Chapter 4
AVA
Ava settled back into the couch cushions, her mind still racing after her conversation with Alex. He wasn’t settling into their relationship as easily as she had hoped. In fact, he seemed to be getting worse.
He’d spent years on the fringes of her life, immersed fully in it without actually feeling like a real part of it.
She hated all the time that had passed before she’d realized the truth. They’d wasted so much of their lives not being together in every sense of the word. And now that they were, Alex seemed constantly worried that something would disrupt that.
It didn’t help that her ex was hanging around or that the man who seemed to be their only ally in the fight against The Board had made his attraction to Ava apparent.
Alex, never popular, never confident, seemed convinced one of them would win her hand when she inevitably realized that she preferred the alpha male.
He couldn’t be more wrong, and she was running out of ways to say that to him. She needed to find a way to get through to him, a way to build his confidence in their relationship.
Although, maybe it was best that they she didn’t do that until after she was cured of the blackouts. Everyone seemed convinced that she couldn’t think straight or that her decisions were only a product of the chemicals in her system.
Even she wasn’t certain what was real and what was chemically induced anymore.
She bit into her lower lip, shaking her head as tears filled her eyes. Across the room, the sliding door rolled open, and Sebastian stepped inside.
“I hope you’re sitting here alone because you managed to convince your husband to stick to what he’s good at.’
She flicked her gaze to him, quickly blinking away her tears as she nodded. “Yeah. He’s digging into PharmaTech now.”
Sebastian eased onto the edge of the armchair.
“Do we really need to be on-site?” Ava’s voice was sharper than she intended, but she couldn’t help it. The idea of another dangerous mission, while she wasn’t even sure of her own body’s control, grated on her nerves.
Sebastian sucked in a deep breath. “I’m afraid so. There were some cryptic communications that we couldn’t quite understand on that drive. We need to gather more information.”
“Can’t Alex do this digitally? It seems like overkill to go there.”
Sebastian raised an eyebrow, smirking as though he knew exactly why she was pushing back. ‘“You not up for it?” His tone was casual, but Ava picked up on the challenge in it. The subtle dig. And suddenly, she wasn’t sure if he was pushing for the mission or pushing for her attention.
She fidgeted in her seat, hating that the question was asked given her latest experiences. “I’m up for it. I trust that whatever Doc is giving me will counteract the Neuroprisol-X, but…this isn’t going to be easy.”
“No, it’s not. But I thought you liked a challenge.”
She slid her gaze sideways to him, trying to read his expression. Was that smirk teasing or flirtatious? Or maybe a little of both. “I don’t mind one, but I don’t like a challenge for challenge’s sake, nor do I like you manipulating this situation to your advantage.”
“What’s what supposed to mean?” he shot back.
“It means for the entire duration of us working together, you have less than subtly come on to me. First the roses, then the full-court press as Sebastian. And now it feels like you’re coming up with plans to deliberately throw us together.”
“I’m not,” he promised. “I’m coming up with plans to try to get what we need on The Board to bring them down once and for all. My family’s lives are on the line here, Ava.”
“So is my marriage. And I’d like to make it really clear that I will not let that be jeopardized, okay?”
Sebastian held up his hands, shaking his head. “Fine. I get it. You love Alex. And that’s not going to change. But that doesn’t mean you two can ride off into the sunset together just yet. We still have a lot of work to do.”
“Understood. I’ll be ready for it. I just want to make sure it’s nothing that’s going to place unnecessary stress on me, Alex, or our marriage.”
He stared at her for a moment, a smirk on his features. “You know, you really are a catch, Ava. Alex is a lucky man.”
“I disagree. I’m lucky to have him. And I don’t want that ruined.”
He bobbed his head. “Well, if we’re agreed then, I will begin to plan our next move. Be ready to go when we have an opening.”
“I’ll be ready,” she assured him as he rose and strode from the room.
“I think,” she murmured to herself after she was alone. She lived in constant fear of having another episode, of everything coming crashing down. She didn’t want to wake up wondering what she’d done in the time she couldn’t account for.
With a sigh, she rubbed her forehead, squeezing her eyes closed.
“Trouble?” Kyle’s voice asked as the cushion next her sank.
She opened her eyes to find him holding a steaming mug of tea for her. She begrudgingly accepted it, shaking her head. “No more than normal. Thanks for the tea. You didn’t have to make another cup. I was just–”
“Trying to get me out of the room without asking me to leave? Yeah, I got that.”
“Sorry,” she said. “It’s just that–”
“Alex is freaking out about this whole thing? Yeah, I got that, too. Especially when he came at me in the kitchen.”
Ava chocked on the tea, coughing and sputtering as she set it on the side table, turning her wide eyes to Kyle. “What?”
Kyle waved dismissively. “It’s fine. It wasn’t a big deal. He just…freaked out a little bit about how he may have overreacted to what he saw when he walked in on us.”
“He didn’t walk in on us,” Ava shot back. “I mean, not like that.”
“I know that. I just think he’s reeling a little after the whole thing with your health and how you sort of kept it a secret.”
“I told him. I just…didn’t want him upset over nothing.”
Kyle shot her a glance. “It wasn’t nothing.”
“Well, now we know that. But at the time, we didn’t know what it was, and I–”
“Should have told him, just like you should tell him about Chris before something happens there.”
Ava clicked her tongue, shaking her head. “When did you become a grown up? You were fun when you came here, Doc.”
“Maybe because I actually really like you two. If you two broke up…” He heaved a sigh, shaking his head.
“What?” she asked. “I mean, that’s not happening, but it’s not like it would affect you.”
“Sort of. I feel like I would be a child of divorce.”
She screwed up her face. “You’re not our child.”
“No, but…you’re my friends. You’re…my only friends. And it would be awful if my two friends in the whole world weren’t also friends anymore.”
“That’s not going to happen, Doc. Alex and I are not breaking up.”
“Unless he gets mad at you for keeping the whole Chris is making a move thing from him.” Kyle wrinkled his nose as he shot her a glance.
She glared him. “Okay, okay, okay. I will tell him. I just…hate that this is all happening during a time when no one trusts me to make competent decisions because I’ve been drugged. Oh, speaking of being drugged…Shadow wants to do an on-site recon. You up for it?”
“Uhhhh, not sure I’m the partner he’s hoping for, but…yeah, if it helps out.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll be with you every step of the way. I just think we’d be wise to have a doctor with us to decipher anything that we find.”
Kyle wiggled his eyebrows as he bobbed his head. “That’s a good point. I may be of some use to you in that respect. Also, I’m going to practice with my aim.”
Ava chuckled at him as she patted his shoulder. “It’s okay, Doc. Maybe leave the shooting to me and Shadow. You can’t be good at everything.”
“You are,” he retorted.
“Hardly. I’m very clearly a wreck at relationships. Not even the solid ones are easy.”
“Big deal. I am obviously awful at them, too. I have expressed my interest to not one, but two married women. Both of whom rejected me.” Kyle shook his head as he stared out over the roiling ocean. “I mean, how stupid can you be?”
“Cut yourself some slack, Doc. You’ll find the right one.”
“Please don’t tell me to go on a dating app,” he said, his features scrunching.
She grabbed her cup of tea and rose. “I won’t. Those are awful. But I will give you dating advice once we save the world, and all the women start throwing themselves at you.” She leaned over and kissed his cheek.
“Thanks, Ava,” he said with a warm smile.
She left him behind in the living room, climbing the stairs and snaking her way to Alex’s office.
He sat at his desk, clacking away at the keys, a PharmaTech logo blazing from the top of his screen.
She shuffled in, setting her tea on her own desk, a smile crossing her face as she rubbed a hand along the velvety chair he’d bought her even before they’d decided to give their marriage a real chance.
Her grin broadened as she approached Alex, so absorbed in his work that he hadn’t noticed her enter the room. Sliding her arms around his neck, she startled him with a kiss on his cheek.
As his muscles relaxed, he reached up to rub her arm. “Hey, Sparky.”
“Hey,” she said as she set her chin on his shoulder. “You getting anywhere?”
“I’m trying, but this is a tough nut to crack.”
She straightened, massaging his shoulders. “You’ll get it, though. No one can outsmart you.”
She spotted him smile through the reflection of his laptop before the expression faded away. “You don’t have to say that just to make me feel good, Avs.”
“I’m not. I truly believe it. You’re the smartest person I know, Ace.”
He didn’t answer, and she knew exactly what that meant. He was still feeling out of sorts over what happened earlier, but he didn’t want to bother her about it.
She continued to knead her thumbs into his muscles. “Alex, can we talk?”
She felt the almost immediate tightening across his back as he stiffened, his lips parting. “Umm, maybe another time, Sparky, I’m really busy with the–”
“Now,” she said, lowering the lid of his laptop and spinning to lean against his desk.
Alex rolled back a little, his features taut. “Okay.”
“Babe, you need to stop worrying about our relationship. I get that it’s new, and that it’s scary, but I’m not going to suddenly change my mind.”
“People do it all the time, Ava. And they’re not even under the influence of a behavior-altering drug. I mean…look at Grant. Julia is his fifth wife.”
She sucked in a deep breath. “But he married all the other women for the wrong reason.”
“We got married for the wrong reason,” Alex countered.
“We didn’t. We got married because we were friends first. And that built a really great base for us to start a real relationship. The only thing that’s going to tear us apart is constantly doubting each other.”
“I don’t doubt you, Avs, I just…” He heaved a sigh.
“You just do.”
“No,” he said with a shake of his head. “No, I doubt me. I doubt my ability to be the husband you deserve.”
She heaved a sigh. “You’re right. You are definitely not the husband I deserve.”
“I know, and I’m working on–”
She pressed a finger to his lips. “You are way more than what I deserve, Alex. And even if you aren’t, we’re in this together. Partners. When I bring thirty percent, you always up the rest, and when you can’t meet me halfway, I’ll bring everything we need.”
She threaded her fingers through his, smiling at him.
“Partners,” he said with a nod. “I love you, Ava.”
“I love you, Alex.”
As Ava leaned forward to kiss Alex, a sudden wave of nausea hit her.
It was faint, barely enough to register, but enough to make her pause.
She forced a smile, pushing the feeling away.
Not now, not while everything was finally feeling right.
She couldn’t let herself fall apart again.
But the lingering discomfort stayed, a quiet reminder that her body was still fighting its own battle.
As she straightened, though, the room spun around her. Heat washed over her, blood rushing into her ears. The edges of her vision darkened.
She swallowed hard, grasping his arm tightly. “Alex?”
“Avs?” His forehead wrinkled.
“Call Doc. Something’s wrong,” she said before she slumped to the ground.