CHAPTER SIXTY-EIGHT
BURKE’S POV
“What are you talking about Ava? What did Harley do to you?” I asked, and she wiped her tears away.
“When you left for Chicago, she kidnapped me and took me there, she made me watch as she killed Jack, and… “Before she could finish her statement, she burst into a round of tears again.
My anger was already rising, and I could hardly feel my feet; my eyes were turning red, and if I got a glimpse of Harley, I’d snap her neck from her head.
“And she forced you to frame me for being the killer, or she’ll kill you,” I completed her State because she was too heartbroken to speak.
“Yes, I’m Sorry I did that to you; I was at gunpoint,” Ava said, crying profusely; I believed her because Ava isn’t capable of spoiling people’s names, and not me, her brother, who is the only family that she has.
“Yes Burke, she will kill me when she hears that I failed in the job of framing you,” She said, still crying and holding my feet.
I lifted my sister to her feet.
“She can’t do anything, Ava; I’ll kill Harley before she gets to kill you,” I said, wiping the tears from my sister’s face. She was looking red because of how hard she had cried.
“No, Burke, She’ll kill you; she hated the fact you sent her away when she loved you with all her heart,” She said, holding my arms; she was just talking out of fear; Harley can’t get to me; she isn’t that smart.
“Then what do you expect me to do? Watch as she ruins our lives?” I asked, getting angry at Ava’s frightened behavior. She had always been like this since she was a child, afraid of everything that looked scary.
“Marry her, Burke; that’s the only way she would leave us alone and not kill me; she was telling me all about her love for you when we were away,” She said, and I doubted if I heard her right. Did she just ask me to marry Harley?
“I should marry the woman that tried to kill my mate, probably killed my father, and killed my best friend, Ava. Have you gone mad? Or is your fear taking the better part of you?” I asked, yelling at my sister. I hated yelling at her because of how emotional she got. I don’t know what came over me, but luckily she didn’t cry about me yelling.
“She is fucking smart, Burke; she will kill Catherine and her children,” She yelled, pointing towards my mansion.
“She isn’t smart, is the woman she works with that’s smart,” I stated and she looked at me in surprise, like I had just told her a deep secret.
“How… do you know she works with another woman?” Ava stuttered, looking guilty of the crime, but that didn’t bother me because she wasn’t guilty.
“Catherine told me about the woman she saw when she was kidnapped, and since you were kidnapped, you would have probably seen her too,” I told her, and she nodded her head in response.
“I couldn’t see her face; she was wearing a mask,” She said, but it looked like a lie because she couldn’t look at my eyes when saying it, and I’m good at reading body language.
“That’s not a problem, Ava. My men are in search of Harley as we speak, and when they find her, we find her accomplice,” I said. Her mouth dropped open in shock, and I didn’t know why.
“Is there a problem?” I asked Ava because her mood was starting to change.
“No, I just need to use the toilet, bye,” and with that, she left the garden and headed towards my mansion.
I turned to look at her in surprise, till she entered the mansion.
“That was surprising,” I muttered to myself.
“Daddy,” Nikky called me, and I turned around to see them across the garden, playing in the pool.
“Hey baby,” I yelled, waving in her direction as she threw a kiss to me.
After that, I headed towards the mansion. I needed to ask Catherine how it went, delivering Jack’s death to his wife who initially blamed us for killing her husband.
Soon, I was In Front of our room; I pushed it open and found Catherine on the dressing table, removing her jewelry.
“How did it go, baby?” I asked her and she rolled her eyes at me in exhaustion.
“She cried bitterly, and I imagined how it would feel losing you or our kids; Emma isn’t going to heal anytime soon,” She said sadly, and I felt pain again. It was because of me Jack died, so I killed him.
“I caused his death; I brought him to death’s doorstep,” I said, and Catherine looked at me with worry as I sat at the edge of the bed.
She stood up from the dressing table and walked towards me. When she got to where I was, she sat on one of my laps and wrapped her tiny waist with my hands.
“Jack would hate it hearing that you keep blaming yourself for his death if I could remember Jack while we were growing up when I was still your best friend, he hates pity, the least you can do you him is not to feel pity for him, he died a fucking warrior,” She said, giving me an assuring kissing on my forehead.
“How did I get so lucky to have you?” I said, smiling.
“I can’t answer that question,” she replied to my question, blushing. She tried to get off my lap but I held her in place, so she stayed seated on my lap.
“Have you talked to Ava and inquired why she tried to spoil your name?” She asked and I nodded my head in response.
“She was manipulated by Harley, and was even kidnapped,” I said, but Catherine didn’t buy that excuse.
“Harley would never hurt Ava, that I know of; I think she’s lying,” She said, but it’s not sensible to think that Ava was lying; she had never lied, at least not to me.
“Ava is a saint and would never lie, and she wasn’t hurt; she only said Harley forced her to watch Jack’s death and also framed me for the death,” I said, getting a little pissed that Catherine was accusing my sister of telling a lie.
“That’s the thing, Burke; she can’t leave being kidnapped unharmed; Harley’s accomplice likes to see blood flow and would try to kill Ava, except Ava was the accomplice,” Catherine said, obviously pointing fingers at my sister.