A Promised Fate (36 page)

“Baby, what’s wrong?” I saw her straight away, as
soon as I opened the bedroom door. She was perched in bed, on top
of the blankets with dewy eyes. Her hands rested on either side of
her cute baby bump. “Are you okay? Is it the baby?” At the very end
of September, we were three short weeks away from the baby’s due
date.

“You are such a good father to him.”

My eyes narrowed and Ava’s head tilted in the
direction of Max’s monitor where a small green light glowed from
the on switch.

“Ah. You heard
La Lune
, huh? Did I butcher
it?”

“You didn’t butcher the story at all. I love hearing
the two of you together. It makes me really happy.”

I took my place in bed beside her and pressed a kiss
to Ava’s temple. “We need to talk.”

She nodded.

“What do you know about the Ziloti, Ava?”

“I really don't know much about them at all.”

“How have you heard of them before? Tell me what you
know.”

“I found some information about them last year when I
was researching everything I could on The Kakos, trying to figure
out who No. 7 could be. Andy suggested to me that I look into the
Ziloti for clues. They are a group of Kakos cohorts. He passed
along a list of names for me to look through. There were about
twenty people on the sheet, most from the Chicago area. I told you
about it – remember? Dr. Steven Spruce was a Ziloti, he is the man
who killed my mother.”

“I remember. Do you still have the list?”

“No. I had the paper folded away in the journal and
it has gone missing.”

“Damn.”

“Ari, I researched every name on that list. Most of
the Ziloti on it were very old men, a lot of them had already died,
some were in prison serving life sentences and a few were living
double lives throughout the county and one or two of them had moved
on to Europe. They didn’t pose a threat to me. None of them did.
Believe me, I looked, I checked everything. From what I gathered,
Ziloti are the people who sided with The Kakos – so, for instance,
my father was a Ziloti and so were Julia’s parents. When my father
and when Julia’s parents tried to sever ties with The Ziloti, they
were murdered.

“That’s it. That's who is after you. This group, The
Ziloti, they want you. You killed The Kakos, their leaders, and now
they are after you for revenge.”

“I don’t think anyone is after me, Ari.”

“It’s obvious that someone is after you, Ava. Our
house was broken in to twice,
Jesus Christ
, that poor cat!
They had our house bugged! They’ve been watching you.”

“If someone wanted me, Ari, then why haven’t they
tried yet? I am just sitting here – pregnant and defenseless. If
someone is trying to choose my fate, I would be the first to
know.”

“Are there more of them? Are there more members of
this group that weren’t on the list?”

“I can only assume that there are. Your father
provided me with just those twenty names but this is a highly
secretive cult-like society of people. We may never know who is
really a member and who isn’t.”

“How did my dad know?”

“Umm… He had a friend who was providing him with the
information. Andy never said who that person was that was helping
him but the man sent him the names and Andy forwarded the documents
to my email.”

“Your email!” Do you still have it?”

“No.” She chewed a lip. “I deleted everything after
the research was done. I didn’t know how closely No. 7 was watching
me. I thought I was playing things safe that way. I printed the
documents and put them in my mother’s journal. I didn’t think
anything would happen to that silly journal.”

My cell phone was on the nightstand. Scooping it up,
I dialed my dad.

“Ari,” he answered, “is everything alright?”

“Yeah, hey, I wanted to talk to you about
something.”

“What’s on your mind?”

“I need you to tell me about The Ziloti. I need to
know what you know. I think they may be the ones behind all this. I
think they may after Ava.”

“Shhh, Ari,” he whispered.

“What?”

In a louder voice he went on, “Your mother is looking
forward to the gala this weekend. She said she was helping Ava
earlier today.”

“What?”

“We will see you both this weekend. Give Ava my
love...” and then he hung up.

“What did he say?”

“Nothing.”

“Nothing?” Her face scrunched.

The panic buzzed through me, a shooting wave of
nerves like a warning. Something was happening. Something bad and
my father knew it.

“Run away with me, Ava.”

“Are you okay, Ari?”

“As long as I have you, I am fine. Let’s disappear.
We have three weeks. We can stay here until the baby comes, but we
need to start arranging it now. We can get everything together and
no one will know. Once it's safe for you and the baby to travel, we
will go.”

“
No!
What are you talking about?”

“We aren’t safe here. I don’t know what's going on,
but I know that we aren’t safe.”

“What about your family? We can’t leave them.”

“I love them, but you are my family now. My promises
belong to only you. My heart belongs to only you, Max and our baby.
You’re my nucleus. We need to leave.”

“Where will we go?”

“Wherever you would like. Tell me where you would
go.”

Her eyes narrowed with the furrow in her brow.

“Don’t be scared. This doesn’t have to be scary.
Let’s play a game… Just close your eyes and think about where you
would go in life if nothing were holding you here. Okay? Just a
game…”

“Okay.” She nodded and closed her eyes. “Um, first, I
would go to Greece.”

“Greece?”

“Yeah. Definitely Greece. We would spend a year there
in the little house where Maya lived with Max. We could experience
the culture first hand and learn the real spoken language. Then we
could spend some time on the Isle of Hydra. We would live like the
islanders – with no cars, internet or TV. We would get our dry
goods delivered to us on the back of a pack mule and you would fish
and we would eat your day’s catch for dinner every night.”

“Good. Then what?”

“I want to go to Spain.” Her eyes sparkled with a
little excitement. “I want to stare out at the Rocks of Gibraltar
from my bedroom window. The Barbary apes will climb up to our
balcony and sneak pieces of our breakfast when we aren’t
looking.”

“I like that.”

“After Gibralter, we would move along to Croatia. You
would teach Max how to sail and we would live on a big, beautiful
yacht just off the coast.”

“You're afraid of the water, Ava.” My lips pecked her
forehead.

“I'm not afraid of anything when I'm with you.”

“Good.”

“We would do the Pilgrimage to Santiago de
Compostela. We would spend our Christmases in Paris and our New
Year's Eves at a quiet cottage in Wales. We’d visit Vienna and
watch an Opera in the park and then bring freshly cut roses to
Sisi’s tomb in Austria. I want to push the baby in a stroller down
a patch of The Great Wall of China while you carry Max on your
shoulders and I want to take them to the hidden beach in the
Marieta Islands in Mexico. We would see the pyramids, the Galapagos
Islands and gaze upon the Northern lights. We would do whatever we
wanted.”

“Let’s go, Ava. We can do all of that.”

“Our leaving would break your mother’s heart. We have
a life here. Max is happy here. I am happy here. We are settled,
Ari. I love this house, this room, this life. I don’t think I can
leave it.”

“My mother will understand. She ran away from her own
family, remember? She understands love and sacrifice better than
most. We'll be happy anywhere, Ava, as long we're together. I
promised you that I would keep you safe. That is my duty and
leaving here is the only thing that we can do to keep you away from
harm.”

She stared out of the window at the dark beach.

“Ok.” Her decision made her sad.

“Greece?”

“Greece,” she nodded.

The weekend of the
House to Home
Fundraiser
had arrived. Ava had been working tirelessly on the event for
nearly a year. She had gone above and beyond my father’s
expectations by organizing a charity dinner to be held at a
prominent gallery in L.A. She persuaded several distinguished
photographers to donate some of their work for a silent auction.
She had raffle prizes that included a hot air balloon ride, dinner
for six at one of L.A.’s hottest new restaurants, and a five
thousand dollar shopping spree at
baio
. The list, it seemed,
was endless. She booked an MC, a string quartet and also a DJ for
later in the evening. The guest list Ava was able to comprise was
quite impressive and included socialites, actors, musicians and
politicians.

House to Home
was founded by Ava’s
grandfather, Perry Baio, and designed by him to focus on inner-city
youth. The charity's resources, both man hours and money, are used
for working with the community to provide education and cultural
upbringing for kids who are in danger of turning to gangs,
prostitution and drug abuse. The center works hard at fixing a
severely broken system, removing kids from dangerous settings and
putting them into safer, more enriching and stable environments.
The night was sure to be entertaining and I was looking forward to
going just as much, if not more, than Ava was.

Ava walked down the stairs in our home and a low
whistle pushed from my lungs and through my lips.

“You are absolutely stunning.”

A simple black cocktail dress clung expertly to her
every smooth and perfect curve. Her waves were pinned back and
tucked away from her lovely face and bounced down the bend of her
spine. Her baby bump was full, round and right there for all to
see. There was no hiding the fact that she was very pregnant and
due any day.

Ava beamed up at me. “Are you sure this dress is ok?”
She moved her hands down to the hem. “It’s not too short?”

My gaze eased down her smooth, tan legs. Despite her
pregnancy, Ava paired the dress with tall and sleek Christian
Louboutins. I wanted nothing more than to rip everything except for
those shoes off her body and spend the rest of the evening locked
away in our bedroom.

Closing my eyes, I swallowed and smiled. “Of course I
am sure. You are beautiful, Ava. How many times do I need to tell
you before you believe me?”

She held up the
Harry Winston
pendant necklace
I had given her. “Will you?”

“I’d be honored.” I motioned with my finger for her
to turn around and I clasped the necklace around her slender neck.
Not able to resist, I made a trail of kisses from her ear down to
the dip in her shoulder. My fingers cruised down her left arm,
taking her hand in mine, I turned her back around and kissed her
softly on the lips.

Ava let out an unsteady breath from between her
cheeks. “Are you ready to go?” She straightened the knot in my tie
and ran the palms of her hands down my chest, smoothing my vest and
dinner jacket.

“I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.”

Max sat at the dining room table with Lauren and
Luke. He pushed asparagus around on his plate with his fork.

Ava kissed the top of his head. “Goodbye sweet boy, I
love you.”

Max crossed his arms over his chest with a
humph
. He was upset to see us go.

“Lauren,” Ava started. “He gets one thirty-minute
cartoon, nothing more. Read him as many books as he’d like. No
sugar and only water after seven, but make sure he potties twice
before bed…”

“Okay, Ava, chill. I've already read your booklet on
the dos and don’ts of babysitting Max. And I've watched him all
summer long; I think Luke and I can handle a couple of hours alone
with a two year old. We’ve got this.”

“He’s three, Lauren.” Ava rolled her eyes at my
sister.

“Same difference.”

“No parties and do not allow anyone into our home,
even if you know the person – no one gets in. Not tonight. Don’t
let the cat in the house – Ari’s allergic – and don’t allow Max out
by the pool by himself,” Ava warned.

“Whatever, we won’t.”

“And don’t make out with each other in our bedroom or
I will kill you,” I added.

“AH! You are
so
embarrassing!! Just leave
already, Ari. You are so incredibly gross ... ignore my brother,
Luke, he’s an idiot.”

Luke's cheeks had turned pink and he shoved his hands
deeply into his pockets.

“Seriously though, Luke, we have cameras everywhere
and if I catch you doing anything below the belt with my little
sister, I will freaking kill you. Got it?”

“Uh, yeah. I think I’ve got it.”

“Good.” I slapped his shoulder. “Have fun.”

Ava fiddled with a curl in her hair. She was nervous
about leaving Max for the evening. She worried about him falling
asleep and having a nightmare. She didn’t want him to wake up and
not have either of us there to comfort him.

“Please call me, Lauren, if he screams,” Ava’s tone
was somber and serious.

“I will, I promise, Ava.”

I kissed Max goodbye and ushered Ava out of the door
before she could change her mind about leaving him.

Cruising smoothing through town and onto the highway,
I reached across the center console to take her hand and linked
Ava’s fingers with my own. Bringing our hands to my mouth, I kissed
each of her fingertips. Ava was quiet on our drive up to Los
Angeles. She was nervous. With her gaze fixed on the blurred lines
and colors outside the window, she was lost somewhere deep in the
webbing of her intricate mind.

“Tell me what you are thinking.” I squeezed her
palm.

“Nothing really.”

“Don’t shut me out, Ava.”

“I’m thinking about Greece. I’m nervous about
leaving.” She started to pick at the polish from her fresh manicure
and I stopped her from chipping away at the pretty, light pink
color.