Chapter 7
ALEX
Alex’s muscles tightened, his eyes sliding closed as a grating voice interrupted his morning routine. His nostrils flared as he glanced down at the eggs frying in the pan on his stove.
He’d only wanted to slip out of bed and make Ava breakfast before anyone else was up. He did not want to deal with Chris Wright.
“You taking orders?” the man asked as he poured coffee into a mug.
“I wasn’t,” Alex answered before he cleared his throat. “But I would be willing to in exchange for something valuable.”
Chris frowned, blowing on his coffee. ‘This isn’t one of those jump-off-a-cliff requests, is it?’”
Alex clicked his tongue. Everything about Chris annoyed him. Likely stemming from the way they’d met, he couldn’t wait until this tentative alliance came to a close. But until then, he needed something from the man. Actually, he needed two things from him.
“Nope,” he answered, sliding the fried egg onto a plate and thrusting it at Chris.
“Uh, not to be picky, but I really don’t want to eat an egg fried in bacon grease for various reasons, so…”
Alex yanked the plate back. “Well, this was for Ava, but I was being polite.”
“Really don’t think Ava should be eating an egg fried in bacon grease either,” Chris answered as he plopped on a stool at the counter.
Alex heaved a sigh as he set the plate on a tray. “Ava loves fried eggs all crispy from the hot bacon grease. You’d know that if you actually paid attention to her when you dated instead of making her into a Barbie doll.”
“I made her into a Barbie doll? Uhh, you’re the one who bought her the Barbie Ferrari and the Barbie business suit.”
“She likes those. What I meant was, you forced her to be something she wasn’t.”
“Are we still on this?” Chris asked, his features pinching. “Seriously?”
Alex buttered the toast and set it on the plate next to the egg before he leaned closer to Chris, his features taut. “I don’t like you, okay? There’s no pretending that I do.”
“The feeling’s pretty mutual,” Chris said. “But I’m trying to get along for the sake of our lives here. Do you think maybe you could try that, too or would you rather argue constantly so maybe The Board can win after all.”
Alex waved a finger in his face. “I’m still not convinced you don’t hope they do. You’re the one who sold out to them the first chance he got.”
“I’ve explained that.”
“Riiiiight,” Alex said, swinging open the refrigerator door and grabbing the orange juice. “You explained it. You got mad about being dumped. Yet, instead of putting on your big boy pants and dealing with it, you tried to get even by teaming up with a terrorist organization.”
“Are you kidding me? You’re going to judge me after you spent almost two decades hiding your feelings from Ava? And then when you nearly lost her, you went berserk.”
“Hardly. I simply…tried to convince Ava that you were the wrong choice. And I was right about that. Because you are the wrong choice.”
“Whatever. Think what you want to about me, but I’m the reason we may have an in with The Board, okay? And I think Ava’s pretty grateful about that.”
“Whatever,” Alex said. “Think what you want.”
He grabbed the tray to take upstairs to Ava when Chris stopped him.
“Whoa, whoa, what about my egg request?”
“After I take this to Ava. Besides, we still have to settle your payment.”
Chris rolled his eyes as Alex left the kitchen behind and climbed the stairs, heading for their bedroom. He balanced the tray in one hand while he eased the door open with the other.
With a grin on his face, he stepped inside, hoping to surprise a still-sleeping Ava, but he found the bed empty. His expression slipped into one of disappointment.
He glanced around the room. “Sparky?”
He set the tray on the bed before he crossed to the walk-in closet, glancing inside. “Avs?”
She didn’t answer, and she wasn’t in the closet. He peeked into the bathroom, wondering if she was in the shower, but he found it empty.
His brow furrowed as he wondered where she could have gone. A second later, she slipped back into the room, still in her pajamas.
“Sparky, there you are,” he said with a concerned smile. “Where were you?”
“Just…uh, talking to Julia,” she said, thumbing at the door. “Awww, did you make me breakfast?”
“I did. It may be a little colder than I hoped after your disappearing act.”
“I’m sure it’s fine,” she said with a grin as she climbed into their bed and offered him a kiss before she grabbed the tray. “You’re not eating?”
“I had some breakfast already while you were asleep.”
She dipped her toast into the runny yolk as she glanced up at him. “You not sleeping well?”
He shrugged, trying to brush off the question, but the tightness in his chest refused to ease. “I’m sleeping well enough,” he said, though even he could hear the uncertainty in his voice.
She arched an eyebrow, a silent question issued.
“I’ve always had trouble sleeping, especially when weird things are going on like a terrorist organization attacking us.”
“But we’re handling it the best we can, babe. And more importantly, we have each other, right?” She grabbed his hand and kissed his fingers before she squeezed it.
“And we have Crossbeam Chris hanging around in the house again.”
“You don’t seriously think I’m going to get back together with him, do you?” Ava asked.
Alex didn’t answer, staring at his lap.
“Really? Alex!” Ava chided, her voice sharp.
“No, okay…mostly no. I don’t know, I just…” He leapt from his seat on the edge of the bed, throwing his arms overhead as he clapped his hands onto his hair. “This seems too good to be true, Ava.”
“Us?” she asked before taking a sip of her orange juice.
“Yeah, us. I mean…things just…worked out way too easily and…I just think that suddenly, it’s all going to disappear.”
“Because I’m suddenly going to be in love with Chris?”
Alex heaved a sigh. “He thinks you will be.”
“Chris also thought it was a good idea to join The Board. What Chris thinks and what reality is are two very different things.”
Alex didn’t answer, pressing his lips together as he tried to cling to the statement. But what Chris had said about Ava being grateful seemed true.
“Alex,” Ava said, shifting the tray off her lap and climbing out to bed to approach him. “You can’t be serious, babe.”
“He just keeps lording it over me that you’re sooooo grateful to him for helping us.”
“That’s hardly the case. Do I think he could be useful?
Sure. Will I keep him around for that reason only?
Yes. Am I extraordinarily grateful for his help?
No. I’m not even begrudgingly grateful for his help.
It’s a nice in, and I don’t want anything to happen to him just out of principle, but it’s not because I have any residual feelings for him. I’m committed to us, Alex.”
“What if you decide that’s really stupid? Like you’re committed to us but what if that makes you really unhappy?” Alex asked, his voice just above a whisper.
She slid her arms around his waist, pulling him closer. “You could never make me unhappy, Ace. I’m my happiest when I’m with you. I always have been.”
Alex felt some of the tension in his body melt away as he pulled her closer. “Good. Because I want you to be happy. And I really want you to be with me.”
“I want the same things. We’re a team, remember?”
“Team,” he repeated. “Yep.”
She kissed him softly before she pulled away and returned to her meal. “Now, you going to join me while I finished my breakfast or what?”
“No, I’m actually going to go clean up in the kitchen. But…game-a-thon when you’re finished?”
“I haven’t heard anything from Shadow yet, so sure. I’ll finish up with this and be down.”
“Okay,” he said with a soft smile before he kissed her again and backed from the room.
While some of his mind had been set at ease, a big question mark still hung over him. She hadn’t admitted the truth about what had happened in the carousel tent, and he’d been fairly certain she was lying about where she’d been when she popped back into the bedroom.
Was she also lying about how she felt?
She seemed sincere, but why would she lie about anything? Why would she insist on keeping something from him?
He gnawed on his lower lip as he descended the stairs and returned to the kitchen.
“Still waiting on those eggs of my choice,” Chris said.
“And I’m still waiting on my payment.”
“Do you take credit card?” Chris questioned.
“I take information.”
Chris features pinched. “Information?”
“Yeah,” Alex said as he crossed his arms, leaning back against the counter. “What exactly happened in that tent?”
“What tent?”
The man’s voice sounded flip, as though he was enjoying keeping the secret.
“The carousel tent,” Alex growled through clenched teeth. “What happened in the carousel tent last night.”
“Uhhh, I feel like we explained that yesterday right outside of the tent. Ava thought there was some kind of listening device. But it wasn’t.”
“I’m not buying that.” Alex shook his head, his lips tugging into a frown.
“Whoa,” Chris said, his eyebrows shooting up. “For real? So…you think Ava is lying?”
“No, I don’t.”
Chris cocked his head. “But you do. You think Ava is lying. Oh-ho, and she hasn’t told you anything else, has she?”
Alex spun away from him, his features pinching. “I do not think Ava’s lying. And no she hasn’t because I haven’t asked her. I think you pushed her into something.”
“What?” Chris asked, his voice sharp.
Alex whipped back around to face him. “You heard me. I think you pulled something, and Ava is keeping it quiet because you threatened her.”
Chris stared at him for a second before he started to laugh. “Oh, wow. You’re really reaching. No, I didn’t have anything to do with this. And I already told you what happened. Believe me or don’t. I don’t care.”
He rose from the stool, grabbing his coffee mug. “Forget the eggs. I’ll order something.”
Chris strode away from him, leaving Alex frustrated with no new answers.
Kyle glanced at the man as he entered the kitchen, his brows furrowing. “Everything okay, Mav? You seem…tense.”
“No,” Alex answered with a shake of his head. “Hey, Doc, what did you walk in on when Ava called you over to the carousel tent? Was something going on with Chris or what?”
“What?” Kyle screwed up his face as he took a seat on one of the stools.
“I just can’t shake this feeling that Ava isn’t telling me the truth about what happened. And Chris is acting like he knows something, too, and I just…I need to know.”
Kyle lifted his shoulders in a shrug, but his gaze flicked away from Alex’s for just a moment. “Nothing, Mav. It’s like I said…we were checking for a bug.”
Alex stared at his friend for a moment, his features taut. Kyle was lying too—he could feel it.
Why?
Why was everyone lying to him? And how was he going to get to the bottom of this?