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I looked at Ava, trying to figure out what the problem was all of a sudden. She turned her face towards me. “Please…”
Nodding, I dropped my hands and backed away from her.
“Thank you,” she said, smoothing out the fabric of her shirt. “That was a mistake. I’m sorry.”
“What are you sorry about? I’m the one who did it. I’m not sorry one bit.”
Our eyes met. The bright green of her irises seemed darker somehow.
“Well, I am, Dyson. I’m sorry because I don’t want you to get the wrong idea about me.”
I slid my thumbs through the loops on my jeans. “What idea is that exactly?”
“I just… I’m not going to be one of your girls. I’m not going to be like Anastasia or Svetlana. I won’t.”
“I see.”
Her mood changed even more. Ava crossed her arms and shook her head. “I have no interest in being anyone’s flavor of the month. I have big goals and dreams for my life, and the last thing I’m interested in is being your… plaything.”
I nodded at her, content to let her speak her mind. “So you didn’t enjoy it?”
“Whether I did or not, it doesn’t matter. It was a mistake. I never should have done it and…”
Without thinking, and without giving her a chance to protest, I grabbed her and kissed her again. And just like the time before, she struggled. After a few seconds, I let her go.
“Stop that!” she said, stomping her foot. “What did I just tell you?”
I shrugged. “Why should I listen to you? You won’t even tell me what’s wrong.”
She pointed her finger at me. “Don’t try to change the subject. What’s wrong with me has nothing to do with…”
I snatched her in my grasp again. Kissing her harder than ever, I pulled her to my body and held her there as she struggled to break free. After a few seconds, I let go of her once more. She slapped my upper arm with all her might.
“God damn it, Dyson!” she exclaimed. “If you do that one more time I swear, I’m going to scream.”
I shook my head, casually letting her threat roll right off of me. I stepped towards Ava, pausing and looking at her in silence.
“Scream all you want, sweetheart,” I said, wiping my fingers across my lips. “Because until you tell me what the hell is going on I’m going to stand here and kiss you until the sun goes down.”
Ava glared at me. I backed away, maybe by a foot or so. Crossing my arms at my chest, I raised my eyebrows at her.
“If you don’t believe it, just try me.”
She looked away. Reaching up, she crossed her hands in front of her body and began to rub her upper arms as if she were cold. The only thing was, it had to be at least eighty degrees outside, and we were standing in the sun.
“I’ve got all afternoon,” I began, leaning away from her a bit. “We’re not going anywhere until…”
With that, Ava dropped her hands and snapped her head in my direction. “Fine! All right!”
She exhaled and reached up towards her forehead, rubbing it briefly before she looked at me once again. Over the next several minutes I listened in disbelief while she told me the story about how Simon’s old man was back in the picture, threatening to take the kid. The only part she left out was how my name got mentioned. So when she paused for a second, I asked her about it.
She nodded. “I haven’t gotten to that part yet.”
“Well, you need to.”
A long slow breath passed between her lips. “Gene thinks you and I are a couple. He saw you kiss me after you won in Miami.”
“Ah, okay,” I began, raising my thumb and forefinger to my chin. “Makes sense. What did you tell him? “
“What do you think? Of course, I told him we weren’t…” Her voice drifted off. Just then, Ava cleared her throat. “Yeah, well, that’s not all. Um, he’s demanding money.”
“How much?”
“Half a million dollars.”
I wrinkled my brow in disbelief. “Are you serious? You mean to tell me that this worm is extorting you?”
Ava shrugged. “Yes.”
“How much time do you have to come up with the money?”
She frowned at me. “Why?”
“Just answer the question. How much time do you have?”
DYSON
Ava exhaled a frustrated breath. “He gave me until the end of the week.”
“All right,” I nodded, waving my hand with a casual flick. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll help you out.”
Right away, Ava began to shake her head. “Oh no, no way. Absolutely not, Dyson.”
I shrugged. “I’m helping you, and that’s all there is to it.”
“No. I’ve never let anyone fight my battles for me before, and I’m not about to start now. Thank you. I appreciate it, but no.”
“Okay then,” I began, crossing my arms. “If you won’t take my help, then what’s your plan? What choice do you have?”
Ava fell silent, gnawing on her lip. She broke her gaze on me.
Sensing her uncertainty, I continued, “Is this dude the type that will follow through on something like this?”
Eventually, she looked at me again. “To be honest, I really don’t know. But with the kind of money we’re talking about here, I wouldn’t put anything past him.”
“So what are you going to do, Ava? Are you just going to call his bluff? See what he does? What exactly are you going to do?”
“I already told you. I don’t know!”
I paused for a second and stepped towards her, wrapping my hands around her upper arms. “Look, don’t be stubborn about this. What if he is serious? Are you willing to lose Simon over it?”
Ava looked up at me, her eyes glassed over.
“I don’t know what to do, Dyson. I love Simon more than anything in this world.”
I squeezed her a bit. “I know you do. I know. Listen, you’ve got to let me help you.”
Ava turned her head, and a single tear streamed down her cheek. She reached up to smear it away, when I heard the sound of her cell phone vibrating in her pocket. She froze and glanced at me for a second before reaching in and pulling it out.
After looking at the screen, she glanced towards me. “It’s Gene.”
I opened my hand. “Let me talk to him.”
Ava began to shake her head. “No, please.”
“Give me the phone, Ava. We’re together, a couple, remember? He won’t be surprised to hear from me. Come on, hand it over.”
After the end of the third ring, she passed the phone to me with reluctance. I answered.
“Who’s this?” A man’s voice said. “Where’s Ava? Put her back on the line.”
“Afraid not,” I replied, looking Ava in the eye. “I’m the person you want to talk to anyway.”
“Oh, well, if it isn’t pretty boy. So, you’re ready to swoop in and save the day for your girl?”
There is a part of me that wanted to cuss this good for nothing douchebag out. But, I thought better of it. After all, if I could talk him into my idea, I’d get what I wanted anyway.
“Let’s just cut the shit. Gene, is it?”
“Mmm hmm.”
“Here’s my offer. I’m only going to say it once, so pay attention.”
He cleared his throat but didn’t speak, so I continued.
“I’m in Los Angeles for a race. If you want your money, you need to come to me.”
“I’m not going anywhere, slick,” he said. “If you want me to come there, then you’re paying for my ticket. First-class by the way.”
Without a moment’s hesitation, I replied, “No problem. Buy your ticket, and when you get here I’ll reimburse you for it.”
He hesitated for a second. I wondered if I’d aroused his suspicions.
“Okay,” he said at last.
Guess not.
“Great,” I said. “I’ll have the rest of your money when you arrive. But in exchange for it, you agree to leave Ava and Simon alone for good.”
I glanced at Ava. She covered her mouth with her hands and shook her head back and forth.
“No problem,” he replied. “When?”
“How soon can you get here?”
“I can be there in a couple of days.”
I spent the next few minutes telling him to meet us at one of the bars where the team had been hanging out since arriving in Los Angeles. Not long after, I hung up and passed the phone back to Ava. She took it from me. Her face hardened with a scowl.
“Are you being serious?”
“Huh?” I said, frowning back at her. “What you talking about? Serious about what?”
Ava exhaled and slapped the outside of her thighs with her palms. “Gene! About giving him the money. How could you just, give in to him like that?”
I shook my head and chuckled at her. “Okay, let me get this straight. Fifteen minutes ago, you didn’t want me to help you at all. Now, as soon as I get the whole situation handled, you’re upset?”
“Paying off this weasel’s attempt at blackmail is not my idea of handling the situation!”
“Who said I’m paying him?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at her.
“What?” she stammered. “Well, you did, just a minute ago on the phone call. You told him you were going to pay for his first-class plane ticket and then give him the rest of the money when he got here.”
