A Broken Fate (The Beautiful Fate Series book 2) (7 page)

Rory and Julia were living in an apartment together on campus, at UCLA. They had been there for about a month. Ari told me on the drive up, that Rory hated living in L.A. He wanted to be at home and commute. He was tired of dorms, apartments and fast food. He liked the luxury of being right on the beach (and access to his moms cooking and cleaning.) Julia steadfastly refused to live with Gianna and Thais any longer. Gianna was very nice and funny, just like Rory and Nick, but I could understand not wanting to live in ones boyfriend
’s parents’ house. I felt the same way not too long ago. Ari also told me that Rory and Julia had been fighting over the issue of living in L.A. quite a bit and I would be wise not to mention the apartment or L.A. to them at all.

We arrived on campus and Ari knew right where to go. He helped Rory move the month before and made several trips back and forth from Dana Point to Los Angeles. Julia was waiting for us when we arrived and she excitedly gave me a tour of their place. The apartment she and Rory had was nice, small but still nice. She decorated
every room with her own unique, girly style and it seemed like home to her. The only thing I noticed that belonged to Rory was his surfboard. It sat propped up in a corner in their bedroom. I think Julia would have to pry Rory’s board from his cold, dead hands. And at times I think she would be happy to do so. I kept my comments about their place neutral. I was afraid to say much. Rory and Julia’s relationship was at times tumultuous and argumentative.

After the tour of the new apartment, we went to dinner at Eveleigh on Sunset Boulevard, with its local-farm menu and outdoor dining patio, and Rory entertained us with an endless supply of funny stories about growing up with Ari. Halfway through our meal, two women approached our table. They had smiles on their faces. “Excuse me,” The first woman said, “I don
’t mean to be rude but aren’t you Ava?”

I looked at them with a questioning look on my face. I was trying to place the two. I was trying to figure out how I should know them.
Looking over to Ari, I hoped he knew them somehow; my memory still was not what it should have been.

“Yes,” Ari spoke up. “She is Ava. But we are eating dinner with our family.”

“We love
baio
, we just want a quick picture, please!” The second girl said with a whine.

“I
’m sorry, no.” Ari said curtly.

Ari signaled for our waiter, the women got the cue that he was going to get management and they scampered
away.

I looked at their hasty departure, dumbfounded. “What was that all about?”

“Don’t worry about them, Baby. They recognized you from the magazine articles from when you were missing. This will all blow over.”

“Oh…”
I rolled my eyes. I was used to having admirers approach the table whenever I was with Margaux. She is a fashion icon. People adore her and whenever she makes a nasty, belligerent scene they seem to love and praise her even more. I, on the other hand, am not at all used to anyone knowing who I am, let alone them wanting to be near me.

After dinner, we made our journey up the road to see
Miike Snow.
Rory drank, perhaps a bit too much, and he made Julia angry by saying, for the third time that night, how much he hated L.A. By the time the show was over, they had quit speaking to one another, which was nice because it meant they were no longer screaming. The hour was so late when the concert ended that Ari and I decided to crash together on Rory’s lumpy couch.

I was a little grouchier than usual because August had called me as soon as we got to Rory
’s place after the concert and I had stayed up a bit talking with him. He was making headway on jobs in California. I had no idea what he was looking for career wise, but I missed him and I was ready for him to come home. I told him he could probably land a job with Margaux. I was sure she could find something for him to do...but he laughed and said he would never work for her again as long as he lives. I found his vehemence funny; he was my in home professor when I lived in London. Margaux hired him but the two of them had not actually met until I had already graduated and he was no longer working for her.

Julia and Rory rode back to Dana Point with us; Ari had offered to give them a ride back Monday on his way to class. Ari turned
The Cold War Kids
up to max sound to help drown out the annoying sounds Rory and Julia arguing in the backseat about living in L.A.

Lauren came home from school and we all spent the afternoon at Aggie and Andy
’s. Lauren told us all about her suite mate, Jen and her classes. She announced that she had made the school’s dance team and that she had also met a boy, Luke. Andy congratulated her on the dance team but then quickly turned into the overly concerned father and asked her dozens of questions pertaining to the new boy in his young daughter’s life. I’ll admit it was fun to watch her squirm, especially since I am usually the one who is blushing with embarrassment.

The house was full of the usual Sunday afternoon guests. Aggie and Andy
’s friends, Ophelia and Pete had come over and brought with them their baby, Stella. Ari’s eyes lit up when Ophelia carried Stella through the doorway. He instantly stood up and held out his arms to hold her.

“Ari, I get to hold her when you are done!” Aggie
hollered at Ari as he walked away, cooing to the little baby. “Ophelia, why did you pass her to Ari first? You know he is a baby hog!” Aggie complained.

Ignoring
his mother, Ari played with the baby all afternoon. I watched him from the sidelines for a bit then moved over to the piano bench. I played half a song. The deep gash on my wrist had injured a nerve and because of the injury, my fingers could not keep up with my brain. My playing the piano was no longer soothing but rather frustrating and maddening. I closed the lid and moved back to my spot on Aggie’s sofa.

“Stella is the descendant of Erinyes.” Ari looked up at me as he spoke. “Erinyes means
“The Avenger” and is sometimes referred to as an infernal goddess. Essentially, Erinyes punishes anyone who has sworn a false oath.” He looked back down at the sweet little baby and tickled her belly causing a giant giggle to erupt from her lips.  “Stella’s duty as deity may be difficult, but it is an honor to her, she is happy and blessed, Ava, she is not burdened.” 

I frowned at the story and a
fter a while, Ari stood up and tried to pass Stella along to me. “Oh, no,” repelling my body backwards in my seat, I waved my hands to and fro. “I don’t hold babies, Ari.”

Ari
ignored my frantic plea and placed the baby in my lap anyway. Stella began to fuss almost immediately and I called for Aggie. She swooped in to save the day and quickly snatched the baby from my lap. Ari shook his head back and forth at me incredulously.

Later, w
e ate dinner and Ari held Stella on his knee. She was eating table food so Ari kept sneaking her bits of his peas and mashed potatoes. It was really cute to watch Ari be so entertained and captured by such a sweet little baby.

At the end of the evening, we walked the short distance home on the sandy beach. Ari held my hand and walked slow
ly. “How are you feeling?” He asked out of nowhere.

I shrugged, “fine, I guess.”

“Are you healing ok? How is your hand?”

“My hand still hurts. My head hurts from time to time but I
’m fine.”

“What about your ribs and your wrist?”

“Ari, I am fine.”

Ari
’s jaw clenched. I wasn’t being honest with him and he knew it. I was still in some pain and at times, my headaches would be blinding and nearly unbearable. My side hurt when I took in deep breaths and my wrist was tender. I still had a certain amount of difficulty when I tried to move my fingers.

“Have you had anymore memories of when you were missing?”

“No, I haven’t.” And that was the truth, I really had not had any more flashbacks of when I had been missing.

“Not that you would tell me about them anyway.” Ari said in a clipped tone as we reached the door. I stood in the threshold and watched him walk coolly away through the house without another word.

Upset by Ari’s comment, I retreated to the shower scrubbing my skin with force as his words made me angrier and angrier. When I emerged a half hour later, my skin was red and raw. Ari was waiting for me in the bedroom on the other side of the bathroom door. He immediately took me in his arms and pushed my body up against the wall. His lips pressed hard against mine. His tongue forced its self into my mouth. My body responded to his advance hastily. I kissed Ari back and my fingers worked hard on undoing the buttons on his shirt. He moved his hands down my body and griped me on my bottom lifting me up. No words were exchanged. We were breathless and our skin was wet with our sweat. When the time came, I clamped my teeth down hard on Ari’s arm.

After the unexpected burst of passion, Ari lay me down next to him in the bed. He ran his fingers against my swollen lips.

“Hi.” He whispered.

I looked up at him from under my lashes, “hi.”

“I am sorry for getting upset with you, Ava. It’s just… I worry so much about you. You were missing for so long. I thought I would never see you again. I want you to be honest with me in all things. I know you aren’t fine so don’t say that you are.”

“I am getting better, Ari. I really am.”

“I can see that you are getting better, Baby. You look healthier and healthier each day, your marks are fading, your cheeks are full and rosy again. But I can tell you are still in pain. I can tell that certain things bother you more than you let on. I know your fingers don’t work as fast as they used to and you can’t play the piano like you once could and I know that it frustrates you. I can tell. I watch you more than you know.”

Ari tapped his finger on my temple, “I worry about what
’s in here. You have experienced more darkness and evil than anyone should ever be allowed. I don’t know how you are able to deal with all you have seen and done. I wish I knew what you went through.”

I promised myself that I would never tell Ari the horror I had experienced in killing the Kakos. The images haunt my mind - both awake and in dreams. I had a gut wrenching feeling that my work with The Kakos was not yet done. There was something deep down inside me that
was telling to stay alert and vigilant. 

Chapter 8

Surprise

On Monday morning, Ari left for Pepperdine with Julia and Rory, still fighting, in the SUV
’s back seat. Pouring myself into old news articles that mentioned the Kakos, I tried to see who else could be out there intending to do me harm. I was putting together a list of people who had worked with or for the Kakos over the years. Surely, close associates might hold some kind of grudge against me.

I was becoming quite frustrated with myself for not being able to remember clearly the events of the week that I had been with No. 6. I still had
no clue how I had suffered some of my injuries. My ribs had been broken; there were rope burns around my neck and a slash, now scarred over, on my wrist. How these injuries had been inflicted, I had no idea.

I did eventually remember putting my Cubs shirt on for my run the day of my kidnapping; it was long gone. I had already replaced my cell phone and the bloody shoes my rescuers had found in the basement where I was tortured. Ari found my cell on the beach, the day I went missing, a mile and a half from our home, where I had been abducted. It had died a
salt-water death.

Ari did not feel comfortable with me running by myself anymore and with Rory living in L.A. I couldn
’t count on him to be my partner. Ari ran with me sometimes. He was actually just as fast as and possibly more athletic than Rory, but he enjoyed activities he saw as more fun than running for miles on a hot, sandy beach, activities like surfing.

He bought me a membership to a local fitness club so that I could keep up my daily running routine, a nice gesture, though I was going to mis
s running outside. But my saner-self told me the gym would be a safer place to run and so I took the membership with gratitude. Ari didn’t know yet that I suspected someone else existed who sought my demise, someone biding his time, waiting for me to slip up so he could kill me. Ari was worried about regular crazy Californians and I was worried about much more.

I went to the gym every morning after Ari headed out to class or work. Aggie and Gianna went to the gym, too, so I rode along with them. I thought again about calling Margaux about getting my car back. I had a nostalgic fondness for it and wanted it, though buying something
new would have been simpler than dealing with the devil, Margaux.

Aggie and Gianna went with me to the gym, but they didn
’t do much working out. They were there for the socializing that went on at the fruit bar. I got a kick out of seeing them standing around and gossiping, but in all fairness I must say that they sometimes joined me at the treadmill station for a...slow walk. There they could continue their gossipy chatter and never break a sweat.

After a particularly pathetic morning at the gym, I sent a text to Margaux asking how much she wanted for my car and she quickly replied with the price. I choked on my granola, took five minutes to regain my composure and then sent a text back.

We negotiated the price of my car, Margaux and I, for about an hour before we settled on a number and then I told her I would send the cash with Ari on Thursday. Rory and Julia could drive the car back home on the weekend.

At that point, Margaux gave up on the texting and called me.

“The price is fine, Ava dear, but I will be out of town for a couple of weeks. Is there any way you can just wait? I won’t see Ari again until I return.”

“So Ari will be off work for two weeks?” I asked, any thoughts about the car flying from my mind.

“Yes, that’s what I said isn’t it?” she snapped with her usual lack of grace.

“Does he know you
’ll be gone?”

Margaux sighed as if I were wasting her time.

“I don’t know, Ava. I have no idea if Delia has spoken with him yet and I don’t care.”

“Margaux,” I said, “I will get you the cash for the car as soon as you come back from your trip, but please do me a favor and tell Delia not to tell Ari that he will be off for two weeks, okay?”

“Whatever, Ava,” she said, and then hung up the phone.

I was looking forward to spending the next
two weeks with Ari and no work. I racked my brain for something fun I could surprise him with; classes weren’t being held the next week either and I wanted to do something special for him. I was playing around on the internet, looking into concerts and gigs, but no one we really liked was touring this fall and the locals weren’t names I knew, so I closed my old MacBook just as my phone started ringing.

The number was from Montréal, so I answered it and found François, the caretaker of my childhood home, on the other end of the line. My mother had left my home to me when she passed. Ari and I stayed there together with August, Rory and Julia the past summer, before our wedding. Before we left, I packed up the house and had François list the home on the market. He phoned to say that I had received a cash offer on the house and wanted my opinion and possibly a response. I put him on hold and went to dig out the house
’s paperwork. I looked through the figures and decided the offer was a fair one, very close to what I was asking and I told him to go ahead and accept it. He emailed me the documents a few hours later and I signed them, scanned them in, and emailed them back. I asked him to have the money put into my Montréal account and thanked him for all of his help.

I spent Wednesday
catching up on household chores, listening to
Lily Allen
as I worked. The house was in pretty good shape. Most of the time I was the only one there and I tend to be clean and tidy. Nevertheless, the mundane duties of dishes and laundry could not be ignored any longer.

When Ari got home from work, I told him about the sale of the Montréal house and we went out to dinner to celebrate. Ari and I had not been out of the neighborhood together since we spent the evening in L.A with Rory and Julia. Ari was a bit apprehensive about going out
in public. He hated it when people came up to me more than I did. I reassured him that everything would be fine. I had gone to the gym and the market with Aggie dozens of times and no one said a word to me. And no one approached Ari and me while at dinner either. We had a quiet time in Dana Point and it was nice and relaxing.

  Later, I helped Ari with some research for a paper he was writing for his political science class. He finished up and emailed the document to his professor around ten o
’clock and then went to bed.

I couldn
’t sleep so I grabbed my phone off the charger and went out to the sun porch to call August. His phone rang for a while.

“
Allo
?” August finally answered, sounding annoyed.

“
August, allo! C’est ici Ava. Comment ça va? Que fais-tu
?” I asked.

“It
’s six o’clock in the morning, Ava. What the hell do you think I’m doing?”

“Right, sorry, I
’ll talk to you later I guess.”

“No, it
’s fine,” his tone softened. “I actually need to get up; what’s going on?”

I found it a bit strange that he jumped right into English as soon as he knew it was me. Since I grew up in Montréal, I learned French as a first language. August is Parisian and prefers to speak in French, even though he is more or less fluent in half a dozen other languages, English included. I could hear someone
’s voice in the background but I chose to ignore it and carried on with our conversation.

“I dunno,” I said running my fingers through my hair, “I guess I just miss you that
’s all.”

“Aw… listen to you, Ava, going all soft on me.”

“Hardly! So when are you coming back to California?”

“Well,” he said, drawling it out, “I accepted a teaching job at your old school in Dana Point and I start next month. I
’m leaving for Greece in a few days and then I am going to fly out from there to L.A. in a week.”

“A week!” I shouted. “When did you plan to tell us?”

“Ha, well Ari and I were going to surprise you. So don’t tell him you know I am coming or he will kill me. I need to stay on Ari’s good side so I can live in that awesome house of yours.”

I smiled in to phone. “How about we trick Ari and the two of us surprise him instead.”

“
Oui
!” August said, excitedly.

I powered on Ari
’s iPad and, with August’s help, I booked a flight that would leave for Greece the next day. Then I made reservations at a B&B in Athens and even managed to get us on the same flight home that August would be on. I was excited to surprise Ari with our impromptu vacation in the morning.

Rory and Julia had had a knock-down drag-out and he had been staying with his family for the last week. I sent him a text asking him to pick Ari and me up at seven the next morning to take us to the airport. I called Aggie and told her my plan and she agreed to bring Ari
’s passport over in the morning along with a guide to Greece she said I could borrow.

I got busy packing all of our things without waking Ari. Thankfully, most of our clothes were still folded and stacked in the laundry room so I just moved them straight into our suitcase. Once my preparations were done and our bags were packed, I had a few hours to spare so I curled up in Ari
’s arms. He blinked his eyes a few times, smiled and kissed my forehead before drifting off back to sleep.

I woke up what felt like only minutes later to Ari
’s alarm. His alarm is set daily for quarter to six. Ari pushes snooze at
least
three times each morning. I shut the alarm off before Ari stirred and snuck into the bathroom. I took a shower and did my hair and makeup. I wrapped myself into a towel and opened the door to our room to hunt down some clothes that weren’t already packed away in my luggage.

Ari was just starting to wake up
, he stretched and yawned.

“Morning,” he smiled, tugging on the hem of my towel, bringing me closer and closer to him
in bed.

“Morning,” I smiled back, barely able to hide my excitement. Ari kept pulling on my towel, one gentle tug at a time. As soon as I reached
his side, he gave my towel one final pull, causing it to fall unceremoniously to the floor. He hooked his hand around my thigh and brought me onto the bed with him, while he covered me with kisses. I giggled at his playful mood and Ari’s eyes turned dark, my body to tingle with heat. Rolling me over, Ari locked my wrists in his hands and held them tightly on the pillow above my head. With a mischievous grin on his face, he wanted to play and it was clear that he was up to no good. Holding his body away from me, depriving me of his touch and his skin, my need for him grew deeper. Our breathing turned heavy. The heat in my body began to spread like wildfire. When I was sure I was going to explode into fireworks, my eyes searched for something to bite down on; Ari’s eyes twinkled with excitement and he gripped my wrists even harder. “Let me hear it,” he whispered in a husky plea. I couldn’t hold back anymore, my body melted into pleasure and screaming out, I did as he asked then Ari followed after me.

Triumphant, Ari
finally let go of my arms and settled back down next to me. I rolled around to face him; his eyes were bright, and his smile was huge.

“You did that on purpose.”

“Guilty as charged, but it was worth every sound.”

“Yeah, it was.”

I looked past him and happened to see the time on our bedroom TV –
7:15!

“Oh, no!” I exclaimed. “We
’re going to be late!”

“No, it
’s fine, I have time,” Ari said, thinking he had to be at
baio
at nine thirty.

“I could even call in sick,” he said hopefully. “I still haven
’t found that third freckle, Baby. I could excavate all morning.”

“You can
’t,” I jumped out of bed. “I have a surprise for you.”

I tossed him a pair of jeans, a button-down shirt and a pair of loafers. I threw on a light dress with a cardigan and my
baio
mocs.

“What is it?” He asked following me out of our room and
down the staircase into the kitchen.

Unfortunately, the first surprise was for me! I stopped short when I saw Rory leaning back against the counter, eating an apple, trying to mask the smirk on his face.

“Oh, my God!” I said for the second time that morning.

Rory put his hand up to stop me.

“Please, Ava, don’t remind me,” he laughed.

I was absolutely mortified.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Ari asked Rory.

“I
’m taking your ungrateful behind to the airport,” Rory said, hurt by Ari’s lack of appreciation.

On the table sat a Greece guidebook and a passport
.

“Oh, my God,” I cried, holding up the book.

“Seriously, Ava, stop,” Rory laughed and I hit his shoulder with the book.

“Was Aggie here?” I asked completely humiliated.

“Oh yeah, she was here alright,” he smiled. “Told me to tell you to have nice trip.” I shuddered with embarrassment.