“Who else is in town?”
“We’ve got a wide selection. Alegria would be my first choice for a number three. Monk is here, and Striker hasn’t left yet.”
Razor agreed with Gunner’s lineup. Alegria would be his first choice as well. “We’ll brief Al tomorrow, and get her engaged.”
Gunner stood. “I can do this,” he said, walking to the front door.
“I know you can, but do you want to?”
“There’s no way I’d let you proceed without me.”
Razor shut off the lights and slowly made his way up the stairs. He doubted he’d get much sleep tonight; there were too many things he needed to think over.
Gunner’s words left him with a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. He was going to have to get closer to Ava, and do it fast—which meant this thing between them couldn’t happen naturally.
He would have to lie to her. Their relationship would be based on deception and that meant it could never be real. Knowing he had to accept that fact, made him feel a profound sense of regret, unlike anything he’d felt before.
8
“Alegria is in,” Gunner told him when he called the next morning. “Any sign of life next door?”
Considering the sun had just come up, Razor doubted he’d hear anything out of Ava and crew until much later.
“Negative,” he answered.
“Good. Alegria will head in your direction. When she arrives, you can leave for Harmony.”
There went his stomach again. Razor knew having her on Ava’s team was a good solution, but the feeling of dread he got from her taking over while he went to Harmony almost made him feel ill.
If he’d ever wondered how Mercer felt before Quinn knew the true nature of how he’d come into her life, now he could empathize. Mercer had lied to Quinn over and over again. That it was for her protection hadn’t mattered. He’d still lied. For a while, Razor doubted Quinn would ever forgive the man who was now her husband.
Would Ava forgive him once the truth finally came out? If she didn’t, he had no idea how he’d feel. For the first time in his life, it mattered. Somewhere deep in the confines of his heart, it mattered a great deal.
—:—
Sleep was something Ava craved, but her brain refused to cooperate. All night, she’d tossed and turned, thinking about Tabon.
When the sun came up, she went downstairs, made herself a cup of coffee, and sat by the window, watching the waves crash against the rocks below. It would be at least three or four hours before her sister, Pen, or Tara would get up, and maybe longer.
She padded her way into a room where she’d noticed bookshelves the night before. Maybe she’d find something to read that would hold her attention enough that she wouldn’t think about the man sleeping next door, and how much she wished she were in bed next to him.
She was perusing the vast collection of books when she heard the sound of a car. From the room she was in, she could see the car pull directly into the garage on the other side of the house.
Ava crept to the side of the window and peered through the draperies. A very beautiful woman came out of the garage, entered a code on the keypad to lower the door, and approached the entrance of Tabon’s side of the house.
She watched as the front door opened, and the woman slipped inside.
How could she have been so stupid? She’d thought Tabon was truly interested in her, but the reality of what she’d just seen proved she’d been wrong.
She had to get out of here. There was no way she could spend another minute in this house. She went upstairs to tell Aine that she was leaving. Her sister and their two friends could stay as long as they wanted, but she was out of there.
“Oh my God, Ava, what time is it?” Aine said when she shook her awake.
“I don’t know…close to seven.”
Her sister rubbed her eyes and sat up in bed. “What’s going on?” she asked.
“I have to leave.”