Chapter 9 - The Night Avery Walked Away
The plan required Avery to trust Cameron.
That should have been the easy part.
It wasn’t.
By morning, federal agents had quietly joined Moretti security around the harbor.
Marco’s cooperation was verified.
Bradley agreed to testify against Salvatore in exchange for negotiating his own charges.
Rosa refused to leave the diner.
Elena remained missing.
And Avery sat inside Cameron’s study with a legal document that appeared to surrender her future rights to the Moretti trust.
It was fake.
Salvatore wouldn’t know until his lawyers examined it.
They needed only enough time to locate Elena.
Cameron stood by the window.
“You don’t have to do this.”
“Yes, I do.”
“We can find another way.”
“We have three hours.”
“That doesn’t mean—”
Avery set down the pen.
“Why are you really arguing?”
He turned.
“Because I don’t want you in the same room with him.”
“Why?”
“You know why.”
“No.”
Cameron said nothing.
Avery stood.
“No more silence.”
His eyes darkened.
“Avery.”
“My father trusted you. My mother trusts you. Rosa trusts you. Apparently half of federal law enforcement trusts Marco now, which is insane. But every time this conversation gets personal, you hide.”
“I am trying to protect you.”
“From what?”
“Me.”
Avery laughed.
“Very dramatic.”
“I’m serious.”
“So am I.”
He walked closer.
“You met me as Dom.”
“Yes.”
“You trusted Dom.”
“Yes.”
“But Cameron Moretti comes with enemies, responsibilities, security, newspapers, boardrooms, and people who will always wonder whether anyone beside him is a weakness they can use.”
Avery stared.
“So you decided I wouldn’t want that.”
“I decided you deserve better.”
“That wasn’t your decision.”
“No.”
“Then tell me.”
He was silent for a long moment.
Finally:
“I love you.”
Nothing moved.
No music.
No cinematic thunder.
Only two people standing in a quiet room while New York continued beyond the windows.
Avery whispered, “How long?”
“Long enough to know I should have stayed away.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“Years.”
Her eyes widened.
“You barely saw me.”
“I checked on your family after Vincent died. I watched from a distance.”
“Creepy.”
“Fair.”
“When did it change?”
“The diner.”
Avery’s throat tightened.
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
“Because I made your father a promise.”
“What promise?”
“To protect you without asking for anything in return.”
Avery looked away.
“And loving me felt like asking.”
“Yes.”
She pressed a hand to her chest.
Every cruel word she had heard about her body suddenly felt very far away.
Too curvy.
Too soft.
Too much.
Cameron had looked at her every morning for almost a year and remembered kindness.
Not measurements.
Not judgment.
Kindness.
She turned back.
“I don’t know what I feel.”
Pain crossed his face.
Then vanished.
“That’s okay.”
“I care about you.”
He nodded.
“But I don’t know whether I care about Dom or Cameron or the man who secretly paid medical bills and had people follow me.”
“That’s also fair.”
“I’m angry.”
“You should be.”
“And terrified.”
“I know.”
“So when this is finished, I need distance.”
This time he could not hide the hurt.
“How much?”
“I don’t know.”
He nodded slowly.
“Then you’ll have it.”
Avery hated how much his easy acceptance hurt her.
At noon, she walked into an abandoned private terminal at Moretti Maritime.
Salvatore waited beside Elena.
Her mother was frightened but unharmed.
Avery nearly ran to her.
Salvatore raised a hand.
“Document.”
Avery held up the folder.
“Mom first.”
“Signature first.”
“No.”
Salvatore smiled.
“You’ve become brave.”
“No. I was always brave. People just kept mistaking quiet for weak.”
From a surveillance room two buildings away, Cameron heard every word.
Avery placed the document on a table.
Salvatore’s lawyer checked the signatures.
He nodded.
Salvatore released Elena.
Avery rushed to her mother.
They embraced.
Then federal agents entered.
Salvatore did not look surprised.
Instead, he smiled.
“You think I didn’t expect this?”
Cameron heard the words over comms.
Then Marco shouted.
“Bomb threat!”
Agents moved.
Avery froze.
Cameron ran from the surveillance room.
Salvatore grabbed Avery.
Not violently enough to injure her—but firmly enough to pull her toward an emergency exit.
“Walk.”
Avery looked at Elena.
“Go.”
Her mother screamed.
Avery obeyed.
Outside, Salvatore forced her into a vehicle.
Cameron arrived seconds too late.
The car disappeared through the terminal gates.
He stood in the rain.
For eight years he had promised Vincent Russo that Avery would be safe.
And in less than eight seconds, Salvatore had taken her.
A phone lay on the wet pavement.
It rang.
Cameron answered.
Avery’s voice.
Calm.
Too calm.
“Cameron.”
“I’m coming.”
“No.”
“Avery—”
“Listen to me.”
He stopped.
“Salvatore wants the original trust records.”
“I don’t care.”
“I do.”
“You’re not worth a trust.”
She went silent.
Cameron realized what he had said.
“I mean—”
“I know.”
Her voice softened.
“Cameron, there’s something I didn’t tell you.”
His breathing stopped.
“What?”
“When I said I needed distance…”
“Yes?”
“I lied.”
The connection crackled.
Avery whispered:
“I needed to know whether you would let me leave.”
Cameron closed his eyes.
“And you did.”
May you like
Then the line went dead.
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