Chapter 9 - A Different Kind of Empire
Nine months later, a brass sign appeared above a renovated brick building downtown.
THE MEI FOUNDATION
Ava hated the name.
Dylan loved it.
Gabriel had wisely refused to participate in the argument.
The foundation provided emergency grants, legal assistance and tuition support to hospitality workers living paycheck to paycheck.
Ava remembered what three thousand dollars had once meant to her.
Not luxury.
Not ambition.
Survival.
The foundation’s first grant went to a dishwasher facing eviction.
The second went to a waitress whose daughter needed surgery.
The third paid community-college tuition for a hotel housekeeper’s son.
Within six months, Ava had helped more than two hundred families.
Gabriel never asked to put his name on the building.
That mattered.
His own life had changed too.
The Reed organization had been dismantled piece by piece.
Illegal businesses were closed.
Legitimate holdings were reorganized.
Men who refused the transition left.
Some threatened him.
A few tried to kill him.
None succeeded.
Gabriel Reed remained dangerous.
He simply became more selective about what deserved his danger.
Robert Kelly was convicted on multiple corruption and conspiracy charges.
Marcus Reed accepted a plea that ensured he would spend decades in prison.
Jennifer disappeared from society pages.
Then she reappeared somewhere nobody expected.
The Mei Foundation.
She arrived one Monday wearing jeans and carrying coffee.
Ava stared at her.
“What are you doing?”
“Volunteering.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“You’ve never volunteered for anything.”
“I’m trying character development.”
Ava laughed.
Jennifer eventually became one of the foundation’s most effective fundraisers.
People who once attended parties because of her father now wrote checks because Jennifer refused to let them leave without doing so.
Dylan graduated the following spring.
Ava cried louder than anyone.
Gabriel claimed he did not cry.
Nobody believed him.
After the ceremony, Dylan hugged him.
“Thanks.”
“For what?”
“Not ruining my sister.”
Ava nearly choked.
Gabriel looked thoughtful.
“I’m still evaluating my options.”
“Gabriel!”
Dylan laughed and ran.
Their relationship had not become easy.
Ava and Gabriel fought.
Often.
She hated his tendency to solve problems without consulting her.
He hated her tendency to walk into danger.
She accused him of being controlling.
He accused her of treating self-preservation as an optional hobby.
Once, Ava moved out of his penthouse for four days after discovering he had assigned security to follow her without telling her.
Gabriel arrived at her new apartment carrying flowers.
She closed the door in his face.
He returned with Chinese food.
She took the food and closed the door again.
He returned with her repaired coffee machine.
She let him inside.
“Flowers didn’t work?” Dylan asked later.
“No.”
“Food?”
“Almost.”
“Coffee machine?”
Gabriel nodded solemnly.
“Your sister has priorities.”
But beneath the arguments was something neither had experienced before.
Choice.
Ava did not need Gabriel’s money.
Gabriel did not need Ava’s approval.
They remained because they wanted each other.
One year after the slap, Gabriel reserved table 7 at the Gilded Rose.
Ava entered wearing a simple black dress.
She stopped when she saw him.
“No.”
Gabriel stood.
“You haven’t even seen what I’m doing.”
“You reserved table seven on the anniversary of the night we met.”
“Technically, you assaulted my fiancée.”
“Former fiancée.”
“Yes.”
Jennifer appeared from behind the bar.
“Very former.”
Ava stared at her.
“What are you doing here?”
“Witnessing history.”
Dylan emerged from the kitchen.
Ava narrowed her eyes.
“No.”
Gabriel sighed.
“Would everyone stop saying no?”
“You’re proposing.”
“Perhaps.”
“You said you weren’t.”
“That was nine months ago.”
Ava folded her arms.
Gabriel looked around the restaurant.
Every table was empty.
Only people they loved remained.
Dylan.
Jennifer.
Mr. Strauss.
Several foundation employees.
Even Elias.
He had served a reduced sentence after cooperating and had been released months earlier.
His relationship with Gabriel remained complicated.
But he was there.
Gabriel reached into his jacket.
Ava pointed.
“If that ring costs more than my first apartment, I’m saying no.”
He stopped.
Slowly returned the box to his pocket.
Jennifer burst out laughing.
“I told you.”
Gabriel glared at her.
Then reached into his other pocket.
He removed something burgundy.
The old silk pocket square.
Ava stared.
Gabriel placed it on the table.
“Do you remember what I said after you slapped Jennifer?”
Ava smiled.
“Give me back my pocket square.”
“You never properly did.”
“I absolutely did.”
“I disagree.”
He unfolded it.
A simple ring rested inside.
Not enormous.
Not theatrical.
Gabriel had listened.
He lowered himself onto one knee.
Ava’s smile disappeared.
Suddenly it was real.
“Ava Lo, the first night I saw you, you stood in a room full of people who were afraid of me and somehow decided I was the least frightening problem there.”
Laughter rippled around them.
“You challenged me before you knew me. Then you challenged me more after you did.”
Ava’s eyes filled.
“You showed me that protecting someone isn’t the same as owning their choices. That power without conscience is just another form of fear.”
His voice became quieter.
“And you made me want a life my father never got the chance to build.”
Ava covered her mouth.
Gabriel held up the ring.
“I don’t need you to save me.”
He smiled.
“But I would very much like you beside me.”
Ava whispered, “Yes.”
The room erupted.
Gabriel stood.
She grabbed his face and kissed him.
Dylan cheered.
Jennifer cried.
Mr. Strauss opened champagne.
Then every light in the restaurant went out.
Ava pulled away.
“What happened?”
Gabriel looked around.
His security instincts returned instantly.
The emergency lights flickered on.
A waiter approached carrying an envelope.
“For Ms. Lo.”
Gabriel took it first.
Ava snatched it from him.
“We literally just discussed controlling behavior.”
“You literally attract assassination attempts.”
“Fair.”
She opened the envelope.
Inside was an old photograph.
Mei Lo.
Daniel Reed.
And a woman Ava had never seen.
On the back were four handwritten words:
SHE IS STILL ALIVE.
Gabriel saw them.
His face drained of color.
Ava looked at him.
“Who?”
May you like
He stared at the unknown woman.
“My mother.”
