*Chapter 9: Bloodline*
1251 Words
---
The penthouse door was splinters. Men in black flooded in, guns up.
Alexander fired first. Two shots. Two men dropped.
“Get down!” he roared at Ava.
Ava didn’t duck. She stared at the camera showing Marcus Cross smiling downstairs.
“If you’re my father,” Ava said. Voice ice cold. “Then you should know… I don’t run from storms anymore. I become them.”
Marcus laughed through the speakers. “That’s my girl.”
A bullet shattered the window behind them. Glass rained down.
Alexander shoved Ava behind the bed. “Stay there.”
“No,” Ava said. She stood up. Sheet still wrapped around her. She walked to the nightstand, opened the drawer.
Inside: Another gun. Smaller. Elegant.
Alexander froze. “How did you—”
“I’m Richard’s daughter,” Ava said. She checked the clip like she’d done it 100 times. “And Marcus’s too, apparently.”
She stepped out from behind the bed. Fired. Once. A man in the doorway dropped, gun still in his hand.
Alexander stared. “Ava?”
Ava turned to him. Eyes dark. Not scared. Not the girl from the boardroom.
“This,” she said, raising the gun, “is what Marcus meant by ‘you inherited more than money’.”
Another man lunged. Ava shot him in the knee, then the head. No hesitation. No shaking hands.
“Where did you learn that?” Alexander grabbed her arm.
“My mom,” Ava said. “Lila taught me. Said if I was Richard’s daughter, I’d need to know how to kill the men who’d come for me. If I was Marcus’s daughter, I’d need to know how to kill the men he sent.”
The lights flickered. Marcus’s voice came through again: “See, Alexander? She’s not your soft little fiancée. She’s Cross blood. My blood.”
Alexander pulled Ava behind him as more men charged. “Doesn’t matter whose blood. She’s mine.”
He fired until the clip was empty. Then threw the gun. Grabbed a lamp. Smashed it over a man’s head.
Ava moved like water. Ducked a bullet, rolled, came up firing. Three more men down.
For 60 seconds the penthouse was gunfire and screams and broken glass.
Then silence.
Four men dead. Two bleeding out.
Ava stood in the middle of it all, breathing hard, gun still steady. Blood on her cheek that wasn’t hers.
Alexander looked at her like he was seeing her for the first time.
“You just killed 6 men,” he said quietly.
“I know,” Ava said. She lowered the gun. Hands started shaking now. After. “And I’d kill 6 more if they touched you.”
Alexander crossed the room in 2 steps. Took the gun from her. Tossed it away. Pulled her against his chest.
“You’re not a weapon,” he whispered into her hair. “You’re Ava. My Ava. Not Marcus’s.”
The screens all flickered. Marcus’s face filled every one.
“Impressive, daughter,” Marcus said. Clapping slowly. “You’ve got my aim and Richard’s rage. But you’re still coming home.”
“Try and take her,” Alexander said. He kept one arm around Ava. “I dare you.”
Marcus smiled. “I don’t need to. You’ll bring her to me. Because in 24 hours, I’m releasing the video of you two in the boardroom elevator. The one before you got to the penthouse. The whole world will see Alexander Kingsley f*****g his ‘cousin’.”
Ava’s face went white.
“That’s not possible,” Alexander said. “We deleted all security footage—”
“Marcus Cross built Kingsley security,” Marcus cut him off. “I see everything. And daughter… you’re either with me, or I ruin him. Your choice.”
The screens went black.
Ava’s gun clattered to the floor. “He has leverage now.”
Alexander picked up the photo Victoria dropped. Stared at Lila. Then at the shadowed man. Marcus.
“23 years ago,” Alexander said slowly, “Richard, Damian, and Marcus made a bet. Whoever fathered Lila’s child would control Greyford. Richard got money. Damian got pharma. Marcus got the underground.”
Ava’s legs gave out. Alexander caught her.
“So I’m not just a pawn,” Ava whispered. “I’m the prize.”
“No,” Alexander said. He lifted her chin. “You’re Ava Kingsley. My fiancée. And we’re not playing their game.”
He kissed her. Hard. Desperate. Like he could erase Marcus’s voice from her head.
When he pulled back, his eyes were different. Not CEO. Not lover.
Soldier.
“Plan,” Alexander said. “We leave the city tonight. Before Marcus moves. I have a jet. Private island. No cameras. No Cross. Just us.”
Ava shook her head. “If we run, he wins. He’ll release the video. Destroy your name. Take Kingsley Corp.”
“Let him,” Alexander said. “I’d rather be broke than lose you.”
Ava touched his face. Blood on her fingers. “You’re not a coward, Alexander Kingsley. So don’t start acting like one.”
Alexander’s jaw tightened. “Then what?”
“We fight,” Ava said. She picked up the gun again. “If Marcus wants a war over me, we give him one. But on our terms.”
She walked to the broken window. Greyford City spread below. Lights like stars.
“My mother taught me 3 rules,” Ava said. “One: Never let them see you bleed. Two: Shoot first if they reach for their gun. Three: If they threaten the people you love… burn their whole world down.”
She turned back to Alexander. “Marcus taught me rule three without knowing it.”
Alexander stared at her. Then slowly, he smiled. Proud. Dangerous.
“My 50%,” he said. “Alright. We burn it down.”
He pulled her close. Kissed her forehead. “But first… are you okay? Really okay?”
Ava looked at the bodies on the floor. Then at her hands. Steady now.
“No,” she admitted. “I’m terrified. But I’m not broken. Marcus doesn’t get to decide that.”
“Good,” Alexander said. He grabbed his phone. Dialed. “Damien? We have a problem. Marcus is alive. And he wants Ava.”
Damien’s voice: “Then we kill him. Tonight.”
Ava met Alexander’s eyes over the phone.
“Not tonight,” she said. “Tomorrow. I want him to think he’s winning for 24 hours.”
Alexander smiled. Slow. Deadly. “My girl.”
He ended the call and pulled her to him. “You just went from victim to villain in 10 minutes.”
Ava wrapped her arms around his neck. “You chose me when I was trash. Let me choose you now that I’m dangerous.”
Their lips met as sirens wailed outside. Police. Coming for the bodies.
Alexander didn’t stop kissing her. Even as guards burst in.
“Mr. Kingsley, what happened—”
“Clean it up,” Alexander said against Ava’s mouth. “And tell Marcus Cross… his daughter says hi.”
He lifted Ava in his arms, stepped over the dead men, and walked to the elevator.
Behind them, the penthouse burned with gunpowder and promises.
Ava looked back once. At Marcus’s face frozen on the black screen.
“Come get me, Father,” she whispered. “I’m done running.”
*End of Chapter 9*
---
- Writer
