With a sigh, she eyed him. “He’s not lying. Alex and I…married for reasons other than love. And then just never got divorced.”
His head cocked, and his features twisted with interest.
She wagged a finger at him. “Don’t start. There isn’t an in here. Alex and I really are married now. For love, I mean.”
His eyes narrowed at her.
“Alex and I got married in our twenties so he could inherit and use the money to start StoneCorp. We were very good friends—best friends, but we’d never been romantically involved. And I’d always assumed we’d just divorce. But we never did.” She shrugged, tossing a hand in the air.
“And then I started dating Chris, and Chris asked me to marry him. I said yes. I texted Alex about a divorce thinking it would be no big deal. Alex asked me to start looking into the financial discrepancies as a way for us to get closer again. And then…eventually, he told me he loved me.”
“And you broke up with Chris, leaving him angry and searching for revenge.”
“No, actually, I broke up with Chris before Alex told mehe loved me. I’m not sure why I dated Chris, because he’s actually a jerk.”
Sebastian chuckled at the response. “I don’t like the guy, either.”
“Wow, something you and Alex agree on. Wonders never cease.”
“Alex is right. He’s dangerous because this is personal. That’s something Miranda suffers from, too. She got too personally involved in this.”
Ava shifted her weight, her lips tugging into a grimace. “Ugh, I can’t stand her.”
“So I’ve heard. The move you made by smashing up her place was really something.”
“Nobody hurts Alex,” Ava warned with a shake of her head. “Even before we were a couple—hurt Alex and pay the price.”
“Whew,” he said with a shiver. “You’re kind of scary when you’re angry. I’m glad you’re on my side.”
“You had better not be betraying us,” she said.
He held his hands up, indicating defeat. “I’m not. I promise. I really don’t want to see you angry.”
Silence stretched between them before Ava’s brow furrowed. “Hey, I know we’re hoping Chris just can’t take the pressure and leaves, but…I know Chris. He’s either going to go to Miranda and ask about this or he’s going to make some blubbering apology somewhere to someone about how this is all his fault. What’s going to happen to him in either of those cases though? Is The Board just going to let him slink off into oblivion?”
Sebastian crossed his arms and shrugged. “Probably not. If he makes anything about this public, they won’t tolerate that.”
Ava’s heart skipped a beat. “Wait, wait, wait, no. Because I’m pretty certain Alex is banking on a very public apologythat will pretty much isolate Chris from any ally. But if he does that…”
Their gazes locked. “The Board will take him out.”
Ava’s features scrunched as she shook her head. “You’re going to hate me but…”
“You don’t want that to happen.”
She flicked her icy blue eyes back to him. “No.”
Sebastian heaved a sigh. “Then we’d better move fast. Isn’t your funeral service this afternoon?”
“Yep,” she answered with a nod. “We cannot let him get up in front of a roomful of people and announce that he was responsible for the bomb that killed me.”
“Are you sure you want to save him from this?” Sebastian asked. “You tried to once already, and he didn’t listen.”
“Chris is stubborn. But I don’t think he expected me to die. I don’t know what he thinks The Board does, but he didn’t expect them to go after me like this. I’m not sure why when he clearly knew Alex had been kidnapped.”
“Kidnapped but not harmed or killed,” Sebastian said.
“Either way, I can’t let him get taken out because he’s an idiot. We need to stop him.” She shook her head. “I need to stop him. You can’t do anything.”
