Chapter 24

Ava

Walking out of school felt so damn good. I had finished my last final exam and then turned in my final project for my other class. That final was the toughest of them all, but I was pretty sure I had aced it, which would push me up into the top five of my graduating class. I had worked so hard to get to this point, and I was really proud of myself for doing it. Relief was the name of the game at the moment: relief that I had survived another year, relief that I was done for at least four months with the nonstop studying, and relief that I could take a break. I felt that way at the end of every semester, but this time, after everything I had been going through, it felt even more rewarding. I knew Blair felt the same even though she didn’t seem to ever get stressed from the finals drudgery we went through every semester.

I was just looking forward to the future. I had one year, less than that really, until I would be taking my bar exam and walking across the stage for graduation. It was incredibly exciting, but at the same time, I had to keep focused to keep my grades up. I had really never liked law, but I was motivated to move forward with my plans. I had been focused on it since I’d graduated high school, and I hadn’t even given myself the opportunity to think about any other options. When my family’s world had imploded, I’d planned to one day go after the York family, but I hadn’t realized everything would change when Mason came running back into my life.

I still couldn’t get my mind off him. He was this force in my life that I hadn’t expected or been prepared for. Every time I started to do anything, I found myself dreaming about him and either the distant past or the most recent past, which was much steamier. It was more than that, though. My emotions were all over the place. Everything had gotten so confusing, and I wasn’t sure what to feel or if I was even allowed to have those feelings in the first place. Part of me wanted to talk to him about it, but the other part of me was terrified to do that. I still hadn’t spoken to him since that Saturday morning when I ran out of his place. Blair’s words kept ringing through my mind to call, to make the first move, but I wasn’t sure that was a good idea. What if he responded poorly? What if I’d been fooled by everything and he had only been trying to keep me quiet? I didn’t know if I wanted to deal with all that, not at this time in my life.

My nerves had been off the chart lately, so being brave like Blair and picking up the phone and calling him was not something I could even begin to fathom. I wished I was the girl who could be fearless, the one who walked around taking what she wanted, working through what was holding her back, and ultimately being the girl who had everything. I wasn’t that girl, though, and I had been fine with that up to when Mason and I had slept together again. I didn’t even know what I would say if I had the nerve to dial his number. Hell, I didn’t even know what I would say if he called me.

I drove up to my apartment and went inside, still thinking about Mason and the phone call I figured would never happen. Just as I got inside, though, my phone buzzed, and I pulled it out, figuring it was Blair. I froze in the middle of my apartment and stared down at Mason’s name on the screen. It was like he knew I was thinking about him.

“Hello,” I said, putting the phone to my ear.

“Hey, girlie,” Mason said happily on the other end. “Did I catch you at a bad time?”

“No,” I said, suddenly feeling out of breath. “I just sat down at home. What’s up?”

“I wanted to first say that I’m sorry I haven’t called you,” he said. “I wanted to, but I got really wrapped up in a bunch of stuff here, and I wanted to be able to focus on our conversation when I did call. Life always seems to work that way, at least mine does. Whenever I want to call someone, I can’t find the time, but when I’m busy, everyone calls at once.”

“I know, right?” I laughed nervously. “It’s okay, though. I actually finished my last final at school today. I just got home from it.”

“Congrats,” he said.

“Thanks.” I chuckled. “It was pretty easy. Anyway, I’ve been super busy myself with studying and finishing up a final project for another class. I wanted to call you too. I couldn’t seem to find a quiet moment that wasn’t at four in the morning after an intense study session.”

“Ah, the irony. Four in the morning would have been fine actually.” He laughed. “I haven’t slept much either since I saw you last. So, do you have to work tonight?”

“No. I don’t have any gigs until next week,” I replied. “I wanted to have a couple days to rest after finishing up the semester.”

“That’s probably a smart idea. Well, do you have plans tonight?”

“Nope,” I said, feeling anxious.

“Would you like to come over to the penthouse and let me cook you dinner again?”

“Um, yeah,” I said happily. “That sounds really great.”

“Awesome,” he said. “How about an hour from now?”

“Perfect,” I said, looking down at my sweatpants. “I’ll see you in an hour.”

I hung up the phone and raced to the shower, getting ready as fast as humanly possible. I didn’t know why, but I wanted to make sure I looked absolutely amazing. I headed over to his penthouse, and the concierge let me into the elevator, smiling sweetly. When I got to his door, my nerves bubbled up, and before I could knock, he opened it with a smile on his face.

“Hi,” I said, nervously laughing as he hugged me.

“Hey,” he replied. “You look beautiful, as always.”

“Thank you.” I didn’t need to see my cheeks get red because I could feel the heat creeping up in them.

“Come on in and sit down,” he said. “I made homemade pizza.”

“Yum.”

We sat down at the table and put our napkins in our laps. He served me a piece of pizza and one for himself and smiled at me across the table. I didn’t think I had been this nervous since I was a kid.

“So, what are you going to school for?” he asked, biting into his pizza.

“Oh, I, um, am going to NYU Law to become a lawyer,” I said reluctantly, not wanting him to know the reason why.

“What kind of lawyer do you want to be?”

“A corporate lawyer,” I said. “Mainly working with business fraud and things like that.”

“Wow. Well, you’re already doing a good job at the detective work.” He chuckled nervously.

“Yeah.” I thought it best to leave out the whole part where I’d planned to ruthlessly take out his family.

“I always thought law was fascinating, so many different parts to it that are all connected,” he said. “I could never be a lawyer. Too much to remember, and I’ve never been good at holding my tongue.”

“No, you haven’t,” I said. “Like in middle school when you let that kid have it in the middle of history class.”

“Ronnie Bergman,” he said, laughing. “He deserved it.”

“How about you? Are you going to take over the hotel business?” I needed the subject to change.

“Actually, since you asked, I’m in the process of starting my own company,” he said proudly. “A technology company that I have a ton of ideas for. That’s what I’ve been doing, getting all that on paper.”

“Is your dad helping you with that?”

“No,” he said, shaking his head. “It is one hundred percent my idea and my work behind it. I’ve had meetings with everyone on the books, including investors, and everything looks like it’s a go. I’ve never wanted to take over for my dad. You know that. And after everything he did to your family came to light, I knew it was time to make a break. I haven’t been back in the office since Friday, and I don’t know if I can do it. It’s been a difficult decision on one hand because of my mother, but on the other hand, it was simple because I knew my future was somewhere else.”

“Wow,” I said, impressed. “How long will it take to get things up and running?”

“Just a few weeks now,” he said. “I already have a bid in on a building outside Manhattan, and the investors are on board for when everything goes through. I was really surprised by how fast everything is moving, but in a few weeks, I’ll be free of my father and able to go on with my life the way I want to live it. And with the people I want to live it with. It’s been a long time coming, really.”

“Wow,” I said, smiling. “I am really happy for you.”

He went on about the company, his ideas, and the technology he wanted to bring to consumers. He was so excited and motivated, and I had to admit, it took me back a couple steps. Still, I couldn’t help feeling guilty. Little did he know, my plan was to take down his father, which of course would affect him too. Now that I knew he had nothing to do with it all, I felt almost like I couldn’t do something like that to him. I tried to shake the feeling as we finished dinner and sat down on the couch with a glass of wine.

“I was thinking,” he said. “Why don’t you stay the night? We don’t have to do anything. Just stay with me.”

I really wanted to say yes, desperately, but I could barely look him in the eyes. My heart was pounding in my chest, and though I wanted to kiss him, I knew I couldn’t stay any longer. I looked down at my watch and back at him, putting my glass on the table.

“Actually, I didn’t realize how late it was,” I said, standing up. “I have to meet my parents really early in the morning, and I can’t be late this time. It’s better that I head home. I hope you understand.”

“Of course,” he said, walking me to the door.

“Thank you for dinner,” I said.

“You’re welcome.” He bent down and kissed my cheek. “Text me when you make it home.”

“Will do,” I said as I left his apartment.

I stepped into the elevator and waited until the doors closed before leaning back and groaning. Everything was so complicated, and I couldn’t even talk to my parents about it. If I couldn’t do that, then how in the hell would Mason and I ever be able to actually be together? It would take changing every part of my plan plus figuring out how to end this family feud. My mind was so clouded, I didn’t even look up when I left the hotel. I would have kept walking except the flash of a camera caught my attention. There were paparazzi outside the hotel, and they had just taken a picture of me.

“Oh shit,” I said, covering my face and running straight to the cab in front of me. “Just drive me to my car in the parking garage,” I told the driver.

This was definitely not a good thing.