Ava was observant but remained quiet as everyone chatted during dinner. The moment they had been working tirelessly for was finally within reach. She could almost smell the new wealth they would acquire. The big heist was scheduled for the next day. If everything went according to plan in the next two weeks, they would become millionaires. Although they would be criminals, they would at least be free. They had planned to go to bed early so that they would wake up early enough to get a head start on their plan. They had reviewed the plan repeatedly, day after day, and tomorrow they were going to execute it. Even if a single thing went off track, the entire plan could fall apart. It was crucial that everyone was on the same page, and Ava was determined to ensure that they were. Ava's gaze briefly landed on Berlin, but her stare was more intense than she intended. Berlin noticed and smirked in amusement. Feeling self-conscious, Ava shifted her focus to the plate of food in front of her. She took a few more bites before she stood from the table, tossing it out to the trash. This caused a few others at the table to watch her. Martin had his eyes pinned on her, Tokyo watched, and purposely Berlin held a stare on her. Ava didn't have much of an appetite. She was nervous, even after all of the planning and strategizing with the Professor. She wandered back over to the table and took her seat back beside Martin who was on her left side and of course, Berlin who had sat to the right of her. The Professor poured a few shots into the empty glasses at the table, and his eyes went to each member, one by one.
"I just want to thank you all for putting your trust in me as I put my trust in you all," Sergio spoke. "Morning's going to come by quicker than you'd think, and you're going to get inside of the Mint. And you will get out. We just have to follow the plan." Sergio was proud of the plan. He had trust and belief that it was going to work, and he talked so confidently that it made everyone put their trust in him. Ava believed him when he said they were going to get out. She was going to stick to the plan, and she would be damned if she let someone risk it in even the slightest.
"To the Professor!" Denver almost shouted the words as he raised his open beer in salute.
"Our Guardian Angel," Tokyo mumbled the words quieter, saluting the Professor alongside Denver. "And of course, the money." They all had a funny grin on their faces as they raised their glasses in cahoots, all praying silently that the plan wouldn't be jeopardized in any way. There were a few obvious weaknesses within the group. Tokyo and Rio were falling more in love with each other as the days went by, Denver and Moscow were literal father and son. It couldn't get more personal than that. And personal led to a lot of mistakes. It led to sacrificing your own life and your identity for the person that you love. Ava had developed close relationships with everyone in the group, but her bond with Sergio and Andrés was particularly special. It wasn't until they showed up at her doorstep one night that she realized just how much these two men meant to her. However, she couldn't ignore the conflicting emotions she felt towards Andrés. They were similar to the feelings she had when she was younger, yet different in many ways. She couldn't help but recall her thirteenth birthday, which stood out to her the most.
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"They're not coming if they're not already here, darling. You have all of your other friends here. Go play with them." Ava's mother, Serena, tried to coax the young girl into playing with girls her own age. She was eagerly waiting for the two boys who lived next door to arrive at her birthday party. She had invited them over for a week and was excited to celebrate with them. However, they did not show up, which was unusual as they were good friends and always kept their promises. She felt worried and wondered why they were not there.
" Just five more minutes." Young Ava had done up her hair into a ponytail full of curls. She wore a light shimmery lip-gloss, and her mom covered her eyelids in a bright blue, a blue that if she looked at as an adult she would've cringed.
"They've all been waiting for you to blow out the candles to the cake. We sang almost an hour ago honey. We need to cut the cake." Her mother tried to reason with her, but the little girl was stubborn. Ava finally looked at her mother, shaking her head a solid and firm, "no". She wasn't going to be backing down anytime soon. Ava's deep stare was interrupted by the sight of dark hair. Her eyes shot straight to an older boy who was walking over to her at that very moment. Without a word, Serena knew that the boy she had been eagerly waiting for had finally arrived.
"Andrés." Ava's voice was still so soft at a young age. Her mother gave her a moment, stepping to the side to get the birthday cake ready once again. "Where's Sergio?" For a moment, she didn't even notice the young boy missing because her focus had been completely on his brother.
"In the hospital again," Andrés said. Andrés was a bit older than Ava, and his feelings for Ava were just not there at that time. He looked at her as a little sister, nothing more, but Ava fantasized about marriage with him. She was a young girl head over heels for a boy who was oblivious to it completely.
"You didn't have to come. You could've stayed with him." Ava would lie and pretend like him not being there wouldn't have bothered her as much as it did. The cake was brought over, she whispered a wish before blowing out the candles, but he just shook his head with a smile on his face. Her party had been extremely fun for both of them. While most of the guests spent time playing in the backyard, Ava and Andrés relaxed in her bedroom with the door wide open. "Thank you for coming." Ava had thanked him numerous times, but this time it was different. She sat on the bed beside him, summoning all her courage to make a move. She leaned in slowly until their lips finally met. It was her first kiss. For a brief moment, they felt connected, but Andrés quickly pulled away. He stood up from the bed, and Ava's eyes widened with embarrassment. "I'm sorry," she blurted out before he could say anything, but he wasn't interested in hearing her apologies. Instead, he muttered "I have to go" and left the room.
Ava was quickly pulled out of her trance when her name was called by none other than Sergio himself. "Valencia," he said the name that she was given by him, "you okay?" Ava gave him a quick nod and grabbed her half-drunken glass to put it in the sink.
She turned to face him again when the dish was put away. "Professor," he turned to face her as she said this. "we're going to do great." She was certain of the heist unlike some of the others. He gave her a nod of his head now, agreeing with her completely and for the first time in weeks, she saw a genuine smile on his lips. Ava grabbed a beer out of the fridge for both her and the Professor. They both made their way into the study area, and the Professor sat down at the end of the table. Ava placed the beer in front of the Professor and then took a seat beside him.
They stayed quiet for a few minutes, both sipping on the beer before finally the Professor spoke up, "You're in love with him then, Phoenix?" Phoenix was a name given to Martin by the Professor himself. It was evident that Ava and Martin had significant differences, and others noticed it too. Ava was uncertain about her feelings towards Phoenix. She was infatuated with him initially, but the emotions she felt around him were not the same as those she experienced in the company of Andres. With Andres, she felt secure and warm. She laughed until she couldn't breathe, danced without music, and experienced emotions that she had never felt with anyone else. Despite loving Martin, she couldn't seem to let go of Andres, and this prevented her from fully committing to Martin.
"Why are you asking me that?" The question had caught Ava completely off guard, but she didn't give him a direct yes or no either. Ava found it difficult to answer the question. She didn't want to lie, but she couldn't express her feelings in the middle of the room while everyone else was awake, even though they were not in the same room. She couldn't bring herself to confess that she still yearned for a love that never came to fruition.
"You don't look at him the same way you look at my brother." The words were enough to make Ava's heart pound a million miles per hour. Her cheeks burned a bright red in humiliation.
"Is it that obvious?" The words were barely above a whisper, averting her eyes away from the Professor just as he let out a content sigh.
"No." He replied. "But to me, yes."
"And to him?" Her stomach sunk at the thought of Andrés knowing that he had her wrapped around his finger just as much, if not more, as when they were younger.
"To who?" Andrés stepped into the room, his eyes going from Sergio to Ava. "What have I missed?" He walked over to the China cabinet to grab a glass to pour a small amount of wine into it. He turned to look at Ava and Sergio once again, both of them had gone completely silent but he edged closer to the table. It was almost as if he was waiting outside of the room for the perfect timing to go in.
"Do you remember Ava," Andrés purposely used her real name just as Martin walked into the dining area, "when I kissed you?" Martin was standing by the door, but his eyes were locked on Berlin. If only eyes could kill.
"You were only fifteen," the Professor quickly spoke up, not wanting the situation to escalate into anything physical. He had never witnessed Martin's anger before, but the Professor was a smart man and could sense the overwhelming wrath building up inside him. Ava felt her cheeks flush with embarrassment as her eyes darted back and forth between her fiancé and the man who still held a special place in her heart, despite her attempts to distance herself from him.
"No, no-no." Andrés quickly shook his head, his brows furrowed as he said these words proudly. "She had just turned sixteen. That's right, huh, Ava?" Andrés' eyes went straight to Ava, a content smirk on his lips. Ava could vividly recall the day as if it had happened just yesterday, but that was a story she didn't intend to share just yet. Andrés had already revealed more than enough about it. The Professor sat there looking perplexed, clearly unaware of what they were discussing. He appeared to have no knowledge of the numerous times they had been together.
Martin's anger was boiling over. "What the hell is he talking about?" he snapped, walking towards the table until he was standing next to Ava. She shook her head at Andrés, silently pleading with him not to tell Martin what had happened. Ava and Martin had just started dating before her sixteenth birthday, and Martin knew that Ava had kissed someone else. What he didn't know was that the person Ava had kissed was Andrés. Martin had always suspected that something had happened, but he had hoped it wasn't true. Now he was faced with the truth, and it was taking all of his self-control to keep his emotions in check.
Andrés kept his gaze fixed on Martin, watching him carefully as Martin's anger began to boil up once again. It felt like a stare-down between them, both equally filled with fury, but Andrés seemed to have a little more madness in his eyes.
The Professor stood up immediately from the table, his hand going to his older brother's shoulder momentarily. "Enough," Sergio expressed the word calmly, but his eyes went back to Martin. "Off to bed, long day tomorrow." Sergio looked down at Ava with a warm and sincere smile, and Ava offered him the same back. "It's best for you two to sleep in different rooms tonight. We can't have you up too late." Sergio ordered the words, his eyes going from Martin to Ava. Ava nodded, clearly knowing he said it so that she didn't have to deal with Martin's wrath of anger alone. Martin nodded, but he didn't leave the room until Ava finally turned on her heel and left the dining room. Ava was praying that Martin would go straight to his private room.
"Valencia," he used her city name as he called out for her in the hall, but she didn't even turn to look at him. She stopped abruptly when Martin pressed his body against the door of her room so that she couldn't enter. "You've never told me that story before. Is that what the hell the stares are about?" He clenched his jaw in anger and she just glared up at the male. If only he knew about all of the other times.
"Please Phoenix, I'm tired. Leave me alone. This was over fifteen years ago." Ava begged him.
"But was it?" His temper was getting out of control once again. "You didn't go to the fucking festival, and you were alone with him in the house. What the fuck happened!" She flinched at the loud and aggressive tone.
"Please." She begged him to lower his voice, not wanting the others to hear what was going on. The last thing she wanted was for the others to gossip about her past relationship that they had no clue about.
"You fucked him!" He practically screamed the words, and she shook her head immediately, tears filling in her ears.
"No. No." She huffed in annoyance, bringing a hand out to try and cover his mouth but he grabbed her arm tightly, pulling it back down to her waist. "Please, let go."
One by one, everyone peeked out of their rooms. As soon as Denver and Rio spotted the man gripping Ava's arm, they rushed over to intervene. Despite the fact that the house was filled with criminals, nobody would tolerate a man laying his hands on a woman. "Get the hell off of her, man," Denver growled with anger.
"What the hell are you going to do about it?" Martin let go of Ava's hand and instead turned his attention completely to Denver, getting in his face just as much as Denver was in his. They were about to get physical.
"Stop it. It's fine Denver. Stop it!" She called out, trying to part the two of them, but Martin already raised his fist to hit Denver right in the face. "Guys stop it!" Not only was Ava trying to separate the two of them, but now a few others had joined, pushing them off of each other. Sergio and Andrés came around the corner, but Andrés didn't bother moving from the hall. Sergio hurried to their side but didn't bother touching either of them.
"Enough," Sergio said calmly. "Enough!" He called out and that was enough to make Denver back off completely. Martin had received most of the bruises in the fight. "Get to your rooms. It's time for bed." Sergio only had to say this before everyone was edging back into their rooms. Martin's eyes went straight to Andrés who stood in the hall watching and the disgust on his face was clear. He swallowed his pride and went into the room right next to Ava's. Ava was just about to go into her room when Sergio reach out for her.
"I'm okay, Sergio." She let out a sigh but walked into her bedroom, not even noticing the male that was watching her from the hallway.