Chapter 9
ALEX
Alex leapt from his seat, pacing the floor as he stared at the message on his screen. The apology, the invitation, it all sounded way too convenient. They needed information, but could he trust her?
His mind waged a battle as he tried to think of an answer for the woman. He imagined Ava’s response. Her lips parting, her eyebrows shooting up. “Umm, no.”
“What’s the matter, she wants to kiss you again?” Chris taunted.
Alex ignored him, rubbing his neck as he tried to think through his options.
“Hey, Geek Squad, are you deaf?”
“I heard you. You’re not helping in any way, so I ignored you.” He considered texting Ava, but he knew she’d tell him not to meet with her.
“What does she want?” Chris asked.
Alex slid his gaze sideways as he shook his head. “I’m not telling you.”
“What are you, five? Come on.”
Alex frowned at him. He didn’t trust Chris. And he didn’t want his opinion on the matter. He wanted Ava’s, though he could guess what she’d say. She’d tell him not to trust the woman. That she was playing him. Or she’d insist on going with him.
He pondered the risks of meeting alone. He knew Ava’s tactical mind and dislike of Miranda would spot traps he might miss, and her presence would not only provide safety but also a clear signal to Miranda about where his loyalties lay.
It wasn’t just about safety, though, it was about showing a united front.
“Are you seriously not going to tell me? I think Ava would want you to tell me.”
His features twisted as Chris dared to tell him what Ava would want him to do. “You don’t know what she’d want me to do. You don’t even know her,” he snapped as he collapsed onto the cushion, massaging his temples.
“Uh, yes, I do know Ava, okay? I know you want to pretend that I don’t, and only you know Ava, but that’s not the case. Actually, I think it’s you who doesn’t know her at all.”
Alex’s features twisted as he snapped his gaze to bothersome builder.
“Yeah, that’s right, Nerd Alert, you don’t know her.”
“That’s not true,” he shot back, his voice cracking a little.
“Ohhh,” Chris said with a chuckle. “Someone’s sensitive about that.”
“It’s a lie, that’s why.”
“Is it?” Chris’s amusement twisted into a serious expression. “I don’t think so. What does Ava do in the evenings to relax? Hmm? What is Ava’s favorite book from last year? How many clients does she have?”
Alex’s stomach twisted into a knot as his mind went blank. He had no idea what the answers were. Maybe he didn’t know Ava at all. He’d been so close with her but now…
Now, he knew nothing about her.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought. See, you knew Ava. You don’t know her now. And this little…recreating of your past…yeah, it’s not going to work. She’s a different person now.” He leaned forward, his voice lowering to a hiss. “She grew up, Peter Pan.”
The words sliced at him like a knife to his heart. Was Ava just humoring him?
Alex swallowed hard as he glanced down at the blank screen of his phone. His mind whirled as Chris’s words echoed in his head.
Chris settled back in his chair. “So, let’s try this again. What did Miranda say?”
Alex shifted in his seat, his world crashing down around him. His plans, his vision of their future, it all was an elaborate lie he’d told himself.
His breathing turned ragged as every image of him being honest with Ava led to him being shot down.
“Oh, come on. You’re overreacting just a little, don’t you think. As long as you play nice from now on, I’ll let her stay friends with you. We may even visit. I wouldn’t mind the free vacation.”
Alex glanced at the man’s smug face. Was he not only going to lose Ava as a wife, but as a friend, too?
He rose from the couch and hurried from the room, climbing the stairs and shutting himself in his room.
Leaning against the door, he slid to the floor, his emotions a jumbled mess of disappointment and heartache.
“Ava,” he whispered, his voice shaky. “Why did I never tell you how I felt when it would have mattered? Before you found this guy. Before I lost you forever.”
His chest tightened, each breath a struggle as memories of their happiest moments flashed through his mind, stark against the current turmoil. He wondered if those times could ever be reclaimed, or if they were lost, fragments of a happier past.
As he sat on the floor, his future appearing bleak without Ava, he felt his strength growing. He needed to fight. He could win her back. He could find out what her routines were now. He could become the man Ava wanted to spend the rest of her life with.
He tightened his grip on his phone. He’d start by getting information on this situation.
Ava was dealing with Simon Blackburn and that threat. He would deal with Miranda.
With a sharp breath in, he toggled on the display and navigated to Miranda’s message. “Just be smart, Alex. Meet her in a public place.”
Hey Miranda. We all make mistakes. We can meet, but I need to know you’re not going to do anything else foolish. My marriage to Ava is the most important thing in my world, and I don’t want anything to jeopardize that.
He firmed his jaw as his shaky thumb hovered over the send button. He tapped it and waited, letting his head thud against the door.
A second later, it rattled in the jamb, startling him as a knock sounded. Sucking in a sharp breath, he scrambled to his feet, hoping it was Ava.
His hopes were dashed as Chris’s voice came through the door. “What are you doing in there? If you’re crying…well, whatever. Just don’t tell Ava I made you cry, because I don’t want to hear her lecture.”
“I’m not crying,” Alex called. He raced across the room and slipped out of his pajamas, pulling on his clothes. He grabbed a hoodie and tugged it over his shirt, zipping it as he crossed back to the door and pulled it open. “I was getting ready to go out.”
“Go where?” Chris asked.
“None of your business?” Alex said as he squeezed past the man.
Chris followed him down the hall. “Uh, I think it is my business. Because I really don’t want to hear how I should have stopped you from doing something stupid when this inevitably blows back on me, and I have to listen to Ava complaining to me.”
He bounced down the stairs. “If being around Ava’s so hard, why stick around? You complain about her, yet here you are, acting like you’ve got her best interests at heart. What’s really keeping you here?”
“Are you joking?” Chris asked.
Alex whipped around to face him, emboldened by his plan to seek information.
“I’m not. You may think you know Ava better than I do, and maybe you know her current habits.
But you have no idea what drives her. And the way you speak about her and to her…
well, I’d seriously question if you actually love her. ”
Chris scoffed at the words. “Don’t push yourself between us, Ace, because you’re going to lose that battle, I promise.”
“We’ll see.” Alex’s phone chimed, and he checked it, finding a message from Miranda.
I understand. I promise I won’t do anything to jeopardize your marriage. Meeting sounds perfect. I just want to make things right. Let me know when and where, and I’m there.
Alex smiled down at his phone before he typed a response. How about the beach outside of the old Beach Comber resort?
He shifted his weight from foot to foot as he waited for the response. “Come on, come on.”
“What is going on?” Chris asked.
“None of your business,” Alex answered as he received an affirmative from Miranda. He snaked past Chris, prepared to go to the beach spot from his property.
“Oh my gosh, you’re meeting her, aren’t you?”
“I’m going for a walk, okay? That’s it. I just need to…blow off some steam.”
Chris followed behind him as he crossed to the sliding door and slid it open. “So, that’s what I’m supposed to tell Ava? Because I’m not going to have her come home and be all over me about where you are and why I’m not making sure you’re okay.”
“I’m going for a walk. Tell her I will be right back, or she can text me.”
He stepped into the cooling evening air, the last rays of the sunset casting a soft glow over the rippling surface of the pool. As he strode toward the beach, the salty breeze tugged at his clothes and the distant crash of waves mixed with his troubled thoughts.
“Jerk,” he murmured as he descended to the sand.
A mix of turmoil and frustration roiled inside him, the surf pounding against the sand echoing his emotions. “Can’t believe he actually tried to say he’s the right man for Ava because he knows her favorite book from the last year. Big deal. I know her favorite stuff from forever.”
Alex shook his head, his hands shoved into his pockets as he hurried past the other beachfront houses toward the beach resort.
He tried to force his mind back to the mystery at hand. Would the information Miranda give to him help them solve it?
If it did, would he tell Ava? He needed a little more time.
His heart thudded as he thought about revealing that he’d solved it on their Paris trip. He’d pop the champagne, pour their glasses, and then he’d tell her he figured it all out. They were completely safe.
Her eyes would go wide, and she’d grin at him, proud that he’d done it.
“You’re safe, Ava. I made sure. For a very important reason.”
Alex smiled at the thought of the next words. “I love you, Ava,” he whispered to himself as he continued down the beach, the corners of his lips turning up.
If he kept saying those words out loud, even to himself, maybe one day he’d have the courage to tell her.
The beach resort came into sight along with a dark figure pacing outside of it, her face illuminated by her cell phone.
His stomach clenched as he spotted her, suddenly worried that this wasn’t a great idea. But he needed the information.
He aimed for her, closing the gap between them. “Hey, Miranda.”
“Alex, hi,” she said, her voice a little breathy. “Thanks for meeting me.”
“No problem. You said you had some information about what was going on?”
“Yeah,” she said with a nod as she stowed her cell phone, leaving only the sliver of the moon to light her face. “Before that, though, I just…”
Her forehead creased as she pressed her lips together. “I wanted to apologize for before. Things got way out of hand.”
Alex bobbed his head as he flicked his gaze to the moonlit waves. “Yeah, no problem, like I said, we all make mistakes.”
She didn’t answer him, and he twisted back toward her to find her closer than she had been before. His heart beat faster as he fought the urge to take a step back.
“Alex,” she said, her voice soft as she stared up into his eyes. “It never should have happened. I’m really embarrassed.”
“Miranda–”
“Wait, please. Just let me talk,” she interrupted.
“Okay,” he answered, swallowing hard.
Her chest heaved for breath as her gaze fell for a second. “It’s just that…I can’t deny this connection between us, and I know you’ve felt it, too.”
His features twisted as he fluttered his eyelashes, annoyance tensing his muscles. “Miranda, stop.”
“I can’t, Alex. I can’t. I understand why you were upset earlier. I do. Ava is…difficult–”
“No,” he said with a vehement shake of his head.
“Whatever you want to call it, then. She’s your wife. I understand that, but you can’t tell me that you don’t feel this.”
“I can because I don’t,” Alex insisted. “I love Ava.”
“Maybe you do. I’m not saying you don’t love your wife, but…maybe things just aren’t…what they used to be. You said yourself that you were trying to impress her. Something must be going on between you.” Her hand caressed his. “Unless you really were asking me to go to Paris.”
He yanked his hand away from her. “No, I wasn’t. I was asking about Paris because I’m planning to take Ava there. I love my wife. Now, unless you have something meaningful to say about what’s going on with StoneCorp, I’m going to leave.”
She hesitated, her eyes searching his. “Why did you agree to meet me?”
“Because you said you had information.”
“And you willingly agreed to meet me. Alone. Did you tell Ava?”
His forehead creased as he tried to assess her questions. “What? Why?”
“Because it seems to me that you’re just as interested as I am, you’re just not willing to admit it to me. I mean, you wanted to meet me. If you were so invested in Ava, I would have expected her to be here or that you told her. But if you told her, I doubt you’d be here alone.”
“Ava is busy, okay?”
“With another man?”
“All right, that’s it,” Alex answered, raising his hands in the air. “Ava is not…”
He sucked in a breath, unable to say she wasn’t with another man when she was…on all fronts.
“I’m not doing this.”
He backed away from her. Her eyes went wide, and she reached for him. “Alex, wait!”
“I’m not, Miranda. Your behavior is uncalled for, and to be honest, I think you should–”
His ringing phone interrupted him. He glanced at the display, finding an unknown number. His heart thudded faster as he wondered if it was Ava calling from the prison. Had her phone died?
He swiped to accept the call. “Alex Stone.”
“Mr. Stone, this is Southhampton Hospital Emergency Department.”
His stomach clenched at the words.
“Your wife, Ava, has been brought in after being in a serious accident. You need to–”
“I’ll be right there,” he answered, his voice barely above a whisper.
His lower lip trembled as he ended the call, his mind racing. What if he never got the chance to tell Ava he loved her because she was dead?