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 convincedone 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. Thesubtle 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 willbegin 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.
