AVA’S POV
After I hung up with Elise, I sat on the living room floor for what felt like hours, staring at my phone. My mind was racing, trying to process everything she'd told me. The men knew about Gabriel. They knew about the auction. They knew where I was living.
How was that possible?
I needed to tell Gabriel. He'd know what to do. He'd said he was protecting me, that he understood this world better than I did. Maybe he could help Elise too.
But as I walked toward his office, doubt crept in. These men had found information that should have been impossible to find. The auction was supposed to be completely anonymous. Victoria had assured me of that.
So how did they know so much?
I stopped outside his office door, my hand raised to knock. I could hear him talking inside, his voice low and urgent. He was on the phone with someone.
"No, that's not acceptable," he was saying. "I made it clear from the beginning that she was off limits."
I pressed my ear closer to the door, my heart pounding.
"I don't care what your usual methods are," Gabriel continued, his voice taking on a dangerous edge. "If you touch her or her sister, you'll answer to me personally."
My blood turned to ice. He was talking about me. About Elise.
"Blackmail is such an ugly word," he said, and I could hear him moving around the room. "I prefer to think of it as insurance. You have your methods, I have mine."
Blackmail? What was he talking about?
"Broken bones heal," Gabriel's voice was cold now, completely unlike the man who had kissed me an hour ago. "But ruined reputations? Destroyed businesses? Those are permanent. You know I can make your life very difficult if you don't comply."
I stumbled backward from the door, my hand pressed to my mouth to keep from making a sound.
"Good. I'm glad we understand each other." There was a pause. "And remember – this needs to be clean work. No traces, no connections back to me."
Clean work. No traces. What kind of man was Gabriel Thorne?
I heard footsteps approaching the door and quickly moved away, but not fast enough. The door opened just as I was trying to tiptoe down the hallway.
Gabriel stood in the doorway, his phone still in his hand. When he saw me, his expression didn't change, but something flickered in his eyes.
"Ava," he said calmly. "How long have you been standing there?"
"Long enough," I said, my voice shaking. "What did you do?"
"What do you mean?"
I turned to face him fully, anger and fear warring in my chest. "Don't play dumb with me, Gabriel. I heard you on the phone. Talking about blackmail and broken bones and clean work."
His face remained perfectly neutral. "You misunderstood what you heard."
"Did I?" I stepped closer, my hands clenched into fists. "Because it sounded like you were threatening someone. Making some kind of deal."
"It was a business conversation."
"What kind of business involves breaking bones?"
Gabriel set his phone down on the side table and looked at me with those dark, unreadable eyes. "The kind you don't need to worry about."
"I don't need to worry about it?" I laughed, but there was no humor in it. "Gabriel, my sister just called me in tears because dangerous men are threatening her life. They somehow know about you, about the auction, about where I'm living. And now I find you on the phone talking about blackmail and violence?"
"Those are completely separate issues."
"Are they?" I put the pieces together in my head, connecting dots I should have seen before. "Victoria called me today. She knew I was living here. She said you told her where to send my money."
Gabriel's jaw tightened slightly. "Yes."
"How does she have your contact information?"
"We've done business before."
The admission hit me like a physical blow. "Business. What kind of business, Gabriel?"
"The auction house occasionally requires investors—"
"Do you have a connection to the auction house?" I interrupted, needing to hear him say it clearly.
Gabriel looked at me for a long moment, then nodded. "Yes."
I gasped, stumbling backward. "You own part of it, don't you? That's how you knew about me being lot seven. That's how you got my information."
"No, that's not it—"
"What about the people who threatened to hurt my sister?" I was shaking now, pieces of a horrible puzzle falling into place. "Do you know them too?"
"No." His answer was immediate, firm.
"I don't believe you."
"Ava, listen to me—"
"No!" I backed away from him, toward the hallway. "You've been lying to me this entire time. About everything."
"I haven't lied about anything that matters."
"Everything matters!" My voice cracked. "You made me think you were protecting me, but you're part of the same world that put me in danger in the first place!"
"That's not true."
"Isn't it?" I was almost yelling now. "You invest in sex auctions, Gabriel. You profit from selling women to the highest bidder. And now the same kind of people are threatening my sister."
"Those people have nothing to do with me and that's not what I did "
"How can you expect me to believe that?" Tears were streaming down my face now. "How can you expect me to trust anything you say?"
Gabriel took a step toward me, his hand outstretched. "Because despite everything, I've never lied to you."
"You've never told me the truth either."
"I've told you everything you needed to know."
"That's not the same thing." I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand. "I asked you if you had connections to the auction house, and you said yes. What about everyone else involved? What about the men who bid on me? What about the people running the whole operation?"
"What about them?"
"Do you know them personally?"
Gabriel's silence was answer enough.
"Oh my God," I whispered. "You do. You know all of them."
"The business world is smaller than you think, Ava."
"The business world?" I laughed bitterly. "Is that what we're calling human trafficking now?"
"It's not trafficking. Everyone there was a willing participant."
"Was I?" I challenged him. "Was I really willing, Gabriel? Or was I desperate and trapped and out of options?"
He didn't answer.
"That's what I thought." I turned toward my room. "I can't do this anymore."
"Ava, wait."
"Don't." I held up my hand without turning around. "Just don't. I need to think."
"We need to talk about your sister."
"My sister is my problem. Not yours."
"She's in danger because of her connection to you. That makes her my problem too."
I spun around to face him. "No, she's in danger because I was stupid enough to trust you. Because I believed you when you said you were protecting me."
"I am protecting you."
"From who? Your business partners?"
Gabriel's eyes flashed. "You don't understand the situation you're in."
"Then explain it to me. Tell me the truth for once."
"The truth is complicated."
"Try me."
Gabriel stared at me for a long moment, and I could see him weighing his options, deciding how much to reveal.
"No," I said before he could speak. "You know what? Don't bother. I'm done with your half-truths and careful omissions."
I walked to my room and slammed the door behind me, turning the lock with shaking fingers. On the other side, I could hear Gabriel calling my name, but I ignored him.
I sank down onto my bed and buried my face in my hands. How had everything gone so wrong so fast?