Beautiful Innocence (21 page)

I wedge my way onto his lap and curl around him, wrapping my arms around his neck. “With you. I want to take a bath with you.”

He moans softly as he swipes the fallen hair from my face and slides it over my shoulder. “Ava, I want to, but I need to think everything through.”

I grab his chin, forcing him to look into my eyes. “It’s been five days since I’ve been home and you haven’t touched me. Why?”

His beautiful blue eyes roam my face.

“At first because you were hurt, but now…I don’t know. I want so badly to just lie naked and hold on to you and never leave our room, but I’m afraid to lose myself so completely in you that if something happens…” He swallows and turns his face.

I grab it back and kiss his lips. “I trust you. But right now I need you to make love to me.”

He sighs so heavily it hurts my heart.

“I’m scared too, Josh, but maybe if we just get lost in each other for tonight it’ll stop us from worrying so much. I need you and I know you need me right now.”

He doesn’t say anything. He just continues to stare into my eyes. His gaze falls to my mouth. His thumb glides over my lips and circles my chin, lifting it slowly until his mouth presses against mine. It’s barely a kiss as he brushes over my lips, like he’s afraid that if he really kisses me one of us will break. It’s absolutely most precious thing my heart has ever felt. I can literally feel his love in that kiss.

I reach around and pull myself up and sit on top of him, pushing him back on the sofa. His hands come up and he cups my face on either side and shakes his head softly. “I love you so much, Ava. I just got you, babe, and I’m so scared.”

I peck his lips, and then press my forehead against his. “I love you, too. Now please take me to bed. I’m not afraid with you keeping me safe. I trust you.”

He finally kisses me the way I’ve been waiting for since I got home. He scoots up and hoists me into his arms, carrying me to our room. He places me down on the floor, facing him. His forehead comes down on mine, but his eyes stay trained on my shirt as he unbuttons each button so painfully slow that I want to cry at how gentle and tender he’s being.

Carefully he works my shirt over my shoulders and then lifts my tank top over my head. He places one soft kiss on my neck before sinking down onto his knees. His hands reach around until they’re on my ass, hauling me forward to his mouth. He presses a kiss to my stomach, then lowers the zipper to my shorts inch by inch with his hand until I feel him wiggling them lower and they’re resting on my ankles. Another kiss, but this time on the material of my panties as his fingers trace the lace on either side, running his hands down my legs and lifting one foot at a time out of my shorts.

He trails a long line of kisses up from my ankle to my thigh, running his tongue along the seam of my panties. I hear him take a deep breath before he tugs them down too. He skims his tongue over my belly button and peeks up, granting me a very lazy, sexy smile that melts my heart. Bit by bit he works his way until his mouth is devouring mine, savoring this moment.

He’s moving so leisurely that it’s like torture, but I can tell he needs and wants to take his time, so I let him. I reach down and take the hem of his shirt and break away from his mouth to lift it over his head for only a second. He pushes me tenderly onto the bed, watching me as he slips out of his jeans and boxer briefs.

“We’re taking this real slow, babe. I want it to last all night.”

Happily I nod. He can take it as slowly as he wants, just as long as he takes me.

The pounding on the front door wakes us. The clock reads just after six in the morning. Josh opens the door to greet his brothers and two FBI agents who are here to run over all the details of today’s mission. My heart is my throat as they rattle on about silencers and scopes for the guns and positions they’ll be taking. I sit on the couch and listen as I drink my coffee.

“Ma’am?”

I look up. “David’s car was driven to Washington yesterday. The scheduled agents and the people in the mission will be flying into D.C. Once we land, David will drive his car with you tied up in the back while Josh Woods lies on the floor for your protection, in case David decides to nix the plan. It shouldn’t take longer than an hour, depending on traffic. We don’t think David will deviate from said plan. He wants his brother safe real bad. Dane and three agents will be posted in different positions surrounding the dock where you’re scheduled to meet them. The goal is for David to take you out of the car and bring you aboard the boat in exchange for the money. We need the exchange or to hear them discuss the actual sale to happen in order to bring everyone down. Do you understand so far?”

I remain quiet, but nod, watching Josh’s face as he take it all in. This is what he was so deep in thought about yesterday. He knew what I was going to have to do in order to beat them at their nasty game.

“Miss Barry, not one person will get to you before we get them. David is the only one who will touch you. He’s under orders to walk you in himself, regardless of Roger’s orders or Alex Water’s. David called them last night from the station and told them he had you and is on his way. They are expecting you to be handed off at 1300 hours.”

Dane looks over to Josh. “We need to move, Josh. Now!”

“Okay, yeah.” He runs his hands over his face like he’s scrubbing away any bad vibes he’s thinking. “Just give us a minute, will ya?”

We wait until the four men step outside.

He grabs me and holds me a tight bear hug, saying my name over and over. “You can still back out. I want you to back out, Ava.”

I shake his idea off. “No.”

He pulls my face to his. “Okay, if that’s what you want. Just promise me you’ll keep safe, no matter what you hear or see, Ava. If I get hurt and you have a chance to run—you take it. Do you hear me? Promise me right now, baby, otherwise I’m not risking this.”

“I will. I promise, Joshua.”

“Good girl.” He presses his lips firmly against mine and then exhales. “Let’s go nail these bastards.”

I smile back, hiding my undeniable fear and doing my best to hide the fact that I would never run away from him if he got hurt. I can’t live without him. If he goes, I go right along with him.

JOSH

The short flight to D.C is so tense and so horridly quiet I almost tell them all to go fuck themselves and plan on stealing her away the minute we land when I see Ava shaking, but doing a bang up job of trying to hide it.

Dane notices how edgy and apprehensive I am and leans over the aisle. We’re in a plane owned by the FBI that holds no more than twelve people. Ava is gripping my hands tightly, but hasn’t said a word. She just keeps looking out the window beside her. Dane sits next to us while the rest of the group goes over the plan with David.

“There’s only one thing you need to think of and that’s Ava and what they
fucking
want to do to her, what they want to do to girls like Belly and Lily. You need to stay focused, man.”

I nod, knowing he’s right. It’s not just Ava. It is today, but who will be in trouble tomorrow or the next day and the day after that? The stats we found on sex trafficking on Google were mind blowing. I had no idea how many girls as young as twelve are being abused on a daily basis, hundreds of times a day, a fucking day. And I was set on Ava never knowing what those fuckers have planned for her. I lost.

Once we land, David is put in his car, with a tracking device under the hood of the vehicle. Ava has one, too, just in case.

I insist on being the one who ties Ava up, so it doesn’t hurt her. She smiles at me. “It’s okay. Just do it.” She turns and I loosely wrap the rope around her and tie it in a slight knot, pressing a kiss to her shoulder to let her know I’m done.

One car will take Dane, along with the agents to get in place. And another tails the car we’re in. It’s only ten in the morning, allowing us three hours to position ourselves appropriately. I didn’t want to tie her up too early, but they insisted as a precautionary that someone could be watching. They take off in a big black Suburban like a bat out of hell, heading North, while David takes his time driving with me lying down in the back.

It’s almost impossible for me to sit in the same car with him without taking my hands and wringing his neck to the point he stops breathing after what he did to her, but I know I can’t. She needs for me to hold on to my anger to save her. I hold her feet in my hands, rubbing them every few minutes to remind her I’m down here and with her. She smiles lazily down to me just as often as I smile up to her trying to ease her fear. If she has any she isn’t showing it.

David remains disengaged throughout the car ride, which is probably a good thing at this point. I don’t need a reminder that he’s this close to her. Not one word is spoken. A few deep relaxation breaths come from up front, but that’s it. It’s not until I feel the car slowing down that he does talk. “We’re at a light. We have no more then ten minutes left, so, Ava, if you could stop eye-fucking your boyfriend I’d appreciate it, considering if someone’s watching they’ll catch on.”

I slam my elbow into the back of his seat. He grunts. I look up at Ava. “Hey, down here, baby. Look at me one last time.”

She does and those damn eyes cut through me as I notice the tears. “Just remember that I love you and I got you. I promise.”

“You, too.” She nods, but looks quickly back up and despite her calm tone, I can tell she’s holding on by a very thin thread.

David slips into a parking lot and leaves the car running. No one is speaking, only the sound of the three of us breathing can be heard. David’s cell rings and he places it on his blue tooth speaker for me to hear sometime later. “I trust you have her?”

“Yep. We’re solid. I had her write a Dear John to her aunt to throw them off. She’s tied up in the back of the car. Where do you want me to bring her?”

“Change of plans.”

My heart stops, and I can see the fear crash over her face.

“Okay, what’s the deal now?” David asks.

“The buyer’s in place and waiting. He needs to get out an hour earlier than we had scheduled. So we’re on our way to you. We’ll be pulling up to you in a few. Meet Alex and me on the docks. You will hand her off to me. Alex will get the money once he makes sure we are making good on the promise of her status.”

“What status would that be?”

“What status do you think? He has some fucking doctor friend who is getting a very nicely padded envelope to make sure she’s as clean and pure as I promised.”

My stomach clenches and I want to puke. How can people do this shit? I look up, wrapping my arms around her ankles, but she’s refusing to look down at me and I know it’s because she’s afraid. I can hear her crying now, instead of just seeing a tear or two. And I’m desperate to throw the whole operation out the window and take her far away from any of this bullshit. At this point I’m ready to move to fucking Fiji to keep her away.

“Then what?”

“Then we go live large, while they ride off on the Chesapeake, to island-I-don’t-give-a-fuck. Once we get the money, you get your little brother back safely delivered to your parents’ front door. Understood?”

“Absolutely.”

I will give David credit. If Roger’s looking for any sign that something is going down he won’t find it. His voice remains steady the entire time.

Once the call disengages my walkie-talkie goes off. “We’re in position. Black Toyota sedan license plate Tango-Charlie-Bravo-748 is coming your way.”

My heart speeds up. “Josh, it’s me. I’m in position on the docks. Looks like our dance partner is here on a boat called Lucky 7, waiting for the hand-off.” Dane pauses. “We have agents ready to take him down. I have my gun trained right on the forehead of this SOB as we speak. Stay in the car. Do not shoot to kill, shoot to maim, and only if you need to. I want these fuckers to pay. Here they come. Stay cool,” Dane’s words rush out before he breaks the call.

David jumps out and opens the back door. He yanks Ava out and pulls her with him, shutting me in. It’s killing me to lie low and not jump out and stop her from going through with this.

The sound of a hand smacking skin causes me to flinch. I know he’s just hit her. I can barely make out his words, but I do.

“Big mistake running, Ava.” An unfamiliar voice says. “Your mom learned the hard way. You’re about to learn even harder.” I panic at his threat and start to come up from hiding. What does he mean? Is he planning to kill her, too? No. I breathe slowly to gain control. He wants the money, that’s all he cares about. I reassure myself, but it doesn’t help.

Dane breaks through again. “No, stay down. I saw the hit. She’s okay. They’re already walking toward the docks. He has a gun trained on her back, with his son and David flanking him to hide it from any passersby.

That’s the last thing I hear before I begin to silently freak the fuck out without anyone knowing that I am. Every single fiber of my protective manly being is screaming at me to tell everyone to fuck off, but I cant. I need to keep my cool and get this done. And once it is, she is mine—all mine. And I will make damn sure she knows it.

AVA

I’m regretting not looking at Josh once more before David yanks me out of the car. My fear of Roger or Alex noticing my plea for him to stay put keeps me from doing so. So many things are going on inside me that I barely register his hand come across my face. I do hear the word mom and want to fall to my knees and ask him what he means, but I can’t. I’ll find out soon enough. I just need to move forward, one step at a time, knowing that Dane is somewhere watching me and Josh will be safe back at the car. I know he’s most likely having a really hard time leaving my side, but I pray silently that he doesn’t stop the mission.

Roger is breathing down my neck as his gun plants itself on the small of my back. I don’t dare look at anyone. My goal is to remain focused on them handing me off to this guy, George, and making sure the FBI sees the exchange of money. Then I will panic, and only then. Every fiber in my being is screaming at me to hold on—
Do not let these bastards see that they’re breaking you. Break down inside but not on the outside. Hold your shit together, Ava. Your fairytale ending can’t come true if you lose your shit.