Criminal Affinity [18+]

Chapter 14

  What if the way we started made it something cursed from the start?
What if it only gets colder?

| Waiting Game - Banks |

x

Ava looks away and waits for William to leave the room, but he's rooted to the spot. She tightly binds her arms around her middle, trying to unhear what she just heard. It's an everyday thing - children getting picked off the streets and being sold.

But Ava could hear it every day and still was not used to the ugly twisting in her gut. It takes everything in her to not get invaded by the remaining images in her mind.

Her eyes eventually move to William. The tension in his body seems to almost match hers, but she knows better. This is probably just a minor inconvenience for him. Another body to dispose of.

"Is the body fresh?" William finally speaks, but it's a tone she has never heard before. Ava notices how every inch of heat has leached from his expression, leaving nothing but a cold and bleak mask.

"Not at all." The man's eyes travel to Ava again. She really wants nothing more than to punch him. Just once. "I don't want to give details in front of this bitch."

"Alec." William's voice cuts through the silence, low and lethal.

Ava scoffs at Alec. She's starting to understand how William Chevalier works. He can call her all the nasty things in the world, be a complete fucking asshole. But only him.

He really, really thinks she's his little puppy.

"Sorry." Alec says with a sneer. Ava really wonders how people have so much time and energy to hate her. It's flattering how much negative attention she garners.

"Let's take it outside." Without a second look towards Ava, William walks out of her room. He also makes sure to shut the door louder than necessary. Of course, he did. One second he looked at her like she's the only thing he could see, the next he has forgotten her existence.

"How old was she?" William asks. Does it actually affect him that there's a dead child outside his club?

Ava inches closer to the door.

"Ten. We think it might be done to send some sort of a message." Alec says.

"From who? And what sort of a fucking message is this?" William's voice gets deeper and harsher. Ava feels a pang in her chest - it almost sounds like he's in pain. She's used to his cold-heartedness, it's difficult to stomach such reactions from the same man.

"William," Alec says sternly. "You know what sort of message this is. Your sisters-"

"Shut your fucking mouth."

Ava's brows shoot up. The sheer violence in his voice, while being so quiet, makes her feel cold inside. It's enough to raise the little hairs on her arm.

"Whether you like it or not, it is exactly what it is. This was targeted, and it is towards you. The body is mutilated. The child is barely recognizable."

"What about the parents?"

"Housewife mother and ex-FBI father." Alec replies. "Kid came from money. There was also an amber alert on her. We managed to track down the mother but the father is out of the scene. Anyway, the pictures are downstairs. You need to see them."

Without a word, they begin walking away from the door. But Ava can't ignore the prickle on her skin. And once again, that toxic question arises in her head.