Chapter 4
AVA
Ava’s jaw tightened and her nostrils flared with a mix of frustration and curiosity swirling inside her. She fixed her gaze on Alex, silently demanding an explanation. What she’d just heard from his CFO left her stunned and looking for answers.
Alex winced at her as his shoulders rose to his ears, a characteristic sign that he felt guilty about something.
“Well?” Ava demanded with a stamp of her heel on the floor.
“Avs…” He rose slowly, shoving his hands into his pockets.
“Please tell me she was lying, and you were not discussing our marriage with her.”
“It’s not exactly how she made it sound.”
Ava’s eyebrows shot up, her eyes going wide. “It’s not exactly or it’s not at all. Because I hope it’s not at all how she made it sound.”
“We could go with that,” Alex said with a nod.
Her features pinched again as she stared at him. “What happened?”
Alex’s shoulders lifted high again as his nose wrinkled.
“Alex,” Ava warned. He was avoiding the conversation for a reason, likely because he didn’t want her to know what happened.
“Avs, it just…happened so fast. You know, and then there was a misunderstanding, and whatever. It’s no big deal.”
“No big deal?”
“Yeah,” he said, his voice conveying false levity.
“No big deal?” she repeated, her voice incredulous. “Alex, your CFO just lectured me about the state of our marriage, and how you’re feeling neglected because I’m with other men. And then she actually asked you if you wanted her to stay for support. As if we can’t have a private conversation!”
“Like I said…she really…misunderstood.”
“Misunderstood what, Alex? What did you say?”
“Mmmm, I don’t recall…”
“Alex Stone, stop lying to me. What did you say?”
Alex sucked in a breath. “I just…I was asking her if girls like Paris, that’s all. And she thought…I don’t know…she thought I was talking about some other woman…like her or something. And then I just…tried to cover and say I was asking about you.
Alex rubbed the back of his neck, his voice picking up speed. “And then she asked why, and I said I was trying to do something nice for you after what happened at StoneCorp and all the trouble. And then she said that if I needed to impress you to apologize, you weren’t the right woman for me.”
Ava’s eyes went wide at the insinuation.
“And I said that wasn’t true. And then she said that she’d heard this rumor about you and Ethan Parker.
And I said I knew about it and she said that I deserved someone who looked at me like I was their world, and then I said that we were solid, but she thought we just got married, so I said no.
And then you came in and got into a fight with her. ”
“Got into a fight with her? She picked the fight with me. And no wonder. She thinks I’m a terrible wife. And you crying on her shoulder made her really think that.”
“I didn’t cry on her shoulder. I just… was trying to make conversation, and then she took it the wrong way and when I tried to fix it things got all messy and…I’m sorry, Avs. I messed up.”
“Why would you…wait, what were you talking to her about women liking Paris for anyway?”
She eyed him as color rose into his cheeks, her lips parting. “Oh my goodness. You were going to ask her to go to Paris with you.”
“No,” he said with a vehement shake of his head. “No. Definitely no. Avs, we think she’s part of The Board.”
“Yeah, and you wanted to schmooze her. You were going to take her to Paris. I can’t believe this. Alex, that’s way too dangerous. Even what you said to her already is dangerous. We can’t give her any information.”
“I’m sorry, Avs. I just…was making small talk, or so I thought. I’m awful with people, you know that. Remember that time we got stuck talking to the guy on that train?”
Ava heaved a sigh as she pressed her hand against her forehead. “You said I was your cousin, then you said I was your wife.”
“Uh-huh,” he murmured. “Because I’m…awkward. And then he made a big deal about how I married my cousin.”
She sucked in a breath, her heart melting at his faux pas. “I remember. You were as red as a lobster. And I told him I’d have married you if you were my brother.”
“And then he left.” Alex bobbed his head.
“Oh, Alex,” Ava said with a shake of her head. “Fine, no more alone time with Miranda though. And now we have to figure out how to counter this before she tries to use it to drive a wedge between us.”
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure she’s thinking about that right now. Don’t look, but…she’s literally right outside the door and I’m pretty certain she’s watching our every move.”
Ava pressed her lips together, her nostrils flaring. “Well, I guess we probably should give her a show then.”
“What?” Alex’s brow furrowed as Ava took a step toward him and grabbed him by the lapels.
She tugged him closer, planting her lips on his.
After a second of what felt like resistance, he relaxed into the lip lock, sliding his arms around her waist and tugging her closer.
She pulled back from the kiss, leaning against him. “Do you think it helped?”
“Umm,” he answered, his hand absentmindedly caressing a lock of her hair, “maybe we should try it again to be sure.”
“You’re such a flirt.”
“I’m really not, but she’s kind of glaring in at us.”
Ava rolled her eyes. “I’m certain she’s going to accuse me of using my feminine wiles to smooth things over.”
“I mean…you did.”
She arched an eyebrow at him, and he grinned playfully. “That’s funny, Ace. Next time, I won’t fix your social snafu. The last thing we need, though, is her inserting herself into our relationship.”
“I’d never let that happen.”
“Ace, you’re too nice for your own good.”
“Maybe we should invite her to dinner so she can see how happy we are together.”
“Oh, right, that’ll work. With Chris Draftsman, our investor?”
Alex winced. “Oh, right. I mean…maybe we shouldn’t invite Chris Draftsman.”
“Should we just ask him to go out that night so we can entertain and convince your CFO of our relationship?”
“Yeah, that’ll work,” he answered with a grin.
“Is she still watching us?”
Alex flicked his gaze to the glass door. “Yep. Still hovering out there pretending to talk to Beth.”
Ava shook her head with a sigh. “Well–”
Before she finished the statement, he pressed his lips against hers again. The sensation warmed her more than she expected. She cupped his face as the kiss lingered longer than it should have.
They parted, her eyes finding his as he pressed his forehead against hers. She swallowed hard, reminding herself that this was all fake.
“Do you think that did the trick?” she whispered.
His finger traced her chin, the corners of his lips turning up as he studied her.
“Ace?” she whispered.
“Huh?”
“Is she still obsessing over us?”
“Oh, ummm…” Color rushed into his cheeks as he flicked his gaze over her shoulder. “No, she’s gone.”
Ava pushed away from him with a relieved sigh, though his hands lingered on her until she took a step away. “Good. She’s either convinced, or she thinks you’re falling for my lies.”
“One way to find out. I can go–”
“Seriously? After what just happened when you were alone with her? Besides we have to talk about something else.”
“Oh, yeah, I got your message. We can totally hold off on the divorce. I haven’t called anyone about it or anything, so it’s fine.”
“Yeah, good, I just…with everything going on, I think that’s probably a good idea, but that’s not what I wanted to talk about.”
“What?” Alex asked, shifting his weight from foot to foot.
“I went to the jail to see Simon Blackburn.”
“What?” Alex’s eyes went wide as he stared at her. “Why would you do that?”
“Because I believe him. I think he’s innocent.”
Alex collapsed into his chair, his finger rubbing his lips.
“I’m serious, Alex. I believe him. He insisted that he’s innocent. He said maybe he could help us if he saw the logs.”
“Or lie more. Ava, we don’t know he’s innocent.”
Ava set her hand on her hips as she stared at him. “Oh, but we are pretty certain Miranda isn’t innocent and you want to spend all your time with her.”
“I don’t want to spend all my time with her. I have to make up with my wife who’s mad at me over what my CFO said to her earlier. So, I need to spend my time with her.” He grinned at her.
“That’s funny, Ace. This is why you can’t go talk to her alone. Because you’ll tell her I’m mad at you, and then she’ll just feel sorry for you because big, bad Ava is being mean to you, and you deserve so much better.”
Alex’s features melted. “Avs, I’m sorry. I just…wanted to…”
His features pinched.
She reached for his hand, tugging him from his chair and tugging him toward the couch.
They collapsed onto it, and she kicked her shoes off, pulling her legs under her.
“I know you are. I’m just saying that I don’t think being alone with this woman is a wise idea.
She’s an expert manipulator, and she’s going to manipulate you. ”
“Not to like her or anything,” he said, his voice firm.
Ava laced her fingers through his. “I just don’t want you getting hurt.”
His forehead creased as he stared at her.
“We’ll just…we’ll tackle her together, okay?”
He blew out a long breath. “Sure. Well, I just…I feel like I need to do something to fix this.”
“You know,” Ava said, narrowing her eyes, “maybe the dinner idea isn’t such a bad one.”
He straightened, his eyebrows shooting up. “Yeah, totally. I mean, we’ll have her over…put on a big show. Hold hands, kiss, you can stare longingly into my eyes.”
“I more meant to get some information, but before that, we need to discuss Simon Blackburn. Any chance you can send some legal help? He’s got a public defender.”
Alex shifted on the couch. “Um, I mean, obviously I’ve got a fleet of attorneys, and if you want me to send someone, Avs, I will. I just…I’m not sure I trust him.”
Ava shrugged, pressing her lips together. Was she being short-sighted because she so desperately wanted to pin this all on Miranda? No, he didn’t have a tattoo like the two others.
“I don’t think he did it. But I don’t want to push you into doing something you’re not comfortable with. But I feel like he’s in jail because of us, and maybe he shouldn’t be.”
Alex rubbed her cheek with his thumb. “I’ll do it. I’ll call Barry right now and see if he can head over today.”
“Thanks, Ace,” she said with a smile.
He squeezed her hand before he crossed to the desk to retrieve his phone and make the call. She eased back against the couch cushion as she considered trying to get information from Miranda during a dinner. They needed to deal with the woman about the data breach.
The sour words she’d spewed earlier echoed in Ava’s mind again, turning her lips into a deep grimace again. How dare that woman question her loyalty to Alex? She deserved to be put in her place for that alone.
“Avs, you okay?” Alex’s voice drew her back to the present.
She glanced down, realizing her hands were curled into fists. “Yes, just getting mad all over again about your CFO. You know, who does she think she is?”
“Avs, maybe we should let it go.”
“Let it go? No, you were right the first time. Someone needs to talk to her and put her in her place.”
“Uhh, I mean, yeah, I’ll totally do that,” Alex answered.
Ava tugged on her shoes. “Nope, I will.”
She leapt from her seat and stormed toward the door.
Alex raced behind her, skirting around to block the door. “Hold up there, Sparky. Maybe we should think about this. Cause I don’t think she’s going to come to dinner with us if you go all…cat claws on her.”
She cocked her head, setting her hands on her hips. “Is there some reason I shouldn’t? She did assume you were asking her to go to Paris with you, right?”
“I mean, I think so, I just–”
“And she did suggest that your wife didn’t love you by spreading a gossipy tale about me with Ethan Parker, right?”
“She did, but–”
“And she did feel like she had the right to call me out on behavior she had no business lecturing me on, right?”
Alex scratched the back of his head with a wince. “Yeah, can’t believe she did that.”
“Do you know why she did that?”
“Trying to be a good friend?”
Ava wagged a finger at him. “This is why you need me around because people snow you all the time, Ace.”
He puffed out his cheeks. “I’m not disagreeing. We’ve been apart for far too long. In fact, Ava, there’s something we should discuss. I just–”
A knock on the glass interrupted his words. He hung his head as Ava peered around him. “Oh, good, it’s Miranda. Perfect timing.”
“Ava, wait–”
She pushed around him before he could finish and tugged open the door. “Need something?”
“Ah,” Miranda said, peering around Ava to eye Alex. “I have the final breach reports. We never got to go over any of this.”
“Right, we should do that,” Alex said with a nod. “Avs, don’t you agree?”
“I do,” she answered as she stood back to allow Miranda to enter.
She slammed the door behind the woman and crossed her arms. “We just need to get one thing straight first.”
Miranda twisted with narrowed eyes, a frown on her face. “Yes, I think so, too.”
Ava squared her shoulders, her gaze never leaving Miranda’s face. Despite the tension, Ava sensed more to her behavior than met the eye. And she was going to put a stop to it. Nobody crossed Alex without consequences. Nobody.