Free Schooled in Revenge by Jesse Lasky Page A

been the victim for too long. She wasn’t waiting any longer.
    “I appreciate your advice, Emily. Really, I do. But right now what we need—what I need—is action.”
    She turned and left, hurrying away from Emily before she could say anything else to try to change Ava’s mind. Her past had been demolished, her legacy stolen.
    The only thing left was revenge.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
    Ava looked out the window, rubbing the broken piece of Acala’s flame as the plane descended over Napa Valley’s green knolls. The Hamptons might be the playground for the East Coast’s rich, but Napa was the go-to refuge for California’s most affluent. Celebrities, tech company billionaires, hotel socialites. They all came to Napa—both for the wine and a social calendar that put them front and center among the oldest West Coast money.
    Ava cut a glance at Jane, seemingly at home in the cockpit of the propeller plane they’d appropriated from Takeda’s hangar. The ride had been long, but surprisingly smooth. Jane had been right. She obviously knew what she was doing, even if she didn’t know how she’d come into the knowledge.
    Reena and Cruz looked out their windows, eyes fixated on the verdant landscape below, the grape fields overflowing with this year’s crop.
    Ava looked at Jon, finally awake after sleeping through most of the journey across the Pacific. He, too, turned his eyes downward, silent as the plane made its way closer to theground. He glanced over at her, as he had felt her gaze. Their eyes locked, and for a moment, Ava wondered how long she would be able to deny her growing feelings for him.
    She looked away. The answer was easy: as long as it took to exact revenge. She would never be able to give their mission her attention if she was distracted by a romantic relationship.
    And there was no question which one was a priority.
    Ava turned her eyes back to the window, the sky a brilliant cobalt tinged with yellow, a product of the endangered Contra Costa flowers that managed against all odds to flourish in wine country. She was hit with a rush of both longing and comfort. It wasn’t the same. Would never be exactly the same. But this was home, and she was never going to let anyone take it from her again.
    “I can’t believe this is where you’re from,” Jon said, shaking his head.
    “I definitely got lucky,” Ava said, turning to him. “What about you? Where are you from?”
    His laugh was harsh. “Stockton, originally.”
    She knew of it. Had seen the images on the news of the notoriously tough city. Geographically, it wasn’t far from Napa’s textured mountain ranges and flawless mansions, but it might as well have been a million miles away.
    “So… why’d you move to Sonoma?” She knew she was pushing, but she couldn’t seem to help herself. Despite all their late night conversations on the cliff, she still had the feeling that she didn’t really know him.
    “It was Courtney’s idea,” he said. “She wanted a better life for us.”
    “Did you find it?” The question escaped her lips before she could stop it. “I mean, before she… I’m sorry, I… probably should stop talking.”
    “Yeah, but where’s the fun in that?” Cruz chimed in from the other side of the plane.
    Ava shook her head, throwing Cruz a glare. Smart-ass.
    She expected Jon to retreat back into his shell, but he surprised her by answering her question.
    “We did. For a while.”
    “Ava?” Jane called her from the front of the plane. “Is that it?”
    Ava looked out the window, seeking the old field that sat between the last acre of her former home and a historic, federal-style bed-and-breakfast. Abandoned for decades, the land was unsuitable for growing grapes and too far off the beaten path for anyone looking to build in a prestigious locale.
    “That’s it,” Ava confirmed, spotting the empty field. “Next to that old house.”
    Jane made an adjustment and the plane angled downward.
    “So what, exactly, is our