Chapter 22
AVA
Ava tapped her fingers on her forearm as she stared out over the crashing waves. Gizmo sniffed a nearby piece of seaweed before barking at it and trotting back to Ava’s side, pawing at her leg.
She scooped him up into her arms and petted his head. He was a symbol of her and Alex’s commitment was the only solid thing about their budding romance right now.
She sighed, the weight of Alex’s disapproval heavy on her heart. Was it wrong to have doubts? Shouldn’t she be completely committed to their marriage? But the truth was, she wasn’t sure if she could live up to his expectations. “Alex is not very happy with me right now.”
With a long gaze over the ocean, she admitted, “Though I’m not very happy with him either.”
She puckered her lips as the doubts crept back into her mind. She’d warned him that she was a disaster in relationships, and she was proving it bit by bit.
She could have stayed in that room and comforted him, but the implication that she’d go crawling back to Chris when things got tough with him stung her.
And she couldn’t compare it to anything because she’d never been through this before with Alex. They had such limited romantic experience, and she’d never actually had him admit his jealousies before.
Her eyebrows creased as a thought occurred to her. “You know, Gizmo, Alex may have just come up with a brilliant plan and not known it.”
She vetted the idea through her mind for a few minutes before a familiar voice called to her. “Ava!”
She twisted to find her sorority sister hurrying down the beach as she tucked a lock of brown hair behind her ear to stop it from blowing wildly in the sea breeze.
Ava grinned at her. “Hey, Julia. Enjoying the sun and surf?”
“Yeah. It’s beautiful here. Grant and I took a walk earlier. I thought I’d come find you. Alex said you were out here.” Julia sidled up to her with a satisfied sigh as she stared out over the ocean.
“Alex said I was out here,” Ava said with a nod. “Did he ask you to find me?”
“What?” Julia asked, sounding a little too surprised. “No.”
Ava arched an eyebrow at her. “You don’t lie very well, Sunshine.”
Julia tugged her lips back into a wince before she made a face. “Sorry. I…he didn’t ask me to find you, he just…seemed upset.”
“Yeah,” Ava said with a nod as she stared out across the ocean. “We had…sort of a fight. Not really a fight, but…I’m sure he’s feeling it.”
“He told me that you two are giving your marriage a real shot,” Julia said, her voice tentative.
“We are,” Ava answered. “I’m not sure it’s everything he expected it to be. Although, I warned him of that.”
“And how is it on your end?”
Ava flicked her a gaze. “You’re not a very covert spy, you know?”
“I’m not…I’m just trying to help two friends. If I’m prying, you can just tell me where to stick my questions.”
Ava smiled at her. “You’re not prying. And you’re sweet to want to help, but…I think this is just something Alex and I need to sort out. Our relationship has undergone a drastic change. We’re still…getting used to that.”
Julia nodded, her lips curving into a slight smile. “I kind of said the same thing to him.”
“How’d he take it?”
Julia clicked her tongue and shrugged. “Uh, you know Alex…”
“He didn’t believe you,” Ava said with a bob of her head. “Yeah, I know Alex.”
“I think he’s just…feeling a little unsure of himself. Maybe he just needs a reminder of your commitment.”
“Yeah,” Ava answered.
Julia slid her eyes sideways, swallowing hard. “Unless…that’s not what you want. I’m not…trying to push you into anything. Maybe…you’re having second thoughts?”
Ava shifted her weight. “I’m not. Not really.”
“Not really,” Julia repeated. “That sounds…unsure.”
The woman winced, tucking another lock of hair behind her ear before she shot Ava an apologetic glance. “I’m sorry. I’m way overstepping here.”
“You’re not,” Ava answered. “And I’m sure it does sound unsure. But I’m not having second thoughts so much as some doubts that this isn’t going to work out the way we think it is.”
Julia traced a line in the sand with her toes, staring down at it.
Ava twisted to face her. “Look, Julia, I can’t imagine a life without Alex. So…I’m here for it. No matter what it takes. No matter how hard it gets. That’s the bottom line. I just…don’t think it’s going to be as easy as we think, and I’m not sure Alex is ready for that.”
Julia bobbed her head. “I think it may be helpful if he heard that from you. And again, I’m sorry, I’m not trying to tell you how to act in your own marriage–”
Ava held a hand up. “You don’t have to apologize, Sunshine. I get it.”
She pulled Julia into a hug. “I need to run but enjoy the beach.”
Julia offered her a nod and a wave as Ava hurried down the beach toward the house. She set Gizmo on the floor as she stepped inside. He scurried to find his chew toy and drag it to his bed as she crossed the living room and climbed the stairs to the bedroom.
She pushed inside, already peeling off her hoodie as Alex leapt from his seat on the bed. “Avs, we need to talk.”
“Yeah, I know, but I need to get dressed for this lunch or I’m going to be late.”
“No, you can’t go to that,” he said as he followed her into the closet.
“We’ve been through this, Alex. I’m going.” She pushed hangers aside in an attempt to find a suitable dress. “Who do you think Vivienne’s favorite designer is?”
“I don’t know, and I don’t care,” Alex insisted. “There’s been a new development, and it changes everything.”
Ava snapped her gaze to him, freezing as her fingers lingered on an expensive silk dress. She read the panic in his eyes and etched into every line of his face. “What happened?”
Alex heaved out a sigh as he twisted his laptop to face her. “Look who Chris Cross has been meeting with.”
A video played on the screen, showing Chris and another man step from Chris’s hotel room. “Who is that?”
Alex snorted a laugh. “Well, I grabbed his face, and ran it through a facial recognition software, and Avs, that is Sebastian Bancroft. Your former flame is meeting with a man who you have been summoned to lunch with. I don’t like this.”
Ava heaved a sigh and returned to perusing dresses. “I know you don’t, but this isn’t beyond what we expected.”
“Ava! It directly ties the Bancrofts into this whole Board thing.”
“Not really,” Ava answered as she pulled a few dresses from the bar and carried them to the full-length mirror, holding them up. “We sort of knew they were Board. It’s not a surprise.”
“Not a…first, Raven said that, and we don’t know if we can trust Raven.”
She held a pink dress up, her features scrunching. “Now, we do.”
“Damn it, Ava, this isn’t a joke.”
She stared at him through the glass. “I’m not laughing. Alex, we need this in.”
“Let Grant handle introductions.”
“We need that to bolster the in we already have. I’m going. I’ll be fine. She’s not going to murder me at lunch.” Ava discarded two dresses in favor of a blue ensemble.
“No, of course she wouldn’t. She’ll just have another car wreck into you.”
Ava slid her eyes closed as she tugged the dress from the hanger. “All right. I have another plan. But you’re not going to like it either.”
“I bet I’ll like it better than this one. What is it?” Alex asked.
“You mentioned I’d be heading back to Chris because things were too complicated here–”
“Avs–”
Ava cut him off with a sharp look. “I propose I go back to Chris undercover. Get an inside view of his plans to destroy you.”
“No,” Alex said flatly. “That’s a horrible plan. Worse than the lunch by a thousand times.”
Ava grinned at him as she removed the rest of her clothes and slipped into the dress. “I’m glad we agree.”
“Ava, we do not agree. I don’t like this.”
“Zip me,” she said, poking a finger at the zipper at her back.
Alex set the laptop down on the counter and crossed his arms. “No. I won’t.”
Ava offered him an unimpressed stare before she twisted to face him. “Alex, we are in what is likely the beginning of this fight. I understand the impulse to want to protect me, but you’re going to have to accept that there are risks involved.”
His forehead crinkled as he glanced down at his shoes.
She closed the gap between them, taking his hands in hers. “But if we work together, we can minimize those risks.”
“I want them to be zero,” he answered.
“Zero risk living isn’t living.”
He glanced away from her, his jaw flexing. “Ava…”
“Alex,” she said, pressing a finger to his lips, “listen to me. I’m doing this for us. I will be fine.”
She twisted around, lifting her hair. “Now, zip me.”
He dutifully stepped forward and closed the zipper, the upset still in his eyes.
She grabbed her purse, stuffing a lipstick tube inside before she pulled on a pair of heels and hurried to the bedside table to grab her phone.
Alex followed her, sinking into an armchair as he clutched his laptop.
Ava hurried to the door, hesitating before she stepped out.
She sucked in a breath, Julia’s words echoing in her mind.
She twisted to face him, leaning against the door frame.
“You know, Alex, I chose this–us–not because it was convenient, but because every step I took away from you felt wrong. This is where I want to be. Even when it’s hard. ”
She spun on a heel and stepped into the hall. “I have my comm if you want to listen in.”
She descended the stairs and left the house behind, crossing to her car.
As she aimed for the sprawling mansion on the hill owned by the Bancrofts, the communication device crackled to life. “Hey, Sparky?”
“Yeah, Ace?” she asked.
“Thanks for what you said.”
A slight smile curled her lips as she pulled into the Bancrofts’ long, winding driveway. “I meant every word.”
“Just to be clear, I don’t want you to go back to Chris even as a fake relationship, though, okay?”
“Duly noted,” she said as she came to a stop outside of the grand house’s entrance. “No leaving you for Chris.”
“Hey, Sparky?” he asked as she rang the doorbell.
“Yeah, Ace?”
“Good luck.”