Schooled in Revenge by Jesse Lasky Read Free Book Online Page B

indecision in his eyes. “You probably shouldn’t. I don’t want you to get in trouble. But I’m going to see what’s in here.”
    Ava sighed and followed him in.
    The room was so dark she couldn’t see anything beyond the small circle of light cast by the candle. She grabbed on to Jon’s arm, giving her eyes time to adjust to the blackness around her. It didn’t help much, but a few seconds later, Jon extended his arm, holding the candle out in front of him and moving it around until Ava could make out the contents of the room.
    It was tiny, not much bigger than a closet. There was a small writing desk against one wall, a simple stool, and an unlit candle, burned halfway down. There were no pictures on the wall, no personal effects to hint at the room’s purpose or owner, although Ava had to guess it was Takeda.
    Jon stepped toward the desk, a stack of files sitting neatly atop its surface. Setting the candle down, he picked them up, opening the one on top.
    “Jon…”
    He ignored her, setting the file down and opening the next one. And the next and the next.
    “These are ours,” he muttered.
    “What are ours?” Ava asked.
    “The files.” He picked up the first one from the desk. “This is mine. Information on the people who destroyed my life.”
    Jon handed her the folder. She flipped through the contents, past schedules, calendars, receipts, and repeated mentions of a man named Frederick Cain.
    Ava closed the file. “Is mine in there?”
    He met her eyes in the flickering light of the candle.
    She held out her hand. “Let me see.”
    He hesitated before turning back to the stack of files, riffling through them until he got to the one he was looking for. He handed it to her.
    She knew the folder was hers, but somehow she was still surprised to see her name scrawled in black marker across the top left corner. It felt like a violation. An intrusion on the past that belonged only to her.
    But that was stupid. That Takeda knew about her past had never been a question.
    She bent her head to the papers inside the file, immediately transported back to Starling Vineyards. Napa. Home.
    There were documents detailing Ava’s family history, land surveys of the vineyard, copies of deeds old and new, even Ava’s college transcript. Most importantly, there was information on the people who had taken it all away.
    She came to the end of the file, her eyes falling on a black-and-white photograph of Charles Bay, smiling into the camera. Even now, it was like a punch to the stomach, one that brought memories she wasn’t at all prepared to face.
Ava and Charlie walk hand in hand across the cobblestone streets of St. Helena, a modest diamond glittering on Ava’s finger. The sun is shining, the air warm and arid in a way unique to Napa and Sonoma counties. Ava shields her eyes against the sun, and Charlie stops to remove a pair of sunglasses from the outdoor display of a small boutique.
    He puts the glasses gently on her face. “Perfection.”
    Ava laughs, but Charlie takes a twenty-dollar bill from his pocket and hands it to the store owner, an older gentleman with a receding hairline and growing waistline.
    “Can’t let the lady suffer,” Charlie says, winking at him.
    Charlie puts his arm around her and they continue walking.
    “You didn’t have to do that,” she says.
    “What, the sunglasses? Ava, it’s okay, I want you to—”
    She stops walking, forcing him to stop, too, and pulls him out of the walkway. “You don’t owe me anything. This is something I want to do. For us. So no more thank-yous, no more gifts, no more—”
    Charlie leans in, kissing her.
    “Well, okay, you can keep doing that,” she says, still surprised by the effect he has on her. They laugh. She looks up at him as they continue walking. “We’re in this together, right? Forever?”
    He nods slowly. “I just want you to be sure.”
    They finally come to a stop in front of a small office, an old wooden sign swinging from the