

"I'm here to talk to Ren." Ava says evenly.

She looks at Ava as if she's stupid. "Well, if your eyes are not working properly, you can see—"

"Katarina." Ren's accented voice wafts through the air between them, dark and soulless. Unease crawls into Ava's belly. "Leave us."

Ava steps closer, the faint lights from the windows lighting her up. Katrina's face curls with anger. "You came to talk to him dressed like that?"

God, Ava hates catty girls acting like highschoolers. After William left, Ava picked out the first thing she could find. She was on autopilot. She picked a dusty pink nightdress that ended high on her thigh. "Does my body bother you, Katrina? Don't you have a boyfriend? Who's life I fucking saved, by the way."

Katrina haughtily stands up, and despite having few inches over Ava, she shrinks back at the look Ava saved just for her. Without another word, she walks out. She mutters something about telling William. No good on her own, anyway.

Ava waits till her footsteps fade before approaching Ren.

"Where is she now?" Ava asks.

She can't see Ren's face, just the sharp curve of his jaw and the top of his blonde curls illuminated by a beam of late evening light.

"I told William to erase everything about her and send her somewhere far away with money. I didn't ask where." He says, voice low. "I told her if I see her again, I will kill her myself."

Ava waits a beat before speaking. "Will you?"

"Yes." His answer is immediate. Ava believes him.

You know nothing of him to call him a good man. William's words echo in her head.

"And what about Gian?" Ava urges on.

"William's down there with him right now." He says. Ava's skin prickles, hair raising. Ren is staring at her, and there's nothing kind in his demeanor. Her only comfort is knowing that William is torturing Gian for information.