Chapter 049: Uncovering Falsehood

Ava's POV 

Watching Eli pace the room, his expression locked between regret and something darker—probably fear—and I could not breathe. Since he began talking, he hadn't yet looked me in the eye; however, this time I was letting him evade me.

"So, you are telling me this has been going on for... exactly how long?" My voice hardly steady as I asked. "You concealed all this from me for years, and felt it was alright since it was for my protection?”

"It was never that simple," he said at last, looking directly at me. His eyes reflected a mix of vulnerability I had never seen before and embarrassment. "I felt I could keep you out of it all and manage it. But things were increasingly difficult.

I laughed, then clenched my hands. " Complicated? Eli, I have been in danger without even seeing it! Do you know how powerless that renders me?

Thick with suspense, the room went still for a minute. Eli's face softened and his shoulders slumped as though he carried a weight too great for one person.

"Ava, I—\" He began but did not finish as though the words were difficult to release.

Just tell me the truth, I pleaded, my voice cracking. No more "protection," no more hiding. Tell me what is occurring if you truly want me to be secure. I cannot carry on like this.

Shaking his head, he ran a hand over his hair. "There resides a guy. We call Marcus Raine his name.

I was strained. " Marcus Raine... Name is one I have heard before. Is he that has been following you?

Not only me, Eli said, his voice subdued. "He's a criminal, but not any type of criminal. He is the sort you avoid saying no to if he targets you; he is the kind that makes deals in the shadow. Years ago, when I initially started, he sought to utilize me.

But you objected?

Eli nodded. And he responded poorly to it. He has been staring at me since then, poised for an opportunity to drag me in. I kept you out of it as I knew that, should he find out about you, he would use you to reach me.

Like a fist, the awareness hit me. This concerned control, leverage, not only about myself. Eli had been attempting to guard me, but at the expense of driving us apart. The worst aspect was not knowing the whole story yet.

Where then does it leave us? I enquired, swallowing the knot in my throat. "Is he still...watching?"

Eli paused, and that was a sufficient response.

Indeed, he replied at last, his voice almost audible. Still, it's worse right now. He seems to be making plans.

Though my mind flew, I made myself breathe. "What from you, Eli, does he want?"

"To owe him a debt, always permanent. Once he has hooks in you, there is no way out. He glanced at me and for the first time I could see actual terror in his eyes. Still, it's not only about me now. He knows you. Though I tried to keep you away from it, Ava, he discovered somehow.

A cold crawled over my back. So I am already a target?

Eli nodded, and his voice sounded empty. "I wanted it never to reach this point. If I separated myself, I reasoned I could keep you secure, but that didn't turn out.

Though I felt the weight of what he had said down on me, I was not ready to let terror rule me. Then we'll confront it together, I responded, with a strong voice. "I'm done using secrets." We will be ready if Marcus desires a battle.

Eli fixed me, a flutter of hope in his eyes. "You're stronger than I would have guessed, Ava."

"And you undervalued me," I said, a little smile pulling at my mouth. Tell me immediately what you know. If we are doing this, I would like to be really ready.

The following several hours we reviewed every detail he could recall. Names, locations, faces that could enable us to fit the elements of this warped puzzle. Though little, it was a beginning. Though I could sense his tiredness, his eyes gleamed with a fire that matched my own will.

But Eli's phone buzzed through the silence just as I thought I was starting to grasp. He looked at it and became white.

"It's Marcus," he said, his hands quivering slightly as he held the phone to show me. Though brief, the message was terrifying.

Come see me tomorrow. On your own. Our business still has to be done.

"Tomorrow"? I murmured while my pulse surged. Eli, you cannot travel by yourself.

He gave his head a shake. "I have no alternative. Should I not, he will come seeking for us. This is my opportunity to face him and, if at all possible, finish this.

Between us, the words lingered, full of a finality I could not stand.

"No," I responded with great conviction. "We travel through this together. We will figure anything out on our terms, not his.

Eli gazed at me, a mixture of pride and grief in his eyes. "Ava, you don't grasp." He will know if I am not going alone. Someone we cannot fool is him. He loses it the instant he detects something strange.

The reality struck me like a kick-back. He was correct; any mistake may cost us everything if Marcus were as deadly as Eli said. Still, I felt that there had to be a way to flip the odds.

Eli, I won't just sit here and wait. If you are going, I am figuring out how to support you. I stared at him and let the will in my eyes speak for itself.

He started to disagree, but I quieted him with a glance. I'm not pulling back. Not immediately. Whether you choose it or not, we are doing this together.

A tense minute later he nodded. "All correct." We should use caution, though. One mistake and we both are done.

We developed our strategy as dawn dawned over the city, every action more risk than the next. Though my heart surged, an unusual quiet descended upon me. This was it—the instant everything would turn around, one way or another. I was ready even though we were entering the lion's lair.

And I realized Eli was also as I looked at him.