Schooled in Revenge (16 page)

Ava brushed off her hands, glancing at Reena. “Follow me. And close the door behind you.”

She stepped onto the first wooden tread and made her way into the darkness below them.

“You okay?” she called up to Reena, hearing the hesitancy in her descent.

“Yeah,” Reena said. “I just… I can’t see anything.”

Ava reached back, taking Reena’s hand. “It’s okay. Just follow me.”

A moment later, Reena’s voice cut through the darkness. “I’m sorry, Ava.”

Ava continued down the steps without looking back. “For what?”

“For acting the way I did when you first came to Rebun. I don’t know why I was such a bitch.”

Finally reaching the last step, Ava stepped onto the hard-packed cellar floor. “I understand. In fact, it would have been easier if it had stayed that way.”

“How would that make things easier?” Reena asked, reaching the end of the staircase.

Ava pulled the string of a dusty lightbulb on the low-hanging ceiling. “Because then we wouldn’t care what happens to each other tonight.”

The light flickered briefly before fully illuminating the space. The room was just as Ava remembered. A hidden gem beneath the grandeur of the main house, the ceilings were lined with redwood, the mahogany walls polished to a deep, rich shine.

“Where are we? What is this?” Reena asked.

“It was an old, unused storage room that I decided to restore after my grandmother passed. I needed a project. Something to keep me busy. It felt good to breathe life into something new. Although I guess that doesn’t make much sense.”

Reena met her eyes. “Sure it does.”

Ava looked around, the room a reminder of all she’d once planned. She wanted to expand her family’s legacy, but she had made all the wrong choices.

“I really screwed things up,” she said softly.

“Don’t even go there,” Reena advised. “That’s how people
like Charlie and Reinhardt thrive—by making everyone else the scapegoat for their actions. They did this. Not you.”

Ava nodded, trying to believe it.

She set down her sequined clutch, the envelope Shay had given her sticking out of the top, next to a 1977 Pinot Noir. It was the year her parents got married. She smiled, taking it as a good omen.

“What’s that?” Reena asked, tipping her head at the manila envelope.

“A reason to believe in Takeda. That his training pays off and that we need to return to it when we’re done here.”

Reena grinned. “What does he have on Charlie?”

“Let’s just say that if Charlie is at all capable of regret, this will be enough to send him into a tornado of it.”

“And with what I’ll be doing to him upstairs…,” Reena began.

“Good-bye, Charlie.”

They traded steely looks, their shared resolve further bonding them.

“Let me check your makeup,” Ava said, pulling Reena under the lightbulb.

Ava adjusted Reena’s short platinum blonde wig, a perfect match to the choker around her neck. Tipping her head, Ava checked her smoky eyes for smudges and studied the prosthetic nose Shay had applied using spirit gum adhesive. She had been surprised when he’d gone to work, although she shouldn’t have been.

Apparently there was no limit to the expertise imparted under Takeda’s tutelage.

“Looks good,” Ava said.

Reena shifted nervously on her feet, all traces gone of the cool, collected woman Ava first met on Rebun Island.

Ava leaned in to give her a hug. “You’re going to do great.”

Reena nodded, taking a deep breath. “How will we find Reinhardt’s hired girl?”

Ava brushed some dust off her hands. “Don’t worry. I’ll make an entrance and pick her out.”

“An entrance?” Reena asked. “You’re not playing it low-key?”

“This is Napa. A grand entrance is the only kind that counts.” Ava’s face was grim. “Besides, if all eyes are on me, no one will be staring at you.”

Motioning for Ava to turn around, Reena smoothed out the wrinkles in Ava’s dress.

Ava checked her watch. “It’s a quarter past eight. They’re meeting at ten. Let’s do this.”

They exchanged a look. Sisters by fire.

They were crossing the cellar, moving to the staircase that would lead them up to the upper levels of the house, when something caught Ava’s eye. She moved toward it, wondering if her eyes were deceiving her. But as she got closer, she knew she was right.

Cobwebs crisscrossed the gilded frame. Ava reached down, brushing them away, and came face-to-face with her mother and grandmother. And not just them. She was there, too. All three of them staring back from the painting that had hung on the wall by the staircase for as long as Ava remembered.

Her breath caught in her throat. She had assumed the painting was destroyed or sold. She had grieved its loss. But
even greater than her surprise at its survival was her shock at its location.

Only Charlie knew about her renovation project.

Why would he save the painting?

She walked away, rattled and confused.

“Do you get sad, being here?” Reena asked softly.

Ava thought about it. “Not anymore. Now I just get angry.”

She was on the staircase leading to the house when she realized Reena was still on the cellar floor.

“Is something wrong?” she asked.

Reena shook her head. “I’m just…” She laughed a little. “Well, I’m not even sure I know what it feels like, but I guess I’m scared.” She hesitated. “And it creeps me out to think of sidling up to that bastard, Reinhardt, when Cruz—”

Ava walked back down the stairs. “Listen to me. You can do this. For your mother. For Cruz. For Simon, alone in a prison cell, petrified and desperate. You’re not betraying Cruz. You’re continuing his mission. And by doing that, you’re keeping him alive.”

Reena took a deep breath and put her hand on Ava’s shoulder. “I’m ready.”

They ascended the stairs leading to the estate. Ava opened a door at the top, pushing aside a small rolling shelf unit inside a large pantry. Reena stopped behind her as Ava slid open the pantry doors to reveal a sliver of the main kitchen.

Waiters and waitresses moved frantically about, too busy to notice the two women slip from the pantry and head for the corridor. Continuing down the main hall, they approached
the big wooden doors that would take them to the party, in full swing in the tasting room.

“I hope no one recognizes me,” Reena said as Ava reached for the door.

“Don’t worry,” Ava said. “They’ll all be looking at me anyway.”

She’d been expecting him, but the sight of Charlie roaming the tasting room still felt like a harsh slap in the face.

A tall, voluptuous blonde graced his arm as he laughed with the guests, patting them on the back and listening intently when they spoke to him. Like they were the only people in the room. In the world.

Ava knew that look, that feeling, all too well.

The Sangiovese flowed freely as men in Armani tuxedos stood next to women in designer dresses and Jimmy Choo stilettos. Ava and Reena waited for Charlie to move into the adjoining room before entering the party. Ava braced herself as the guests swiveled their collective heads, eyes coming to rest on her.

A murmur rolled through the crowd like a tidal wave, picking up speed as everyone realized who stood before them.

“Oh, God,” Ava whispered to Reena. “All eyes on me.”

“It’s what we need to make everything else happen,” Reena reminded her.

“Well, you’re the media darling,” Ava said. “What do I do?”

Reena flashed a smile bright enough to light the room. “Smile.”

Ava walked farther into the room, head held high, as everyone continued their conversations, albeit with one eye on her.

“So,” Reena said, looking around. “Which one is she?”

Ava scoped out the candidates. A beautiful woman sipped sherry over by a vintage café table. She wore a custom-tailored dress with a diamond necklace Ava pegged as real.

Not her.

Over by the fireplace, two dark-haired girls in faux-fur and hoop earrings laughed as a couple of sweater-vest-wearing sycophants in black-rimmed glasses did their best to keep the ladies entertained.

Interesting. But definitely not the kind of high-end prostitute hired by someone like Reinhardt.

“How about her?” Reena indicated an hourglass-shaped woman with crossed legs and a nest of black hair, face tipped to her phone as her fingers flew across the keys.

But Ava shook her head, motioning to the other side of the room where a tall, buxom woman with red hair surveyed the crowd, her fascination obvious. Her dress was just a little too low-cut, a rose pinned to one of the spaghetti straps.

“It’s her,” Ava said.

Reena seemed surprised. “How do you know?”

“A Napa socialite wouldn’t be so curious. This kind of party is old hat up here. Plus, the lip gloss is a little too thick, the dress a little too—”

“Got it,” Reena said with a chuckle. “So you’re sure?”

She tipped her head at the woman. “Look for yourself.”

The woman was openly studying the décor, running her hand over a gold-plated wine opener hanging on the wall. Ava remembered it, a gift from the OIV during a particularly rewarding year that saw Ava and her grandmother on the cover of Napa Valley’s regional wine magazine. Starling’s Cabernet had blown the competition out of the water at the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles international wine festival.

“Okay, then,” Reena said, taking a deep breath.

“You can do this,” Ava said.

She watched as Reena stood a little straighter, her manner changing from reserved wallflower to sultry seductress as she sashayed toward the copper-haired girl-for-hire.

A moment later, someone tapped Ava’s shoulder.

She turned, nearly swallowing her own tongue as she came face-to-face with Charlie.

All the preparation in the world hadn’t prepared her for the shock of seeing him, of being so close to him. She was caught in the net of his cologne, a scent he’d been wearing since the day she met him. A montage of memory flashed through her mind. Their first kiss. The first time they made love.

But it only took a second to remember how it all ended.

“Ava,” he breathed, his face white with shock.

She forced a placid expression on her face, surprised when the rest of her body followed. Tranquility flowed through her as she looked at his face. Finally.
Finally.

“So then you remember,” she said.

“Remember? Of course I remember,” he said, smiling nervously. “But what are you doing here?”

“The expression is ‘you can’t go home again,’ right?” she said. “I guess I wanted to find out for myself.”

He narrowed his eyes. “What do you really want, Ava?” She smiled, grabbing his hand and pulling him to the center of the room. “To dance.”

“You’re looking for William Reinhardt, aren’t you?” Reena asked the redhead.

She nodded. “My name’s Kandi. With an
i.
And a
K
.”

“Of course it is.” Reena smirked, her sarcasm floating well above Kandi’s head.

She looked down at the small silk rose pinned to her dress. “They told me to wear this. Should I just wait here?”

Reena lowered her eyes to the flower. “The rose…?”

“So he can find me?” Kandi explained, like Reena wasn’t very bright.

Reena nodded her understanding, grateful for the little bit of good luck. “Actually, I was sent over by Mr. Reinhardt. Something has come up. I’m afraid he won’t be requiring your services this evening.”

“But I was booked for the whole night,” she pouted.

Reena began propelling her toward the door, maneuvering to pluck the rose from her dress. “And I’m sure he will make good on the, er, invoice. Have a good evening, Kandi with a K.”

“And an
i.
”

Reena tried not to roll her eyes. “How could I forget?”

She watched Kandi walk away, and waited until the other woman was out of sight to pin the rose on her own dress.

A moment later, Reinhardt entered the room. The waiters and waitresses hurried to his side, eager to offer him hors d’oeuvres and champagne. Reena watched him preen, obviously enjoying the attention.

He made the rounds, meeting and greeting everyone in attendance. Reena wondered if it was her imagination that the locals seemed uncomfortable, their smiles stiff, their handshakes a little too effusive.

His gaze was pulled to hers, as if he could feel the weight of her stare. They locked eyes, Reena making a point to hold it just a little longer than necessary. His gaze slid to the rose pin at her breast.

A look of surprise passed briefly over his face. She gave him a slow, seductive smile.

Game on.

“I’m not doing this,” Charlie said, his hand on the curve of Ava’s lower back.

“We’re just dancing, Charlie. We’ve done it before. Of course, that was when I thought it actually meant something. But still.”

“Not here, not now,” Charlie said between clenched teeth.

Ava pulled him in closer as the woman named Bo watched warily from the edge of the room. “I think a dance is the least that you owe me.”

She looked over his shoulder, watching as Reinhardt moved toward Reena like a heat-seeking missile. He leaned in, whispering something in her ear. Reena nodded, and he put a hand on her back, guiding her to the door.

Ava hoped Reena would be okay. Somehow they had become more than comrades in arms. They had become friends. Ava wouldn’t want anything to happen to her.

She refocused on Charlie, pressing seductively against him. Now that Reinhardt was gone, Charlie was all hers.

One song ended and a new one began, this one softer and slower. Charlie looked down at her, his gaze softening. Her
resolve, moments before rock-solid, faltered under the heat of his deep blue stare. They had always had passion. Always had that mysterious brand of chemistry that was impossible to deny and just as impossible to force.

You either had it with someone, or you didn’t.

She and Charlie had it in spades, and she was annoyed to find that it was still there, even after everything he’d done to her.