Confined

Chapter Thirteen - You're Right

The morning sun beamed through the curtains, burning my eyes when I tried opening them. My head throbbed when I sat up, throwing the covers off me. I was still dressed in yesterday's clothes. Yesterday. The thought brought a smile to my face. But then I remembered seeing someone suspicious after dinner, maybe one of Pavlov's men, and leaving Ava standing in the middle of the foyer as I went to drink myself to death.

I groaned, running a hand down my face, and noticed the neatly wrapped bandage around my hand. I narrowed my eyes on it, flexing my hand. Who did that?

After a quick, cold shower, I got dressed quickly, noticing the bags under my eyes and the stubble on my chin getting thicker. I'll have to shave soon, I thought as I buttoned up my shirt. I grabbed my phone from where it was tangled in the sheets, dialing the first number in the contact list.

"It is way too early for this." Cole answered on the third ring.

"What happened last night?" I skipped the pleasantries, choosing to ignore the fact that he was supposed to answer no matter what time it was.

"What do you mean?" Cole's voice was groggy through the phone and I could hear him moving on the other side of the line. I was starting to get impatient.

"Did you put me to bed and bandage my hand?"

"What? No. I just poured your whiskey out the window before I left."

"You did what? Do you know how expensive that bottle of whiskey was?"

"You weren't happy about that last night, either." Cole mumbled to himself. "It wasn't like there was much left anyway. You had half of it drunk by the time I got there. I couldn't get a straight answer out of you." Cole sounded far like he had put the phone down on speaker. "And your hand was fine when I left."

I vaguely remembered calling Cole last night, right before he was about to go home. "So who-"

"I don't know, man. Maybe you did it yourself and don't remember." Cole interrupted me, closer to the phone now. "I gotta go. Gemma's making breakfast. I'll be there in an hour."

"Ok. See you then."

Cole hung up and I set my phone down on the nightstand next to a glass of water and two aspirin. Wait. I know for sure that wasn't me. And I know I didn't bandage my hand last night either. I'm not sure I could wrap my hand that neatly sober. Shaking my head, I downed the couple of aspirin and slung my arm through the sleeve of my jacket, shutting my bedroom door behind me.

*****

I rubbed my eyes with the heel of my hands. The numbers on the ledgers in front of me were starting to blur together. I sent Cole and Katrina out to manage the warehouse transition when he got here. Ever since Pavlov's note, we've been extra careful and that meant we were relocating our supplies. Izaha was meeting with one of our suppliers at a different location.

I was only about halfway through the ledgers when someone knocked on my office door. "Enter."

Alma poked her head in the door, holding a plate of food. "Thought you might want lunch."

I nodded, waving her in and pointing to a small spot on my desk that wasn't strewn with papers. "Thank you, Alma."

"Ava was looking for you earlier. She's out on the balcony."

When I looked up to ask Alma what for, she was already closing the door. I stared at the ledger books for a few more minutes before I shut them and stood, stretching my legs from sitting so long.

As Alma said, Ava was sitting on the balcony on the second floor. She was lounging in one of the sun chairs with a book in her hands. It was pleasantly warm today, unusual for late November.

"I heard you were looking for me earlier." I said, stepping outside and squinting in the sun.

"Now where did you get a crazy idea like that from?" Ava slipped a bookmark between the pages, closing her book. I tried to read the title across the cover of the book but she set it aside, face down on the table beside her. I took the seat next to her, lifting my face to the sun and relishing the warmth, closing my eyes.

"It looks like you recovered well from last night."

I opened my eyes, looking at her confused. She has a grin on her face, obviously enjoying herself. "When you barged into my room, drunk off your ass."

"Did I... we do anything?" I asked when she paused, tensed and not looking at her.

"What? No. No." She said quickly, a furious blush crossing her cheeks. "You thought you were in your room, I think. You kind of just collapsed on the bed." My shoulders relaxed. "I practically had to carry you to your own bed. Your hand." She gestured to my bandaged hand. I tilted my head, trying to remember.

"That was you?"

She laughed and suddenly I didn't care about my cut hand or the stack of paperwork waiting for me. "Do you really not remember any of it?"

I shook my head. No, but I wished I did.

"I'll admit it. I was looking for you this morning." She was biting her lip, staring at a bird that had landed on the railing of the balcony. She pulled a strand of long dark hair between her fingers. I raised an eyebrow, waiting for her to continue.

"I want some answers. It's driving me crazy, being kept in the dark about everything. I hardly got any sleep last night. I'm not asking for everything, just when it concerns me." I opened my mouth to agree with her but she cut me off. "I know what you're going to say, 'I'm not in any position to demand anything' but I can't stand it anymore-"

"You're right."

Those two words threw her completely off track of whatever argument she had prepared, her mouth hanging open. "What?"

"You're right." I repeated, looking at her earnestly. "If you're going to be staying here, you should at least be informed on things regarding yourself."

Ava took a deep breath, her chest rising and falling before she spoke, "You mentioned something about keeping your family safe. Keeping me safe. What do you need to protect me from?"

I didn't want her to know about our way of life, but I didn't give her much of a choice when I stole her from her old life. I didn't want to see the look on her face when I told her what I've done. Just the half truth for now. "His name is Yuri Pavlov. He's an old rival and he's been making an appearance lately. Trying to sabotage my business. Last night, I thought I saw someone when we were leaving. Someone that worked for Pavlov."

"And he's the one keeping me from returning back to my old life?" Ava shrunk back into her chair. "But what could he do?"

I brushed a strand of hair from my forehead. "You have to understand the dangers, Ava. Pavlov will use anyone against me if he thinks it'll work to his advantage."

"Why does this Pavlov guy hate you so much?"

"It's not just me. It's more of a family rivalry." I watched the tree branches rustling in the autumn breeze. There were few leaves left hanging, oblivious to the quickly approaching winter.

"I'm guessing it's not about the restaurant?"

I shook my head, glancing from the corner of my eye. She seemed to be taking everything well considering I said her life was in danger. I stood needing to get back to work, no matter how much I enjoyed this little break.

"It was Alma that told you I was looking for you, wasn't it?" Ava didn't even wait for a confirmation. "I'm going to have to talk to her about that." She grumbled under her breath.

I let out a deep laugh at the thought of anyone scolding Alma as I walked over the threshold and I realized that I have probably laughed more in the past month than in a long time. What was Ava doing to me?