ALEXANDER
Still couldn’t get my mind off that woman. For the first time in my life, I was obsessing over a woman I couldn't even see clearly in my memories. The thought of marriage had always been a business consideration to me. Yet, here I was, entertaining the idea of binding myself to a complete stranger. Ridiculous.
Even as I drove to Isabella’s house, that woman was all on my mind. Not that I would have attended this dinner at all had my sister not pleaded with me to make time for it.
Shortly after arriving and Isabella chattering about what not to be, she turned her head towards the door, beaming before bouncing away from me. This was when I noticed a young woman entering the hall.
“Ava! You made it.”
Ava. Something about her captured my attention immediately. I couldn’t tell what. Was it those intense dark, stunning eyes?
“Come, come!” After they’d hugged, Isabella took the woman by the hand, soon leading her in my direction. I noticed how she was making an effort not to look directly at me, which was one thing I found strange…suspicious.
“I don't think you two were properly introduced at the wedding,” Isabella said as soon as they reached where I stood.
Our eyes met the second time, and now I was surer than ever of how quickly she looked away, before looking back at me.
“I... uh... yes,” she smiled.
“Ava, this is my brother Alexander,” then she Isabella faced me, “Alex, this is Ava, Blake's girlfriend. Isn't she just stunning?” Isabella beamed.
“I keep telling him he needs to find someone just like you,” she told Ava, who barely smiled.
I extended my hand, noting how hers trembled slightly when she took it. Her skin was soft, familiar somehow.
“Pleasure,” I said, studying her face. She was beautiful indeed.
“The pleasure's mine,” she replied and withdrew her hand quickly.
A server passed with champagne, and Ava reached for a glass with perhaps too much enthusiasm. But before she could even take a sip, the glass slipped from her fingers and shattered at our feet.
“Oh god, I'm so sorry,” she stammered.
She bent to help clean up, but Isabella stopped her.
“Leave it dear, the cleaners will take care of it. These things happen.” Isabella laughed, linking arms with Ava and leading her towards the dining room.
All drama aside, we all sat at the table for dinner. Ava took her seat with her boyfriend on the opposite side of the the table, directly across from me. Close enough for me to notice a mark on her neck…It was barely visible, but it was there, peeking above the neckline of the dress.
The kind of mark I remembered leaving on my mysterious visitor last night….
My glass froze halfway to my lips.
No, it couldn’t have been…
I swear I was going to stop staring at her, not until she started to unconsciously touch her neck, right where that mark was.
“Alexander,” Charles' voice cut my mind off.
“So glad you could join us tonight.”
“Wouldn't miss it,” I grunted dryly, suppressing the annoyance I felt when when Charles clasped my shoulder from behind before setting off to his own chair. Still didn’t know what my sister saw in this man. Eight years in the business world taught me to trust my gut, and my gut was right about Charles Montgomery being nothing but trouble.
“We really must out some time to discuss some potential collaborations. Your experience in international markets could be invaluable to our expansion plans,” Charles chimed in.
“I don't see how. Your domestic retail ventures hardly align with my international holdings,” I said, finally twisting my fork in my plate for the first time.
“Surely there's room for discussion—“
I said nothing more, instead sending a glance at Ava, who was now studying her plate with unnecessary intensity
“No business talk at the dinner table. This is a family gathering,” Isabella announced.
Right there. There was another mark on her collarbone, almost completely hidden by makeup. My mind immediately flashed back to last night when my teeth grazed that woman right there. I could still hear in my head how she gasped in the darkness.
“The wine's excellent,” Blake said suddenly, “Don't you think so, Alexander?”
Now, what’s this got to do with me?
“Indeed,” I replied, not taking my eyes off Ava. And when I saw that she stared back at me, I added. “Though I find myself partial to whiskey these days”
“Excuse me for a bit,” Ava suddenly announced, excusing herself from the table.
I watched her retreat, her steps just a touch too hurried to be casual.
I waited exactly two minutes before also standing up.
“Excuse me as well.” I pulled out my phone and pretended to take a call while I followed in the same direction she’d just left to.
Following her wasn't exactly gentlemanly behavior, but I was past caring about propriety. The mystery has been driving me mad all day, and now that I had a suspect, I needed confirmation.
She left the room door slightly ajar. So I positioned myself in the adjacent hallway, phone pretentiously pressed to my ear, in case anyone passed by. From this angle, I saw her standing in front of the table staring at her reflection in the mirror.
Ava leaned close to the glass, fingers ghosting over her neck and those nail and bite marks. She then closed her eyes and let out a shaky breath.
“Dammit,” she cursed.
Every cell in my body urged me to confront her right there. But I still waited. And when she came came out of that door, I deliberately stepped into her path so that she would bump into me.
Yes, that scent. It was the same.
She froze when she realized who she'd bumped into.
“I'm so sorry, I—“
“Where were you last night?” I asked icily, looking straight into those onyx eyes, watching color drain from her face so quickly I thought she might faint.
Just then, my phone buzzed and I had break the tension to stare down at the screen.
It was a message from my assistant.
“We’ve found the woman from last night, sir,” the text read and I locked my eyes with Ava’s again.
I massaged my cheeks. “I think my face might be permanently frozen in a smile. Who knew happiness could be this physically exhausting?”Alexander poured some champagne into our glasses and chuckled. “One last toast before we officially end this day?”I clinked my glass against his. “To us. Finally.”“To us.”“Did you see my granny trying to teach your cousin how to do the electric slide this morning? I laughed.“Not as memorable as Cedric face-planting after his fourth whiskey,” Alexander countered.We traded stories and observations from the wedding, decompressing from the intensity of being the center of attention for so many hours.I set my glass down. “I want to check something upstairs real quick.”Alexander raised an eyebrow but nodded. “I’ll lock up down here.”I made my way upstairs, passing the decorators I had hired to decorate our bedroom without Alexander’s knowledge. They were just finishing up.“Thank you guys,” I whispered.They smiled knowingly, tiptoeing out with thei
AVAJANUARY 28th“I, Alexander Morrison, take you, Ava Esther Winter, to be my wife. To have and to hold from this day forward…”I could see emotions swimming in his eyes. His hands trembled around mine, and I squeezed them gently in reassurance. We even rewritten our vows three times in the month leading up to the wedding. The first was too formal, then the second too casual. We eventually settled on something that felt uniquely us.“In all the chaos of the past year, you became my true north. Before you, I thought I understood what love was. I was wrong.”A soft ripple of laughter moved through the congregation.My eyes never left his face as he continued to say his vows.When my turn came, I took a deep breath.“I, Ava Winters, take you, Alexander Coker Morrison, to be my husband. To have and to hold from this day forward…”I had worried I would cry and that emotion would overwhelm my ability to speak, but as I stood in front of him there was this strange calm. This moment had been
AVATWO MONTHS LATER“Hurry up!” Alexander shouted from the front door.I called back, “Coming,” adding one more pin to secure my high bun. I gave myself a quick once-over in the mirror, with my navy blue dress, pearl earrings and subtle makeup, before grabbing my purse and hurrying down the stairs.Alexander was tapping his foot even though his mock annoyance couldn't hide the softness in his eyes as he took in my appearance.“You look beautiful. Isabella would approve.”I wiped an invisible dust from his charcoal suit jacket. “So do you. You know how particular she is about dress codes.”It was Isabella’s forty-first birthday today and despite the fact that she still wasn’t awake, Alexander and I decided to celebrate it with her. It would be something she would have wanted…no, something she would want. The doctors have been using words like “persistent vegetati
AVAThe hospital room was unnaturally quiet, the only sounds the steady beep of monitors and the muffled activity from the hallway outside. Blake looked different than when I’d last seen him. He looked thin and pale.We stared at each other. Eight years of history culminating in this room.“I heard from Jason that you were awake,” I broke the silence.Blake nodded, his fingers picking absently at the edge of his blanket.“Thank you for coming.”He then looked at me. “I also heard that you came to visit. Before. When I was still…”“I did,” I confirmed. Although not elaborating on that brief, impulsive visit when I’d rushed here thinking he was dead…or was going to die.I moved closer to the bed. “I have questions.”Blake’s eyes dropped to where his legs created small peaks beneath the hospital blanket. “I know.”
A Table Set For HealingAVA“Why didn’t you tell me?” Granny’s voice quavered. Her hands were shaking even as she held on to the newspaper in her lap, where the front-page headline had the news written in bold letters.THE WINTER COUPLE MURDER CASE CLOSED; SUSPECT DIES BEFORE TRIAL.The first and last time I had seen granny in tears was at my parents’ funeral. I never expected that I would see her hurt like this again, especially over a trauma that she had managed to endure for many years.I knelt beside her chair even as tears filled my own eyes.“I was going to tell you, Granny. I swear I was…” I said, gently taking the paper away from her and setting it aside.I sighed. I just…I...I didn't know how..”How could I explain that her daughter and son-in-“law whom she mourned, thinking they died of a mere accident were actually murdered and that I’d been hunting the man responsible. How do I tell her that I'd put myself in danger, even nearly died multiple times all to bring him to just
We walked hand in hand through the winding paths of the cemetery, past a couple of other carefully tended gardens around other graves. The grounds were peaceful at this hour because of use mode of the day visitors were gone—not that it would be particularly noisy if they weren’t. But the night was still young enough that we had the place to ourselves.I glanced up at Alexander, noticing the slight furrow between his brows and the distant look in his eyes.“Hey,” I squeezed his hand gently.“Are you okay? Something’s bugging you.”He sighed, but his gaze was still focused on the path ahead of us.“Talk to me,” I said.“I'm thankful you wanted me to meet your parents. It meant a lot to me.”“But?” I prompted.Alexander gestured his free hand around our surroundings.“But being here...the air in this place. It makes me anxious.”We walked a few more steps in silence before he continued.“My mind keeps going to Isabella,” he admitted. His voice was more strained now.“The thought of somed