Burn: Book 3 (The Heat Series)

by MJ Masucci

  “Xander and I are married.”

  “What? When?” All of them appeared equally shocked and blurted out the similar statement almost in unison.

  “August fourth.”

  “You got married almost four months ago and hadn't said anything?” Peter said. “I don’t think your mother is going to be happy about that,” directing mild displeasure toward his son.

  “Nor you father,” Daniel said, nodding at Ava.

  “Look, this was our decision, but putting aside the personal nature of the news, we are getting off issue.”

  “And what exactly is the issue?” Daniel said with a frown.

  “I was accepted to the Bar with my married name. Everyone here knows me as Keene, not Wilder. This is why we had to tell you we were married. I want to start practicing now, not wait for months until we have our ceremony.”

  “Then your choice is to reveal to everyone that you are married, and we can get you set up with your own office complete with your name on the door placard.”

  “We don’t want everyone to know we’re married.”

  “You should have thought of that before you decided to keep it a secret. We know, and this is the only way you can practice at this time. I welcome you to the firm as a new attorney, but the stipulation is you must announce it the way you were accepted to the Bar,” Daniel said sternly.

  Ava realized that he was upset with her probably more for her father’s lack of knowledge of her marital status than his own, and tried to compromise. “Can Xander and I discuss this before we move ahead?”

  “Do what you wish, but let me make it clear, your choices are to practice now with your married name or wait until your ceremony. I do want to caution you that not practicing at this time will bring about questions, especially with the family. Please let us know as soon as possible what your decision is. Ava, after you get done speaking with your husband, I want to see you in my office.”

  “Alexander, I expect the same when you’re finished with Ava.”

  Fuck, Fuck, Fuck! Uncle Daniel is pissed, and I’m sure if he is, then my father will be twice as much. Xander said nothing and pulled out Ava’s chair so they could leave the conference room together.

  Ava thought she would feel relief after she spoke to them but she felt nothing of the sort. Brian had said nothing but congratulations, but then again he didn’t have a familial connection to them. She wondered if Peter would be having a similar conversation with Xander as the one she anticipated with her uncle.

  She felt shell-shocked as Xander led her down to his office by placing his hand on her back. As soon as they entered, he closed the door and embraced her.

  “That didn’t go as expected,” she practically wailed. “My uncle is angry, and your father didn’t seem too happy either.”

  “No, I expected a different discussion to take place. But these aren’t just our bosses; they’re our family.”

  He let her go and gently pulled her to the couch, sitting down and patting the seat next to him for her to join him.

  “The decision is yours. What do you want to do? I think since they know that you should practice. Why delay your career?”

  “I agree, but it means I will no longer be working for you or seeing you very much during the day.”

  “We live together and will see each other at night.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “Ava, don’t read into it. It means that we might not be together during the day, but we always have the night. Couples in love do that all the time. Most aren’t lucky enough to work together. We can have lunches and travel together. It won’t be so bad.”

  “Then the decision is made. I’ll speak to my uncle. I probably will be on sixteen since I want to work in the Real Estate Division.”

  She kissed his cheek and left. When she got to her uncle’s office, she paused outside his door before knocking. His secretary was not at her desk, so it gave her time to get courage. She knocked.

  “Come in.”

  Her uncle was sitting at his desk going through some files, and he looked up at her with a scowl on his face. Not a good sign.

  “Close the door and sit. I’ll be with your in a minute,” he said gruffly.

  She sat and immediately started picking her nails while she stared straight ahead, focusing on a bookcase behind him. When he finally looked up at her, she was close to tears.

  “You know your father is not going to be happy about your marriage to Alexander, especially because you did it without telling anyone.”

  Ava started to feel angry, “You know, we thought about it for awhile. When he asked me, we were in Vegas, and he wanted to marry then. I said no because I wanted a big wedding. Then I had a change of heart.”

  “Why? Why couldn’t you wait until next May like you’re planning? Are you even going through with it now?”

  “Because of Liam.”

  “What would he have to do with this?”

  “I don’t want repeated what I’m going to tell you. Not to Peter and especially not my father because his heart is weak enough after the heart attack. The last thing I want is to raise his blood pressure. Agreed?”

  “Proceed,” said Daniel, as he nodded.

  “Liam is still out there. You know that he escaped and I’m sure you didn’t know he called me to tell me he was stalking us, wanting to hurt us, well me. He broke into my apartment. A few weeks ago, Xander was attacked while he was jogging in the morning by some men, he was able to fight them off, but not until they said we were under surveillance. We hired Mike Halloran, remember him?”

  “The detective at the NYPD?”

  “Yes. He’s a private investigator now. All roads for the attack point to Liam, and his former cellmate, who goes by Papi. Mike is pretty sure these were men that previously worked for Papi during his drug trafficking days. Liam is more than likely out of the country, and his goons are keeping an eye on us for when Liam returns. So far we haven’t had any further incidents, but we can’t be too careful.”

  “This is very disturbing to hear. Maybe you should stay with us.”

  “We’re living in Xander’s apartment. His place is more secure than mine. Mike said it’s only a matter of time before he tracks down Liam and where he is. If he’s in Brazil where Papi was deported, they can try to extradite him.”

  “Yes, yes, but what does this have to do with you’re getting married?”

  Ava looked down at her hands in her lap, “Again, this is not to leave this room to anyone else. Because I don’t want to die without having that opportunity,” she barely whispered.

  “What did you say? Speak up.”

  “I don’t want to die without having had the chance to marry.”

  “That’s preposterous,” he thundered. “Why would you think that?”

  “Liam almost killed the other woman who testified against him. Roger tracked his phone to a hotel downtown where he was staying as well as to the Lake George area. By the time the police got to either spot, he was long gone, but there was evidence that he was tracking us.”

  “I can’t believe this. This is why you got married?”

  Ava could hold her tears no more, and they started to slide down her face. Her uncle walked around his desk and sat down in the leather chair next to her, taking her in his arms.

  “Shh, don’t cry. Why didn’t you tell anyone this? We can protect you.”

  “You can’t. The police can’t find him and I’m scared. I’m more scared that they will hurt Xander than me. I couldn’t live with myself if something happened to him.”

  “There must be something they can do.”

  “They are doing all they can do with the resources they have. Please, you can’t tell my father. I’ll tell him we are married, but I don’t want him to know about these other details.”

  “I won’t. If I know my brother, he would want to squirrel you away in his house until this is resolved. I expect you will tell him about your marriage shortly. I’m sure he
would be rather upset if he found out everyone knew but him.”

  “I promise I will do it tonight. But, I have something else I would like to discuss.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Well, I’m a licensed attorney now and…”

  Daniel held his hand up, “Say no more. You’ve earned it. You mentioned you wanted to work in the real estate division, correct?”

  She nodded.

  “We have two empty offices down on sixteen, one of which is near your old mentor, Victoria. Select which one you would like, and we can get you set up there by the end of the week.”

  His phone rang, and he waved to her as she left his office. She smiled because it wasn’t as bad as she thought it would be. However, she still needed to tell the rest of her family. She wondered how Xander’s conversation went with his father.

  The stairs were on her way down the hall, and she walked down to the sixteenth floor to choose her office. On the way, she passed by Victoria’s office. It was empty, but the door was open. The office two doors down from her was available, and she liked it. It was near the end of the hall and quiet, which she preferred. Though it was smaller than Xander’s, she was happy to finally have an office of her own with a door. On her way back down the hall, she encountered a very pregnant Victoria.

  “Ava, so nice to see you. It’s been months.”

  “Yes, it has. I guess congratulations are in order. When are you due?”

  “Three weeks. Around Christmastime.”

  “That’s wonderful. A Christmas baby.”

  “Are you going to be working on this floor?”

  “Yes, I just got admitted to the Bar and will be starting by the end of the week. I chose the office two doors down from yours.”

  “Good luck. I have to go and finish some work before I leave for my doctor’s appointment. Congrats.”

  “Thank you.”

  She watched Victoria as she walked down to her office. She felt a pang of jealousy at the fact that this horrible woman was pregnant and she couldn’t be. She hoped she treated her child better than she did her subordinates.

  As she trudged up the stairs to eighteen to wait in Xander’s office, she daydreamed about having a child of her own. She had two more months before her HSG test, and she hoped it would bring positive news. Maybe there was something they could do for her.

  “Sweetheart?”

  She hadn’t heard him enter.

  “Oh. Hi.”

  “You were deep in thought. What did Daniel say?”

  “He said I needed to tell my family right away that we’re married. My father will have a fit if he finds out from someone else. I also told him about Liam, and that is why I wanted to get married but swore him not to tell anyone else. And I picked out my office on sixteen.”

  He missed anything but the part about Liam. “Not the fucking ‘I’m going to die’ thing again. I don’t want to hear it.”

  “Stop getting upset. I told him how I felt and he was not to tell anyone. Anyway, what did your father say?”

  “He was happy we’re married, but he said I need to be the one to tell my mother. I know she will be very happy for us. Lidia and Suzanne already know. I guess I should also tell Janelle.”

  “Do you want to get this over with and tell Jacob now?”

  “Sure, let’s pull the band-aid off.”

  They went next door together and knocked on Jacob’s door before opening it. He was sitting at his desk going over some paperwork.

  “Hello, you two. To what do I owe this pleasure?” He grinned and then chuckled.

  “You know don’t you?” Ava said.

  “Know what? I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Then he burst out laughing.

  “My father told me a little while ago. Why didn’t you just tell me? I could have kept it quiet.”

  “I don’t think so. We only told the partners an hour ago, and it’s already spreading. I better call my father and Michael before they find out from someone else. It’s bad enough they are going to be pissed.”

  “I doubt it. They just want you to be happy.”

  “If you’ll excuse us we need to make some calls.”

  They went back to Xander’s office to call her father and Michael, who were probably in the office together. When she made the call, she requested that both he and Michael were in the room together because she and Xander had something to tell them.

  “You’re not pregnant, are you?”

  “Daddy, you know I can’t get pregnant, so no.”

  “Then what is so urgent?”

  “First, I want to tell you that I got accepted to the Bar,” she let that sink in and accepted their congratulations.

  “And what else do you have to tell us?”

  “Xander and I got married a few months ago.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “We got married in August. We discussed it and decided we wanted to be married while we were away in Key West. We didn’t want anyone to be upset by our decision, so we kept it to ourselves.” She waited for the news to permeate into her father and brother before she continued.

  “I don’t understand why you rushed,” her father said.

  “There was no rush. We love each other and wanted to be married. We are still going forward with the wedding in May.”

  “You could have told us this when you were here at Thanksgiving. It would have been proper to tell us this news in person. I need to go; we have clients coming, but we are going to talk about this later, young lady. I love you and give my best to Xander.”

  She said goodbye and hung up feeling dejected. It was time for her father to understand that she was an adult.

  “He didn’t sound so happy about our marriage,” Xander said.

  “I know. I’m afraid of the conversation we’re going to have later. I think I’ll call Felice and see if she can smooth it over with him. I know that once David finds out, he is never going to talk to me. Why is it that this happy news is so hard for everyone to take?”

  “What do you think your father is going to say later?”

  “I know it’s going to be about the prenup. He is going to want to know if I had one drawn up and if not then will want a post-nuptial.”

  Xander rubbed the back of his neck and scratched at his chin. He only did that when he was nervous or upset.

  “Can’t he understand that I don’t want your money? Your money would mean nothing to me if you weren’t here. I’ll sign anything he wants me to sign. I want him to know that were together because I’m desperately in love with you.”

  “I desperately love you, too. I just want this to be about us and not what we can give each other.”

  “Does he know you gave me a Corvette for my birthday?”

  “No, and I don’t plan on telling him.”

  Ava sat on the couch feeling drained. It was still early in the day, and she felt like she worked for hours already.

  “Might as well do some work. Sweetheart, you’re tired aren’t you?”

  “Very. I barely got any sleep last night thinking about telling everyone. I would love to go home and snuggle in our bed.”

  He grinned a huge grin at her.

  “What is so amusing?”

  “You said “our” bed. Usually, you say “your” bed, as in mine. You know how happy that makes me feel that you finally consider my apartment ours? I wish I could take you home and make love to you right now.”

  “That is a novel idea but we have to work, and I’m exhausted.”

  “Why don’t you take a nap on the couch? I got stuck on the Liam thing earlier, but you said you picked a new office. You didn’t tell me when you are moving downstairs.”

  She yawned again, “Uncle Daniel said by the end of the week. I chose the office down at the end of the hall. I like it quiet. I was hoping the corner office was free, but there is someone in it already.”

  “That would be Philip Harrison. I met him last week at the café. Nice guy, I think he’s about your ag
e. He said he came from Stein and Baker.”

  “They’re a pretty good firm, and they specialize in real estate. He must know his stuff. I could probably learn from him.”

  “I think so. I’m sure you’ll be able to work well with him.”

  She stretched out on the couch, and within minutes, she was asleep. Xander sat in his chair working on his laptop. Every few minutes he glanced over at her. She looked like a little angel, and his heart swelled with pride that she was his wife. He let her sleep for two hours before he woke her.

  “What time is it?”

  “It’s almost one. We need to have some lunch.”

  “I’m not hungry.”

  “You need to eat.”

  Ava sat up and used a small mirror that Xander had in his drawer to fix her hair. Her eyes looked puffy with sleep. She straightened her jacket and skirt.

  “Okay, ready to go.”

  They went downstairs, and while waiting in line at the café, they met Samantha who was holding a cardboard holder with four coffees.

  “How did everyone take it?”

  “As good as could be expected. We had to tell everyone, or I would have to wait to start practicing until May. It was time.”

  “Good for you. I was having a hard time holding in this secret. I told Robert, and he is very happy for you two. I’m on my way upstairs, see you later.”

  Though Ava wasn’t hungry, she ordered a smoothie and a small chef salad. She ate some of it but moved most around the bowl. Xander watched her and scowled while he ate a ham and cheese sandwich.

  “I’m going to let your lack of appetite go today, but tonight I expect you to eat a good dinner. I can make something.”

  She smiled at him, “I would like that. I love when my husband cooks for me. I was thinking, now that everyone knows, can we get proper wedding rings, even though I love this band, we can go in style.”

  “I love that idea. We could shop sometime this week if you are up to it.”

  “I was thinking of a wedding ring wrap that would go around my engagement ring. Rachel has a friend that designs them. I’m sure he could give us a good price.”

  “It’s going to be strange not to wear this ring anymore,” holding up his finger with the ring she had inscribed five years before.