Chapter 27
ALEX
Alex huffed out a sigh as tears stung his eyes again. He yanked the tie from around his neck and tossed it down as he gripped the island in the middle of his walk-in closet.
For this only being a fake funeral, too many things about it seemed real.
He’d struggled through the details, relying on Kyle for help. Planning a funeral for Ava had hit him hard even though he knew it wasn’t real.
They only needed to guilt Chris into getting out of their way so they could move forward.
His knuckles turned white as he gripped the marble counter covering a stack of tennis shoes and track suits as he fought back the emotions swirling inside him as they threatened to spill over.
He wanted Ava safe in this house again, not hopping from location to location with Sebastian Bancroft, a man he wasn’t certain they could trust.
With trembling fingers, he picked up the tie again, swallowing hard as he slid it under his collar.
As he tried to knot the fabric again, his eyes drifted to the row of shoes beneath the counter.
Each pair was meticulously lined up, a stark contrast to the chaotic mess of emotions within him.
The emptiness of the closet, usually filled with the comforting presence of Ava's belongings, now felt like a void threatening to swallow him whole.
The silence of the house, broken only by the distant murmur of voices, pressed in on him, amplifying his loneliness.
A knock sounded at his door, and he ignored it, unprepared to deal with anyone. The silk slid through his fingers as he failed to properly tie the knot again. With a disgusted sigh, he ripped it from his neck.
The knock sounded again, this time louder and accompanied by a voice. “Alex?” Julia called.
He squeezed his eyes closed. Of all the people in this house, only one of them would have been a welcome addition to his party of one. And it wasn’t Julia.
“I’m fine,” he answered, clearing his throat and trying the tie again.
“Are you dressed?” she asked.
“Almost. Just a minute.”
“I’m coming in,” she announced. The door creaked open and a few seconds later, Julia, shielding her eyes, inched into the closet. “Are you decent?”
“Yeah,” he said, his heart aching on multiple levels.
Poor Julia was trying to be so supportive of him as he buried his wife. But she was alive. Alex struggled between playing the grieving widower and keeping the secret that Ava was cooling her heels in Cold Springs Harbor as she waited for it to be safe to return.
Julia pulled her hand from her brow and studied him, offering a soft smile. “Having trouble with the tie?”
“Yeah,” Alex said, raising his hand to let it dangle from his fingers. “I don’t normally wear ties. And if I did, Ava probably–”
He licked his lips as he failed to finish the statement.
Julia crossed to him, taking the silk tie from his hand and sliding it under his collar. “This is going to be a tough day, Alex. No one is going to fault you for breaking down.”
“Yeah,” he answered, recalling the moments when he’d assumed Ava had actually been gone.
Julia flicked her gaze up to him as she worked with the fabric. “I’m serious, Alex. You’re saying goodbye to Ava. This is going to be hard for me, and she wasn’t my wife. I didn’t share a life with her. You two were far closer.”
“Except when we weren’t,” he grumbled.
Even though she was alive, every moment they spent apart felt like a knife to his heart, a punishment for all the time he wasted over the years. If he had only told her sooner, they could have spent twenty peaceful years together before the Board turned their lives upside down.
“Hey,” Julia said, rubbing his arm as she paused in her work, “you loved each other even when you were apart, okay? You have to know that.”
“It doesn’t help,” Alex said, his lips tugging into a frown. “It really doesn’t. Even if Ava was alive right now, I’d still regret how long I waited to tell her.”
“You lived life on the timeline you were meant to live it on. I know that’s hard to hear, but Grant and I spent two years avoiding our feelings. Do I wish we wouldn’t have? Yes, of course. But if we would have been honest earlier, would it have changed anything? It may have made things worse.”
Alex didn’t answer, the thought swirling in his brain.
“Alex, I know you don’t want to hear that, but it’s true. You and Ava were best friends from the time you met in college. You had a great relationship all the way through your life whether it was romantic or not.”
“I wanted more time with her,” he whispered.
“I know,” Julia said as she straightened the knot and patted his lapel. “I know you did. And I’m very sorry you didn’t get it. There is nothing I can say that is going to help you right now.”
Alex chewed his lower lip, tears forming in his eyes again.
“And like I said, everyone knows this is going to be a really hard day for you.”
Another knock sounded at the door, and Kyle appeared at the closet entrance. “Hey, Mav, you ready to go?”
“Nope,” Alex said with a shake of his head. “Why don’t you guys all go. I’ll stay here. I’ll say goodbye to Ava in my own private way.”
“Alex…” Julia began, her eyes flashing with a gentle warning.
“Uh, Julia, would you mind giving us a minute?”
Julia flicked her gaze between the two of them. “Sure.”
With another pat on Alex’s chest, she slid between the two of them and disappeared into the room beyond. A few seconds later, the door softly clicked. Kyle backed up to peer out of the opening to ensure she was really gone.
“You gotta get it together, Mav. This is our big moment.”
“Yeah, I know. It’s killing me, though. I have to pretend Ava is dead. And most of the time, I’m worried she actually is going to be, and the joke’s going to be on me.”
“She’s alive. We know this.”
“For now,” Alex said with a huff as he paced the floor. “She’s on the run. What if…Doc, what if The Board found her again. We have no idea, only partial contact with her. By the time we have our triumphant coup over Chris, she could really be gone. I just feel like I’m tempting fate here.”
Kyle clapped him on the shoulder, his features taut. “We have to do this. We need Ava back here, and this is the way. I know it’s rough, but you need to dig deep and pull this off.”
Alex shoved his hands into his pockets, sliding his eyes closed. “You’re right. The faster I bury Ava, the faster I can resurrect her.”
Kyle gave him a shake. “That’s the spirit. Now, let’s go clobber Chris so we can bring Ava home. She’s spending way too much time with Sebastian.”
“Shadow,” Alex said with a frown.
“Ugh, don’t remind me that she nicknamed him. This is exactly my point. She’s with him too much. She’s starting to like him. And now he’s hurt, so it’s even worse.”
“It’s worse that he’s hurt? I think it’s better.”
“It’s so much worse. He’s vulnerable, needy. When Dad was hurt…wow, Julia went crazy. Like running into a burning building crazy.”
Alex drew his chin back to his chest. “Ugh. I hadn’t thought of that. I thought his Alpha Male act was as bad as it could get. But you’re right…wounded Alpha is way worse.”
Kyle pointed a finger gun at him as they strode from the closet. “Bingo. This needs to end. Let’s end it.”
Alex thrust his fist forward for a bump. “Let’s end it.”
Kyle led him downstairs where the mood from the other Harringtons remained somber and quiet as was most of the ride to the church where Ava’s memorial would take place.
Alex’s stomach flip-flopped as the limousine slowed to a stop outside the wood doors. His knees wobbled as he climbed the stone stairs and shuffled into the ominously quiet space.
As Alex entered the church, a shiver ran down his spine.
Something felt off, but he couldn’t put his finger on it.
The air seemed heavier, the light filtering through the stained-glass windows dimmer than he remembered.
As they took their seats, he caught sight of Chris at the back of the church, his gaze distant, his movements stiff.
A sense of foreboding settled over Alex like a dark cloud.
The pews were filled to capacity with most of the Hamptons turning out to say goodbye to one of its most prominent member’s wife.
Julia wrapped an arm around him as she led him up the aisle. His lower lip trembled as he caught sight of the large picture of Ava in front of the empty coffin.
He recalled the discussion about even having a casket. “People like to see a coffin,” the funeral direction had said, “even if it’s empty. It gives them a sense of closure.”
He let out a heavy sigh as they settled into the seat, just inches from the larger-than-life framed photo.
He sat with his head low as most of the ceremony went on around him, trying his best not to break down as thoughts of actually saying goodbye to Ava ran through his mind.
As the officiant asked for any memories of Ava to be shared, Julia squeezed his shoulder and rose.
He shook his head, trying to tell her not to go, but she insisted.
“That’s not good,” Kyle whispered.
“She wasn’t supposed to do this.”
“Hi, everyone. Thank you all for coming on behalf of Alex, who I know is just devastated by this sudden loss.” Julia flicked her gaze to Ava’s picture as tears formed in her eyes.
“I don’t know most of you, but I did know Ava.
She and I were sorority sisters and…well, Ava was just larger-than-life. ”
Julia sniffled, bringing tears to Alex’s eyes. “Are you kidding me? Go get her down from there.”
As Kyle rose, the officiant hurried over to them. “Hey, maybe no more memories after this. Alex would like this to be over with.”
“Of course,” the man said with nod as Julia continued.
“Ava was an amazing friend. She would give anything to help someone else. Her life was cut far too short. Ava,” Julia said as tears fell down her cheeks, “you will be missed.”
“Thank you, Julia, that was lovely,” the officiant said. “And now–”
“Wait,” a voice said from the back of the church. All eyes turned to face Chris as he strode up the aisle. “I have something I want to say.”
Alex swallowed hard as the man approached the altar. In his pocket, his phone chimed. He resisted the urge to check his screen, but a nagging about Ava made him reach into his pocket.
He glanced at the display, his heart stopping as he spotted a text from her. Alex, 9-1-1. You have to stop Chris from speaking at the funeral. Do NOT let him admit to anything. Keep him off that altar if it kills you.
His heart skipped a beat, his blood running cold. With parted lips, he flashed the message to Kyle. They shared a glance before they both focused on Chris as he mounted the steps to the pulpit.
He didn’t know why there had been a sudden change in plans, but Ava wouldn’t text him unless it was vital.
They had to do something fast before their carefully laid out plan came crashing down around them and ruined everything.