A GHOST FROM THE PAST
611 Words
Ava – The Name That Shouldn't Be
Ava scowled at her own image in the bathroom mirror, her head spinning.
Gideon Laurent.
She trembled with quivering hands, tracing the slender scar along her wrist—the one she had so little memory of getting.
If the Laurents had killed her mother, what else had they done?
And most importantly…
Why had she become a target all of a sudden?
She flipped on the tap, splashing her face with cold water, trying to compose herself.
A knock at the door.
"Open up," Damien's voice was authoritative, but she heard something behind it. Tension.
Ava hesitated before opening the door.
Damien stepped inside, his big frame filling the room. "I have something to show you."
She raised an eyebrow. "Now?"
He didn't answer. Instead, he extended a phone and clicked play on a video.
The screen flashed. A dark room. A man bound to a chair.
Luca Moretti.
Ava's gut turned as she noticed the blood on his shirt.
Then the camera cut away, and she couldn't catch her breath.
Because another man was in the frame.
Older, authoritative.
And she recognized him.
Her hands shot to her mouth. "No. That's not—"
Damien's voice was glacial. "Gideon Laurent."
Ava's breathing turned shallow.
Because she'd seen that man before.
In a picture.
An old photograph of her mother.
And he stood beside her.
---
Damien – A Blood Tied to the Enemy
Damien watched Ava's reaction closely, absorbing every wisp of feeling.
Recognition. Shock. Fear.
"You know him," he growled, not a question—assertive.
Ava blanched, white-knuckled against the sink. "I— I think so."
Damien's jaw snapped shut. He'd hoped there would be more, but this?
This was a threat.
Ava's eyes widened. "He was in a photo. With my mother."
Damien's mind flew, putting the pieces together.
"If that's true," he said deliberately, "then Gideon isn't after you because of me."
Ava swallowed. "He's after me because of her."
Damien's fist clenched. If Ava was connected to the Laurent family in a way they hadn't yet realized, then this wasn't about vengeance.
It was about claiming her.
And over his dead body was it ever going to happen.
---
Lena & Xander – The Warning They Almost Missed
Lena and Xander sat in his office, studying the files Nikolai had uncovered.
Xander pointed at a photo on the desk. "Look at this."
Lena leaned in. The photograph was of a warehouse, heavily protected. "What is this?"
Xander spoke gravely. "The Laurents' headquarters."
Lena's stomach clenched. "And?"
Xander caught his breath. "Damien messaged me." He turned to face her. "Ava is somehow connected to them."
Lena braced herself. "How."
Xander didn't answer right away.
Then, he set another photo in front of her.
It was old, a little blurry.
A woman—Ava's mother.
Standing with Gideon Laurent.
Lena's heart pounding. "This— this means…"
Xander's eyes met hers. "Ava might not just be a target." He caught his breath.
"She might be a Laurent by blood."
---
Ava – A Reality She Never Wanted
Ava sat on the end of Damien's bed, staring at the photo on his phone.
It was an old photograph, but there was no mistake.
Her mother.
Standing with a monster.
She swallowed hard. "This doesn't make sense."
Damien sat down next to her, his presence strong but unyielding. "We have to know the truth."
Ava breathed hard. "What if I don't want to?"
Damien's fingers brushed against hers. "Then I'll protect you anyway."
Ava's throat closed up.
Because she ached to believe him.
But how do you run from something that's in your blood?
- Writer
