Chapter 16
AVA
Ava sighed as she ended the call with Alex. Nothing was working for them and this time apart couldn’t have come at a worse time.
While their marriage had spanned seventeen years, they’d spent precious little of it actually together.
And now that they were taking their first steps together as a married couple, they’d dealt with more trouble than most people saw in a lifetime.
She heaved a sigh, letting her head fall back against the cushion behind her. Still, she couldn’t let her frustrations show too much.
Alex was in New Orleans desperately trying to dig her sorority sister out of the trouble she’d found herself in when she’d married Grant Harrington, the haughty CEO of Harrington Global.
He never would have been there had it not been for her connection to Julia.
She chewed her lower lip as she stuffed down the aggravation of their own situation in favor of empathy for Julia’s. But that didn’t make it any easier for her to stomach the loss of Alex’s presence, particularly given what she’d dealt with earlier this evening.
She slid her eyes closed for a moment, taking a steadying breath before she snapped them open and reached for the television remote.
Even if her husband wasn’t here, she’d solve her problems Alex Stone-style. She toggled to her favorite video game on the screen and immersed herself in the digital world as her mind went over the happenings of earlier.
As if the mini-kidnapping by Raven hadn’t been enough for her, Chris’s sudden appearance on her doorstep had left her wondering what she’d ever saw in the man.
Ava paused, the past creeping into her present as she remembered Chris’s words earlier to her. Each memory a sharp jab to her heart, reminding her of what she had moved past and what she now had to protect.
“No, I’m not inviting you in, Chris. Are you serious?”
“Oh, the old man wouldn’t like it, huh?”
“Not that it’s any of your business, but Alex isn’t here. And you still can’t come in.”
Chris glanced down at the mat beneath his feet. “He wasted no time in laying his claim on you, did he? Just like I told you.”
Ava heaved a sigh. “Is there some reason you’re here?”
“There is,” he answered with a nod. “I’m here to apologize.”
A laugh bubbled up from her belly. “Are you joking?”
“I’m not.” His features turned serious. “I’m…sorry, Ava. I really am. We…had a really rough go of it at the end, there, didn’t we?”
“You could say that,” she answered through clenched teeth.
“And a lot of that was my fault. And I’m sorry for that.”
She flicked her eyebrows up. “Okay.”
Chris’s nose wrinkled. “What, that’s it? Just okay?”
She shrugged. “What do you want me to say, Chris?”
He scoffed as he scrubbed his face. “I don’t know, maybe that you accept my apology? Maybe invite me in.”
He ducked his head to scan the space. “I mean, Alex isn’t here, right? So, it’s fine. It’s not like he’s going to know.”
“Alex will know because–”
“He has cameras all over the house. I mean, what does it matter, Ava? It’s not like you’re–”
“Don’t say it.” She wagged a finger at him. “He doesn’t have cameras. He’d know because I’d tell him because we are honest with each other. And because…yes, we are married.”
“But not really.”
“Yes, really. And now more really than ever.”
Chris arched an eyebrow. “What?”
Ava squared her shoulders, crossing her arms as she locked eyes with Chris. “Alex and I…are really together.”
He offered her an incredulous glance before he fluttered his eyelashes. “Wow. Did not see that coming. Actually, yes, I sort of did. I told you he was after you. I just…did not see him moving in so fast. Did he even wait until I was out the door?”
Ava shook her head. “How did I ever date you?”
“So, I guess that means you don’t want me back, huh?”
“I haven’t exactly been pining away for you, no,” she answered.
He huffed out a sarcastic laugh. “Not with Mr. Money Bags to keep you company.”
“Alex’s money is not the reason I’m interested in him.” As she said the words, Gizmo darted past her legs with a yip.
“Ava, there’s a rat in your house.”
“That’s not a rat, that’s my dog.”
“Dog?” he asked.
“Alex bought him for me as a symbol of our commitment to each other.”
Chris offered her an unimpressed stare. “You’re kidding. Could this guy be any more sweet? He’s giving me a toothache.”
“Aw, does it bother you that Alex genuinely cares about me and wants to make me happy?”
“A little bit, it does, yeah,” Chris said with a bob of his head.
“Well, too bad,” she shot back. “You gave up any claim when you walked out the door after calling me selfish.”
“In my defense, your little love affair with Alex was kind of bothersome, Ava. Although now I see why. I figured he was into you, but I didn’t know you were just waiting around for him to admit to that. Did you ever actually love me, or did you just use me to make him jealous?”
Ava lowered her gaze to the floor, chewing her lower lip. She hadn’t used him, but she could understand how he’d see it that way. Within a week, she’d gone from Chris’s fiancé to Alex’s wife.
It had gone so fast, her head was still spinning. Had she been waiting for Alex to express interest or had she just clung to the first man to take her mind off of the break-up with Chris?
“That’s not fair,” she whispered.
“Right. It’s not fair that I ask if our relationship was all just a ploy to get the attention of one Alex Stone.”
“If you really think that, what are you doing back here?” she snapped.
He sucked in a deep breath, his features softening. “I’m…I’m actually here because I…I want you back, Ava.”
She stared at him, an incredulous look on her features. “Are you serious?”
He shot her an annoyed glance. “Yes, I am. I apologized, and I…I want you back.”
“How are you saying this with a straight face? Or is that why you’re almost choking on the words?”
“I’m not almost choking on them, but…this isn’t easy for me, Ava. I mean…this is hard, okay? But we had something real, and I let it slip away because I was jealous.”
Ava chewed her lower lip at the words, disbelief roiling through her. “And you thought the best way to win me back was to pop in and argue with me?”
“Yeah, emotions are still running a little high with me, okay? Especially with the doormat, and the dog, and the revelation that you’re actually together. Like I said, he wasted no time moving in on you.”
“Our relationship is really none of your business.” Ava swung the door closed, but Chris blocked it, sliding through the opening into the house.
Gizmo raced around him, barking up a storm until Ava collected the little dog.
“I’m sorry, Ava. I messed up. I’ll fully admit that, but can’t you see that part of the reason things went so badly between us was because of Alex? Ava, he manipulated you.”
She studied Chris’s dark eyes as they bore into her, searching for the emotion that drove him, but all she found was sincerity. “He didn’t manipulate me.”
“He did. The weekend invitation, the gaming, the crisis, his need for you. All of it was a manipulation to win you back.”
“That’s not–”
“What? True?” Chris shot back before she could answer.
She rubbed her forehead with her fingers, tiring of the conversation after the tension-filled day.
“You know it’s true, Ava. He was after you from the time you stepped foot into this house with my ring on your finger.
Now, whether that was purely fueled by jealousy or if there is more behind it, I don’t know, but the man literally lied to you from the time you asked for a divorce and manipulated both of us until he got his way. But what happens now?”
Chris stretched his arms to the side, glancing around the space. “Where is he? He got you and then promptly took off for what? What was so important that Alex raced off to leave you alone days after he got rid of me?”
Ava shook her head. “It’s…complicated, and also none of your business. He’s helping a friend.”
Chris barked out a sharp laugh. “Oh, I hope it’s not a female friend or you may find yourself in search of a new boyfriend sooner than you think.”
The words stung, though she knew Chris was attempting to convince her of his own points. “Alex is not like that.”
“Time will tell. Unless…I can convince you to take me back. I…messed up, Ava. I’ll admit that. But I want another shot. I love you.”
Ava glanced up at him as he stood in front of her, his features earnest in his request. “No, Chris. I’m with Alex.”
Chris sucked in a breath as he shook his head. “All right. I get it. I wronged you, and you aren’t over it yet, but this is a mistake, Ava. Just…sleep on it, huh?”
“There’s no need. I’m with Alex. We weren’t right together, Chris. You need to accept that.”
He pressed his lips into a thin line. “We’ll see.”
Ava pulled her mind from the tedious conversation as her character fell down a hole and ended the round. She tossed the controller aside before she shuffled to the kitchen for an orange soda.
After another few rounds of the game, she turned off the television and grabbed her phone, toggling it on and finding the pictures Alex had texted her of them.
She stared at their smiles, both of them taken before they’d decided to take their marriage seriously. Was she in love with him then, too?
Was Chris right? Had she merely been waiting for Alex to say something?
She fell asleep with the thought in her head. A tiny tongue awoke her the next morning. Ava sucked in a sharp breath as she opened her eyes to slits.
“Hey, Giz,” she murmured as she pushed up to sit from where she’d fallen asleep on the couch.
She scrubbed her face before she forced herself off the cushion to take the dog for a walk. As se scooped him up to carry him back to the house, she kissed his head. “It’s just not the same without Alex, huh?”
The little dog licked her cheek. “I know, I miss him, too.”
Her phone chimed, and she tugged it from her pocket, hoping it was Alex. Instead, she found a new text message from Raven.