Ava's POV
Watching Eli pace the room, his expression locked between regret and something darker—probably fear—and I could not breathe. Since he began talking, he hadn't yet looked me in the eye; however, this time I was letting him evade me.
"So, you are telling me this has been going on for... exactly how long?" My voice hardly steady as I asked. "You concealed all this from me for years, and felt it was alright since it was for my protection?”
"It was never that simple," he said at last, looking directly at me. His eyes reflected a mix of vulnerability I had never seen before and embarrassment. "I felt I could keep you out of it all and manage it. But things were increasingly difficult.
I laughed, then clenched my hands. " Complicated? Eli, I have been in danger without even seeing
