Ava’s green eyes settled on me, her eyebrows raised in a silent question.
“Hey, umm, Nattie was actually at the Beach Rider which looked rather gross, so I suggested that she come stay with us. I knew you and Alex would be totally cool with that, so we just packed up her stuff and came right over.”
Ava’s head bobbed slowly as she eyed Nattie. “Yeah, totally cool. Welcome, Nattie. I’ll just have one of the bedrooms prepared.”
“Thank you. That is so very kind of you.”
There was that odd formality again. She seemed to handle the awkward situation with an almost practiced ease.
I didn’t have time to give it much more thought as Ava grabbed hold of my arm. “Doc, why don’t you follow me so you can put her stuff down? Nattie, Alex is in the living room just through there. Why don’t you head on in and say hello while we get things settled?”
Nattie flicked me a glance before nodding to Ava and slipping through the archway into the living room.
“You brought her here? Moving a little fast, aren’t we, Doc?”
“Be cool,” I said, watching Ava’s expression shift from sweet to skeptical. “I mean, I could’ve just married her first and fallen in love later—like some people I know.”
Ava gave me an unimpressed look. “Cute, Doc. And Iambeing cool. But come on… this is a little unusual.”
“Look,” I whispered as she dragged me upstairs, “I can’t help it. I was on my own there, and I did the best I could. We had a connection, and I didn’t want to lose that. And she’s totally an abuse victim.”
“She said that?”
“Almost. Not in so many words, but when I said it, she didn’t disagree.”
Ava shot me a glance over her shoulder as we snaked through the halls.
“Come on, Ava, please just go along with me on this. This woman actually likes me. That doesn’t happen, likeever. I need this.”
Ava heaved a sigh as she pushed into a room with a view of the ocean. “Fine. Maybe it’s even good. Because I’m telling you, Doc, something is off about that woman. For an abuse victim, she’s incredible poised. I don’t know, things just don’t add up. And I am going to get to the bottom of it.”
And she would, too. I knew it. Ava would dig and dig until she found out what was going on here. I just hoped that it wasn’t anything that would tear us apart because I really wanted a chance with this woman. But I had a sneaking suspicion there was far more to her story than any of us were prepared for.
CHAPTER 6
NATASHA
My heart thumped a little harder against my chest as I walked into the modern-styled, beach-front home. Strangely, I’d felt somewhat more settled with Kyle’s hand wrapped around mine.
It was a shame this would all come crashing down later. I genuinely liked him. But that didn’t mean a thing. The poor man thought I was an abuse victim. Some downtrodden woman who had been taken advantage of. In a way, I was. Just not in the way he was thinking.
I couldn’t afford a single mistake. One slip, one wrong word, and they’d find me. They’d already proven they had the resources and the ruthlessness to eliminate anyone in their way.
And when he found out the truth, I was convinced he’d probably hate me. And even if he didn’t, there would be the rest of the protocol that would work to keep us apart.
Ava sent me into the living room while they prepared a room for me.
I nodded at her as they disappeared up the stairs, not looking forward to facing her husband. Kyle’s idea had such promise in those moments when I’d been desperate to escape that horrid motel, when I’d needed companionship. Now, thrown into a household of three others, I suddenly questioned my own motives. And Nadia certainly would.
I would never hear the end of this. But things had to be done. We needed a path forward. If I could do a little reconnaissance of my own, it would move the process along faster.
I shuffled through the arched doorway Ava had pointed to moments ago, finding the shaggy haired man with a laptop balanced on his lap.
“Was it Doc?” he murmured.
“Yes,” I answered.
He snapped his gaze to me, his eyes wide. He flushed a little as he bobbled the laptop, shifting it awkwardly off his lap as he rose on his gangly limbs. “Oh, hi. Nattie, right?”
