Chapter 9

“How long are you going to be gone for?” Collins groaned .

Ava rolled her eyes, already amused by his childish antics. She would be gone on her usual business trip. Collins had not given her a single breathing space , not hiding how much he was going to miss her. 

“I told you. It’s just going to be for a couple of days. Stop being so dramatic.” Ava scolded, before taking a sip of her wine.

“But it sounds so long.” Collins whined.

It took a great deal not to almost spill all the wine out of her mouth. She forgot how needy he could be at times. As funny as it was, she found it endearing that he was going to miss her this much. It caused a fluttery feeling in her chest. Was this what it was like to be loved?

“Don’t worry. It won’t be so long. I’ll be back before you even know it.” Ava said, a smile on her lips.

“You promise?” 

“I promise.” She giggled.

They talked a bit about some mundane things before she had finally left for her business trip. 

A sigh left her lips as various thoughts swarmed her head. She’d made her decision to head back to Moonwalker pack for her revenge.

The only question was how she was going to go back there. What kind of entrance did she want to make? Things would have definitely changed there. It wouldn’t be as it had been years ago. For all she knew, they probably thought she was dead. Well, they’d be in for quite the shocker. 

She glanced outside the window. The sun was just about setting. It would be night soon. She’d taken residence in a lodge in the small town. Things had been going pretty slowly for her. She felt the itch to experience something more…exciting.

An idea popped at the back of her head and she immediately downed the rest of her wine before getting up from the edge of the bed. She rummaged through her bag of clothes and smiled when she finally found what she’d been looking for.

She headed into the bathroom and took a shower. When she was done, she came back to the room and began applying some makeup. When she was satisfied with what she’d applied, she put on the dress and grabbed the mask she’d found to pair with it.

For the night, she planned on taking herself out. It had been quite a while since she last went out for drinking. It seemed like a perfect opportunity to do that now. She stood in front of the mirror, checking her appearance and even doing a little spin.

The black dress hugged her curves in the right place and accentuated her beauty even more. It made her skin seemingly glow against its dark contrast. She put on the mask before heading out of her room.

It didn’t take her long before she reached the local bar. She sat on one of the bar stools, tipping her head to the bartender in greeting. He gave her a nod in reply, a small smile on his face.

“What can I get the beautiful damsel this night?” He asked, still wearing the smile on his face.

Ava simply smiled, wondering how much patronage he was used to getting with this type of flattery. 

“Give me your best drink.” She said, sending him back a knowing smile.

His smile grew at her request and he did a small bow. “As the damsel wishes.”

He turned back and began preparing the drink. While she waited for her drink, she looked around at the bar. The whole place had a calm vibe to it. Some people were just sitting down nursing their drinks while others were looking to charm the person they’d set their sights on. 

“There you go. My special and personal recommendation.

She took the drink and sent him a smile. When she took the first sip, a small shiver went down her body followed by a wave of warmth. This was the stuff. She turned her focus from him and continued to sip her drink while she watched the goings of the people around her.

She was still focused on watching them when she felt someone take the seat beside her. It was a man. He was wearing a mask just like her. He had on a black shirt with the first few buttons off. Quite the view. Maybe that was just the alcohol starting to talk.

“A Rossini my good man.” He said to the bartender.

The bartender nodded with a smile on his face and turned to make the drink. Ava found herself unable to take her eyes of the man. She didn’t know why it was that. It wasn’t like she could see his face and chalk it up to simple attraction. She just couldn’t take her eyes off. 

“Am I that good looking?” He said, not looking in her direction.

She quickly looked away, a bit embarrassed at being caught staring. Maybe it was the alcohol. She turned back to look at him, feeling braver than before. He had turned to look at her now, his full attention on her.

It was now she noticed his eyes. He had gorgeous eyes that reminded her of a certain someone she’d been trying to forget all this time. She quickly shook the thoughts away and focused back on the moment. 

“Don’t flatter yourself.” She took another sip of her drink.

He was now staring at her with more intrigue, an amused smile on his lips. He collected his drink from the bartender and took a sip of it before putting it back on the table.

“It’s not flatter if you can’t take your eyes off me.” The man smiled, still staring straight at her.

Normally, she’d already be annoyed by this kind of conversation but this time around, things felt different. Whoever this man was, she didn’t want to leave his company just yet without unraveling him completely.