A Beautiful Fate Read online

  “What was that all about?”

  “Nothing,” I replied. “Just that I was in desperate need of a mom and dad today and yours were there for me.”

  Ari kissed me on the temple.

  “We will always be here for you, Ava.”

  We greeted our wedding guests with hugs and kisses on the cheeks. Emily, Viola and Sophie had come, along with several of Ari’s friends from DPI. Margaux and a few of her respected colleagues and close friends were in attendance. Collin, Nick’s friend, had come and congratulated Ari. In all the time since I first saw him, he had never spoken to me, and he didn’t say anything at the wedding either.

  Karen, Mia’s mom, had made the journey from Chicago and seeing her brought on a fleet of emotions. I hugged her tightly, thanked her for coming and somehow managed not to break down and weep at the thought of my dear friend, Mia. The evening passed by in a blink, August and Rory both gave speeches and I am pretty sure they were trying to outdo one another in the number of laughs they received, but in the end they each had very sweet things to say.

  I had put Ari in charge of picking our wedding song. It may be possible that he loves music just as much if not more than I do and I knew that our song had been a very important detail to him to consider. He took my hand, there under the canopy of twinkling lights, and led me onto the wooden dance floor. He held me close and we were greeted by a live acoustic performance of “Pink Moon,” the very same people we had seen perform the song together the fall before.

  “Oh Ari, this couldn’t be more perfect. I love you.”

  “I love you more.”

  Ari held me in his arms all night and we swayed back and forth to the music; kissing softly more than dancing, really. The stars were shining bright above us when Ari took me by the hand and began gradually weaving us in and out of the crowd of wedding guests. When he finally found a clearing, he picked me up, cradled me in his arms, and started down the strip of beach towards our home. I peeked behind him and saw a gathering of smiling faces, some giggling at our departure and I buried my face shyly into Ari’s shoulder.

  The butterflies in my stomach were beating their wings restlessly while Ari carried me up the steps and through the door. I closed my eyes to suppress the nerves. He carried me through our home, down the hall and finally set me down again in front of our bedroom door. We stopped there and kissed. Our kisses were delicate and soft. I could feel his hands run up my bare back and my stomach did somersaults. His fingers stopped at the top of my wispy straps, the only thing keeping my dress tied to the rest of my body.

  Our kisses became deeper and more frantic and I moved my fingers to the buttons on his shirt. I let out a breath and my nerves vanished. They were quickly replaced with desire. Ari grabbed the door handle, pushed the door open, and pulled me in with him. I pulled his shirt off his shoulders and ran my fingers down his chest, towards the button on his pants. His eyes fluttered closed at my touch and when they opened, they were dark and full of need.

  Ari slid the tiny straps of my dress from my shoulders and the dress rippled down into a puddle of silk at my feet.

  “Oh, my God, Ava, you are so beautiful,” he said, and his voice was rough and deep. The eagerness became overwhelming. Ari pulled me onto the bed and climbed on top of me, his hands settled on either side of my head. He stopped kissing me for a moment and looked me in the eyes and suddenly I was filled with surprise, pain and pleasure all at once. I gasped and Ari stilled.

  “Are you ok, Baby?”

  “Yes,” I whispered. I was more than okay. We whispered, “I love you” to each other in between breathless gasps. Ari grabbed my body tight and held me close so I could feel his heartbeat. I ran my hands down his back. He was sweet, gentle and loving. My body melted with the desire. We were covered in a sultry sheen. His hands were knotted fists in my hair. My lips were pressed firmly against his. When I felt like I was going to explode with the pleasure, I dug my fingernails into his bare back and bit down on the corner of his bottom lip to keep myself from screaming out. Ari made a muffled moan into my mouth.

  Our breathing slowed and he tucked me into his side, his arms wrapped around me. Ari wiped a tiny amount of blood from his bottom lip and kissed me softly on my forehead. I was completely drained. I felt my consciousness begin to fade.

  “Goodnight, Mrs. Alexander.”

  “Mmm,” I mused and fell asleep.

  Chapter 26

  Hopeless

  When I awoke in the morning, I was wrapped up in Ari; the sun was flooding our new bedroom with light. I had not noticed one detail about the room the night before due to my preoccupation with the details of Ari as Husband. Our bedroom was clearly the best room in the house. Our bed, a four-poster king-sized fluffy bed, was draped by Ari’s traditional huge overstuffed blankets and graced by matching pillows. Our sheets were softer than silk. The total effect was what I imagined sleeping on a cloud in heaven would be like. I spied a walk-in closet across the room and next to it the door to the master bath. Ari’s great bedroom chair from next door, my personal favorite piece of furniture, had been moved over to a corner in our room. Stacks of his books and mine were piled up next to it.

  The furniture was an eclectic mix of both vintage and modern. There was an old dressing table with a very large mirror above it. On the dressing table was a huge bouquet of our wedding flowers in a clear-glass vase. Flanking the bed were unmatched bedside tables. Ari’s was masculine and mine was sweet and dainty. Each was adorned with a glass vase of more white anemone flowers. A bench at the foot of our bed was embellished with a soft looking throw blanket and more decorative pillows. The window offered a magnificent view of the Pacific Ocean, and hanging on the wall behind the bed were the photos Aggie had taken of Ari and myself sleeping. The room was perfect and I was completely at peace.

  “Good morning, Sweet Ava,” Ari said sleepily. I got one good look at his lip and my eyes grew huge.

  “Oh, my gosh, Ari, I am so sorry.”

  Ari gave me a beautiful laugh.

  “That’s nothing,” he said as he sat up and turned so that his back was visible. Scratch marks stretched from his neck down his shoulder blades. I covered my face with my hands but Ari quickly pulled them away. He had a smile stretched across his face.

  “Believe me Ava, last night was amazing.”

  My cheeks flushed.

  “Yeah, it was,” I admitted sheepishly.

  Ari moved me on top of him.

  “Care to try it again?”

  I giggled and we spent the rest of the morning in bed.

  ****

  Since many of our guests had come from out of town, we planned to host a goodbye dinner at a restaurant in Laguna. The dinner would be a nice way to say our thanks before our guests left for home. When Ari and I finally did decide to get out of bed, he announced that he was going to take a shower and start to get ready. I decided that, if I needed to be able to function around all of the guests and family members, I should probably get a run in.

  “Ok, Baby, I love you. Remember, you hold my heart in here,” he pointed to my chest, “I can’t live without it, so please be careful and don’t be gone for too long.”

  I swooned and seriously contemplated staying behind and giving up on the run for the day. But I shook my head and tried to focus, knowing a decent run would be the only way to clear the fog from my brain.

  “I love you, too,” I said and stood up on my toes to kiss him. I looked at his lip again. I was fairly certain there would be a scar.

  Ari had spent the week before the wedding moving our clothes over from his parent’s house, so I found my things in the closet. I threw on my favorite Cub’s tee-shirt, one that I have had since I was fourteen, and a pair of running shorts. I found the Nikes that Rory had given me for Christmas and set out for a run, shoving my ear buds into my ears.

  I was stiff and sore from the night before and the lazy morning, but as I ran, I began to loosen up and stretch out. My mind kept wandering back to
our wedding and our wedding night. I had a foolish, happy grin stretched across my face. I reached a secluded part of the beach about a mile and a half into my run. I turned around in the sand and began my jog home to Ari. I had Lykke Li playing loudly in my ears when, out of nowhere, I felt a blinding, radiating pain across the back of my head. My legs gave out, and as I fell I caught a glimpse of Kakos brother No. 6 holding a baseball bat.

  No, no, no, not this. Not now.

  My eyes blinked closed and I succumbed to darkness.

  ****

  I came to feeling groggy, my head spinning. I was certain that I had been drugged. My thoughts were incoherent and jumbled. There was a dull ache all throughout my body. My eyesight was fuzzy and I blinked several times before being able to make out that I was in a dark basement of some sort. The cement floor was cold and damp. A small, rectangular window near the ceiling let in the moonlight.

  The basement was empty except for a small TV plugged into a corner wall across from me. I was on the floor, my feet tied together with rope. My hands were cuffed around the pipes of a water heater and my mouth was covered in duct tape. There was nothing that hinted of escape anywhere within view.

  “Ah, Ava, I was beginning to worry that you might never wake up.”

  I turned my head, startled, and saw a large, middle-aged man standing before me. He was bald on top and his belly protruded somewhat over his belt. He smelled of sweat and cigars.

  “No need for introductions. I’m sure you know who I am and why you are here,” he said with a slight European accent. “I am just so pleased, Ava, that I get to be the one to kill you. I cannot wait to watch you beg, plead and cry. Mostly I cannot wait to watch you die.”

  His eyes twinkled with delight.

  “It’s a shame, for you, that you killed my brothers. You will pay for each one of them, Ava I can assure you. Really, you would have done better to let them finish what they planned for you eight months ago. You might have been able to avoid the torture I have in mind for you now.”

  My mind was going a million miles an hour. My eyes were wide. My mouth was dry and every muscle in my body was clenched tight.

  I am going to die.

  No. 6 took out a nine mm revolver and brushed the cold barrel against my cheek.

  “Do you like games, Ava? Wait,” he said putting the barrel over the tape on my lips, “don’t answer that, because I don’t give a damn what you like. But before I kill you we are going to play a few games. We’ll start with a little video I want you to watch.”

  I swallowed hard, my brain racing as I tried to plan a way to escape, but I came up empty handed. I was stuck. There was nothing I could use to break free and no way I could overpower No. 6 to get his gun. I was going to die in this basement and Ari would never find my body. He and I would never laugh, never touch, never kiss again.

  No. 6 walked the short distance to the TV in the corner, and turned it on. There was Ari. My first thought was that No. 6 had kidnapped Ari, too, but as the TV picture came in clearer, I let out a sigh of relief. Ari was at home, in our living room, sitting on a chair. His family surrounded him. He was on the news talking with a reporter, Celina Sanchez.

  Celina began her report.

  “Ava Alexander, formally Ava Baio, granddaughter of fashion icon Margaux Baio, was reported missing yesterday afternoon. Foul play is suspected. It is believed that Ava’s captor is Damien Kakos, the last known of six Kakos brothers, five of whom have died in mysterious accidents this year. Damien is currently on the FBI’s most wanted list for murder. Ava was involved in averting a kidnapping earlier this year that involved two of the now deceased Kakos brothers. Their bodies were found in the harbor, here in Dana Point, New Year’s Day.

  “Time is of the essence in this matter,” Celina continued. “Damien Kakos is believed to be armed and extremely dangerous. Ava was last seen running at two o’clock yesterday afternoon along the southern edge of Dana Point beach. If anyone knows anything or has seen something involving her kidnapping, please report it to the police immediately.

  “Beside me is Ava’s husband of only three days, Ari Alexander. Ari, if Ava or her captor are out there listening, what do you want to say to them?”

  Ari was pale and tired looking. He opened his mouth to talk, then stopped to regain his composure.

  “Ava, I love you.” Tears streamed down both his cheeks and mine. Ari was so exposed, so broken. “I am going to find you, Ava. I won’t ever stop. You have my heart; I can’t live without it. I can’t live without you.”

  “Any words for Damien, Ari?”

  “Please,” he begged, “let her go. Take me instead, please.”

  No. 6 shut off the TV and turned back towards me with a wicked, sleazy smile.

  “Ava, do you remember how you killed my first brother? You shot him in the head; blew his brains out.” His smile grew larger.

  “Well, that’s what I am going to do to you. Only I can’t decide if I am ready to let you die yet or not. Have you heard of a game called Russian roulette? I’m sure you have. See, I’m going to take this one bullet and put it in a chamber. One bullet in the gun; your odds aren’t bad,” he mused.

  “Then I am going to spin it like this,” he said, spinning the cylinder with his fat fingers. “Then I am going to aim it right here.” No. 6 held the barrel up to my temple and beads of sweat began to trickle their way down my face. I screamed through my duct tape and pulled at the handcuffs, but in vain.

  No. 6 took the gun off my temple.

  “You seem scared, Ava. If you don’t like my games, let me know and I will do as your husband requests. I will take him and let you go, just like that. At any point, if you choose to switch places with him, I’ll take care of it. I know right where he is.”

  I frantically shook my head no and screamed, “Just shoot,” through my closed mouth.

  “Oh goody, I like your spunk, Ava; I hope you live past this first little game. I really do,” he said, as he put the barrel back to my temple. My head flooded with thoughts of Ari. I wanted him to be the last thing I saw before I died. No. 6 pulled the trigger and I heard the click.

  Nothing. The bullet had been in a different chamber. I let out a shaky breath and sobbed. My tears mixed with sweat and ran down my face. No. 6’s smile was sadistic and scary.

  He got up and turned the TV back on.

  “It’s on a loop,” he said cheerily. It can run all night, just to keep you company.”

  He left me down in the basement tied up. I heard his fat feet pounding the floorboards above me. He was on the phone, talking with someone, telling the person on the other line about me, the gun and my cries. He almost seemed nervous. Who could make him feel nervous? I wondered briefly.

  I sat in the dark, damp basement and stared out at the moonlight coming in through the little window on the far wall. The moon was full and luminous. It was taunting me, emphasizing the loss of my freedom, which was just beyond my reach. I was so scared, desperate and frantic. I kept trying to tell myself to think. Just think! but it was useless, there was nothing to think about. I could hardly move and I had no way to save myself. The only thing I had to cling on to was hope, the hope that Ari would find me. There was nothing left that I had any control over. Time dragged on. No. 6’s footsteps as he paced the floor above ebbed and then stopped. At some point my sobbing pushed me over the edge to exhaustion and I succumbed to sleep.

  I was woken, in what must have been mid-morning, by No. 6 tying a noose out of one end of a heavy rope.

  “Ah, Ava!” No. 6 exclaimed cheerfully. His eyes had a wicked gleam to them. He clapped his hands together.

  “Day two! This game is going to be such a fun one! First, let’s see what Ari said today.”

  He turned the TV on to show Ari and his family, along with Margaux and August, at a press conference begging for my safe return. A huge reward was being offered for any news that would lead to my freedom. Detective Scott assured listeners that they were doing everything they could to
find and rescue me.

  “Don’t entertain any false hope, Ava; they’ll never find you,” No. 6 interjected. “You are going to die here; I promise you that.” He smiled broadly as he came over to me holding the gun in his hands.

  He untied the rope around my feet and ordered me to stand. My legs were weak and stiff, but I did as he said. He unlocked the handcuffs, just long enough for me to separate myself from the water heater, then re-cuffed them back behind my back. My wrists were raw and tender. A few of my fingers were cold from the loss of circulation. He ordered me to stand on a stool that was directly below his hand-tied noose.

  “Ava, you hanged my second brother. That was a sick and twisted thing to do,” No. 6 said with a tsk, as he tapped his greasy, sausage-like finger on the side of my head.

  “You are going to have to pay for what you did to him,” he added through gritted teeth, then turned nonchalantly and added, “unless you want your hubby to do it for you. My offer still stands.”

  I shook my head no and, after Damien slipped the noose over my head, I tried to climb up on the stool. Without the use of my arms for balance, though, I simply couldn’t do it.

  “Stupid bitch,” I heard Damien mutter and in the end, he had to help me. Finally I was on the stool with my feet as far apart as possible, my body swaying a little to keep my balance and the noose resting heavily on my chest. No. 6 threw the other end of the rope up and over a wooden joist above us and pulled the rope until the noose was tight around my neck. He secured it to an iron ring embedded in the wall behind him. If the stool fell over or if I lost my balance, my neck would break.

  “Now listen, Ava... you stand on that stool all day and if you are still on it when night falls, I promise I will come and let you down. If you squirm or scream, that stool’s gonna tip or crack. And remember, if at any point you feel hopeless, as if you can’t handle any more standing on the stool, do yourself a favor and just kick it aside. Your death will be quick and painless; you remember how long it took my brother to hang to death, I’m sure.”