Book Two: Chapter Twenty-Four
Book Two: Chapter Twenty-Four
Ava woke feeling rested and secure. Dim gray light filtered past the edges of the thick curtains. It was
morning. She shivered thinking of the chill that should have pervaded her bones. Yet she remained
warm and comfortable. An arm tightened around as Silas held her secure against himself.
After they finished dinner he carried her back to bed and made love to her again. Her body quivered
remembering how he touched her. His caresses were strong but gentle, tempered to bring her the
greatest pleasure. She wasn’t sure if it was intuition or learned but he found and teased every sensitive
spot. Her father always claimed sex was a dirty thing. Was it wrong for it to feel so good?
“Morning beautiful,” Silas said in a voice gruff from sleep. His embrace tightened and he kissed the
nape of her neck.
“Good morning,” Ava replied her skin tingling where he touched.
He chuckled at her reaction. Ava felt her face warm but there was no denying how good it felt to be in
his arms. She wouldn’t mind waking up every morning like this.
“What are you thinking about?” Silas asked nibbling on her ear.
“Oh just…how nice it is to wake up like this,” Ava blushed, “and that I wouldn’t mind waking up like this
all the time.”
“I agree.” He sighed. “I could stay here with you forever.”
“But you have to work today,” Ava argued. He had been spending more and more time with her and the
kids never once mentioning work.
“Nothing I can’t do from home.”
“Are you sure that’s all right?”
“I’m the boss. It’s fine.” Silas smiled stroking her hair. “Besides, who is going to argue if I want to spend
the day with my fiancée?”
He claimed her as his own so easily it made her shiver. It seemed he was completely earnest his gaze
smoldering as he gazed at her. His eyes were intense, possessive yet tender, just like his touch. Did he
really care so much about her? She couldn’t deny how good it felt to think so.
“What are you thinking about?” Silas asked sensing her mind was wandering.
“Last night you said, you said you loved me. It feels good to think it’s true.”
“Would you like me to say it again?” Silas asked. “I’ll say it a hundred times if you want. Because it’s
true. I love you Ava.”
“Silas…”
“Shh.” He caressed her lips. “You don’t have to say it back until you’re sure. We have time…and a
wedding to plan.”
“A wedding?”
“Of course.”
“Y-you’re serious?” Ava raised her hand to look at the ring on her finger.
“I have dreamed of the day I would make you mine, Ava. Every night it’s all I think about. I would have
married you right there in the courtroom. But I want you to have the wedding you deserve. It can be
anything you want, anywhere you want. Whatever kind of wedding you’ve dreamed about.”
Ava’s eyes watered. Did he really mean it? He wanted her to have the wedding of her dreams. He
wanted her to have a job she wanted and believed she could do anything she wanted. It was too much.
It was too different from what her father always told her. She couldn’t reconcile the difference.
“Ava? What is it?” Silas frowned gently wiping away a tear.
“My dad…always said it was a woman’s place to be quiet and serve her husband. He said I should be
obedient…”
“Ava,” Silas caressed her cheek bringing her to silence. “Never mention that man again. And forget
everything he ever said to you. He’s a fool. You are so much more than he could ever imagine. And
you’ll show him how wrong he was about you…I can already see it. And I’ll do anything you need me to
do to help that day come faster.”
“Thank you.”
“You don’t have to thank me for that.” He kissed her. “Are you ready for breakfast or do you want to
stay in bed? I’m good with either.”
Ava blushed but laughed at his candor. Silas chuckled kissing her again pleased he could make her
laugh. This was how she should be: happy, carefree and beautiful. He would do anything to make her
as happy and confident as she deserved to be.
“I should get up. The kids will be awake soon.”
“All right. I won’t argue.” Silas sighed letting her sit up.
Ava winced and groaned as she tried to move. Her body protested every attempt and it almost brought
tears to her eyes.
“Ava, what’s wrong?” Silas sat up beside her.
“It’s just…really hard to move.”
“I’m sorry.” He hugged her. “I might have overdone it last night.”
“Overdid it,” Ava muttered and blushed.
“I know the perfect cure,” he whispered. “Wait here.”
Silas slid out of bed and headed to the bathroom. Ava watched him go with a mixture of curiosity and
apprehension until she realized he was naked. Blushing she hid her face in her hands mentally
chastising herself. A few minutes later she heard the bath running. Clutching the blankets to her chest
she sighed, bath did sound nice. Was that his idea?
Silas returned she looked up then immediately turned away. Her face burned. He was still completely
naked. Chuckling he pulled the blankets away from her before gathering her in his arms and carrying
her bridal style.
“You have nothing to be embarrassed by Ava,” he said. “It all belongs to you. No one else is allowed to
touch it.”
Ava shivered, “Silas that isn’t funny.” Property belongs to Nôvel(D)r/ama.Org.
“I’m not trying to be. I’m very serious. You’re the only woman I’ve been with and the only one I’ll ever be
with. I’m yours and you’re mine Ava.”
She rested her head on his shoulder. It felt nice to hear him say such things. Was it wrong for her to be
happy he hadn’t slept with anyone else?
Carrying her into the bathroom he brought her to the tub filled with steaming water. A relaxing aroma
wafted from the water no doubt from some sort of scented oil. It wasn’t an overpowering smell and she
felt some of her tension ease as he stepped into the tub himself and slowly lowered them both into the
water.
Holding Ava across his lap he turned on the tub’s jets and gently caressed her as the heat and water
soothed aching muscles. Ava sighed leaning against him. Silas kissed her temple loving how she fit
against him. He would love nothing more than to stay like this forever but he couldn’t.
Though he told Ava not to worry about his absence from work there were things he needed to catch up
on. In addition he had to look over the invites he had been sent. Ava had not appeared in high society
for ten years and now she was his fiancée. Her reintroduction must be perfect. He would not allow
anyone to look down on her or hurt her. Soon enough everyone would treat her like a queen, as they
should.
“Silas.”
“Yes beautiful?”
“Um…I think…Are you aroused?” Ava hesitated to ask feeling his member stiffen under her.
Silas chuckled, “Well it’s to be expected when I’m holding you.”
“Really?” she looked back at him with confusion in her eyes.
“I’m afraid so. Only the woman I love can affect me like this.”
Her face flushed. He kissed her and held her.
“Just because it’s there doesn’t mean we have to use it, luv.”
“It’s not like we could right now anyway.”
“I wouldn’t say that.”
“No?” Ava asked. “Then how would we…”
“I’ll show you.”
He slid her from his lap, turning her and pulling her close so she now faced him straddling his lap. She
gasped feeling his member press against her entrance as he kissed the nape of her neck caressing
her.
“Oh…um…”
“You are the one in control,” Silas chuckled.
“Me?”
“Mhmm. What happens is all up to you.”
“But I don’t…”
“Just do what feels good,” Silas suggested gently pulling her hips toward him letting his member ease
into her.
Ava gasped clutching him close. Silas sighed. This wasn’t what he planned but he certainly wouldn’t
complain.
“S-Silas.”
“Like I said. You’re in control,” he whispered gently rocking her hips to start. “As fast or slow as you
want. Whatever feels good to you.”
Ava bit her lip shifting to take over the motion herself. It seemed precarious at first and she was afraid
to cause him pain. But his expression was relaxed as he groaned softly.
“Mhmm. Just like that…”
* * *
“Hey sis, you awake?” Theo knocked before he and Sean entered.
In their old apartment the trio had shared a bedroom with the boys in a bunk bed. It was strange to
have separate bedrooms even though the shared bath made visits simple.
“Yeah,” Alexis said. She sat propped up on her pillows. In truth she had been up for some time
contemplating their next move. They had to figure out a way to keep their grandfather away from their
mother or interfering with their parents’ budding romance.
“You think mom’s okay?” Theo asked lying across the foot of her bed.
“You heard Duncan. All of her things were moved into our father’s room so I’m sure they are together.”
“Yeah I know. That’s the problem.”
“Really? You didn’t seem to have a problem when you and Sean helped him pick out the engagement
ring.”
“Well…yeah…”
“You seemed pretty excited when he proposed.”
“It was kind of cool the way he did it in the courtroom,” Theo admitted. There was no mistaking the joy
on their mother’s face and it did seem like their father wanted to make her happy. “Okay. Fine. I guess
he’s not all bad.”
Sean and Alexis snickered.
“So what do we do now?” Theo sighed.
“Now we have to focus. Our grandfather’s going to cause problems if we don’t do something about
him,” Alexis declared. “Everyone seems to be content to just react to him but I say we go on the
offensive.”
“So are we finally taking him down?”
“That’s not going to be easy,” Sean argued. “He’s a terrible person and a trash father but he’s a good
businessman. His company is clean.”
“What does that mean?” Theo snorted.
“It means we have our work cut out for us,” Alexis said. “If he had shady dealings we could leak all of
that and let the FBI do the heavy lifting.”
“But we got nothing.”
“More or less,” Sean agreed.
“What about another cyber attack?” Theo suggested. That had actually been kind of fun.
“We could but they’ve probably ramped up security,” Sean said. “Plus it only dropped their stock maybe
two percent? They’ve already recovered most of that. Not to mention each time we do it’s going to draw
attention and we run the risk of being found out.”
“True,” Alexis agreed. “We need to hit his weak spot.”
“And what is that?”
“His family,” Alexis announced. “Sean said it himself. He’s a shitty person and a terrible father. Our aunt
is his weakest point.”
“So we take her down…he goes down to?”
“It’ll definitely take him down a few pegs,” Alexis said, “and it will keep him too busy to bother us.”
“But we’ve already been attacking our aunt,” Theo protested. “It hasn’t really affected him that much.”
Sean nodded. He maintained surveillance on all of their aunt’s social media and regularly posted
comments against her. They were successful in ruining opportunities for her actress aspirations but that
didn’t stop her from partying and their grandfather continued to support her.
“About that. I’ve been thinking we’ve gone at this all wrong,” Alexis announced. “Everyone has limits
and our grandfather is no different. As long as our aunt doesn’t cross the line he’ll continue to support
her.”
“Okay.” The brothers nodded in understanding.
“Think about it. Our mom is a wonderful person. She’s kind and gentle and never stepped out of line
but he tossed her aside like she was garbage.”
“Meanwhile our aunt is lewd, self-indulgent and crazy,” Sean added.
“Right. So what separates them? What’s the one thing our mom has done our aunt hasn’t?”
“Well…she’s had us,” Theo hesitated.
“That’s right. She’s not a virgin,” Alexis declared. “That’s our grandfather’s line. Cross it and you’re out.”
“You think we if we prove our aunt is not a virgin he’ll toss her out too?” Theo finally caught her
meaning.
“Yes. But we won’t know for sure until we can find the evidence.”
“I don’t know. Our aunt it smart,” Sean said. He had been deep-diving her social media for years and
never found any concrete evidence.
“She’s not that smart,” Alexis insisted. “And sex has consequences or else we wouldn’t be here. Unless
our aunt is infertile I guarantee she’s had to cover them up.”
“How could she hide a pregnancy?” Theo asked.
“I don’t think she hid it. I think she got rid of it.”
Her brothers shared a shocked look but it made perfect sense. Their aunt was a sociopath so she
would do anything to maintain her status and she wouldn’t harbor the least bit of guilt.
“If she did that she hid it very well,” Sean said.
“Maybe we’re just not looking in the right place,” Alexis said. “Because of those laws they passed a
while back a lot of state’s outlawed it right? And she wouldn’t get it done here…too many people would
recognize her.”
“So you’re thinking she went out of state,” Sean nodded heading to her computer.
“She might have even left the country and our aunt doesn’t fly coach.”
“Right.”
“I’m also willing to bet it wasn’t a one-time thing. We need to look for multiple, infrequent trips to the
same place.”
“You don’t think she’d switch it up?”
“She’s not that smart. If it worked once she’d keep doing the same thing.”
“Okay then. Let’s see where our aunt has been traveling.”