Chapter 6
AVA
Ava crossed her arms, one eyebrow arching as she stared at her husband. “What do you mean ‘no’?”
Alex swallowed hard, his gaze falling to his feet as he shoved his hands into his pockets. “Exactly what I said. No. Don’t give me that scary look because I’m standing my ground.”
“Oh, really?” She dropped her hands to her hips, her lips tugging into a frown.
He glanced up at her, wincing. “Please don’t do that.”
“I am doing it, Alex. You can’t just say no and think it’s a decree. It’s not.”
“Well, you can’t just do what you want and…that’s it.”
She offered him an unimpressed stare.
“Avs…” His voice turned a little whiny as he offered her a pleading glance. “This guy is bad news, and I really don’t want you sneaking into his hotel room while he’s there.”
“Alex, we talked about this. We need to do this. I need to do this.”
“I’ll do it,” Alex blurted. “I’ll sneak in and grab what we need. Done.”
“I am way stealthier than you, and you know it. You sneaking in there is a recipe for disaster.”
Alex wrinkled his nose. “Disaster is a strong word.”
Ava raised her eyebrows, her features turning incredulous. “Is it? Do you remember the time you tried to ‘sneak in’ to my apartment on my birthday to surprise me?”
“I do not recall this, nope.”
Her features turned stony.
“Maybe I recall it.”
“You knocked over that big vase by the door, then it hit the table and sent the bowl and my keys flying. And in your mad scramble to stop it, down came my painting, too.”
“It was an ugly painting anyway. And that’s because I was nervous.”
“Will you magically not be nervous sneaking into someone with ties to the Russian mafia?”
“I will be less nervous than watching you do it.”
She heaved a sigh as the argument continued with her husband. After informing her this morning when she awoke that he ‘wouldn’t allow her’ to infiltrate Ben Preston’s hotel room and steal the items Raven demanded, they’d gotten into one of their more heated arguments.
With a shake of her head, she crossed to him and slid her arms around his waist. “Ace, I will be okay. And if I get caught–”
“You could get killed.”
“So could you. I know how to fight my way free.”
“Not against a gun, and those guys with him looked like they were packing pretty good, Ava.”
She pressed her lips together as she squeezed his chin between her thumb and forefinger. “I love how much you care, but you can’t just unilaterally make a decision for me.”
He slid his eyes sideways, narrowing them. “I kind of feel like I can because I’m pretty sure that the justice of the peace said honor and obey…”
“Do you really want to go there after you just convinced me our marriage could work?”
“Ava!” His voice took on a pleading insistence before he squeezed his eyes closed. “I’m not…I’m not flexing on you as your husband, I’m just–”
“Scared,” she finished. “I know. I am, too. But we need to do this. And you need to stay here and give me tech support and work on Julia’s problem. I’ll be fine, I promise.”
“I just…”
“You never would have unilaterally made this call a week ago.”
“I mean, I would have liked to. And yes, I would have,” he argued. “I would have told you before that you shouldn’t do this. I loved you then, too, so I would have felt the same way.”
She smiled up at him, cupping his face. “You’ve loved me for a long time.”
“Yes, I have. And now we finally have our chance. I just feel like it’s going to be ripped away.” He sucked in a shaky breath.
“It’s not going to be ripped away. I’ll be careful, okay?”
“You’d better be. I’m serious, Avs. We just started to figure things out together.”
“I’m coming home, Ace. But we need this. We need to prove ourselves to Raven, and we need to try to track him.”
Alex shot his gaze to the ceiling, his jaw clenching. “Don’t remind me of Raven. That’s an entirely separate issue that I am unhappy about.”
She arched an eyebrow, grinning at him. “You know, you really don’t need to be jealous.”
“I’m not…okay, I am. But not in the way you think. I just…”
“You just hate this because you want us to have a nice, quiet life together. You want to be happy because you’ve waited a long time for it.”
He nodded, flicking her a gaze filled with concern.
“And we will be. After we’ve figured this out. Plus, think of it this way. The Board brought us together again, right?” She kissed his cheek before pulling away from him to dress for the operation.
“Remind me to write them a thank you note,” he said as she rummaged through her suitcase.
“I’d bet they’d love that.”
He rolled his eyes at the suggestion. “Honestly, you know, I could just not code that key for you.”
She pulled out a pair of black leggings, black tee, and hoodie. “You could. Then I’d just have to find another way in.”
She tugged out a form-fitting dress and eyed it.
He pulled it from her hands. “I’ll do the key.”
She nodded as Gizmo rose to his feet and gave Alex a yip. Alex lifted the small dog into his arms and carried him out of the bedroom. “Come on, Giz, let’s go code this for Ava so she can risk her life.”
With a deep sigh, she showered and tugged on her clothes before she pulled her hair into a sleek ponytail. She left the bedroom behind, finding Alex with multiple laptops spread in front of him.
“Any luck with the Harrington mess?”
“It’s deleting these from all her backup places, then I’ll run another trace to see if it finds anything. Should be done by this afternoon.”
“Good job, Ace.”
“Uh-huh.”
Ava puckered her lips as she rubbed his shoulders, leaning against the back of the couch. He was still upset with her. And he’d likely stay that way until she was home.
“How about the other thing?” she tried.
Without a word, he flicked the key back, holding it between two fingers.
She slid it from his grasp, pocketing it. “Thank you.”
After a moment of hesitation, she leaned closer, resting her chin on his shoulder. “Are you still mad at me?”
“I’m not mad, Ava, I’m just…please come home, okay?”
“I will,” she promised, giving his shoulders a comforting squeeze. “I’d miss Gizmo too much if I didn’t.”
He shook his head, though the curve of his lips betrayed his amusement. He dug a small earpiece from his bag and passed it to her. “I want to be with you.”
“Okay,” she said as she inserted it. “I’ll keep you updated.”
He grabbed her hand before she could step away, kissing her fingers. “Be safe, Ava.”
“I will. I promise.” She kissed his cheek, and before she could pull away, he tugged her closer, brushing her lips with his.
She rubbed a thumb against his cheek. “I won’t be long.”
He finally let her go, but she didn’t miss the almost imperceptible shake of his hands as she stepped away.
Guilt roiled in her as she descended to the street level, stepping outside to hail a cab to the Crescent Bay Hotel.
They needed to complete this task. Specifically, she needed to complete this task, but it was one of the first things she’d done alone since The Board had become a threat. And it was the first thing she’d done alone since he’d admitted his feelings for her.
As the cab snaked through the streets from one hotel to another, their relationship, both before and after the confession, danced through her mind.
Before she could become too invested in pouring over the details of why she hadn’t spoken those magic words to him yet and whether his promises that they’d be fine would come to fruition, the cab slid to a stop at the curb.
She paid the driver in cash before she excited, pulling her hood over her hair as she climbed the stairs and entered the opulent lobby.
With her head down, she quickly crossed to the elevators, jabbing the button to go up.
Doors whooshed open immediately, and she ducked inside, quickly pressing the door close button along with the fourth floor.
The doors slid closed and the car tugged her upward. She danced from foot to foot as she stretched her neck before she blew out a shaky breath. She didn’t like this any more than Alex did, but it had to be done, and she had to be the one to do it.
When the doors slid open, she stepped into the nearly empty hall. With the keycard readied, she skirted past the maid’s cart, grabbing a stack of towels in case she walked into a situation she didn’t expect.
She doubted he’d believe she was a maid, but she could use the towels as a diversion, allowing herself a few seconds to escape.
“You there?” Alex’s voice crackled in her ear.
“You know I am,” she said with a slight grin as she approached Ben Prescott’s door. “You’re watching the cameras.”
“Intensely, yes,” he answered.
“I’m at his door.” She pressed her ear against it, counting down the seconds as she watched her watch.
“Should be any second now,” Alex answered.
As the clock turned nine, his phone rang. “Yep,” she answered.
When the ringing stopped, she waited a few seconds, glancing over her shoulder as the maid shuffled out of the room she cleaned, grabbed a few items, then headed back in without noticing her.
Ava rubbed the key against the magnetic reader. The light turned green, and she eased the door open, slipping into the foyer of the large suite.
Easing the door closed without a sound, she waited until she heard the shower turn on. “Shower’s on.”
“Give him a minute,” Alex said.
Ava sucked in a breath, holding it as she watched the seconds tick past. “I’m going in.”
“Ava, please be careful.”
She crept forward, peering into the bedroom. A quick scan of the room showed it empty as steam poured from the ajar bathroom door. She spotted his laptop on the bed and raced to it, pulling it open and inserting the USB flash drive.
With a nervous glance at the bathroom, she allowed the program to break his password, then began the installation of the monitor software Raven had passed along to them.
“Okay, software is installing,” she murmured as she scanned the room for his briefcase. “I don’t see the case.”
A curse escaped her as she dropped to her knees to scan under the bed. Empty. “Shoot.”
“Try the living room.”
She bobbed her head. “Okay.”
With the program uploading, she padded into the plush-carpeted living room, her eyes quickly spotting the leather briefcase nestled beside a sleek, modern side table. “Got it.”
She snapped it open and searched through it for the USB drive. “I’ve got the drive. Copying it now.”
She stuck it into the electronic device that would create a copy onto another USB. Shifting her weight, she held her breath as she waited for the indicator to turn green.
Sweat beaded on her brow. After what felt like an eternity, the green light lit. She ripped the USB from the device and placed it back into the briefcase before closing it and setting it back where she’d found it.
Shoving the device into her pocket, she hurried back to the bedroom, noting the progress of the installation.
“Are you finished?”
“Still waiting on this program.”
The sigh that echoed through the earpiece reminded her of how much her husband hated this.
She drummed her fingers against her thighs as the program began to install. It had nearly finished when the water shut off. “Oh, great.”
“What?”
“He’s done with the shower,” she hissed as she slammed the laptop closed and raced around the bed, dropping to the floor.
She eyed the slightly ajar bathroom door from her hiding spot on the opposite side of the bed, her body tensed, waiting for any sign of movement. Bare feet padded from it, crossing to toward the bed. Her heart rose into her throat as her chest constricted.
The man paused at the bed. Blood rushed in her ears as she watched his every move, holding her breath. Had he noticed the USB drive peeking from his laptop?
A second later, the television blared to life, a financial report broadcasting from it. With a jaunty whistle, he strode back to the bathroom, dropping his towel as he went.
Ava breathed out a sigh of relief as she scrambled to her feet, dove across the messy bed and ripped the USB drive from the laptop before she raced from the room.
Footsteps padded back into the room just as she turned the corner. She crept to the door as quickly as possible, and let herself out, careful to close it as quietly as possible.
“I’m out,” she answered as she shoved the USB into her pocket and hurried down the hall, skipping the elevator, and pushing into the nearby stairwell.
“Tell me when you’re outside.”
She zipped down the four flights of stairs, pushing into the lobby and crossing it to exit into the bright morning sunshine. “I’m outside.”
“Thank goodness. Straight home.”
“Yeah, I’m walking. No cabs.”
He clicked his tongue. “Why didn’t you take the chauffeured car?”
“Because if there was trouble, I didn’t want it tied back to us. It’s fine, I could use the exercise.”
“My heart could use a break, though. Honestly, Sparky.”
She continued down the sidewalk, keeping her pace quick. A quick glance over her shoulder identified all the people walking behind her, memorizing their features. “I’ll fix your heart as soon as I’m back. Tell me your little program is killing it for Julia.”
“It’s fine. Just…get back here so I can kill Raven with another little program.”
“Yep, I’m–” Her words cut off, her features pinching after another glance over her shoulder.
“You’re what?”
Her heart hammered against her ribs as she twisted again to study the people behind her. “I’m being followed.”
Her stomach twisted into a tight knot as she identified the man following her every move. The tattoo she’d caught sight of on his hand indicated his ties to the Russian mafia. Had they identified her, and would she be able to shake him and safely escape?