CHAPTER 15
ALEX
Alex’s resolve to find solace with his friends downstairs slowly crumbled with each passing second. Raven’s text had sent a surge of emotions through him—anger, disgust, and everything in between.
He’d tossed his phone away, intending to take a moment to collect himself before he went downstairs.
Had Raven been the one responsible for Ava’s death? Was he planning to use it now to torment Alex or maybe to bring him to his side?
Either way, Alex wanted no parts of it.
He grabbed the phone again, intent on blasting the man with a vicious message designed to gut him, but as he thought it through, he realized the only one who would be gutted was himself.
Maybe Kyle would have a suggestion for how to deal with it…or Julia.
Neither option prompted him to move off the bed,though.
There was only one person whose suggestions he would trust. Ava’s. And right now, Ava couldn’t help him.
Ava was…
His mind couldn’t finish the statement. He shook his head, grief swirling inside him again as he struggled to maintain his composure.
Reaching for Ava’s pillow, he ran his hand along the silky fabric. “Avs…”
The simple word had him bursting into sobs again, and he buried his face in the pillowcase, drinking in the lingering scent of her on the fabric.
His mind went through the standard litany of questions that now plagued him. Why had this happened? Could he have changed it?
Before he could process much more, exhaustion kicked in. He drifted off to a dreamless sleep, unable to stay awake with the crushing grief pressing down around him.
When he woke, he found evening approaching and a note on his nightstand.
Glad you got some sleep. I hope it helps. We’ll be right downstairs if you need anything. J
He stared at the note for a moment, trying to find comfort in the words, but only finding more sorrow. While he appreciated Julia and her new family rallying around him, he didn’t want a single one of them.
Only one person could have eased his pain, and that person was the source of it.
Ava had been tragically ripped from his life, and no one would replace her.
He heard the trite little sayings being repeated to him at any memorial I would hold for her already. “It feels like that now, but you’ll heal. You’ll find someone else.”
But he wouldn’t. Ava was one-of-a-kind. She couldn’t be replaced. He’d never find another Ava, ever.
The agonizing reality crushed him along with a slight headache that heralded his need to eat. He wondered if he could trouble Julia to bring it upstairs. He just couldn’t face seeing Grant and Sierra right now. Even Julia and Kyle pushed his limits, but the other two he didn’t know well enough to feel comfortable displaying his obvious upset.
He grabbed his phone to send her a text when he spotted a new message from Raven on his screen.
Anger bubbled up inside him, sending his pulse racing at the mere sight of his name. This marked the last straw. He couldn’t take anymore. He tapped on the message, insistent on sending something nasty back to him.
His trembling thumbs hovered over the virtual keyboard as his eyes scanned Raven’s latest message.You need to meet me at the old resort. We’re two ships weathering the same storm.
Alex shook his head and started to type back that he’d never meet him when he froze. Two ships weathering a storm?
His mind immediately went to the painting Ava had bought and hung downstairs. “It reminded me of us, Ace. Two ships weathering the same storm,” she said.
He stared at the words for another aching beat of his heart, wondering why Raven had said them. It seemed like a message from Ava.
