AVA'S POV
The sound of my phone ringing cut through everything like a knife. Gabriel and I both froze, our bodies still tangled together, his hands still on my skin, my heart still racing from what we'd almost done.
The ringtone echoed through his office, sharp and insistent. Reality came crashing back in waves.
"Ignore it," Gabriel said, his voice rough against my ear. His grip on me tightened, like he could hold onto this moment, keep us suspended in this bubble where nothing else mattered.
"I can't," I whispered, already pulling away from him. "I have to answer."
"Ava—"
"It's important." I was already scrambling off his desk, looking around frantically for my clothes. "I know who it is."
The phone kept ringing. I could see it lighting up on the coffee table where I'd left it earlier. The caller ID would say Elise, and if I didn't answer, she'd keep calling until I did.
"Let it go to voicemail," Gabriel said, but his voice had lost its commanding edge. He could see the panic in my face.
"You don't understand." I found my blouse crumpled on the floor and pulled it on without bothering with my bra. "She calls me every night. Ever since... everything happened. If I don't answer, she'll think something's wrong."
I rushed out of the office completely disheveled, my skirt twisted around my waist, my hair a mess. I grabbed the phone just as it was about to stop ringing.
"Elise?"
"Ava!" Her voice was sharp, urgent. Not the usual sleepy tone she had during her nightly check-ins. "Thank God you answered."
"What's wrong?" I sank down onto the sofa, trying to catch my breath. "Are you okay?"
"Who are you living with?"
The question hit me like a slap. "What?"
"Don't lie to me, Ava. I know you're not in your dorm anymore. Who are you staying with?"
My mind raced. How could she possibly know I'd moved out? I hadn't told her about Gabriel, about the apartment, about any of it.
"I'm... I'm staying with Sophie," I said, the lie rolling off my tongue automatically. "Her roommate moved out, so I'm crashing there for a while."
"You're lying."
"Elise, what are you talking about?"
"I said don't lie to me!" Her voice cracked, and I could hear that she was crying. "They know, Ava. They know everything."
Ice flooded my veins. "Who knows what?"
"The men I owed money to. They called me today." Elise's words came out in a rush, broken by sobs. "They said they know how you got the money so fast. They know about the auction, about the man you're living with now."
My phone slipped from my suddenly nerveless fingers. It clattered to the floor, but I could still hear Elise's voice, distant and tinny.
"Ava? Ava, are you there?"
I scrambled to pick up the phone, my hands shaking so badly I could barely hold it.
"I'm here," I whispered. "Elise, how do they know? How could they possibly—"
"I don't know!" she cried. "But they do. They called me this afternoon and said they'd been keeping tabs on us, making sure we weren't trying to cheat them. They said twenty thousand wasn't enough anymore."
"What do you mean it's not enough?" My voice was getting higher, more panicked. "We paid them back. We paid them everything plus interest."
"They said the interest on waiting has gone up. They want fifty thousand now, Ava. Fifty thousand dollars, or they're going to hurt me."
The room started spinning. I felt like I was going to be sick.
"That's impossible. We don't have fifty thousand dollars."
"They said you do." Elise's voice dropped to a whisper. "They said the man at the auction paid over a hundred thousand for you. They know his name, Ava. They know where you're living."
Gabriel appeared in the doorway, fully dressed again, his hair still mussed from my fingers. He took one look at my face and crossed the room in three quick strides.
"What's wrong?" he asked quietly.
I held up a hand, trying to focus on what Elise was saying.
"They want to meet with you," she continued. "Tomorrow night. They said if you don't show up with the money, they'll come for both of us."
"Elise, listen to me—"
"I'm scared, Ava." Her voice broke completely. "I'm so scared. I thought this was over. I thought paying them back would make them leave us alone."
"It should have," I said, but even as the words left my mouth, I remembered Gabriel's warnings. About how these people didn't just forget. About how they had resources, connections.
"Who are you talking to?" Gabriel asked, sitting down beside me on the sofa.
I covered the phone's microphone. "My sister."
His face went dark. "What's happened?"
Before I could answer, Elise's voice came through the speaker, loud enough for Gabriel to hear.
"Ava, they know where I go to school, where I live, where I work. They said they've been watching me this whole time, just waiting."
My heart was beating so fast I thought it might burst out of my chest.
"They want more money," I told Gabriel, my voice barely audible.
"How much more?"
"Fifty thousand."
Gabriel's jaw clenched. "When?"
"Tomorrow night."
The phone felt like it weighed a thousand pounds in my hands.
"Ava," Elise whispered, and I could hear the absolute terror in her voice. "They found me. They want more money, and I don't know what to do."