Illicit Affairs

by Dixon

  “Down boy,” she breathlessly giggled against his lips, her heart pounding against his own as she pressed closer and cut off any morsel of space between them. Her cheek turned in to his touch as he cupped her face, his eyes running across her in such an intimate manner that it made her forget the function of breathing.

  “I love you,” he whispered against her perfect lips as he paused to stare beseechingly into her eyes. He meant every word of it so brutally candidly that he felt like a damn fool for selling himself short to a woman back across the Atlantic who never made him feel a drop of devotion as he did with Ava. Staring into her blue diamonds, Nate finally knew what love was.

  Ava froze on the spot, those three words having the power to grip her heart in a vice-strong hold and squeezing a droplet of fear from her. However, as she stared back into his eyes, it felt as though her jigsaw was finally complete, no matter if a puff of air could shatter such a fragile piece of art. “Nate, I—”

  “Yeah, Kensington told me he filled the retraction yesterday, can you believe it?”

  Nate and Ava turned their attention to the voices approaching the small kitchen before jolting apart in the space of a heartbeat. Despite their nonchalant appearance of leaning against opposite ends of the kitchen, their hearts were pulsing amongst other areas of their body.

  Ava gave the two suits a tight smile and a nod of her head as they entered the kitchen before glancing back at Nate’s stoic expression, watching his lips twitch as he struggled to hide his amusement. When the two gents were preoccupied with the fridge, Nate wiped his brow, readjusted his awkward crotch situation, and huffed in relief, causing Ava to cover her mouth to suppress her amusement.

  Ava spent the rest of her day digging her way out of her workload and avoiding any further near misses with Nate. She was currently sat at her desk tasked with the glamorous job of balancing the remainder of the late Oliver Forbes’s inheritance between the remaining Forbes family members. It was a very mundane task to undertake but involved a lot of time-consuming paperwork and auditing. However, as her finger jabbed the enter key to complete the transfer from Oliver’s escrow account, a large error popped up like a big dirty mark on her screen. One side of Ava’s nose scrunched up in confusion as her finger stabbed away at the enter key, again and again, willing the pop-up error to die until she huffed in defeat and slumped back in her chair. She pinched the bridge of her nose, knowing she was burnt out from being chained to her computer all morning, and decided to take a break.

  As Ava stared into the office’s bathroom mirror, her thumbs pressed under the purple crescent welts staining the delicate flesh beneath her eyes. It was perhaps the worst thing about being so pale, the fact that every little blemish and imperfection showed up like the Blackpool Illuminations.

  “Oh, Ms. Archer!” boomed the ostentatious voice of Charlotte Forbes as the cubicle door banged open behind her and caused Ava to jump like a spooked kitten. “My apologies, did I frighten you?”

  “It’s fine,” Ava croaked with a hand against her fleeting heart. “And please, call me Ava.”

  “Ava,” Charlotte agreed with a gracious nod of her head as she joined her by the sinks and turned to notice her dabbing a cold paper towel beneath her eyes. “Oh my…busy weekend, dear?”

  “Is it that obvious?” She chuckled, looking at Charlotte before back at her reflection. “I swear there isn’t a facial out there that could rejuvenate the hours of overtime these eyes have undergone!”

  “Pish-posh! All you need is a top-quality eye cream and the best concealer on the market, my dear!” Charlotte denounced as she opened her clutch bag and pulled out a few tubes of various beauty products. “Please, do allow me?”

  Ava was taken aback by the woman’s generosity as she let Mrs. Forbes dab makeup upon the unsightly blemishes. “That’s very kind of you, thank you, Mrs. Forbes.”

  “Oh, anytime, and please do call me Charlotte.” She finished smudging in the mixture with Ava’s skin before announcing, “There, good as new!”

  “My God! That really is a fabulous concoction you’ve got there!” Ava marvelled at the non-existent stains under her eyes.

  “My secret is that I add a tiny amount of tanning pigment to it, works wonders!” Charlotte said from the side of her mouth and chuckled.

  As Charlotte began putting away her makeup, Ava glanced down into her purse, noticing a lipstick in an oddly familiar shade of orange that she couldn’t pinpoint where she recognised it from, however, the colour made her stomach sink deep into her stomach and fill it with dread—for what reason, she did not know.

  “Lovely shade isn’t it?” Charlotte said, noticing Ava’s stare.

  “It’s a very unique colour…”

  “Yes, it was a gift from my beloved Oliver… Anyway, best be off, my dear. Remember to get some beauty sleep!” Mrs. Forbes abruptly breezed out of the ladies’ toilets leaving Ava wondering if her first impression of the woman had been too hasty.

  When Ava was back at her desk, the brief time away from her computer had given her a new sense of motivation as she rolled up her sleeves, ready to tackle the dreaded system error still upon her screen.

  “Let’s have a look then, Oliver…why is your account blocking me…” she murmured to herself as she clicked her tongue thoughtfully in time with the clicking of her mouse. “What in the hell?” Her eyes widened as she clicked onto his inheritance fund that the firm was safeguarding until a settlement was made. “No…no…no, that can’t be right…”

  Where the balance had once shown the amount of £250,000 now showed as nil.

  Panic gripped a hold of her gut as she frantically treaded through the entire system, desperately searching the audit trail to see who released those funds from his account, but every lead came up blank as though a phantom had come in and wiped Oliver’s account clean. She left no file unturned, flicking through every financial document she could find, seeking an explanation to the quarter of a million pounds that had ludicrously vanished.

  It didn’t matter who Ava’s father was, if she didn’t find that money her arse was on fire.

  “Fuck me,” she croaked with a hand covering her mouth, anxiety creeping up her throat as she took a deep breath and wiped her palms on her legs. Many people would bury their heads in the sand at this point and wait until some other unfortunate soul spotted the error, but that wasn’t Ava. Whether she buggered up the system or not, she would raise her hand and own up to her error.

  She gathered all the documentation on Oliver’s accounts and pushed her legs one in front of the other until she reached Nate’s office with a polite knock on his door.

  “Sorry to disturb, but the weirdest thing just hap—” Ava stopped short with a gasp, gawking at the silver set of eyes that were cutting through her like shards of ice.

  Sat upon the ledge of the large mahogany desk, Mr. Archer glared so furiously at his daughter that Ava didn’t need to question why he was here. Her eyes glanced down at Nate, who was peering sheepishly over his shoulder, sat on one of the chairs in front of her father.

  “Ava,” Tom seethed her name through his teeth as his fists gripped around his cane. “Shut that door and get in here now. You have a lot of explaining to do, young lady.”

  Thirty-Six

  “Dad?” Ava shut the door behind her and treaded carefully towards him and Nate. “Wh-what are you doing h—”

  “Sit!” Tom boomed with the authority of a magistrate, the type of commanding aura that cut through the thick air and made Nate’s shoulders jump and Ava’s legs collapse into the seat.

  “Dad, just let me explain, the account it—”

  “Do you realise how many security cameras I have around this department?” Tom asked, stalling Ava’s train of thought as her lips attempted to manifest the confusion she felt into words. “Twenty-six cameras, Ava. Twenty-six cameras including…” His cane lifted and stabbed the air pointing to an object behind her.

  Ava turned around and glanced up at the small blac
k box mounted above the office door, a red light blinking down at her as Nate’s hands dragged down his face.

  “I don’t understand…” she faltered, turning around to see the reddening face of her father.

  “That camera safeguards not only our clients’ assets but this firm’s as well.” Tom pushed off the desk, his walking stick slamming down onto the floor near Ava’s feet as he spat, “What it does not safeguard is my daughter fucking my business associate!”

  Twice in her life had Ava heard her father swear: once when he found out about the young gentleman her mother was having an affair with, and now this moment right here. Her brain stuttered, her eyes taking in more light than expected as every part of her went on pause while her thoughts played catch-up. She felt like a camera flash, stuck in time and unable to connect with the world that was spinning out of control, her perfect jigsaw puzzle falling in slow motion to the floor.

  Nate’s stomach was so tight with dread that he doubted he’d feel a fist to his gut right now. He turned to look at Ava, her frozen pale expression was similar to that of his own when Tom had busted into his office not long before Ava had shown up.

  “This isn’t her fault,” Nate said, reaching for her and almost flinching as he felt the ice cool of her frail hand. “This is on me. I take full responsibility for—”

  “Shut your damn mouth, Nathaniel!” Tom snapped, running a hand through his thin wintery hairline. “To think of what you’ve done behind your poor wife’s ba—”

  “Oh, come on, Tom,” Nate ridiculed, sitting upright in his seat as he threw his hands in the air before leaning upon his knee. “You of all people know that what me and Nat have isn’t as black and white as it is on paper!”

  “Perhaps not, but do you not both realise the gravity of the situation you have forced me into? That footage was not something I stumbled onto by mere chance; it was presented to me by the head of security!”

  “Mike?” Ava finally snapped out of her catatonic state as she looked up at her father, who gave a sharp nod of his head. Burning hot betrayal ran through Ava. Mike, the sweet security man who had wished her good morning for the past few years, and sure, likely had a crush on her, had now just grassed her to her father for no gain of his own other than to boost his own selfish ego.

  “And since we are not the only people to know about your ludicrous relations, word will spread like wildfire. I cannot be seen to let this scandal be brushed under the carpet. I am forced to discipline you both for this!” Tom stumbled backwards, his hand clutching his chest as Ava instantly jumped to her feet with concern creasing her face. He swatted away her fretting hand and sighed, “What were you both thinking?”

  “I wasn’t thinking, it just happened, Dad!” Ava wailed past her heart lodged inside her throat like a piece of glass. “And I swear it won’t happen again.”

  Nate’s eyes widened at Ava, and he felt as though she had just blown out the flicker of hope inside of him. She couldn’t have meant that, could she?

  “You’re correct, it will not happen again,” Tom attested, straightening himself against his walking stick and clearing his throat. “Ava, you are suspended until further notice, and Nathaniel, you will return to the firm back in Manhattan—effective immediately.”

  “What?!” Nate shot up out of his seat as Ava’s jaw shattered on the floor.

  “Dad, you are in no state to come back here yet, let alone run this department by yourself!”

  “You will not speak of my state! I have run this firm for many years, most of which were spent without much of your aid, and I will continue to do so. Do not forget your position in this department, Ava—you are but a simple assistant to me,” Tom fumed down at Ava, his expression softening for a fleeting moment before turning to stone as he snapped his attention away from her. “Now get out of my sight.”

  Nate’s heart was pounding so fast inside his chest, this loss of control making him feel like he was falling down a very dark and lonely rabbit hole. He turned and watched Ava cover her mouth as she darted out of the office, a look of pain twisting her perfect features.

  “You’re a damn fool, Tom,” Nate growled with his fists clenched. He couldn’t stand by and let Tom pound down on her like that; it was unfair after the part Nate had played in all of this. He was getting off far too easy.

  “I beg your pardon?” Mr. Archer sputtered as though someone had slapped him with a wet fish across the face.

  “She practically ran this firm while you were away! You have her sit at that desk looking pretty and quietly filing away your shit when you have no idea what that woman is actually capable of!”

  “Oh, and you do? Disgracing this firm, my daughter, and your damn marriage by frolicking around this department and using Ava like a cheap whore that—”

  “I am in love with your daughter!” Nate boomed for the whole department to hear and didn’t give a crap about the repercussions. “And she is not a whore.” He pointed a finger directly into his business partner’s face. “I have made many monumental mistakes in my life, but that woman out there, she ain’t one of them.”

  As Ava’s finger mashed the elevator button, she wished that Sam had turned up for work today, needing just one person in this department to not be burning their eyes into the back of her skull right now. The doors pinged open and she rushed inside to escape the shame clouding her but just before the doors began to shut, Nate dived in beside her.

  “Nate, please don’t,” Ava whimpered as the metal doors slid shut behind him but gasped as his fist suddenly smacked against the red stop button. “What are you doing?!”

  His fear of heights and confined spaces was nothing compared to the fear of losing his everything.

  “Look, I like control in every aspect of my life but some things I just can’t control. Like the way I feel for you, Ava. However, I can control my circumstance, which is why when I am home, I am explaining to Natalia that we don’t belong together.” Nate spoke with the conviction of a priest, reaching his hands out and wincing when she took a step back and shook her head.

  “You cannot do that! You ca-can’t just move your life over here for me!”

  “Sure, I can!”

  “No, you cannot and will not, I won’t allow it.” Ava moved away from him, her eyes welling with regret. “We aren’t a love story, not after what we have done. There is no happily ever after for us.”

  She utterly detested the crushed look on his face, the way the hope drained from his expression, the sweetness of honey turning bitter in his eyes. But then his head lifted, his face lighting up like a warrior mustering the strength for one last stand.

  “Then how about a happily ever now?” He gave her a weak smile, a small attempt at lightening a shitty situation—like hell he was giving up on her just because shit got real.

  “Nate, I’m so sorry but I—”

  “No, no, no,” Nate cut across her and closed off the distance between them as he held her face in his hands and made her look at him. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry for getting you into this mess, I’m sorry for pushing you away, I’m sorry for ever lying to you in the first place. But what I am not sorry for is for ever meeting you and falling madly and uncontrollably in love with you, Ava Archer.”

  Words failed Ava as she stared up at the man who made everything feel so incredibly right in the world. She hated how pathetic she felt when trying to say those three words, feeling as though there was a flaw in her code that blocked her from conveying such things.

  Three little words, two hearts joining, and one monumental insecurity were all that stood in her way.

  To the ordinary person, that simple phrase could be exchanged as easily as a thank you or hello, but to Ava, it was a mountain that had to be climbed slowly with a clear and promised view of the top.

  “It’s okay, I don’t need you to say it out loud,” Nate chuckled softly as his thumb swiped across her lower lip. “I just need to know…do you feel anything for me?”

  Ava knew she could lie
right now and make her life so much easier. Yes, it would be painful upfront like pulling off a plaster, but then all her problems would disappear, and everything would return to normal. However, she wasn’t much of a liar and ever since lying to her best friend, and everyone else for that matter, she silently vowed to never do it again.

  Nate stared down at the shy nod of her head, his eyebrows jumping in bewilderment as his lips failed to hide his glee. There was a chance of her loving him back? Hell, he’d take it!

  “But I need some time to think…please, this is all so much so soon.”

  “Of course, look”—Nate took a step away from her to give her some room to breathe, not wishing to push his luck any more than he had—“I’ll come over in a few hours, we can talk properly then and take this at your own pace. Will that be alright?” He knew what they had was chaotic and fast, but it didn’t feel rushed, it felt raw and real, something that he didn’t want to wait the rest of his life to experience. He wanted it right now and with her.

  “That is more than alright,” she gushed as she reached out for him, her arms securing around his waist as she embraced his comforting scent and pressed her cheek against the heart that was slowly helping her to climb that mountain. “I’ll be waiting.”

  Ava’s mind was like a storm at sea, having no idea what she was going to do now that the cat was out of the bag and tearing up everything around it. She had no idea how she was going to handle her father nor how much damage this affair was going to do to her reputation. Her career would certainly be up shit creek once word got out. And then, of course, there was the matter of Nate being willing to give up absolutely everything for her and not knowing if it was just infatuation or genuine love that guided him.