Burn: Book 3 (The Heat Series)

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Burn: Book 3 (The Heat Series) Page 25

by MJ Masucci


  “I’m fine, just lots to consider now.”

  She clung to his bare chest, feeling his warm skin against her cheek.

  “I don’t want to fight,” she mumbled against him.

  “What do you mean by that?”

  She sat up and looked at him, “Every time you come out here with alcohol it’s because you have some inner turmoil. Why can’t you just communicate how you feel?”

  “Sweetheart, I’m fine.”

  But she could hear the strain in his voice when he answered her. Ava decided to ask the question that had been on the tip of her tongue for hours. It might cause an argument, but she had to know.

  “Xander, do you feel emasculated because of my, uh, our money?”

  “No, and you said it right the first time, your money.”

  Without saying a word she got up off him and went into the apartment, slamming the slider in its tracks. If she knew this was going to be such a big problem, she would have said nothing about combining finances. Grabbing the remote, she sat down on the couch and clicked on the power button. She scrolled through the channels barely looking at the screen. Less than two minutes later she heard the slider open, then close and heard the clank of glass touch the granite countertop.

  Ava ignored him as he sat next to her. She crossed her arms defiantly and kept scrolling through channels until Xander reached over and pulled the remote out of her hand. Turning off the TV, he turned to her.

  “I don’t feel emasculated. What I feel is unsettled about you being so rich. You have nineteen million dollars. That isn’t chump change.”

  “And you have almost a million. That is a lot for a thirty-three year old man these days. I just was fortunate to have an inheritance given to me, but it was because my grandfather and mother died. I don’t consider myself rich, and it’s not the rich I want. The rich I want is to be loved.”

  “You are loved. It’s all I can give you because you have so much. I love you with my entire being. I think I always have. Do you know the feeling I get inside knowing you are my wife? It’s indescribable.”

  “You already give me so much including your love. You don’t need material things to do that. You give me so much of yourself.”

  “Maybe you should have a postnup drawn up?”

  “Absolutely not. Why would you want that?”

  “I don’t want your family to think I am with you for your money. I just don’t. I know it’s irrational to think that way, but I do.”

  “It is irrational. Your family has known mine for our entire lives. You knew I had money; you just didn’t know how much so why does two million or twenty million make a difference? If you wanted me for my money, then you could have married Brooke. She wanted you to be with her.”

  “But I didn’t want to be with her. I knew she wasn’t for me. She has turned out to be a wonderful person, but back then she was horrible. You saw how I lived in Saratoga. Material things meant nothing to me; they still don’t.”

  The look on Ava’s face told him he needed to provide further commentary.

  “That doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate and love the watch and the car. But I don’t need them to feel complete. If my loving wife wants to spoil me with those items, then I more than welcome them only because they came from her.”

  “Are we okay?”

  “We always have been. Just give me some time to get used to everything. We both need time. Everything in our lives is going to change now that we’re married. I think it makes it harder that we are and we can’t act like it.”

  “Yes, that is going to be tough. I’m bursting. I just want to tell everyone that I’m married.”

  “Just keep that to yourself for now.” He stood up and picked her up in his arms.

  “Where are we going?”

  “To the bedroom. I want to make love to my wife.”

  The next morning, Ava awoke to the smell of coffee and a familiar smell that she recalled from years past - cinnamon buns. She popped out of bed and went to the kitchen to see Xander sitting in his boxers at the breakfast bar.

  “Good morning, my sweetheart. I have a surprise for you.”

  “Please tell me that the smell is Mrs. Nagle’s cinnamon buns.”

  “It is. She came by to ask to borrow some coffee and said she would trade some of her delicious cinnamon buns for it. I almost slipped and told her that my wife would be in heaven.”

  “When are they going to be ready?”

  As she asked, the timer on his phone began ringing. Ava grabbed the oven mitts and opened the oven. The delicious smell of cinnamon hit her as she removed the tray.

  “Oh my God, this is the best wedding present.”

  Xander frowned.

  “What’s the matter?”

  “Fuck, I completely forgot to get you a wedding present. I mean you got me the car…”

  “The car was for your birthday, not our wedding. I don’t need a wedding gift; I have you.”

  “I still would like to get you something. But since you mentioned it, are we going to pick up my car today? Where is the dealer?”

  “We can, and we will have to go to Yonkers to get it. It was the only dealer that had the color I wanted to get you. The other two dealers would have had to have one brought in from out of state. Do you mind going to Yonkers?”

  “No, we can take the Infiniti, but you’re going to have to drive that back. Is that alright?”

  “Sure, I think I can handle it.”

  Xander iced the cinnamon buns and made her a cup of coffee. They went out on the terrace to enjoy the morning sunshine while they ate. Two hours later they were dressed to go to the dealer in Yonkers. It would have been less time, but Ava chose to seduce him in the shower to show him her appreciation for the cinnamon buns.

  She made sure to buckle her seatbelt when she got into the car. That made Xander smile. On the way to Yonkers, she played with the radio.

  “I like this car. Maybe we should keep the lease on it so I can drive it.”

  “But you don’t drive in the city. Unless you want to get a place somewhere else and commute to work by taking the train.”

  “Leave the city? I like it here. Do you want to move?”

  “I’ve thought maybe eventually we would want to buy a house with a yard especially if we have children.”

  “That’s a long way off.”

  “Are you going to call the doctor tomorrow? You need to find out exactly why you can’t have children. Frankly, I’m surprised you haven’t asked before now.”

  She looked down at her hands and began picking at her nails. Xander knew she was nervous about the question.

  “Sweetheart, stop. I know it’s uncomfortable for you to talk about the issues around having kids, but don’t you want to know?”

  “I do, and I don’t. Suppose there is nothing they can do for me?”

  “We will cross that bridge when we come to it. You don’t know now, but at least when you do, we will know what we need to tackle.”

  He grasped her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. Ava started to feel better. He always knew how to comfort her.

  The trip up to Yonkers took under forty-five minutes. Xander was so excited to get the Corvette that he parked in the employee parking lot. Ava had to direct him to the customer parking. He helped her out of the car, and they went inside. In twenty minutes, Thomas, the salesman pulled the Corvette around to the front of the showroom building. He offered to show Xander some of the controls, but he waved him away, slipping into the driver’s seat.

  Ava quietly explained to Thomas that Xander had recently driven the same car on their trip to Florida. She watched him through the windshield as he caressed the leather of the seats and played with the controls. Thomas excused himself to greet potential customers, and she thanked him with a handshake.

  She tapped on the driver’s window, and Xander pressed the button to retract the glass.

  “Are you ready to go?”

  “You have no idea. I want to d
rive this so bad.”

  “Okay, so let’s go.”

  She started walking to the customer lot to the Infiniti. He drove past her and parked two spaces down.

  “You’re going to need these,” he said as he handed her the electronic key through the window.

  She slipped into the seat, and he leaned into reach for the seatbelt, buckling it before placing a hard kiss on her lips.

  “I would have done it.”

  “I know you would, but I wanted to do it.”

  “Let’s get moving. I’m sure you want to take me for a drive when we get into the city.”

  They began their drive southward as Ava took the lead. He followed behind her, and she tried to keep a steady speed of sixty-five. When they got out onto the Henry Hudson Parkway, Xander shot past her and was out of sight within seconds. Traffic was light, but she grew concerned at the speed he was driving. She pressed the accelerator a bit harder, going upwards of seventy-five, but she didn’t see him.

  A mile down the highway, traffic started to slow until it became a crawl. She heard emergency sirens and saw a police car in her mirror. She edged over to let them through and felt a rock in the pit of her stomach. There was an accident up ahead, and she hoped it wasn’t Xander. He had been going much too fast when he passed by her.

  Ava pressed his contact on her phone as she sat in traffic. His phone rang and rang until it went to voicemail. She kept trying and got the same thing. As traffic inched along, she craned her neck to see ahead of her. She could see a plume of smoke and had to move over again for an ambulance and fire personnel. Again she called Xander’s cell, and it went to voicemail.

  It took almost an hour for her to go one mile and when she came upon the accident, Xander was lying in the grass off to the side of the road being treated by a paramedic. Two cars were destroyed, and she wasn’t sure if one of them was Xander’s. She panicked, opened the passenger window to speak with one of the police officers.

  “Please, please, that’s my husband.”

  “Which one?”

  “The man lying down in the grass.”

  Tears started to pour from her eyes, and he motioned her to go to the side of the road.

  “Calm down, ma’am. He wasn’t involved in the accident. They are giving him oxygen and treating him for a slight burn. He helped some of the passengers out of the burning car.”

  She could see several car lengths ahead, that the Corvette sat undamaged and she breathed a sigh of relief through her hiccups.

  “Come with me. I’ll take you to him.”

  When she got to him, he was sitting up, and his arm had an ice pack on it. He smiled at her and coughed. She ran to him, and she kneeled on the ground next to the paramedic.

  “I was so worried. I tried calling and calling. Your phone just kept going to voicemail.”

  “I’m sorry, sweetheart. I came up on this and pulled over to see if I could help. The woman over there was screaming, saying her two kids were stuck in the back of the car. I had to get them out.”

  “Are they okay?”

  “Yes, just some smoke inhalation.”

  “How did you get the burn?”

  “The metal was hot when I pulled the last kid out. I didn’t realize I burned myself until the paramedic pointed it out. It’s fine, just a second degree.”

  He pulled up the ice pack, and she could see the hair on his arm was gone, and a line of red skin revealed where he must have brushed the car while removing the child.

  “Does it hurt much?”

  “Not really. The ice helps.”

  He stood up, and they both thanked the paramedic. On the way to their cars, the fire personnel shook his hand and thanked him. If he hadn’t been there, the family could have been burned to death. Ava shivered because it would have been the same fate her mother had suffered.

  Xander walked her to the Infiniti, and he helped her inside.

  “Put your belt on. All the more reason after this.”

  She buckled it, and he leaned in the window to kiss her. Traffic was starting to ease up as the damaged cars were towed away and the emergency personnel left the scene. She waited for Xander to pull out onto the road and followed him to the city. This time he drove the speed limit.

  Ava pulled into the garage, and they stopped at the manager’s office to secure another parking spot for the week. They had to decide what to do with the Infiniti.

  She wanted to go do something in the fresh outdoors and just be with him, so asked him, “Do you feel like taking a drive?”

  “I smell like an electrical fire. I want to shower.”

  Ava sniffed him, and he did indeed smell like burnt rubber. They went to his apartment, and she pretended nothing was wrong until he got in the shower. She burst into tears, sobbing hard as the water ran; if she had lost him…

  The water stopped, and she ran to grab tissues to wipe her nose and eyes. She didn’t want him to see her so broken. When he came out wrapped in a towel, she turned to her side on the bed. She knew her eyes were red from crying. Drawers opened and closed, and she heard the rustling of clothing as he pulled them on.

  “Sweetheart? Are you okay?” When she didn’t respond, he quietly went to her. “Ava?”

  He gently pulled her arm as he approached her from the other side of the bed, so she was on her back.

  “Aww, baby, I’m okay. Don’t cry.”

  “I was so freaked out when you didn’t answer your phone. Then the traffic backed up, and I saw the smoke. I thought you had an accident. I love you so much.”

  “I love you, too. I’m fine. No more tears, okay?”

  Chapter 21

  The first week home went by quietly as did the second week of being married. Ava walked around work ready to burst with the news of their marriage. She wanted to tell someone, but there was no one she could tell without everyone finding out, so she kept it to herself.

  She and Xander figured out a schedule for sleeping as they carted the boys back and forth between their apartments. On Tuesday, August nineteenth, they went to see Dr. Hornung. It had been almost three weeks since they had a therapy session.

  They were escorted into the room by the doctor, and they sat together on the couch opposite her chair.

  “Well, this is a welcomed surprise. Usually, you two sit in adjacent chairs. Where would you like to start?”

  “We have something to tell you,” Xander offered.

  Ava looked down and began to pick at her nails. He stilled them with his hand.

  “Is this bad news? I see that Ava is still wearing her engagement ring.”

  “We got married two weeks ago.”

  They let the revelation hang in the air until Dr. Hornung addressed them.

  “I think that congratulations are in order first. Secondly, is there a reason for the spur of the moment decision?”

  Ava’s head snapped up, “I’m not pregnant if that’s what you mean.”

  They had never discussed her infertility so Dr. Hornung was not aware.

  “I’m sorry, I wasn’t implying that at all. I was just wondering what the rush was since you told me you were planning to get married in May of next year.”

  Xander cleared his throat, “We just felt it was time. We love each other and have been getting along well. It wasn’t spur of the moment. We had discussed it previously. Ava at first said no, and we let it go. Then it was brought up for discussion, and I said no. This time we both agreed. We still plan to hold our ceremony in May.”

  “Is this something you have discussed with your families? Are they aware of your nuptials?”

  “No, they are not. We think it will create too much friction. Our situation from several years ago has not put me in a favorable light with Ava’s family. We don’t want them to think I pushed her into it. There is also the question of her finances.”

  “Finances?”

  Ava took the lead, “I have some investment from an inheritance. My father has been pushing me to draw up a prenup agreement,
and I’ve refused.”

  “Have you two discussed your finances before this event?”

  “Sort of. Xander was aware of my inheritance from my mother’s death. We sat down and laid all our assets out last week. It did cause some discord between us.”

  “Let’s discuss this. Xander?”

  Ava chewed her bottom lip, and he reached up to dislodge it from her teeth.

  “I just feel that it’s her money, I have no claim to it.”

  “That is noble of you, but how do you feel about that, Ava?”

  “I want him to have it. I want to share it with him. I discussed changing him to beneficiary on my accounts as well as my life insurance. He is resistant.”

  “Xander, tell me why you feel this way?”

  “I don’t want to live off my wife’s money. The money would mean nothing to me if she wasn’t with me. I find it very hard to accept the meaning of being a beneficiary on her accounts and insurance.”

  “Let’s look at this from a practical standpoint. You are her husband, and she wants you to be her beneficiary. I understand you don’t want to think about what that would mean, but it doesn’t mean anything at this point. She is alive and well, wanting to know you will be taken care of if she passes.”

  Ava watched as Xander worked his jaw, the muscle tightening as he gritted his teeth.

  “I’ll think about it.”

  “Remember, compromise is rule one.”

  For the rest of the session, they discussed other issues that plagued them during their vacation and their new marriage. All in all, it was an informative session for both Ava and Xander.

  On the way home, he inquired if she had contacted Dr. Emory.

  “I haven’t had a chance; I was busy this week.”

  “Do you want me to go with you? Would you feel more comfortable?”

  “I will be fine on my own. I need to do this by myself.”

  “You don’t. It’s not your health issue; it’s our health issue. We are a couple now.”

  “I appreciate you saying that.”

  He pulled her onto his lap and began kissing her.

  “There isn’t anything we can’t handle together.”

  At his apartment that night, Ava had made a quick dinner of spaghetti with garlic bread and after they took their wine out to the terrace to enjoy the warm August evening. She looked out at the city lights, and Xander watched her from the corner of his eye. I love this woman so much.

 

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