“Enough of this,” Ava yelled.“Where is Maia?”
“Don’t you worry. She’s safe.” Natalie walked out of the shadows to stand beside Joseph.
“Natalie? What are you doing here?” Ava asked.
“Isn’t is obvious?” Joseph leered. “She works for me.”
Ava gritted her teeth. “I trusted you with the most precious thing I have, my daughter, and this is how you repay me?”
Natalie rolled her eyes. “Don’t be so melodramatic. This was about business. Joseph and my family go way back. When he came to me I saw this as an opportunity. Besides soon the dust will settle and Joseph will rise again, more powerful than before. When it became evident that you no longer deserved him, I was more than eager to take your place.”
“And what a wonderful job you’ve done, Natalie.” Joseph pulled her to him and kissed her.
Ava nearly gagged as she watched her husband tongue down Maia’s former nanny. “Both of you are disgusting.”
“And what about Mrs. Valdez? Is she safe as well?’ Dominic asked.
Joseph smiled. “No. The old bat put up too much of a fight when we showed up to get Maia. Besides, we couldn’t have any loose ends.”
“You’re a monster. I knew you were ruthless, but I always thought that buried somewhere inside of you was a shred of decency. I see now that I was wrong,” Ava said.
“Yeah. Well we both were wrong about a lot, but you know what? It doesn’t matter anymore. This has been a nice little reunion but it’s time to end things. But don’t worry, Natalie and I are going to take very good care of Maia. She won’t even miss you.”
“Over my dead body,” Ava snarled.
“That is about to be arranged,” Joseph said.
He snapped his fingers. From the right and left of the warehouse emerged a group of men with guns, all aimed at Ava and Dominic.
“Not so fast,” Dominic said. “Boys.”
Ava heard footsteps. Daring to glance behind her, a breath escaped her lips when she saw that Dominic had brought his own army. A row of men quickly came to slide in place beside him. No wonder he wasn’t as worried as she’d been. He’d never planned to come alone.
“Oh, so you want to play with the big boys? You just got what you wanted,” Joseph said.
The next thing Ava knew she was careening to the side as Dominic pushed her out of harm’s way. The warehouse burst into a litany of gunfire. Ava tried to regain her balance as her body moved to hit the concrete. She couldn’t allow that. She had to stay alive to save her daughter. While holding onto her gun, somehow Ava managed to land on her backside. As she looked up, she saw Natalie scampering away amidst the gunfire. She wasn’t about to let her get away.
As the gun battle raged all around her, Ava got to her knees and crawled on the concrete following the fleeing Natalie. Moving as fast as she could, while holding onto the gun, Ava saw red as the babysitter tried to escape. The gunshots continued to echo behind her, but Ava had to trust that Dominic would handle whatever came his way. It was the only way she’d be able to hold herself together.
Feeling safe enough to get to her feet, Ava gathered herself and ran after Natalie. The young woman turned and saw Ava behind her. She ran faster, but not fast enough. It was if Ava’s feet had wings as she hawked Natalie down. With less than a foot separating them, Ava raised her gun and shot at Natalie’s feet. The woman went down in pain, clutching her bleeding left foot. Ava stopped running and stood over her.
The nanny scooted away from her. Fear shined in the woman’s eyes. Ava didn’t care. She’d trusted Natalie, had come to care for the young woman and still, she’d been stabbed in the back. Aiming her gun at the frightened girl, Ava kicked her hard in the side. Natalie cried out and Ava was sure she heard bone crack. But she didn’t care. She was long past caring.
“Please, Ava. Please,” Natalie begged.
“Why shouldn’t I kill you? Give me one good reason.”
Natalie held up her hands in a defenseless manner. “Because I do love Maia. Regardless of whether or not I was working for Joseph I care about her. She’s the little sister I never had.”
Ava kicked her again. “If you really loved her, you would have never done what you did.”
“I had no choice. You know what kind of man Joseph is,” Natalie pleaded.
“Yes I do. Now how did you find Maia?”
“I called Mrs. Valdez. Told her I was frantic with worry over Maia and I got her to tell me where they were. I called Joseph. He had a couple of his guys go with me. After I’d gotten Maia away, Mrs. Valdez tried to stop us so one of the guys tied her up. Then they shot her and dumped her body in an alley. I tried to stop them. You have to believe me.”
“I don’t have to believe a damn thing and trust me I don’t. Goodbye.”
Ava aimed the gun at Natalie’s head, but the younger woman surprised her by kicking her in the leg, hard. Ava fell to the ground. Losing her grip on her gun, it clattered away from her on the concrete. Natalie made a move towards it, but Ava stopped her with a hard right hand to the face. Natalie’s head snapped back and Ava was on top of her banging her head into the concrete floor.
“You’re going to pay for how you betrayed me,” Ava screamed.
“No, Ava. You will be the one that pays.”
Ava looked up. Joseph came towards her brandishing a smoking pistol. This was it. She closed her eyes and waited for death. The blast of the gunshot made Ava cringe, but no bullet ever pierced her flesh. Her eyes opened. Joseph lay at her feet. Blood poured from a wound in his head. Her husband was dead. Her savior stood over her. Dominic looked like a Roman god come to save her. She smiled at him. Natalie scrambled to Joseph’s lifeless body.
“Joseph. Joseph. No. No.”
“He’s all yours now. Bitch.”
Dominic reached down and helped Ava to her feet. “Are you alright?”
“Yes, I’m…” The words died in Ava’s mouth.
Bleeding and battered, Angelo raised his gun and squeezed the trigger.
“Dominic, no!”
With all her strength, Ava pushed her lover out of harm’s way. The force of the bullet striking her flesh was like a freight train filled with lightning hitting her. She fell on the floor next to Dominic. Her hand touched her side. It came away coated in blood.
“Ava. Ava.”
Dominic’s voice seemed so far away. She felt feverish and suddenly tired. Her eyes flickered as she turned and saw Dominic rise to his feet. Angelo stood still, too shocked to move as he stared down at her. Dominic shot him at point-blank range. Blood started to pour from his chest. As he fell to his knees, Dominic shot him in the head. The Martellis would rise no more. Now they both were dead. And soon she would join them. But at least Dominic and Maia were safe. That was all that mattered. She closed her eyes and greeted the darkness.
Chapter Thirty-One
A week. One long week of prodding, poking, and sticking, but now it was mercifully over. Ava was home and very much alive. Sitting up in her bed, propped against a myriad of pillows, she heard the sounds of footsteps coming up the stairs. She smiled. Stretching across her pillows she closed her eyes and feigned sleep. It was hard not to open her eyes as the footsteps entered the room. Ava could hear something being set down on the nightstand next to her. Then she felt the slightest brush of lips across hers.
“Wake up, Sleeping Beauty.”
Ava opened her eyes. Dominic stood over her, a huge smile on his face. Wearing only a tank top and boxers and freshly shaved, he looked good enough to eat.
“I’m awake, my handsome prince. Now how about another kiss?”
“Gladly, my fair maiden.” Dominic laughed.
Climbing onto the bed carefully not to jostle her, he pulled Ava closer and kissed her again. Their kiss was eager, but unhurried. After all, they had all the time in the world for love. As Dominic’s tongue slipped into her mouth, Ava moved his hand down to her breast. He growled against her mouth before pulling away.
“No more of that until you’ve had your breakfast,” he said.