Chapter 9
ALEX
Alex sucked in a deep breath as he stared at the closed door, wondering if he should go after her. He hated that she was doing this alone. Maybe he should have driven her to the airstrip, but Ava was fiercely independent. She would have insisted on going alone.
But he’d seen the worry in her eyes when she’d made the decision to comply with DHS.
Despite the desire to continue their unconventional work against The Board, the latest interactions had taken their toll.
From his kidnapping to the attack she’d lived through with Raven, things were getting worse.
The strain was evident in every line of her face.
He knew she could handle herself, but he hated that she had to. Now that they’d taken their marriage from fake to real, the thought of being apart was unbearable.
Their fake marriage had stretched for years, but he worried their real one would be cut short.
He reached into his pocket, removing the velvet box that he’d wanted to give her when he took her to the secret location he’d planned before all hell broke loose.
They hadn’t made it yet.
Why had he wasted so much time telling her? They could have had an established relationship by now instead of a budding one. Then, maybe he wouldn’t have felt so horrible with her leaving.
He shook his head. Who was he kidding?
Even when she wasn’t his, he’d hated to see her go. After he’d built this house, he’d flown her out here to see it, showing her the suite he’d built for her. He’d wanted to tell her then, but he didn’t.
He’d kept quiet, hoping she’d just end up staying and it would naturally come out. Neither had happened, and he’d collapsed on his couch after she’d left, a frown etched into his features.
He felt no different now, except the stakes were even higher.
A hand clamped onto his shoulder and gave him a gentle shake. “Let’s head into the living room, Mav.”
Alex slid his eyes sideways toward Kyle, a weak smile crossing his face. He wanted to be as far away from everyone as possible. When stressed, Alex preferred to crawl under a rock, game, and shut out the world.
But maybe that wasn’t the best idea.
Sierra stomped her way into the foyer, her eyes wide. “Hey, Brainy, he’s right. Kyle keeps telling us he’s been some sort of hero in all of this and we need confirmation of the veracity of his story or you to tell us he’s a big fat liar.”
Alex fluttered his eyelashes at the forward woman’s demand. “Uhhh, sure. Although, Doc’s pretty awesome, so he probably told you the truth.”
Kyle grinned at him as he guided Alex to the living room to join Grant and Julia.
Julia offered Alex a consoling smile. “How are you holding up?”
Alex slumped onto the couch with a sigh. “I’d rather Ava be here, but…I think this is the right move.”
Julia nodded. “I’m sure DHS handling this is best. It’s been a scary few days since we’ve been here, and I can’t imagine how it’s been for you two who have been living this longer than us.”
Julia clicked her tongue, her features morphing into a surprised expression. “Heck, I can’t believe Ava let you go to New Orleans to help us when she did. I couldn’t have handled everything on my own like that.”
“But we’re really glad you came to help us,” Grant said. “Without you…we may still be stuck fighting Lydia…or worse…we may have lost.”
“Grant’s right. We can’t thank you enough,” Julia said. “We only wish we could have done more for you now.”
Alex offered her a slight smile, his mind focused on Ava not the conversation at hand. “Sunshine, you’ve done so much. Your support was enough.”
“Plus, I did do a lot more,” Kyle answered, his chin raised. “Like I said…I was a veritable superhero.”
“Yeah, we’re still waiting on confirmation of your so-called superhero actions, Kyle,” Sierra said, crossing her arms as she slumped into a chair.
Kyle rolled his eyes. “Mav, you want to tell her how awesome I am?”
“Why do you call him that?” Sierra asked.
“Mav?” Kyle said.
“Duh,” she answered.
“Short for Maverick,” Alex said.
Sierra screwed up her face. “What? Why would he call you that?”
“Maverick…from Top Gun,” Alex said.
Sierra frowned before she grabbed her phone and tapped on the display. “Oh, that ancient movie with Tom Cruise. Whatever.”
Alex shifted in his seat. “Yeah, ancient. Anyway, we’re big on nicknames. And Doc here tried to call me Ace, but that’s reserved for Ava only.”
“I can’t believe you call him Doc,” Sierra said with a shake of her head. “You should have picked something more like him. Like–”
“Don’t say crazy,” Kyle said, wagging his finger.
“Fine. Next…what exactly did Doc do to that was so wonderful?”
Kyle leapt from his seat. “I told you. I rescued Ava and whisked her away from that murder charge. I–”
“Stole the gun back…we all know that. We were all part of that, duh,” Sierra said. “What else?”
“I totally rescued Mav from a Board stronghold. Guns blazing.”
Alex recalled him firing two shots during the rescue, both misses. But it didn’t matter. He’d been there when they’d needed him. He was an important part of the team. A team that was about to be disbanded.
“He totally did. Shot at a guy, too. Doc did a great job. He was a big part of my rescue.”
Kyle grinned at him. “Thank you for confirming that for so-called family who thinks the only thing I do is screw up.”
“That’s not true,” Julia said with shake of her head.
“No,” Grant said. “When we were dealing with Lydia, Kyle was a big part of that. I knew it had it in you, son. Just like a Harrington.”
“Speaking of like a Harrington, did you ever sort out that issue with the blood type Sierra received?” Alex asked, desperate to get his mind off of Ava’s missing presence.
“No,” Grant said with a shake of his head.
“It must have been some sort of mistake with the paperwork,” Julia said with a shrug.
“No,” Kyle answered with a shake of his head. “Hospitals don’t make those mistakes, and if they do, the patient is usually dead.”
Alex’s features crinkled as he tried to make sense of it. “So, wait a minute…”
He leaned forward and grabbed his laptop.
“What are you doing?” Julia asked.
His fingers raced across the keyboard as he worked to access the hospital’s files on Sierra. “Checking the files. I want to see if the blood they gave her when she went there after the ball was the same as the type they gave her when she pulled her stitches.”
Kyle eased onto the cushion next to him as he bypassed the hospital’s security measures and found his way into the patient files. “That’s incredible, Mav.”
“Yeah, hospitals are easy. Give me something hard to try,” he murmured as he found Sierra’s file and opened it to read the chart.
“Looks like she had…AB negative after the ball. And…” He tapped around to find the next entry. “AB negative when she popped a stitch, is that right?”
Grant’s features pinched. “Well…no. It’s not. If that’s right…”
“You’d be her father,” Kyle said before he shrugged. “Well, assuming Lydia didn’t have an affair with another man who inexplicably had the same rare blood type or Lydia had that blood type.”
“Lydia was O positive,” Grant said with a shake of his head.
Kyle tilted his head. “So…unless whoever she was sleeping with had the same blood type as you–”
“Which is statistically almost impossible given the rarity of AB negative blood types,” Alex said.
“Sierra is actually your daughter,” Julia concluded, her features twisting in surprise. “Grant!”
She clapped a hand down on his arm as she stared at him. Sierra leapt to her feet, her eyes wide. “Wait, what? I’m really a Harrington?”
She huffed out a breath, a smile crossing her features. “I knew it! I knew it! I’m really a Harrington!”
“Okay, okay, it sounds great, but the paternity test said I wasn’t your father.” His eyes fell on Kyle.
“I didn’t mess with it,” Kyle said, his jaw tightening.
“No one’s saying you did, Kyle,” Julia answered. “But Lydia…she told me that and had to have known I was going to check on it. I’ll bet she had it all set up that the lab would return a fake result.”
A slight smile crossed Grant’s face. “So…Sierra could actually be mine.”
“We should run another paternity test to be sure. One that’s tamper-free here in the Hamptons,” Kyle said. “But it looks like…looks like I’m not the only biological child.”
“Ha! Eat it, Kyle,” Sierra said, poking a finger in his face. “I’m not only his actual child, but I’m his favorite child, too!”
Kyle shifted in his seat, rolling his eyes at his half-sister, who was once again, his biological sibling. “Yeah, well, you’re also now my blood relation, too.”
“Oh, yeah…well, every positive has to come with a negative.” Sierra shrugged.
“Well, I think this calls for a celebration,” Alex said with a grin. “Maybe champagne or something?”
“Aw, we should wait for Ava.”
“We’ll do it again when Ava comes back,” he said as he rose. “Come on, let’s celebrate.”
Julia rose with him, along with Grant and Kyle.
Sierra remained seated. “Bring the party in here once you have it ready. I’m busy tweeting this to the world and sending DMs to all my friends. I’m a real Harrington again.” She grinned as she snapped a few selfies.
“She’s in her element,” Julia said with a grin as they headed into the kitchen to round up champagne, glasses, and snacks to celebrate the latest development.
“I see that,” Alex said with a chuckle. “Hey, I’m glad we have some good news. It’s really keeping my mind off of everything. Thanks, guys.”
“Aww, I’m glad,” Julia said, patting his arm. “She won’t be gone for long, though. And hopefully when she’s back, you can start enjoying life instead of fighting to survive.”
Alex nodded at her, a slight smile on his face as Grant popped open a bottle of champagne and started to fill glasses.
“I really can’t wait to enjoy life with Ava.”
“You two are such a great match,” Julia said. “I’ll bet she’s counting the hours until she gets back, too.”
“OMG!” Sierra shouted from the living room.
Kyle glanced over his shoulder. “Must have gotten a good response from her friends.”
Julia frowned, shaking her head. “That didn’t sound like a good OMG.”
A second later, Sierra called, “Hey, guys? I think you’d better get in here!”
“Oh boy…someone must have asked her for proof or called her a liar,” Kyle said.
“Hey, I’m serious!” Sierra yelled again, her voice ringing with panic.
“I’ll go,” Julia offered as Grant finished pouring the champagne. She hurried from the room. Unidentifiable voices murmured before Julia’s voice rose. “Oh my goodness. Oh no!”
Grant’s features turned concerned as he set down the bottle. “What is going on?”
Alex followed behind him as they left the celebratory drinks behind and headed for the living room.
Both Julia and Sierra stared up at the television, their features aghast. Julia tore her eyes from the report, sliding them to Alex as they turned glassy. “Oh, Alex.”
“What?” he asked. He flicked his gaze sideways, noting a news report scrolling on the screen but he didn’t pay any attention to it before he returned his gaze to the two women.
Julia’s lower lip trembled as she tried to speak, but no words came.
“Oh no,” Kyle said, collapsing onto the couch as he stared at the screen.
Alex shook his head, unable to understand what was happening. He finally glanced to the screen as Sierra thrust the remote forward and turned up the volume.
“Once again, breaking news tonight as a private plane leaving the Hamptons has exploded upon take off. We’re being told that this was a DHS flight carrying several people including tech billionaire owner of StoneCorp’s wife, Ava Collins.
There are no survivors from this mid-air explosion.
Stay tuned as we continue to follow this–”
Alex didn’t hear anything else. The words hit him like a physical blow. His eyes widened as his heart hammered, his knees wobbling.
A picture of Ava appeared on the screen as the newscaster continued to deliver the grim news, her features taut.
“Ava?” Alex said as he took a stumbling step closer to the screen. “No.”
Words announcing the explosion scrolled across the bottom of the screen, and he read them over and over again.
The plane carrying Ava had exploded. There were no survivors. Ava was gone. Ava... was gone.