And what did George want me to do?
Femme Fatale only knew how long it would take that hellion to have enough. What if she never divorced him? I’d be here waiting, holding on to something that would never come to be.
“I see your mind running a mile a minute, Avie.”
I peered up at him, his eyes soft, a weak smile on his lips.
“And me?” I choked out. “What will he have me do?”
“I haven’t agreed to it. This is all hearsay.”
“But there is no other way around this,” I fretted. “It’s either you or Hara. A rapist king or an abominable wretch.” I choked on a laugh. “You saved me all those years ago; I was the one who got the short end of the stick. Now, the tables have turned. You and your sister are now targets to your father’s fucked up chess game.”
Garrett reached for me, but I took another step back. If he held me, I would break down. Tears already threatened to leak from my eyes.
“I feel horribly defenseless that I can’t come to your rescue now. I’d do anything to take this away from you and Hara.” My body started to tremble. “Switch places and deal with—”
Garrett seized me into his arms and pulled me to his chest. My tears cascaded, and I held onto him for dear life. I was going to lose him and have to hear him call another woman his wife. He was stolen from me, just like my childhood and my mother were.
The heartache was too much for me to bottle. While I held everything else in, this was my tipping point. The circumstance where it took over and I couldn’t compromise with it anymore.
“I would never let you marry another man against your will,” Garrett growled in my hair. “You’re mine. I will never let you go. I belong to you, Avie. No one else.”
I broke into a sob. Femme Fatale, he was confessing his feelings while I couldn’t get myself under control. My unease was overwhelming my every thought and feeling.
“Take a deep breath, darling,” he said softly with a squeeze. “I have a plan. Do you trust me?”
I nodded. “With my whole being.”
Pulling me from his warmth, he faced me.
‘We’re going to run. Leave. And we can’t look back.” My mouth dropped slightly, and he smiled. “Don’t try to seduce me with your mouth, Ava.”
“You’re impossible to tease during a serious conversation.”
“Hard to be serious when your stunning eyes are looking at me like that, and your mouth is—” I smacked his chest, a blush instantly creeping on my face. He chortled and pulled me back into his arms. “What do you say? Come with me.”
“But Hara…”
“All four of us. Hara, Mama, me, and you. We’ll travel; I’ll show you every place that is worth exploring, and sleep with you in every town we stay in. No more chains and arrangements keeping us bound here. We need to divide ourselves from this life. It’s everything you wanted…minus the fugitive part.”
“But George…”
“Will be fine. We’ll be back, Ava.”
I shook my head. “The assassins and the—”
“I won’t leave him to the wolves. He’ll have my Elite Eight here. I’ll take the new group with us.”
Leave George. My best friend.
“We’ll be back, Avie,” Garrett coaxed with a small grin. “My men will take care of Chitwood, and I won’t abandon George forever. I just need us off the table for a while. And I need you to be with me.”
I laced my fingers with his. “I can deal with that.”
He lowered his mouth to my forehead, placing a soft kiss there. “Sophia will marry some other asshole, and then we can come back.”
“What about Papa?”
“We’ll see him. You wear disguises very well.” He slapped my ass. “He needs to retire soon anyway.”
I clucked. “Papa still thinks he is in his twenties.”
“Then we’ll need to give him another job.” He kissed my cheek. “Something closer to us.”
I ran my fingers through his hair. “And what would that be? A position in the Elite Eight?”
He laughed, wrapping his arm around my waist. “No,” he breathed. “A grandfather.”
Lifting me in the air, I squealed as he carried me over his shoulder, spilling out his thoughts about eight children that he wanted to have with me, and a dog.
This idea was insane.
It was delirious.
And it was the best one I’d ever heard in my life.
I was defeating fate.
Ava
Chapter 41
“How in the world do you get out of this thing?” Eve complained, as she stopped in the middle of the castle’s gardens. “I swear, no matter what way we take, it’s like going around in circles!”
George chuckled behind me, and I tried to not follow suit. We both knew how to get out but wanted to see how long it would take Eve to become frustrated.
Eve glared over her shoulder, then twisted to face George, pointing her finger at him. “You should know.”
George shrugged. “You didn’t ask.”
Eve huffed. “What do you think I like doing, George? Walk around in circles? I’m not that daft.”
That made me laugh, which turned Eve’s glare in my direction. She threw her hands up in the hair.
“I give up with the both of you!”
She sauntered off ahead of us as I stared after her, my hands on my hips. I heard her mumbling, only imagining what she could be saying.
“Hot temper,” George said. “I don’t think you two should be together when you’re both mad.”
“Normally, one of us keeps the other in check.” I tapped his shoulder with mine gently. “How are you doing?”
George looked forward, blowing his breath out of his mouth. “Fine, just trying to figure this whole Garrett-Sophia thing.”
I felt disloyal. Guilty.
I was going to run away and not tell him.
It was going to sting. After everything he’d done for me, I was going to abandon him here, alone. And with me goes his two siblings—his only family.
My brain started to rethink this plan.
How could I do this?
Yes, I wanted to be with Garr.
Yes, I wanted to be happy.
No, I didn’t want to betray my oldest and dearest friend.
“There has to be a loophole,” he continued, scratching the blond stubble on his chin.
“I don’t know, the Chitwoods seem to have thought of everything.” I started to fidget with my fingers.
“Don’t worry.” He wrapped his arm around my shoulder, pulling me to him. “I’ll figure something out.”
We walked in silence, which only ate at my shame. George’s body stayed close to mine as we found our way out of the garden.
“Where is Eve now?” I asked, regarding the back courtyard.
George sighed loudly. “I’ll go find her.” He walked back into the garden, disappearing around the corner.
Eyeing a stone bench, I took a seat as I listened to the birds chirp. The sun was hidden away by clouds threatening to pour rain, which didn’t help my mood.
Taking a deep breath, I steadied myself. I couldn’t speak to Garrett about changing our plan. There wasn’t any loophole in the marriage contract; it was written clear as day in black ink. A death sentence to my future with the man I was falling head over heels over.
In the books I read, they spoke of bold decisions and brave actions—I felt neither of those applied to me. I was a coward. Betrayal wasn’t a bold or brave decision, but an act of selfishness. I agreed to it, sure, but could I just leave?
You’ve wanted your freedom for years—what makes this any different? You would have had to leave this place anyway.
Then why did it feel so dirty?
“You’re a hard person to get alone, Ava Barlow.”
That voice slinked up my arms and rattled my sanity. I peeped over to find Sophia promenading toward me—a victory smile plastered on her face.
I held up my hand. “Don’t come any closer to me”—I scowled at her—“or this hand is going to go right across your face again.”
Sophia tsked, and took a seat next to me anyway. Moving to the other side of the bench, I rubbed my cheek anxiously. The negative vibe she was giving off was grating on my nerves, and I stood to leave.
“I know what you have planned, Barlow,” she mused, picking at her emerald green gown, her brown eyes determined to make me squirm.