Chapter 11 #2
Her features squashed. “Hey,” she said as she reached for him, wrapping her fingers around his shaking hand. “It’s okay. It’s just a little water. I’m fine.”
He ran a hand through his hair as he tried to calm his breathing.
“Sit down.”
With a hard swallow, he eased onto the cushion next to her.
She rubbed his shoulder. “Hey, I’m okay. I’m fine.”
His features pinched, the room blurring as his eyes turned glassy. “Why are you leaving?”
He tried to force his voice to be steady, but it shook, threatening to break.
“I’m not,” she answered, causing his eyebrows to pinch. Her hand continued to rub his back. “Chris is just…he’s upset, and he’s scared. And when he’s those two things, he overreacts. I’m not leaving.”
Alex tightened his jaw to stop his lip from trembling before he reached for her hand, squeezing it.
“Alex, it’s okay. I’m okay,” she said, her voice soft and reassuring.
Relief coursed through him along with anxiety over the discussion Chris insisted she have with him.
She tugged him closer to her. “Hey. Come here.”
He shifted his gaze to her before he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into a tight hug.
“Easy, Ace, I have bruised ribs remember?”
He released her a little, a half-breath, half-sob escaping him. “Sorry,” he whispered.
She cupped his face with her good hand, smiling at him. “I’m fine. I’m not leaving. Take a breath. Relax.”
She always knew exactly what to say to him when he needed it. And he needed it now more than ever.
He swallowed hard, trying to let go of some of the tension in his muscles.
“Chris really did a number on you, huh? What happened between you two? You’ve been wound up since you got to the hospital.”
He shifted his gaze away from her, hoping she couldn’t read the raw emotion in his eyes now. “I’d rather know what the Pillar Pro thinks we need to discuss.”
“Do you promise to tell me what happened with Chris after?”
“Okay,” he answered, his stomach knotting again. “So, what is it?”
Ava heaved a sigh as she stared at him until he met her gaze. “Did you meet with Miranda Vale tonight?”
His heart plummeted. How had she known? He’d planned to tell her, but…
“I’m going to take that petrified look on your face as a yes. Alex, why?”
“I thought she could tell me something. She said she would. She said she had some information that she thought could help.”
Ava tilted her head, her expression consoling.
“I–I–I thought I could learn something while you were working the Simon Blackburn angle. I was trying to help.”
“And did she tell you anything?”
“No. Well, she didn’t get a chance, maybe. The hospital called about you, and I left. But…she wasn’t forthcoming for the few minutes that we did speak.”
“It looked like she was a little more than forthcoming,” Ava answered.
Alex scrunched his eyebrows as he shot a glance her way.
“Chris had pictures.”
His blood ran cold as he realized the annoying architect had followed him. He’d probably made it look like something it wasn’t. The man was more dangerous than he’d realized.
“Nothing happened, Ava. Nothing. She…said a bunch of things that…she came on to me again. And I turned her down, flat. And then the hospital called.”
“Okay, it’s okay, Alex. I’m not thrilled you went to meet her because I don’t trust her, but…you don’t need to explain anything to me.”
“But I do, because–”
“Well? Are you finished?” Chris interrupted as he strode into the room. “I’d like to get going.”
“We are not finished, but that doesn’t matter,” Ava answered. “I am not leaving.”
“Why?” Chris asked. “Did he explain the situation away? Somehow tell you how it wasn’t what it looked like?”
“It wasn’t,” Alex growled, his fingers curling into fists.
“Sure, it wasn’t. I know what I saw. I saw you and Miranda, meeting under the moonlight, looking awfully chummy with her caressing your hand and staring longingly in your eyes.”
Heat washed over him as anger burned through Alex at the words. Chris was twisting the entire scenario to turn Ava against him.
His chest heaved as his breathing turned ragged. Leaping from his seat, Alex tightened his fists at his sides. “That’s not what was happening at all.”
Chris chuckled at him. “Whoa, easy, tiger. Someone must have a guilty conscience.”
“That’s enough. I don’t want you two fighting.”
Chris jabbed a finger at Alex. “Then maybe you ought to open your eyes, Ava, and see what your friend is really like.”
“I know what Alex is like. That’s how I know he’s beside himself about what you’re accusing him of. Now, lay off.”
“Of course, he is. He’s on the verge of getting caught in his little game.”
“If you can’t stop accusing him of things that aren’t true, you need to take a walk and get your head together. I’ve had enough of this fighting. I am exhausted.”
“So am I, Ava. Tired of this game. I’d very much like to get back to our lives. Remember those? I was an architect, you were a cybersecurity consultant. We were engaged and planning a life together.”
Ava rubbed at her forehead. “Yes, I remember them, Chris. And we will get there.”
“Will we? Will that be before or after you live your second childhood? Video games, unicorn pajamas, that ridiculous hairstyle that I think you actually think is cute. It’s not, Ava. Maybe when you were nineteen, but pushing forty, it’s time to grow up.”
Alex’s jaw dropped at the rude words. “Hey, whoa, I don’t like the way you’re talking to her.”
“Butt out, Nerd Alert, this isn’t your business.”
“Take a calming walk, Chris, before you say something you’ll regret.” Ava shook her head at him.
He responded by matching her movements. “Fine. I’ll be back. Think about what I said, Ava. I’m not going to keep dealing with this.”
Ava sucked in a breath, letting her head fall back onto the cushion behind her as he stormed from the room, leaving through the sliding glass door.
“Ava, I swear to you–”
She interrupted him with a wave of her hand. “Ace, I believe you. I trust you.”
She patted the cushion next to her.
He eased onto the couch next to her, still nervous about the situation. Chris was coming dangerously close to saying the truth, and if he outed Alex’s feelings in the wrong way, it could ruin everything.
“Don’t let him get to you. He’s blowing off steam. This is how Chris reacts to things he doesn’t like.” Her hand rubbed his back again.
He twisted to eye her, grabbing her hand and pulling her closer to him. “Hey, I should be rubbing your back.”
She chuckled at him as she settled against his chest, her head falling onto his shoulder. “I think you’re more stressed than I am. Seems like you and Chris have been into it all night. What did he say to you?”
“Nothing, he…” He shook his head, dismissing it, his hand absentmindedly rubbing her back.
“You promised you’d tell me,” she said.
“Nothing, he just…he said I didn’t know you anymore. That he knew the real you. Avs, have we fallen that far apart?”
She tilted her head up to study him. “No.”
“I don’t know, I just…I realized I didn’t know the answer to things he brought up.
Like your favorite book in the last year.
What you do to relax instead of gaming. All of that stuff.
I don’t know anything. I don’t know you.
I–” His voice, rushed and shaky again, betrayed the turmoil brewing under his surface.
“Ace, easy.” She patted his chest. “You’re my best friend. It doesn’t matter what my favorite book is in the last year, you know what makes me tick. That counts way more than my latest favorite thing.”
“Can I know it anyway?”
She grinned up at him. “The Billionaire’s Royal Secret. Don’t tell Chris because he doesn’t know that’s my favorite. He thinks it’s a psychological thriller that poses meaningful existential questions. He’d be horrified that I love a sappy romance.”
Alex began to relax as she clung to him, their conversation flowing easily like it always had. “I’m going to read this sappy romance.”
“Oh-ho,” Ava said with a chuckle, “are you?”
“Yeah, and then we can have a book club discussion.”
“Sure, right after we solve this mystery.” She poked his chest. “And no more meeting with Miranda Vale to do it. I don’t trust her.”
He wanted to say he felt the same way about Chris, but he didn’t want to start an argument. They’d just started to settle, and he wanted to suck up every aspect of this calm moment.
He was about to answer her when his phone rang. He dug it from his pocket and glanced at the display. “It’s Barry.”
With the phone pressed to his ear, he answered. “Hey, Barry, what’s up?”
“I have some bad news, Alex.”
His heart skipped a beat. “What is it?”
“I’m very sorry to tell you that I just received word that Simon Blackburn has been killed.”
An icy dread snaked through Alex’s veins and sent a shudder down his spine. Simon, dead?