Chapter Ten

I froze, my mind was blank, unable to register anything. I hadn't expected him to say something like that, even though I knew we had both contemplated it. I thought he would think there was too much at stake, especially for himself, with his current choice in career, and brooding mother.

"Ava, please, say something," he said desperately. Was I willing to risk it all? The only consequences I faced was my parents. But what would happen if they did find out that Ashton was the man who kidnapped me, and that he was related and worked for a very known and dangerous criminal? I knew for a fact, they would call the police and turn him in the minute they found out, and lock me in my room, grounding me for life.

"I don't know, Ashton. If my parents ever found out who you are–"

Ashton reached up and placed his hands on either side of my face. "I promise, I will do everything to make sure they never do. I can use a fake name, even make fake I.D.'s, whatever it takes. I will do it, if you give us the chance to try and make it work."

My heart stuttered in my chest at the slight begging tone in his voice. In a way, it was kind of a turn on to think of him begging, but not in this sense. It felt sweet more than anything, and almost made me want to say 'fuck it' as well. But he had no idea how ruthless my father could be.

"Why are you willing to risk everything, for a chance to see if it works? What is so special about me? I'm just your kidnap victim."

Ashton dipped his head down and kissed me roughly, pulling away a few seconds later, a look of intent and confidence on his face.

"I have never met anyone so level-headed, brave, and sweet as you. In the face of danger, you are confident and fearless, but have such a caring side of you that makes any monster in this world fall under your charm," he paused and smiled to himself. "Even me," he added softly.

"You aren't a monster, Ashton. None of you are," I say, referring to Charles and Lucas mainly. "Yes, I was obviously terrified when you guys first kidnapped me, but after a little while, I realized you weren't so bad, and you were just following orders. But outside of that, you were all nice guys, and there was a soft side of you, that you were too afraid to show. When I first caught a glimpse of it, I wanted to know more about you, and my feelings kept growing from there."

While I am confessing it, I didn't realize how much I had really felt towards him, and for how long. I had also ignored my feelings and tried to push them out so much, that I didn't realize how much they had really grown instead. I was attracted to everything about him; his eyes, his looks, his personality, his affection – when I finally saw it.

"I want to know everything about you, too. That's why I don't want the end of this week to be the end."

I bit my lip, thinking everything over. Finally, I decided what to listen to – my head or my heart – and made my decision.

I didn't want to fight my feelings anymore, either, and I wasn't going to care what anyone else thought. I smiled up at Ashton. "Fuck it," I whispered. He looked a little confused, before his eyes widened in realization, and he smiled back. This time, I reached up on my tippy-toes, and touched my lips to his. He responded instantly and wrapped his arms around my waist, bringing me against him until there is no space left between us.

We stayed like that, wrapped in each other's arms, for what seemed like hours, but were soon torn apart by a loud knock at the door.

"Ava, are you in there dear? I was told this might be your bedroom," Marion called from the other side. I heard Ashton let out a small groan, which made me giggle slightly.

"I guess this means we aren't fooling your mother anymore?" I asked in a teasing tone. It was true, however, if we really were going to go through we a legitimate relationship, that meant there was no need to lie to his mother, except for the length of the relationship.

I pulled away from Ashton to answer the door, leaving him to hang back, probably not wanting to speak with his mother. She greeted me with a bright smile that almost blinded me, her teeth an unnatural white.

"Thank goodness, I was afraid I would have to go knocking on every door. I was hoping we could sit down now and talk about ideas for the party. Are you busy?" she asked, and poked her head in the door to look around. She spotted Ashton, and frowned.

"Oh dear, hope I'm not interrupting anything."

Ashton opened his mouth and looked like he was about to argue and say yes, but I quickly intervened. "Not at all, I would love to sit down and talk." I smiled tightly at her, blocking her view from Ashton. I felt him glare at the back of my head, but he should have also known that this was going to happen sooner or later, and I would rather just get it over with at this point, so I can stop creeping around the halls. Even though I was never really let out on my own anyway, only when I was left alone could I wander.

"Oh great, we can go downstairs into the tea room and I can have the kitchen staff make us something to drink and snack on." I nodded and told her to give me a second. I walked back over to Ashton quickly, who looked like he was pouting a little.

It was absolutely adorable.

"You don't have to look so sad, at least now we know we can enjoy the party, and you can live knowing that you didn't spoil my birthday," I said and winked, hinting that I knew about the argument he had with Lucien.

"I had a feeling he talked to you about that." Ashton frowned, obviously not happy. "Don't be too long, I'll be waiting for you in the library," he whispered in my ear, his lips so close to my ear they brushed the skin lightly. I shivered a little and pulled back to give him a deep and longing kiss. It felt so much better when I knew I wasn't holding any feelings back.

I followed Marion down into the tea room and waited until she returned from speaking with the kitchen staff, taking the time to look around the room. I wasn't in any of the other rooms, except the dining room, very often, so I never got the chance to take in the scenery around me.

This room was a little more decorated then the dining room, and the library from what I could remember seeing. There were a few picture frames on the mantle above the fireplace on the far-left wall, but they were too far for me to see what they were of. I assumed they were of other family members and Lucien himself. I wanted to take a look, and see if there were pictures of Ashton, maybe when he was younger, but Marion returned seconds later.

"Alright, so since Ashton did bring up an important fact; this is your birthday, and even though everyone there will be friends and family of mine, I thought we could think of ideas together, so we have the perfect party for both of us," she said and beamed at me. I don't think she was aware of how she sounded, which was a little self-centered to me.

Even though it was a party for me, she still wanted it to please her and whoever she invited. She knew they were all going to be strangers to me, but didn't seem to care about that fact, or really making only me feel comfortable in a room of unknown people. I tried to brush off the feeling and smiled back at her.

For the next hour, I told her what my favourite colors were, what styles I preferred out of whatever she suggested, which was mainly high end and fancy designer ideas, things I was used to hearing about thanks to my parents. Most the time, I agreed on whatever I thought would please her, knowing I wasn't going to enjoy the party as much as she was, even if all the ideas for the planning were mine. I just wanted our time together to end faster, so I could join Ashton.

To be honest, I would rather spend time with Lucien, then spend any more time with Marion. Her personality was way to fake and bubbly for me, I could tell she was just trying to make me feel included, without really wanting me to be, but she wasn't doing a very good job at it. If anything, she was trying too hard.

I thanked god when she finally had enough ideas to go on and called it a day. I had never walked out of a room so fast before, trying to not make it obvious I wanted to run out of the room instead. Once I was safely on the other side of the door, I dashed down the hall and tried to remember my way to the library. Though the house was large, I found it after a little bit of wandering around on my own, it wasn't that hard to eventually navigate around. I found the library a lot quicker than I thought, the door already opened for me.

When I approached the door, I was surprised to hear a soft piano melody, coming from further in the room. I followed the sound to the back, and noticed there was an archway off to the far corner, where another room was attached. Ashton was seated at a white grand piano, his fingers gliding gracefully across the keys, like he had memorized every single one to heart. I saw that there was also no sheet music in front of him. The tune he was playing sounded so beautiful, I didn't want him to stop just yet.

I stayed by the door and watched, completely mesmerized by how connected he seemed to be with the instrument. I could almost hear the emotion in the notes, like Ashton was trying to tell a story through his song. I hoped it was an original piece, and if it was, that is amazing talent.

I shuffled my feet a little, and the floorboard creaked loudly under my foot. Ashton immediately stopped playing and whipped his head around in shock.

"Ava, how long have you been standing there?" He jumped up from the piano hastily.

"That sounded beautiful, please don't stop playing."

"I haven't played in front of anyone in years, I don't know if I still can."

"Nonsense, you just played extremely well in front of me." I crossed my arms stubbornly, raising a brow at him. He simply rolled his eyes.

"I didn't know you were there, that's different. I thought I was alone, so I played like I'm alone."

"Why not test out your skills with an audience, by playing for me? What's the worst that could happen?" I asked. "I would really love it, if you played for me," I added softly, offering him an encouraging smile. I wanted him to know that he didn't have to fear anything with me, he could be himself, and my opinion of him won't change.

That isn't to say he could go as far as murdering someone, or anything really along those lines, and I'll walk up to him with open arms.

Ashton let out a deep breath and turned back to the piano. I hurried over to a cushioned lounge chair, and pulled it closer. I seated myself comfortably, and the instant he started playing again, I got lost in the music. I could tell he was nervous, so I did my best not to look directly at him. I occupied my eyes with the things around the room.

Like most of the others, it was dull and void of any decoration or personal belongings. There were a few paintings of different music related art; there was an oil painting of a black grand piano, like the one Ashton was playing, and another modern style painting of a violin. I saw there was also an acoustic guitar and cello in the corner, but you could see the sheet of dust that covered them from where I was sitting across the room.

I realized with my eyes no longer on Ashton, he played a little better. I could tell by the way he played the melody and pressed down on the keys, whether he was tense or not. As the song went on, he started to relax little by little, until he was playing like he was before. I took the opportunity to peek at him, and saw he had his eyes closed, no longer paying attention to anything, and was just listening and trusting his fingers and the instrument to guide him.

It really was a peaceful sight to see. I continued to gaze at him, and was glad he didn't feel my eyes on him, and opened his. They remained closed, and he continued to let the music flow from his fingers. I was torn between watching his beautiful face, and the way his hands glided across the keys, like they were dancing together in a way.

The song eventually came to an end, and Ashton opened his eyes. He was shocked to see me looking directly at him, and it was then I realized a small smile had formed on my lips.

"Were you staring the whole time?" he asked, a slight tremor in his voice.

"Not entirely, just after you closed your eyes," I teased. He frowned, but didn't seem overly upset. Instead, he turned towards me more, an eager look on his face.

"How was it?" he asked slowly. My smile widened as I thought of all the different words I could use to describe how he played. There were too many too choose from, and none of them were good enough to really describe how I felt.

I settled on saying, "it was beautiful."

The frown disappeared from his face, and I was happy to see a small amount of pride behind his eyes.

He suddenly crossed the small space between us, and was hovering over me in seconds, his hands placed on either side of chair. He leaned in until his face close to mine, his blue eyes sparkling as a small smile tugged at the corner of his lips.

"You're beautiful," he whispered, before kissing me softly. Unlike the last kiss, this one stayed gentle, but was still heated. He kept the distance between us, not touching me apart from his mouth, and it nearly drove me insane. I wanted to finally run my hands down his toned stomach, I have wanted to since the first time I felt them through his shirt, in the very room next door.

"Have you ate anything since breakfast?" he asked once we eventually pulled apart. I thought about it, and realized I hadn't touched any of the snacks that Marion had provided, not having the appetite. Now that I was reminded of it, I did feel hungry. I shook my head and Ashton grabbed my hand to lead us out of the library.

He walked us to the kitchen and started digging around in the fridge. He quickly pulled out two plates of readied steaks and reheated them, placing them neatly on the small kitchen table, tucked away in the corner by the window. I looked out, and realized how late it was. I thought it might be too early for a dinner meal, but the sun was almost gone, the sky now a colorful mix of bright pinks, oranges and reds. I admired the way it made the clash of colors in the garden look.

"Do you have a garden at home?" Ashton asked, making me tear me gaze away.

"Not really, we have a small one in our backyard, but it only had whatever our kitchen staff mainly uses to cook food. Anything else they rarely need; they just buy from the store. My parents were never interested in anything like that."

That made me wonder what made Lucien decide to have such a lush garden planted, and who took care of it. Since I had arrived, though I hadn't spent much time outside in general, the few times I had I never saw a gardener, or anyone working in the backyard. So, who looked after everything?

"Why does Lucien have a garden?" I decided to ask. Ashton frowned, and looked like he was contemplating something.

"A little while ago, when Lucien had first purchased this house, he was married. They had been together for a while, but she grew sick and ended up passing away a few years ago. She was the one who had a love for gardening, and was also a vegetarian, so she liked having a lot of fresh produce in the kitchen," he explained hesitantly. I had a feeling this was a story he felt was better told by Lucien, but even I knew there was a slim chance that was going to happen.

"What has become of it now? Who takes care of it?"

"When his wife was alive, she had usually tended to the garden, watering it every morning and such. After she passed, Lucien had sprinklers installed, and he has them timed to the same time every morning, as when she would water them. Other than that, the kitchen staff go out every once in a while, to pick what they need, and make sure everything is still thriving."

For a garden that has been barely tended to for a few years, it was still lush and green. It told me that Lucien's late wife really put a lot of care and attention into it, to make sure it was always healthy and growing. The story touched my heart a little, and gave me a different view of Lucien, a slightly happier one then the one I already have of him.

He took me back to my room once we were done eating, lingering once again in the doorway. Before I entered the room, he grasped my hand lightly and tugged me towards him, wrapping the other hand around my waist. He trapped me between his arms and chest, releasing my hand to enclose me. I rested my head and hands on his chest, and listened to the rapid beating of his chest.

It was nice to know I affected him the same way he did me, our hearts racing almost at the same speed. I wondered if he could feel mine, if he knows how weak he makes my knees feel, how light my head becomes, just from one look of those gorgeous blue eyes. He did things to me I didn't think were possible, let alone from a man who started off our relationship by kidnapping me.

This was something straight out of a story. It was hard to imagine this was my life, and was going to be for however long this ended up lasting. I still wasn't sure how long I wanted that to be. Who knew if I was just pumped out silenced adrenaline, and when I was finally out of here and back to my normal life, these feelings were all going to come crashing down, and I'll realize how crazy I am.

But for the time being, everything with Ashton felt right, not matter how wrong it was.