Chapter 17 #2
He twisted toward her, wrapping a hand around hers, his breathing still labored.
“Oh good, you’re back,” Chris’s voice interrupted. “We need to talk, Ava.”
“Not now, Chris,” she answered, her focus on Alex.
Chris scoffed, shaking his head. “Ava–”
“I said not now,” she shouted at him. “Come on, Alex, you need to sit down.”
She tugged him toward the stairs, bypassing a stunned Chris as she led him up to her room.
With the door locked behind them, she guided him to the bed and eased him onto it. “Alex, what happened?”
He swallowed hard, his features pinching as he glanced up at her.
Her concerned face stared back.
He grabbed her hand, needing the lifeline it provided. He couldn’t let anything happen to her. “She…”
His voice cracked after only one word and his throat closed, refusing to let any more words out.
“It’s okay, Ace. Whatever she said, we’ll face it together, okay?” She eased onto the mattress next to him, her hand firmly wrapped around his.
“Ava, she said…she said they’d finish what they started with you. She threatened you.”
He leapt from his seat, yanking his hand from hers and running it through his hair again as he paced the floor.
She jumped up, stopping him. “Alex, you need to calm down.”
“Calm down? Ava, she just threatened to kill you. After almost succeeding once with this car accident. I can’t lose you.”
“And you’re not going to.”
“You don’t know that.” His voice shook, his hand tightening around hers.
“Yes, I do. And maybe Miranda was just…blowing smoke. Maybe she was just trying to upset you. She wasn’t happy that you told her our marriage was real. How did she even know that?”
His mind began to pull out of the fear-induced haze he’d spiraled into after Miranda had issued her threat. “Uh, I don’t know. She…she knew a lot, Ava.”
His features twisted again, the fear rising in him like the tide.
“Okay,” she said, her expression immediately changing with his to one of concern. She forced him back to the bed, easing him onto it. “Sit down and take a deep breath.”
Her hand glided back and forth across his shoulders, lulling him into a more relaxed state. “Ava, I’m so sorry I got you involved in this.”
“I’m not. Alex, I don’t want you dealing with this alone.”
He snapped his gaze to her. “And I don’t want to lose you.”
“I told you, I’m not going anywhere.”
“What if you don’t have a choice? I’m not concerned about you leaving, I’m concerned about…” His features pinched, the words not coming.
She cupped his face in her hands, focusing him on her. “Hey, we are going to take care of each other, okay?”
“Yeah.” He bobbed his head. “Yeah, I’m going to hire a security team. You’re not going anywhere alone. You–”
“Alex,” she said with a light chuckle, “hey, slow down. Let’s talk this through. You’re running on fear, but we can’t make decisions based on that. Now, start from the beginning. What did she say to you after I left?”
“Ummm,” he said, trying to steady his voice as it shook. “She was asking where you’ve been for years, and I told her it was none of her business. She…said you didn’t care about me at all.”
“Okay, well, that’s a lie.”
He hesitated, bobbing his head slightly, though he wondered if it was really a lie. Ava cared…but could she love him as more than a friend?
She stroked his hair. “What else?”
“She, uh, said something mean about you, and I…argued with her and told her the conversation as over. She said…”
He hesitated, swallowing hard. He couldn’t tell her what Miranda had said about Ava not loving him.
“Yeah?” Ava’s hand slid to his back, the gentle pressure making him relax a little.
His eyebrows knitted. “She said you were engaged to another man which was for the best because I needed to get rid of you.”
Ava pulled her chin toward her chest. “What?”
“That’s when she threatened you. I fired her, and then she said I lost my chance to be a part of this, and they’d finished what they started with your car accident.” He twisted to face her. “Ava, she threatened you. And I think we need to take it seriously.”
Ava stared ahead, her features crinkled with upset.
His protective instincts surged as he slid an arm around her. “I won’t let them hurt you. If I have to send you–”
“You’re not sending me anywhere, Ace,” she said, her finger slicing the air. “But I want to go back to the bit before she threatened me.”
He tightened his fingers on the edge of the mattress. “I don’t know, Avs, I can’t unhear that threat.”
“I can’t unhear that she knew I was engaged to someone else. How would she know that?”
“She must have…wait…” Alex’s brow furrowed. “Yeah, how does she know that? Oh, social media? Did you post an ‘I said yes’ photo?”
Ava shook her head. “No. I didn’t post any photos. And I never told anyone.”
“Chris did,” he answered. “He said those people at the architect convention knew.”
She frowned. “Yes, but…that would mean Miranda tracked Chris to the conference and found people from his table. The Board may have a far reach, but that’s a little…far-fetched.”
“Is it? They had enough eyes on you to orchestrate a car accident. Avs–”
“Okay, they have a powerful network, but…” She licked her lips, shaking her head. “It’s probably a moot point. What matters is that we need to start fighting back.”
“How? Ava, I’m really concerned about her threat.”
“Can you check to see if Raven has found your message?”
He stared at her for a moment, wanting to continue their discussion about keeping her safe. But he wasn’t certain he could live without her. After a breath, he reached back for his laptop, dragging it closer.
He opened the lid as Ava’s phone chimed. She tugged it from her pocket, toggling it on as he studied the server. With a shrug, he shook his head. “I don’t see anything. I don’t know, I–”
“It’s okay. We don’t need it.”
“What do you mean?”
Ava shifted her phone to him, a single message burning on the screen. Message received. But I’ll need a show of good faith before bringing you into the inner circle.
An emoticon of a raven followed it.
Alex glanced up at her, his features pinched. “Raven?”
“Looks like it. We need to answer. It’s more important than ever.”
Alex swallowed hard as he stared at the message again. They needed a break, but what would they need to do to get it?