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“Of course not! What the hell do you take me for?”
He casts a quick glance in my direction. “You seem different. Normally, you’re calm and collected but you’re barely hanging on, talking about shooting up the shed and Luca. What’s up?”
“Nothing’s up. I’m mad. I’m falling apart. I was expecting to find Sabine and it wasn’t her and that fucking hurts, Ben. I’m doing everything I can to find her and I’m letting her the fuck down.
“But I had the best part of two hours with a damaged woman and we connected. She could see my pain. She could see why I was there and said how lucky Sabine was to have me.”
“Connected,” he echos slowly. “You sound infatuated.”
Balling my hands into fists, I tell him, “What if I am? Make no mistake that I’m devastated to not find Sabine yet. That our search continues. That she’s at the mercy of sick, mean fucks like Luca. But Ava will help us. Her sale is imminent, and when she’s free she can lead us to Luca’s boss and all the other snakes in this ring.”
“She gave us those names?”
“Yes.”
Beside me, Ben fidgets. “And once you’ve bought her, then what?”
“She helps us.”
“Here’s hoping.” He waits a second before asking, “What about after that?”
Flat countryside is all I can see through the windows, the lights of Jeremy’s car illuminating the road behind us.
I like her. I’m tempted to keep her.
Fuck, I’m no different to Luca because that’s exactly how I feel about Ava. “I’ll look after her.”
“Maybe, but don’t you think she should go back to her family first? You’re fast, Max. You need to slow down.”
I scoff. “You think I don’t know that?”
In the gloomily-lit car, I detect his smile. “You're a good guy, Max. One of the best. But survivors of sexual assault don’t need persuasive men like you.”
I keep quiet, lost to my thoughts.
“Men who like tying up their girlfriends with rope,” he adds quietly.
I side-eye the fuck out of him because I don’t want to believe he’s right. That I’m not compatible with a woman like Ava. That my needs or wants would be vastly different to hers. “If she wasn’t into it I wouldn’t force her.”
In my peripheral vision, I see him nod. “I know you’re feeling possessive—I can feel the protective rage streaming off your shoulders. But locking her up in your mansion, making her your possession is no different to how Sabine’s probably being treated. Just think about it.”
Jesus. I don’t need any reminders. And I don’t need or want my brother-in-law’s advice right now. He’s not exactly showing me the kind of understanding I need, and I know that none of us are ourselves. Every one of us is struggling. This has hit the entire family hard, my parents and Ellis included.
The next mile is spent in silence. It’s hard to shake off his words, but my mind digresses to Ava again which has me calming slightly.
Two days.
That’s all I need to wait until I can see her. Hold her. Have her. Not like that—that will need time, but just having her as mine. I’ll walk her through her recovery. And hopefully, whatever I felt in that room as I stared into her eyes, whatever thrilling things she did to my body will have a chance to come true when she’s mine for real.
Determined, I tell myself I’ll let her return to her family—just for a few weeks—and then I’ll come for her.
“I’ll think about it,” I tell him, but fuck him. He doesn’t get to control who I want.
When Ben speaks a short while later, his voice is placating. “I’m sorry, man. I don’t mean to sound negative. I’ve no idea how Sabs and I willbewhen we get her back, but buy her and let her go. That’s the kindest thing you can do for this Ava person.”
Sighing, I think about Jonas, the probable boyfriend. I hate him already, even though he might be a figment of my imagination. He could be a brother, or a friend, but it’s unlikely. Intriguing women like Ava have no shortage of interested men.
Fuck. And now I’m back to thinking of how she’ll endure the next forty-eight hours. My back molars grind together, Ben throwing me another concerned look as we make a right turn.
