Chapter 6
As the plane soared above the clouds, Ava felt a sense of freedom she hadn’t realized she’d been craving. Glancing out the window, she couldn’t help but feel a pang of guilt for Claire. The other woman had been so blinded by her infatuation with Ethan, she’d been willing to betray him. Then again, Ava reminded herself, Claire had no idea about the recording, about Ethan’s role in her parents‘ death.
Upon landing, Ava immediately ditched the burner phone Claire had provided, tossing it in a trashcan at the airport. She needed to disappear, vanish without a trace. Ethan would be looking for her, and she couldn’t risk Claire inadvertently leading him to her.
Using the cash Claire had given her, she booked a room at a nondescript motel far from the airport. She needed time to think, to plan her next move. The evidence on the flash drive was damning, but would it be enough? Ethan moved in powerful circles; he could easily bury any investigation, discredit any accusations.
For weeks, Ava lived a nomadic existence, drifting from city to city, always looking over her shoulder, terrified of being found. The fear was debilitating, eating away at her until she was nothing but a shadow of her former self.
She threw herself into researching Ethan, determined to uncover his secrets, to find a weakness she could exploit. She discovered that beneath his polished veneer, Ethan was a ruthless businessman, a predator who stopped at nothing to get what he wanted.
But she also discovered something else, something that both intrigued and terrified her – a pattern of obsession, a trail of broken hearts and shattered lives that all led back to Ethan.
He was a collector, a connoisseur of the forbidden. And Ava, much to her horror, realized she was his latest acquisition.
Chapter 7
