“I know. I knew you would be pissed. The Devil didn’t ask for permission.”
“Why the hell would they hurt a cat?”
“Since you’re already pissed, I might as well—”
“What?”
“They killed the man too.”
“Goddamn it.”
“They tracked the codes to another address in Belladonna, didn’t find the codes there, but there were two women.”
“Please tell me—”
“They tortured them and gained no answers.”
“Cut the Devil. That’s it. Fire their asses. No. Do more than that. Find their location. Send someone to end them.”
“Yeah.” Naveen cleared his throat. “I tried to do that.”
“What do you mean tried?”
“The Devil refused to quit. He’s on a plane going to the next location. It’s Canada. Now, that he knows these codes are out, he’s going to get them. If we don’t stick with him, he’ll try to sell them to the highest bidder.”
I hit the wall. Pain exploded all over my fingers. There would be bruising. Hopefully, no one heard it. My answer came, when Maxwell hurried down the hallway.
He held his hands out. “You okay?”
I nodded.
On the phone, Naveen continued, “The Devil had an interesting twist on the situation. He wants more money.”
“Stop giving him the tracking locations.”
“I had already delivered a personal tracker to him. What we see, he does.”
“There’s got to be away around it.”
“I can’t find one yet, and he wants more money.”
“Oh he’ll get more. I’ll be at the exchange.”
“I thought you would say that.”
I clenched my jaw. “You told me the Devil was trustworthy.”
“I did not think he would kill anyone—”
“Get some people to the location in Canada. We have to stop him and get the codes now.”
“I will make this up, Misha.”
I hung up.
Just when I thought one problem had been solved, another one rose.
Maxwell continued down the hallway. “What’s up?”
“Everything is fucked up right now.”
“You need me to do something.”
“I will, but not yet.”
Maxwell leaned his head to the side. “What?”
“I will tell you later. Let me talk to Ava first.” I headed back into the bedroom, leaving Maxwell in the hallway confused.
When I returned, Ava had on a new set of pants and was putting on a shirt. My heart ached. Selfishly, and probably for some insane reason, I thought we might be having sex.
She turned my way. “I could wash your shirt or—”
“No. That is fine.” I stepped closer to her. “What about us, Ava?”
“I need time.”
“Time?”
“I need time. . .away from you.”
My heart broke.
“I don’t want to break up yet.”
My voice cracked. “Yet?”
Those eyes pleaded with me. “So much has happened. I need time to think.”
The world spun around me.
I tried to anchor myself.
“Give me a few days.” She let out a long breath. “I’ll call you, and then we can talk.”
Dazed, I stared at her.
She whispered, “Do you understand?”
With every second that passed, I could feel her withdrawing the connection that we’d made. I almost lifted my hands so it wouldn’t slip away. All the warmth and assurance in the shower had receded into a distant chill, cooling me from the inside.
No.
I had nothing to say. If I did, it would be to beg her to rethink the decision. But of course she would need some time. I just didn’t want to give it to her. At no point did I want to be away from her.
Still, I couldn’t keep the frown off my face. “I will give you time.”
Her words were shaky. “Thank you.”
Get out of here, before you get on your knees and start crying. Have some goddamn dignity about it.
Devastated, I walked over to my clothes, grabbed them, and headed out with just my towel on and the bloodied suit bundled in my arms.
Fuck you. Fuck everybody.
And the you wasn’t Ava; it was the world. It was the crazy that had come into my life. Surely, I could retrace all my steps and figure out the different places I’d gone wrong to deserve it. But so far, all I could think of was, that God had it out for me. He hated me. Despised me.
My father had died and all I wanted to do was love someone.
And be loved.
But over and over distractions came—a pyscho here and there, a devil, stolen nukes, and a missing corpse. Over and over, things hit me. And I tried to slam them back, but more stuff came.
Stomping forward, I looked up at the ceiling.
What the hell do you want from me, God?!
Ava was done. Although she hadn’t said the words just yet, I knew it deep down in my heart. There’d be no denying it in the next couple days.
Even worse, I didn’t know if I could let her walk away. That scared me even more. When I told her that we were forever, I’d meant it. Had she understood? No. Probably not. Today, she’d just realized who I really was.
As I entered the living room, Maxwell turned to me.