Page 54 of Revenge
“One on each staircase door and two outside the hospital.”
“Thank you.”
A few weeks ago, I put a contingency plan in place in case something happened again. Marco recruited a few of his marine buddies to be on standby in the event of another attack against Ava. If I assigned men from the clan, word would get out about Ava, and I couldn’t take that risk. I was hoping to never need them.
“Hey,” I say as I enter her room.
“Oliver,” she responds. She looks pale.
“How are you feeling?” I stand beside her.
“Okay, but everything hurts.” Her voice is just a whisper.
“And my nephew?”
“Thank God he’s fine.” She takes a deep breath.
“I have to tell him.”
“You can’t.”
“I told you last time that if something happened, I would tell him.”
“Pull up a chair.”
“What?”
“Please,” she begs. I pull the chair beside her. “Oliver, no one knows him better than you. If he finds out...” she starts but looks away.
“What is it?” I ask nervously.
“Someone could hurt him if he comes to me, and Fiona…” Tears roll down her cheek.
“What about Fiona?”
“She could hurt the baby.” She puts her hands on her belly.
“You know I would never let that happen. But Viktor deserves to know. You will be safer with both of us protecting you.”
“There is no place on earth I could go that I would be safe. That much is clear. You must realize that I wouldn’t be any safer with Viktor. It might actually make things worse.”
She isn’t exaggerating. It’s one of the conclusions I reached when she asked me to keep her secret.
“You aren’t safe in the open either.”
“What do you suggest?”
There’s only one thing I can do. “Double security and full lockdown.”
“I have to go to work. I have friends.”
“Can you cut back on shifts? And I’m sure your friend Max wouldn’t mind visiting you at home.”
“How do you know about him?” She looks at me, confused.
“Do you really think I would let anyone near you if I hadn’t vetted them myself?”
“I guess not. Oliver, I don’t want this.”
