Burn: Book 3 (The Heat Series)

by MJ Masucci

  He reached out for her hand, and they went to the elevator. It was still early, but by the time they got up to the farm, it would be open for business. The weather was still cool, and Ava pulled the sweater she had worn around her as they walked to the garage. Once they got there, Xander started moving towards the parking spot on the first floor that held the Corvette.

  “Would you mind if we took the Infiniti?”

  He nodded wondering why she didn’t want to take the Corvette. But he could hazard a guess; she felt safer in the other car. Once they were safely buckled, he navigated the car out of the garage and onto the city streets. The Henry Hudson Parkway was choked with the traffic of people heading to work, and it moved slowly. Ava said nothing but busied herself with looking out the window.

  Xander’s heart was heavy. He wanted her to be happy, but so many things were making her uneasy. Her once bright eyes were dull and sad looking. She often looked pale, and he worried that she was losing too much weight. Her ongoing fragility made him wonder if she would eventually go over the edge and he would lose her to the dark.

  As they drove further away from the city, Ava’s demeanor started to change. She removed her sweater that she previously had wrapped around her like a protective shield. Reaching for the radio, she played with the music stations until she found something she liked. He said nothing, but a slight smirk came across his face. At least she was engaging.

  “So, are you going to get a small pumpkin that we can carve for Halloween?”

  “Oh no, I thought we could get one so I can make some pie with it.”

  “Really? I thought you would use the canned stuff.”

  “I like to make pies from scratch - even the crust. I used to bake a lot with Natalia after my mother…”

  And the light turned out; he thought as she stopped talking. She shut the radio off and went back to looking out the window.

  “Sweetheart?”

  She ignored him, and he stopped trying.

  Once in the county, he pulled off the highway and onto the side of the road. His GPS had malfunctioned, and he wasn’t sure where he was going. Once it was reprogrammed to the farm, he pulled back onto the road. Ava continued to look out the window. He hoped once they arrived, she would perk up.

  His assumption was correct. The farm had a few fenced in areas with several animals, chickens, lambs, goats and ducks. She ran to the pens without waiting for him. That was all it took, chickens and lambs? The animals put a wide smile on her face as she petted them through the fence.

  If they weren’t so engrossed in the animals, they would have seen the dark car with the blacked out windows park two spaces from their car. The farm was quiet, and there were few visitors besides the employees. The occupants watched as they headed into the pumpkin field.

  “What about this one?” Ava held up a small pumpkin with an almost flattened side.

  “That’s oddly shaped.”

  “I thought maybe you could paint something on it for me.”

  “I could. What would you like me to paint?”

  “Surprise me.”

  They selected two other pumpkins besides the flat one and headed to the store to look for a small bag of apples. When they came out with their purchases, the dark car was still sitting in the lot, idling. It followed them when they pulled out of the space.

  As Xander drove through the local streets of North Salem, New York, they came upon an open house sign. The large home was mostly brick with two large stone pillars at the entrance of the driveway.

  “Stop!” Ava practically yelled, causing Xander to hit the brakes hard and the car following them blew his horn loudly as it passed.

  “What? Do you want to go and see that house?”

  “I do. I was thinking maybe we should consider moving out of the city. Even if we don’t, wouldn’t it be fun just to look?”

  “Sure, we can look.” At this point, anything to keep her smiling was something he would do.

  He pulled into the large driveway and parked. The home was a massive and the sprawling front lawn and landscaping, pristine. They knocked, and the realtor greeted them with a warm handshake. She handed them a fact sheet about the home and told them to let her know if they had questions as she greeted another visitor.

  They walked the grand wooden staircase with carved handrails. It reminded Ava of her father’s home. Upstairs they walked a wide hallway until they found the master bedroom. It was huge, with his and hers bathroom complete with a giant marble bathtub that could probably fit eight people. Xander smiled widely at the tub remembering their time in the one they had at their lake house.

  It took them forty-five minutes to search through the entire seven bedroom, fifteen room home. Ava was in love, but this was far away from her adopted home of New York City. Her friends and family lived there, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to be parted from everything in the city by an hour to the north. They thanked the realtor and took her card. On the drive home, Xander questioned her.

  “What did you think of the home?”

  “I liked it. Actually, I loved it.”

  The exuberance in her voice was one that he hadn’t heard for weeks.

  “Would you like to live in North Salem?”

  “I thought about it while we were looking through the house, but then I also thought about being parted from our families and friends. Our lives are in New York City. I’m not sure I could get used to country life again.”

  “We don’t have to make a decision now. There will be other houses, and maybe we should also look in Connecticut near Suzanne. There were some nice homes there, too. This place was pretty pricey, did you notice?”

  Ava had, but she wasn’t swayed by a large price tag since she had plenty of money they could either use for a down payment or buy the house outright.

  “Yes, but eventually we will both be earning attorney’s salaries.”

  “Which reminds me, have you heard back from the bar yet?”

  “No, it’s only been four months since I submitted paperwork. Jacob said his took almost seven months. I hope by the end of the year I will hear something.”

  “I think mine took about five or six months if I remember. Do you know the division you want to work?”

  “I like real estate. I got a good amount of training when I worked for Victoria.”

  “That would mean you would be down on sixteen. I wouldn’t see you that much.”

  She giggled, “But then we would have another office in which we could have sex.”

  Xander felt himself twitch. It had been several days since they had sex due to her period and her mood. He wanted her, but he held back pushing her. She needed to make the first move.

  “How are you? You had me worried.”

  She smiled weakly, “I feel better, but now I’m going to have to wait until next month for the test.”

  “It’s only another month. We still have several months until the wedding, and if you need some type of surgery, we have time.”

  He reached out and squeezed her hand that was resting on her knee.

  “I have a feeling everything is going to be alright.

  Chapter 26

  “We almost got him, but the bitch wasn’t with him.”

  “I didn’t fucking tell you to approach him. I told you to keep him under surveillance. What did you do?” Papi was screaming into the phone.

  Alfredo swallowed hard, “I thought you wanted us to get him.”

  “Cona, so help me, Alfredo, you and that idiot brother of yours better not screw this up. Now, what did you do?”

  “We approached him a while back in the morning. It was dark…”

  “Did you put your hands on him?”

  “I cut his shirt with my knife. I thought you…”

  “Shut the fuck up and let me make this clear. You are not to approach him or let yourselves be seen. Alto wants to handle this himself. If he finds out that your stupidity alerted them, then he is going to lose it. Fucking moron! You are onl
y to keep an eye on him and his girlfriend. Alto needs to know where they are so when he comes for them he can get it done and come back here. Don’t make me tell you again.”

  Papi slammed the phone in Alfredo’s ear.

  “Wake the fuck up. We made a mistake,” Alfredo said to his brother, Juan. “We gotta keep this quiet. Papi is pissed, and I don’t want to get on that man’s bad side.” He absentmindedly rubbed the long scar above his eyebrow. It was a reminder of what Papi could do.

  Simultaneously back in Brazil, Papi approached Liam as he sat outside the storefront.

  “I got some bad news for you.”

  “What?”

  “Those two idiots I put in charge of keeping track of your girl fucked up, but I think it’s alright.”

  Liam stood and balled his fists, “What do you mean they fucked up?”

  “Lower your voice, Alto,” he warned. “They came in contact with the guy, almost sliced him open.”

  “FUCK!”

  “I told them to stay at a safe distance and not be seen.”

  “I don’t need this shit. I need to take care of business. Maybe I should go back and get this done.”

  “No. You are needed here. Don’t go running back to New York before you finish your part.”

  Liam sat back down in his chair and looked at the ground.

  “Are we good?”

  “Yeah, we’re good.”

  Papi went back into the store and left Liam wondering. What the fuck does he need me here for? In the past few weeks, all Liam was used for was intimidation. He had thought that Papi was working a Ponzi investment scheme, but in actuality, he realized it was nothing like that. The store front was some odds and ends used furniture; the real business was in the back where drugs were being sold.

  Papi had used Liam’s money to purchase drugs, and now it was too late to demand the money back. He kept Liam on a tight leash, giving him just enough pocket money to keep him mostly content. He had moved Liam to a large house where several other men in Papi’s cadre also lived. At night, they would bring local prostitutes back and keep Liam up all night with their activities. It reminded him of the fleabag hotel he lived in after he escaped.

  Liam would get sent out with one or two other guys to collect from the distributors. If they held back, then fists and clubs would be used to settle the debt. It made Liam sick. He didn’t go to Yale for this shit. Now he was fucked; he had left twenty-five thousand dollars in another cubby hole at his sister’s house, but that was all he had.

  He wasn’t sure if Papi would ever give him back his money and what’s more, he was afraid to ask. The man scared him more than any other opponent he had encountered on the football field or during fights in a bar.

  Chapter 27

  The weeks into October were much happier ones for Ava and Xander. She had received her Social Security card and was now Ava Wilder on all her identification, which thrilled her husband. Earlier in the month, they had attended Nicole’s first birthday party at Sandra’s and Jacob’s home. Ava spent a lot of time holding the baby, which Xander hoped wouldn’t make her melancholy, but she had been fine.

  They had also made plans to visit her family in Georgia for Thanksgiving, and she was looking forward to that very much. Peter and Gabby would also be attending. A small argument between Ava and her father had taken place in discussing sleeping arrangements. He refused to let her sleep in the same bedroom with Xander since they were not married. She argued that they shared time at each other’s apartment, which was the wrong thing to say. He became angry, and she almost blurted out they were already married.

  The last thing she wanted to do was sleep apart from her husband. However, to keep the peace, that was what she would have to do. Xander was not very happy at the prospect of being apart at night. He slept better with her in his arms.

  Once again, she had to postpone her HSG test since her period had been a few days late at the end of October. Late enough for her to take a pregnancy test with the hopes that maybe by the grace of God, she was pregnant. She stood nervously waiting for the three minutes and was disappointed when it came up negative. That evening, her period started. Unfortunately, the doctor was booked up until the Fourth of February, which would work out if her period came on time for the next few months.

  That night Xander came into the bedroom holding the box from the pregnancy test. She had forgotten to bury the box in the bathroom garbage.

  “Are you pregnant?” He tried to make his tone anything but accusatory and wasn’t quite sure how he sounded to her.

  “No. I was late, and I thought…My period started.”

  “I’m sorry. I just want you to be straight with me.”

  “I didn’t feel the need to upset you if it wasn’t true.”

  He sat down on the bed next to her and took her in his arms. “I made the mistake of handling your pregnancy in the wrong way once before; I will never do it again. If you were pregnant, I would be very happy.”

  “Do you mean that?”

  “Of course. I love you, and I would be excited to add to our family.”

  “I can’t have the test this month. The doctor said she had nothing until February. I made my appointment for the fourth.”

  “I’ll ask for the day off.”

  In an effort to change the subject because he could see she was upset, he asked her about her wedding dress.

  “Don’t you have a fitting with Rachel this week?”

  “Yes, she has most of the dress finished, but she has a lot of beading and other things to add.”

  “I wish I could see it.”

  “Absolutely not. You will see it on the day of the ceremony.”

  “Isn’t it silly, though? We are already married. It won’t be bad luck.”

  “No!”

  “Alright, woman. I get it.”

  That night in bed he curled his body around her. The next morning Ava woke with Xander still curled around her. It was just before five, and she remained in his arms until 4:59 when she reached to shut the alarm before it rang. He would not release his grip on her, and she had to resort to her old standby of pulling at his arm hair with her lips.

  “Hey, that hurts.”

  “Let me go.”

  “Five more minutes.”

  “I have to pee or do you want me to do it right here?”

  “If I let you go will you shower with me?”

  She knew what he meant, and she nodded. He let her go and watched as she slipped out of bed. A few minutes later he heard the water to the shower turn on, and he yawned and rubbed his eyes. By the time he got into the bathroom, she was already in the shower, and the glass to the stall had already become foggy.

  Xander removed his boxers, tossing them in the dirty clothes bin and stepped under the hot water with her. Ava was washing her hair and had her back turned to him. He ran his fingers through her hair as the water ran over her soapy auburn waves.

  “I love your hair. It’s gotten so long.”

  It was now down to her mid back, longer than it had been since they were together. He continued to massage her scalp under the running water until all the shampoo was removed. She turned to face him, wiping the water from her eyes. Tipping her chin up to him, he leaned down to kiss her. By then, the stirring below his waist had turned into a full-blown erection, which she grasped in her hand and began to stroke.

  “I want you,” she murmured against his lips with her eyes closed.

  He backed her against the wall, pinning her arms above her head with one hand while he palmed her breasts with the other. His kisses pressed hard against her neck, and he nipped at her earlobe with his teeth. Ava moaned. He let her arms go and began to move down her body, playing with her breasts.

  “Don’t make me wait. I’m ready.”

  He lifted her and pushed her against the wall, wrapping her legs around his hips. Her arms encircled his neck as he poised himself at her opening then gently let her down onto his length. It had been a few days since
they made love and he wanted to make sure he didn’t hurt her. She was tight, and he sucked his breath in as she fully enveloped him. As he was about to move, she begged him to hold still.

  “I’m hurting you. I can see it on your face. I’m going to put you down.”

  “No, it will go away, just give me a minute.”

  His heart pounded at the thought that their lovemaking was injuring her. He waited for her to give him the go ahead. She kissed his face, and he pulled her away from the wall, sinking to the floor of the shower. It was big enough for him to lay on his back while the warm spray of the shower cascaded off their bodies.

  “You take control,” he offered as she straddled him.

  He placed his hands under his head and closed his eyes. She began moving, slowly at first until she got into a rhythm. Because the water was bouncing off his face, he couldn’t open his eyes. He loved to watch her when she was on top, but this time he was just going to enjoy the sensation of being inside her.

  Since it had been days since he had come, his orgasm built very quickly. He tried to hold off coming, but it was no use. The tightness and heat of her body caused him to climax before she did. His breath heaved, and he groaned as he thrust up to meet her gyrations until he finished. When done, he moved with her.

  “Sweetheart, don’t hold back, come for me.”

  Instead of coming she stopped moving and lay on his chest.

  “You didn’t come.”

  “I know.”

  “Why?”

  “I’m just not in the mood any longer.”

  He pushed against her shoulders so she would sit up.

  “I told you never to let me do this unless we were on the same page.”

  “I wanted to please you.”

  “You don’t need to make love to me to please me. I told you that.”

  “Sit up, let me wash you.”

  “Are you angry with me?”

  “I am because you let me do something you didn’t want. I love you, and you can say no.”

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered as she got up.