Vengeance

Chapter 16

Ryan's POV

"You", Stefen, my best friend, was pointing his index towards me, "Keep talking all shit about Hunt and then go on to attend his parties like you are some old buddies. What's wrong with you man?" 

"Yeah, what's wrong with ya bro?" Arlo, my younger brother, joined in.
I sighed. 

"There is this girl..." I started.

"Whoa whoa whoa. Wait. A girl? Did you just say, a girl? Did I hear you right? He said girl, right Arlo?" I rolled my eyes at Stefen's reaction. 

Over reaction, to be exact.

Arlo chuckled shaking his head.
"Yes, you heard right. But before you guys think anything else, let me complete." 

"Yeah, go ahead. We are eager to know how in the world is Ryan King talking about some girl today." Stefen folded his hands. 

"So. I met this girl at Hunts place on our first meeting. And again at my office when she came with the contract. The thing is, I have always kept track about Hunt, his family, business, his employees, etc. But there was nothing about her mentioned anywhere ever. And if he trusted her enough to be in the same house as his and send such an important contract with her, then she surely must be someone significant. Her name suggests she is not family. Then who is she? What's her relation with Hunt?" 

"Okay.. You have a point, but we don't get how she is related to you attending his par-" Arlo was completely confused. 

"Wait a minute. You are going because of her, aren't you? Arlo, your big brother is interested in this girl." Stefen started teasing by wiggling his brows at me and poking Arlo. 

"What? Is that true, brother?" 

"Dude, you are too young and slow. The twins are better than you." 

"Okay, enough guys. I'm just curious. What if she is a threat? It is really not a good news if Hunt has successfully hidden someone from us. That's the reason I'm going. To clear my suspicions." I tried to justify. 

And also because I said I'll go when she invited.

"What's her name, dude?" Stefen asked.

"Ava. Ava DeLuca."

I was in my black Rolls Royce, heading towards Hunts Mansion. Even though I was pissed about having to that bastard Hunt's face, there was some amount of curiosity too. 

Will she be there too? Am I really going for verifying if she is a threat or do I really just wanna see her again?

I sighed. This is just not you, Ryan.

I entered the front doors of the mansion and was instantly greeted by few men. There was a swarm of people chatting and drinking. I adjusted my tie and shook hands with men who approached me.

"Hello ladies and gentlemen." Hunt's voice caught my attention. But what held my attention was the person standing next to him in red.

Ava! She is just Beautiful. 

Her head was low. She seemed nervous about something. What? I got to know the next minute itself.

"I'm glad that you are all here to witness the announcements I have, for which this party was organized. And now without wasting any more of your time, I would like to introduce you all to this beautiful young lady Ava DeLuca. Soon to be my son Arthur's wife and my daughter-in-law."

Ava, to be Arthur's wife?! His daughter-in-law?! 

To say I was shocked was an understatement for what I was feeling. Ava looked up at Arthur and gave him a smile. Something stirred inside of me. 

Anger? Jealous? Why? 

I kept on a blank face.

In that moment she looked towards me. Straight into my eyes. Her smile faded as soon as recognition hit her.
Our eyes held each other's and everything else seemed to have faded away in the background. I had so many questions for her. She was studying me.
She was looking absolutely gorgeous. That was when my eyes landed on her waist, on the that bloody fucker's hand that was gripping her.
I was instantly hit by anger and possessiveness.

She means nothing to you. You don't even know her. Then what are these feelings? And why?

As soon as she saw where my eyes were trained she shifted a little making his hand fall by his side. That made me smile internally.

We were staring at each other until one of my business partners approached me.
I tore my eyes from her and began talking to the man in front of me.
But I was constantly feeling the urge to look around to see her. I wanted to talk to her.

After an hour of talking to people, I finally stepped away from the crowd. 

A man needs a drink on such nights.

Soon I found myself at the bar counter in the far corner of the hall. I checked my phone. There were messages from my twin sisters. Surely the news about "the girl" had reached them. I shook my head at the thought of how they were gonna interrogate me as soon as I meet them.

I felt someone join me at the bar counter. 

That vanilla-rose scent. Ava? 

A familiar angelic female voice ordering herself a drink confirmed my suspicion. I turned towards my left and saw her gorgeous face. That red dress looked absolutely stunning on her. Her eyes were on the bartender. She still hadn't noticed me sitting just next to her.

She took the glass and brought it to her lips. The red lipstick matched her dress perfectly. That small gesture aroused me more than anything. I had never been so attracted to someone just by looking them doing something so normal as drinking. But for some weird reasons, that action of her lips touching the glass with red wine felt so sensual. 

Get a grip, Ryan!

I cleared my throat on that thought. That made her turn towards me quickly. Her eyes widened and she gulped the wine she had just sipped.

"Mr. King!" 

"Ava." 

"Thank you for accepting our invitation and joining us. Did you meet Mr. Hunt?" 

"Sure, I did."
She nodded and smiled at me meekly.
We just stared at each other silently for few minutes.
I turned my eyes towards the hall and saw that people had started dancing on a slow music.
I got up and turned to Ava. 

"If you're not too tired, would you like a dance?" I said looking straight in her chocolate brown eyes and extended my hand. 

"Yes" She whispered in a low voice, placing her soft hand in mine.

No engagement ring!