Chapter 4 #2
Alex slid an arm around her shoulders as he led her toward the door. “If you’re heading to work with me, you really need to resurrect your fabulous self.”
“Resurrect?” she questioned as they descended the stairs. “Who said fabulous Ava died?”
“Uh, the dress you just tossed on your bed that looks wash and wear announced her demise.”
“It’s packable,” she answered with a touch of snark to her voice.
“The Ava Collins I knew didn’t do packable.” He tapped her nose as he settled her on a stool at the kitchen counter. The chef delivered a steaming plate of breakfast to her while Alex disappeared toward the foyer.
A twinge of sadness crept into her mind over the statement. Had she been that different in her younger life?
She stared down at the scrambled eggs on her plate as she poked at one with her fork, her lips tugging into a pout. She wasn’t that unglamorous.
“For this little foray into financials, I propose we revamp the Architecto’s Ava into her former glory.”
She shifted to glance at him when she caught sight of the clothing rack he dragged behind him. “What is that?”
“Designer duds that will be on the covers of every fashion rag in the world in a few months,” he answered. “I think I remembered all of your favorite brands.”
She stared at the array of attire hanging from the rack, all of it far more upscale than she’d worn in a while. Even when she’d been fond of her designer threads, they’d always been second-hand back in the day.
Her eyebrow arched as she reached for a bubble gum pink dress that called her name before she pulled her hand back, chewing her lower lip. “I could just wear the clothes I brought.”
“And you could keep pretending you haven’t already picked out five things at least, but where’s the fun in that.” He leaned across the counter and snagged a piece of bacon from her plate as he raised his eyebrows at her.
“I guess I could consider it part of my divorce settlement,” she said with a grin.
The smile he offered her in return didn’t quite reach his eyes. He polished off the piece of stolen meat before he straightened and reached into his pocket.
“Oh, and one more thing…” He set a black velvet box on the counter, snapped it open, and slid it forward.
Ava’s eyes widened as she stared down at the massive diamond ring inside. She nearly choked on her fresh-squeezed orange juice. “You thinking of proposing to someone?”
“My wife,” he answered.
“You did that years ago, remember?” she said with a coy smile.
“Yes, that was before I had a gazillion dollars, though. So, now she needs a new ring.”
Ava raised her left hand and wiggled her fingers. “I can just wear this one. It’s fine.”
Alex wrinkled his nose at it. “It’s so…not us.”
Ava chuckled as she set the glass down on the counter and picked up her fork. “No one’s going to know that.”
“I mean…it’s…too small. No one will believe that’s the ring you have. This has to be believable. I do not want any issues.” He inched the ring box forward again. “Just…wear this one.”
She stared up at him, trying to assess if he was joking or serious. “Alex, I’m not going to take Chris’s ring off. That seems…wrong.”
He settled his forearms against the white marble again. “It’s hardly wrong but, okay…we can solve this with a little outside-of-the-box thinking.”
He grabbed her hand and slid the ring off of her left hand and put it onto her right ring finger. “We’ll just put this one over here. And then we’ll put these ones…here.”
Their eyes met as he slid the wedding band and massive diamond onto her finger. He grinned at her, and she pulled her eyes from his to stare down at the newest addition to her finger.
“Fine, but what about–”
“My ring?” He wiggled his ring finger in the air. “Already done.”
She eyed the gold band on his finger, the moment she’d placed it there flooding back into her mind. “Well, looks like we’re the happily married couple we need to be.”
Alex snatched another strip of bacon from her plate with a grin. “Time to head to the office, dear.”
“Take another piece of my bacon, and I’ll stab you with my fork before we go. And you know I have the skills to do it.”
He wrinkled his nose. “I recall. I’ll let you finish your breakfast in peace. We’ll leave in an hour?”
“Okay,” she said with a nod as she popped more eggs into her mouth. Her eyes slid sideways to the clothes rack before a smile crossed her features.
An hour later, she descended the stairs in the bubble-gum pink sheath with lace details and a matching set of spiked pink heels.
“Now, that’s the Ava I know,” he said with a grin as she slid on the oversized sunglasses. They stepped into the bright sunshine of the Hamptons day, and he backed his way toward the flashy pink sports car.
“You have a pink sports car?” she asked.
“No, you do.” He tossed her the keys before he slid into the passenger seat.
“What are you going to do with all this stuff after you become a divorce statistic?” she asked as she fired the engine and clicked on her seat belt.
“Mm, I’m sure I’ll work it out somehow.”
She grinned at him as she whipped the tiny car out of the driveway and aimed for his office. Two hours later, she pulled the flashy car into the garage under the StoneCorp offices. “Think anyone would mind if I park in the CEO’s spot?”
“Since you’re married to him, I doubt it,” Alex answered with a grin.
They took the elevator to the top floor.
He tossed her the keys as they stepped out of the lift. “Office key’s the brass one. Head up and take a look while I grab the financial folks.”
“Okay,” she said with a nod as she strolled to the back of the offices, finding the glass door marked with Alex’s name.
She shoved the key into the lock, twisting it and letting the door fall away. With a glance around the space, she smiled, enjoying the vintage robot on his desk and the framed picture of the IPO announcement.
She crossed to his desk, shoving the chair aside with her hip as she stared at the stacks of folders on the desk. Before she dove into them, her gaze fell on the framed photo on his desk. She grabbed it, grinning as she pulled the photo of them in college closer.
A wave of nostalgia washed over her as she set it back on the desk and flicked open the top folder. She studied the paperwork inside, reading the notes indicating that the amounts differed from the latest financials stored on the server.
She furrowed her brow as she shimmied the mouse to bring up the login screen. With a few taps on the keyboard, she gained access to his system.
She stared at the financial report on the screen as footsteps approached. “Your password stinks, Ace. I cracked it in seconds.”
“What are you doing in here?” a woman’s voice asked.
Ava snapped her gaze up to find a dark-haired woman frowning at her. The tough expression the woman offered her turned her off immediately. She arched an eyebrow at her. “Looking at the financials.”
The woman stalked forward and ripped the folder from Ava’s hands. “You shouldn’t be in here. And you definitely shouldn’t be looking at these.”
Ava drew her chin back to her chest, her eyes widening as she crossed her arms. “Oh, really?”
“Yes, really. I don’t know how you got in here, but you shouldn’t be. I’m going to report this immediately to security.” The woman reached for the phone.
“I wouldn’t do that if I was you.”
“Is that a threat?” the woman shot back.
Ava narrowed her eyes. “It’s a promise.”
The woman scoffed. “We’ll see about that.”
Ava drummed her fingers on her forearm as the woman snatched the receiver. She flicked her gaze to the curved monitor on the desk, her eyebrows pinching as a message appeared on it. Be careful who you trust.
Ava’s lips parted as she read the warning, her eyes naturally sliding back to the woman in the room. She didn’t like her from the start, but was the woman the one behind all of this trouble?