by MJ Masucci
“Again, you should have told me. If he is my son, I missed out on many things. His first tooth, his first word, all his firsts. How do you know he is mine? We weren’t exclusive, and we were always careful.”
“Not always,” she said quietly.
“That was one time, once.”
“It only takes once.”
The elevator pinged, and she prodded Lex, who was wearing headphones and playing a video game to step forward into the car.
Ava came out of the stairwell and looked after Xander as he walked down the hall. She followed him because he owed her an explanation. He started to close the door, and she put her hand on it, opening it back up. He looked at her with surprise then gestured her into the office, closing the door behind her.
“How long were you going to keep this from me?”
“Keep what?”
“Don’t you dare treat me like I’m a moron. That boy is your son.”
“Ava, you don’t know that. I don’t know that.”
“How long have you known and it’s in your best interest not to lie to me.”
“She sent me an email on Saturday, the day your father had the heart attack. I wasn’t going to put this on you without proof. Yes, he has my eyes and hair, but Katerina wasn’t exclusive with me. She was a beautiful woman - is a beautiful woman, and had lots of suitors. She slept with more men than just me.”
“But he looks just like you. I saw pictures of you in my family’s photo albums.”
“He does, but until I know for sure, I won’t take responsibility for him. I have a paternity test on Thursday evening. That is why I couldn’t take you out to dinner.”
“How do you feel about this?”
“I’m not sure how to feel. It would be wonderful to have my own flesh and blood, but I’m angry that she didn’t tell me sooner. He is almost nine. I missed a lot of his young life.”
Ava started to cry, and then Xander realized what he had said. Katerina gave him what Ava couldn’t.
“Please don’t be upset. We are getting ahead of ourselves here. He might not be mine.”
“He is, and I can’t give you what she did.”
He reached out for her, and she pushed him away, blindly running to the door and opening it. He decided not to go after her because she needed time away. He knew that he hadn’t lied to her; he just didn’t tell her what might not be true.
He sat at his desk and tried to finish up several items, but he couldn’t concentrate. His mind kept drifting to the look on her face; it tortured him that she was so hurt. He gave up after an hour and caught a cab home. The traffic was heavy, and he looked out that window at the pedestrians as they crawled through the city. He wondered how many of them had his problems.
At home he stripped out of his clothes, throwing them on the bed. Then he went to the kitchen dressed only in his boxers. He grabbed a glass tumbler out of the cabinet and then searched for a bottle of scotch. His hand hovered over the bottle and then moved on to whiskey. He went to sit out on the terrace. The mid-June weather was starting to heat up the city.
He started to think about the last forty-eight hours. He went inside to hunt down a box of pictures that he had from when he was a child and located it at the bottom of his closet. He carried the box out to the terrace and took a long sip of whiskey, relishing the burn as it went down his throat. He knocked the top off the box and started to sift through the pictures.
It was true. Lex looked exactly like him when he was a boy. He found pictures from when he was a child of eight, just about Lex’s age. He had the same color hair, even the same body size. He had that sinking feeling. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to be a father, it was with whom he would be sharing parenting duties. Katerina was a bitch, and if Lex were his, he would have a hard time dealing with her demands.
He continued to shift through the photos until his eyes fixed on one in particular. He was about seven or eight, and there was a little girl sitting on his lap. He pulled the picture closer, narrowing his eyes to see it better. Then it dawned on him — it was Ava. She was a beautiful child with a mass of auburn curls and a big smile. He flipped the picture over, and there was faded writing, “Keene’s house, Sandy River, Georgia.
He wracked his brain trying to recall the visit than a memory invaded his brain. He stood up quickly, “Pretty Girl!” He had called Ava that when she was a little girl. He tripped over the small glass table on his way into his apartment, knocking the glass onto the tile. It shattered, but he didn’t care. He ran to his bedroom gripping the picture, looking for shorts and a shirt. He shoved his feet into his sneakers, grabbed his wallet and ran out the door.
Ava was awakened by banging on her door and someone calling her name. She had taken to putting on the security chain. As she focused, she realized it was Xander. She was furious since she had told him she needed space, taking her time going to the door and unhooking the chain. When the door opened, she walked away.
“Ava, look at me.”
She ignored him and sat down on the couch, picking up the New York Times. He ripped it out of her hand and threw it on the coffee table.
“Hey, what the fuck are you doing? I told you I didn’t want to see you.”
“I need to tell you something.”
He thrust the picture into her hand. She stared at it not sure what she was supposed to be looking at. She gazed up at him puzzled. He turned the picture over, and she looked at the faded writing.
“So, it’s a picture of my house some summer.”
“Look at it closer.”
“I don’t know what you want me to see.”
He sighed deeply, “Don’t you see who that is?”
“It’s me on someone’s lap.”
“You’re on my lap. That’s me.”
She squinted and held the picture closer.
“What do you want me to do with this information?”
“Ava, we belong together. Don’t you see? Even when we were children we were together.”
“You can’t make that assumption just from a picture.”
“Remember the other night when I called you pretty girl?”
“Yes, you still haven’t told me why.”
“It’s because that’s what I called you when you were a little girl. Somewhere in my drunk brain, the memory came through. I didn’t remember why until I saw this picture. You were always my pretty girl.”
“As nice as that sounds, it doesn’t change things.”
“Ava, why do you say that?”
“You keep breaking my heart,” she whispered.
“I miss you. I miss how we used to be.”
“We can’t go back in time.”
“Are you done with me?”
“I don’t know,” she murmured.
He got up, leaving the picture on the table.
“Goodbye,” he said before clicking the door closed and then headed to have the genetic testing done with Katerina and her son.
Later in the week, Xander waited for the doctor to finish swabbing Lex’s cheek before he held his hand out for the boy. They went to the waiting room where Katerina was sitting. As he looked at her, he remembered the things they did together. Rarely did they enjoy anything simple like a movie or a cup of coffee. All they did was fuck, and back then, he thought about wanting more.
Lex went to his mother, and she smoothed his hair, the same hair that Xander had. Once he might have considered a relationship with her, but not now. No matter how beautiful Katerina was, she paled next to Ava. She was the only one, and he would walk through fire for her.
Katerina and Lex were staying in the city with a cousin until the paternity tests results came through. They were close to Central Park, and Xander offered to take them. The boy took his hand, and Katerina linked her arm through his. Xander thought nothing of it.
Ava picked up the picture and stared at it. She tried to remember the summers the Wilders came to visit but she couldn’t. Michael had told her they had visited often. W
hen the children grew older, they stopped coming with Peter and Gabby. Since Ava was so much younger, she didn’t remember when that was. She couldn’t recall spending one summer with Suzanne, Lidia, and Xander.
She crawled into bed with the picture, slipping it under her pillow. She felt miserable, and the next morning she woke with a horrible headache. Though she had only worked one day that week, she called out sick. She couldn’t face Xander or anyone else the way she felt. After she had called the office, she slipped back under the covers and went back to sleep. Riley and Boomer snuggled up next to her. Though it was warm, she felt comforted by them.
When she woke up a few hours later, her headache had subsided. She checked her phone to see several texts from Xander. She knew he became worried when she was sick. She wasn’t clinically sick, just heart sick. She turned on her back and slipped her hand under her pillow grasping on the picture. She tilted it towards the sunshine lighting up her bedroom. She looked happy sitting on Xander’s lap. They were looking at each other and smiling, wide toothy grins.
She ran her thumb over their images. Life was so easy back then. They had made such a mess of their relationship. Just about the only thing that was good at this point was the sex. She thought about Xander’s body on top of hers and started to feel heated. The things he could do to her. She pushed the visuals out of her mind and went to take a cold shower.
After she was finished, she made a phone call to her father. She wanted to know how he was doing. Of course, he grumbled about Felice trying to starve him with bland food when all he wanted was a steak. She told him if he took care of himself better he would be healthy. He agreed but said he still wanted a steak. She chuckled and told him she would call later in the week.
She started to feel better and decided to go for a run in the streets. She normally hated to run in the city except near the park or in the early morning. But she felt energized for some reason. She pulled out her running clothes, which included a pair of loose fitting shorts, sports bra, and thick cotton socks. When she was dressed, she filled her Camelbak and strapped it on her back, slipping her phone and keys into the side pocket. She wiggled on her sneakers and tightened the laces.
She weaved through the pedestrians on the sidewalk, stopping at as few crosswalks as she could. She felt good and continued to run through the streets. Before she realized it, she had run so far that she was near Central Park. Her lungs were burning from the heat, and she began to walk until she found a free bench where she could sit. She checked her watch and saw that it was after 2:00 PM. She had been running for over an hour.
Since she was near the park, she chose to go in and walk around. It had been awhile since she had enjoyed the greenery of Central Park. She usually went to Washington Square Park near her house. Ava found a bench near a shaded tree and sat down. She liked to people watch, and though it was a weekday, there were still many people here. It was then that she saw them.
Ava thought that she was seeing things, but she knew it was him. Xander was walking hand in hand with Lex and Katerina had her arm looped around his elbow. They looked like the perfect family. She felt deflated and nauseous. Her fiancé was in the company of another woman. Suddenly she didn’t have the energy to run home. She hailed a cab, holding back the tears that threatened to fall. When she got home, she sat on the tile of the entryway while removing her sneakers. After they were off, she stretched on the coldness and stared at the ceiling.
Ava removed her engagement ring and the emerald one Xander had gotten her for her birthday. She placed them in her jewelry box. She didn’t know if she was engaged any longer. From what she saw, he belonged to Katerina and his son.
She picked her phone up and texted Roger. She would need to protect herself now that Xander wouldn’t be with her. She gave him Liam’s number without saying it was his and asked him to see if he could trace the phone. He called her a short while later.
“Ava, I traced the number, and it was in the city recently.”
“What do you mean was?”
“I tried to use GPS software to find it, but the phone isn’t located. It could be that the phone is shut off. The last time the phone registered anywhere was a couple of days ago.”
“Where was that? Here in the city?”
“Hold on a sec, let me look… Lake George area.”
“What? Did you say, Lake George?”
“Yes, why?”
“We own a house there.”
“You might want to call the police to have a look then. Ava, are you in some trouble? Does this have to do with Liam’s escape?”
“How did you know about that?”
“Dani and Samantha told me about it.”
“It doesn’t concern him. It’s something else.”
“Please be careful. If you need anything else, call me.”
“Thanks, Roger.”
She had told Roger someone was stalking her when she gave him the number, but not that Liam was harassing her. She hoped he would be discreet. Now that she realized it, he had known about every creep that came into her life as it always linked to her phone and her whereabouts.
Fuck, that asshole was probably staking out their house. She wondered how he found out they had a place there, and then it dawned on her. She went to the file cabinet and removed the deed from the folder. He probably found it when he was snooping around; that was why the tool box was found near it. She slipped the document back in the folder and heard her phone chirp. Xander again. She ignored his text and called the Lake George Police Department.
Chapter 13
Liam had returned the car to the Lake George rental office. He had caught a cab and asked to be let out a half mile from the house. He couldn’t take the chance that someone might see the car at a house that was supposed to be deserted. He had stowed his duffel bag in the master bedroom.
When he got back, it was near dusk, and he could see the emergency vehicle lights bouncing off the trees as he walked down the driveway. He backed off, hiding in the bushes. He watched as the police entered the home. Who could have possibly known he was here? The house was set so far back from the road, and he was careful not to be seen. He was glad he returned the car because if they had seen it in the driveway, he could have been caught.
He moved along the road hidden by the bushes, watching them as their flashlights moved along the walls of the house and porch. He stayed in the shadows, waiting and hoping he hadn’t left anything noticeable other than that bag. After several tense minutes, he saw them come out and get into the patrol car. He shifted his position and hid behind the fence bordering the property as they left the driveway. He would only stay here one more night. Then he would leave. He couldn’t risk being caught until he completed his mission. He would observe silence as Papi had told him. He was stupid to harass Ava and to go into her apartment, but it gave him the information he might not have had otherwise. His next task was to go and get his money from his sister’s home.
The next morning Ava called out sick again. She felt miserable and didn’t want to see Xander. At least a few days distance between them would ease some of her pain. She couldn’t get the image of him with Katerina out of her head. He had texted and called her several times, though she ignored him. She didn’t even listen to the voicemails, but just deleted them. She had no interest in hearing what he had to say.
She called Dani to see if she wanted to go to Ember that night. It just so happened that DJ Kid Koo was going to be deejaying tonight. Samantha had dated him several years ago, and even though she was married, he still held a torch for her. He and Nico had become good friends. Ava decided she wasn’t going to wallow in self-pity. If Xander didn’t care about her, she could find somebody else who would.
Ava found the slinkiest dress she had in her closet. It clung to every curve like a glove. To go with it, she chose the highest heels she could find that would help accentuate her legs and make her look taller. She also picked a small purse that could easily hang from her wrist so she wouldn
’t have to worry about it when dancing.
At 10:00 PM she met Roger, Dani, and Samantha at the door. Robert was away at an athletic trainer’s trade show, so Sam was able to sneak away from her wedded bliss. The four of them were led to the VIP section of the club and Samantha sat next to Ava. It had been some time since they had spent any time together. She questioned Ava about Xander since he had been moping around the office the past few days. Ava didn’t want to reveal her troubles, so she just said that they were having a bit of a rough patch. She should have said nothing was wrong because Sam continued questioning her even more.
“Why aren’t you wearing your engagement ring?”
“I forgot to put it on. I took it off when I went into the shower. It’s sitting on the counter in my bathroom,” she lied.
Sam squinted her eyes at her, “I don’t believe you. Who was that gorgeous woman that I saw Xander with a few times? She came with a little boy; he was cute.”
“I haven’t a clue. I don’t ask about his clients.”
Sam eyed her suspiciously, “I love you, Ava, but you’re a terrible liar.”
“Sam, please. I just want to have a good time tonight and not think about anything else.”
Sam scowled at her, and Ava was lucky because the waitress came by to take their drink order, so they were all preoccupied. Dani dragged her down to the dance floor leaving Roger and Sam by themselves to wait for the drinks. Ava began moving to the music, and soon she attracted a nice looking blonde haired man. He was about Xander’s height, but thinner.
She started to dance with him, and he rubbed up against her putting his hands on her waist. She turned around, and he was pushing himself against her ass. She could feel his arousal and then he was gone. Ava felt her arm being pulled. When she looked up, she was staring into Xander’s angry face.
He practically spewed venom at her. “What the fuck are you doing?”
She could barely hear him over the music, but she knew he was furious. His grip on her wrist was tight; she felt pain as he squeezed.