AVA’S POV
I couldn't get Gabriel out of my head. Three days into our beach vacation, and I was still replaying everything that had happened. How we'd met through that disastrous auction. How he'd saved me from those men. How he'd rescued Elise. How he'd arranged this entire trip to keep us safe.
The beach house was beautiful – right on the water with floor-to-ceiling windows and a deck that overlooked the ocean. Sophie and Elise were having the time of their lives, building sandcastles and collecting shells like we were kids again. But I couldn't shake the feeling that something was missing.
Someone was missing.
I stood at the living room window, watching the waves crash against the shore, when Sophie appeared beside me.
"You're thinking about him again," she said.
"I'm not."
"You are. You get this look on your face whenever you're thinking about Professor Thorne." Sophie nudged my shoulder. "It's the same look you used to get in his class when he'd call on you."
"That was different. That was just nervousness."
"Was it?" Sophie turned to face me fully. "Ava, he loves you."
I felt my chest tighten. "Don't."
"Don't what? Tell you the truth?"
"Don't make this more complicated than it already is."
"It's not complicated!" Sophie's voice rose slightly. "He told you he loved you. He risked his life to save you and your sister. He arranged this entire vacation so you'd be safe. How is that complicated?"
"Because he's dangerous, Sophie. He used to kill people for a living."
"Used to. Past tense. He left that life behind."
"Did he? Because it sure didn't look like he was out of that world when he showed up with a team of armed men."
"Maybe he went back to that life because of you," Sophie said quietly.
I shook my head. "That makes it worse, not better."
"Does it? Or does it show how much you mean to him?"
Before I could answer, Elise's voice came from behind us. "Sophie's right."
We both turned to see my sister standing in the doorway, her hair still damp from the ocean, sand between her toes.
"Elise, you don't understand—"
"I understand more than you think," she interrupted, walking over to join us at the window. "The Professor loves you, Ava. If he didn't, he wouldn't have done everything he did."
"It's not that simple."
"Why not?" Elise looked at me with those wide, innocent eyes that made her seem younger than her nineteen years. "He went back to that dangerous life because of you. Despite all the risks, despite knowing it could destroy the new life he'd built."
"That's exactly why it's wrong," I said. "I don't want to be responsible for pulling him back into that world."
"You're not responsible for his choices," Sophie said. "He made those choices because he cares about you."
"And he told you he loved you in front of me," Elise added. "That says a lot about a man."
"What do you mean?"
"Most men won't be that vulnerable in front of other people, especially not in front of a little girl like me." Elise shrugged. "He's not egoistic like most guys. He didn't care about looking cool or protecting his reputation. He just wanted you to know how he felt."
I felt tears prick my eyes. "Elise..."
"It's obvious you love him too," Sophie said softly. "So why are you punishing yourself?"
"I'm not punishing myself."
"Aren't you?" Sophie crossed her arms. "You're standing here in this beautiful place that he paid for, thinking about how much you miss him, and refusing to admit that you have feelings for him."
"Of course I have feelings for him!" The words exploded out of me before I could stop them. "That's the problem!"
"How is that a problem?"
"Because it's impossible!" I was pacing now, all the emotion I'd been holding back for days spilling out. "Because he's my professor! Because he's older than me! Because he's part of a world I don't understand!"
"So?" Elise said simply.
"So? So everything!" I turned to face both of them. "We're from completely different worlds. He's sophisticated and dangerous and wealthy, and I'm just a college student who got in over her head."
"You're more than that," Sophie said firmly. "You're the woman he fell in love with."
"He doesn't even know the real me."
"Doesn't he?" Elise tilted her head. "He's seen you at your worst, Ava. He's seen you desperate and scared and making terrible decisions. And he still loves you."
"He saw you put yourself in danger for your family," Sophie added. "He saw you fight for what matters to you. He saw your strength."
I felt the tears I'd been holding back start to fall. "What if it doesn't work? What if we're too different?"
"What if it does work?" Sophie countered. "What if you're exactly what each other needs?"
"But he's been lying to me about who he really is."
"Has he?" Elise asked. "Or has he been protecting you from parts of his past that could hurt you?"
"There's a difference?"
"A big difference," Sophie said. "One is selfish, the other is selfless."
I sank down onto the couch, overwhelmed by everything they were saying. "I don't know what to think anymore."
Sophie sat down beside me and put her arm around my shoulders. "Then don't think. Just feel. What does your heart tell you?"
"That I miss him," I whispered. "That I can't stop thinking about him. That I want to call him and hear his voice."
"Then maybe you should."
I shook my head. "There are too many obstacles."
"Like what?"
I wiped my eyes and looked up at both of them. "He's thirty-nine, and I'm twenty-one."
Before Sophie could respond, Elise beat her to it.
"Does it matter?" she said with a shrug. "Age is just a number."
Sophie and I both turned to stare at my sixteen-year-old sister in shock. Then, despite everything, despite all the tears and confusion and fear, we all burst into laughter.