Rookie Moves (A Checkmate Inc. Novel Book 2)

by Shelly Alexander

  “Um, sure,” she says. “You mean for good?”

  “Yes.” I release the intercom button and shove the bracelets in my pocket.

  “Wait a minute.” Oz starts to pace. “You’re quitting?”

  “I don’t want to, but it’s best for all of us.” I start to open drawers, looking for things that should go with me. “Leo doesn’t want me here anymore, and it’ll just hurt the company if I fight him on this.”

  “So you are quitting.” Oz stops pacing, widens his stance, and stares me down.

  I pull my brows together because I have no idea what he’s getting at.

  “I realize Checkmate was Leo’s idea in the beginning, but the three of us built this company together. We’d still be manufacturing only men’s cologne in fancy packages if it weren’t for you. You came up with the idea to open retail studios. You developed the plan to take us global. Now you’re going to walk away from all of it and leave us hanging?”

  “I don’t see that I have a choice.”

  “Of course you have a fucking choice.” He starts to pace again.

  Leticia walks in with two boxes. I swear that woman blinks and whatever we ask for appears. I’m certain she must live in a magic lamp. “Is there anything I can do?”

  “Yes, there is,” Oz says. “Get rid of the boxes. He’s not going anywhere.”

  Leticia brightens and scurries out faster than I’ve ever seen her move. And that’s saying something. Then she closes the door in her wake.

  Oz waits until we’re alone again. “Blurring the lines between business and personal seems to be a problem for both of you. Look, Leo has done his share of fucking up, or have you already forgotten?”

  No, no, I haven’t. “That was a little different. He wasn’t banging one of our sisters.”

  Oz rubs his chin like he’s taking that in. “You have a point.” He shrugs. “Doesn’t matter, though. He still fucked up pretty bad, and did we push him out?”

  I scrunch my forehead. “We kinda wanted to.”

  Oz angles his head and nods. “Another good point, but we didn’t. We got over it and moved on. He’ll get over it too.”

  “If I stay at Checkmate…if I stay with Ava, I’ll be a constant thorn in his side. They may never patch things up.”

  “Of course they will,” Oz says.

  “You didn’t see how angry he was.” My chair creaks as I lean back, and I pull a cleansing breath into my lungs. I hang my head and run my fingers through my hair. Suddenly, I’m so tired.

  “Didn’t have to see it,” Oz says. “I heard it. I think most of Manhattan heard it.”

  My history with Ava, Leo, Oz, and Checkmate is so intertwined that the lines are fuzzy, and I can no longer distinguish where one thing ends and the next begins. One thing is as clear as the glass walls in my office, though. Nothing is as important to me as Ava. “I hurt her. I was trying to make things right between her and Leo, but I fucked it up even worse.”

  Oz walks to the table in front of my sofa and picks up the black knight. Our favorite piece on the board. The one we modeled our company logo after. One hand in his pocket, he gently tosses the hand-carved knight in the air and catches it again. “Then I guess you better hurry. You’ve got a lot of sucking up to do to win back your woman and prove to her brother that you’re the best guy for her.” Oz gives me a smartass grin. The one he’s so famous for. “If you start groveling now, you might be back in the Foxx siblings’ good graces by Christmas so we can spend the holidays together like we always do.” He tosses the piece and catches it again. “Come on, man. Don’t ruin the gift exchange for me. Your presents always suck worse than mine, so I need you.”

  I take in what he’s said, drumming my fingers against the desk. I push out of the chair. “You know what?” He’s right, and I need to find her. Tell her I love her and try to rebuild the bridge between me, Ava, and Leo that I so effectively blew to holy hell and back.

  “I know, I know.” Oz holds a palm in the air. “I’m a fucking genius, and I’ve saved the day. I might as well be Superman. You can thank me later. After you go kiss ass.”

  I stop when I reach the door. “I was going to say that you’re still an asshole, but whatever makes you feel better, dude.”

  Oz laughs. “Fuck you.”

  I smile at my buddy. “Fuck you too.”

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  I stop by Leticia’s desk before leaving the office. “Find Leo for me, but don’t tell him I’m looking for him. And have a driver meet me out front.”

  “Will do.” She spins her chair to the side and reaches for the phone. No doubt she’ll have a lock on his exact coordinates within seconds.

  Sure enough, by the time I step out of the Checkmate building, my phone dings with a message from her.

  At his apartment. He’s waiting for me to call when you leave the building so he can come back to work. I think we’re having phone trouble and my cell is about to die.

  That’s Leticia. She forces us to do the right thing, just like she does her own kids. I don’t doubt she’d put us in timeout if she thought she could get away with it.

  A black Lexus with the Checkmate logo pulls up to the curb. The driver is trained not to get out because Leo, Oz, and I don’t feel comfortable with someone opening our doors for us. We’ve got two fucking hands, and we’re not helpless just because we’re successful.

  I reach for the handle and pause.

  I’m successful. I let the words ring in my head. I’ve done amazing things with my life and with my career. I thought making Checkmate a worldwide success was the answer to filling the void in my soul that’s been there since I was a lonely little boy. But no. The answer is Ava. She’s the only person, the only thing on earth, that makes me feel complete.

  Something in my chest shifts and expands and then tightens until I can’t breathe.

  I pushed her away instead of fighting for her. Told her she was a mistake. A fuck up. Those words stab me in the heart like a rusty icepick.

  I need to find her, ask her to give me another chance, and convince Leo that I’m the only guy that should be with his sister.

  And there are snowballs in hell.

  Whatever. I climb into the back seat of the car. “Leo’s apartment building.” I’ve got to give it a shot.

  A decision forms in my head. I’m going after my girl. And when I find her, I’m not going to leave her behind. I’d rather give up the expansion than lose her again.

  When I blow through the front door of Leo’s apartment building, the doorman waves me through. I let out a sigh of relief. Thankfully, Leo hasn’t already taken me off his list of visitors. When I get to his front door, I pull myself up to my full height.

  I lift my hand to ring the bell, but the door swings open.

  “The doorman called me,” Leo says. “The big Christmas bonus I give him every year earns me some loyalty. You should try it.”

  I ignore the insinuation that I’m not a loyal friend. I brush past him, not waiting for an invitation to enter. “We need to talk.”

  “Yeah, come on in.” I hear the eye roll in his voice as he shuts the door and follows me into the living room.

  I stop, spin around, and stare at him. He looks normal. He sounds normal. “You’re not pissed off. Why aren’t you pissed off?”

  “Oh, I’m pissed, buddy.” Leo goes to the table and grabs his glass of OJ. “That’s why I’m not offering you any.” He takes a drink. “You can get your own damn orange juice.”

  No idea why he’s not trying to kick my ass right now, but I figure this is my one shot to make things right, and I’m not going to waste it.

  “Look, I know finding out about me and Ava was a shock, especially the way it happened. That picture is my fault, and I shouldn’t have allowed us to be in that situation to begin with. You trusted me with your sister, and I didn’t look out for her by keeping our personal business behind closed doors.” I don’t even pause for a breath. The words keep spewing like a broken wate
rline in the middle of rush hour traffic. “Leo, you’re not the only one of us who doesn’t have parents. And you’re not the only person who loves Ava. You and Ava and Oz have been my family since I met you in college. I’d take a bullet for every one of you, but especially for Ava, because I love her more than I ever thought possible.”

  Leo looks past me toward the hallway. “Listen, Dex—”

  “No.” I shake my head. “Let me finish. I should’ve said this a long time ago.”

  He takes a drink and waves one hand for me to continue. I swear, it’s like he’s enjoying watching me grovel. It seems like entertainment for him.

  “I’ve loved Ava for a long time, Leo.” I rake a hand over my jaw. “And not like a sister. I love her, love her. As in the real deal. She’s never been a mistake or one of my fuck ups. In fact, besides following you and your freakazoid dream to start this company, loving her is the smartest thing I’ve ever done. My only regret is that I didn’t tell you myself. Now I have screwed everything up by telling her she was a mistake. I don’t know if she’ll ever give me the time of day again, but I intend to try.”

  “Dex—” Leo tries to interrupt me again, but I shut him down with a shut-the-fuck-up stare.

  “I don’t want to have to choose between loving her and having you as a friend. I don’t want to have to choose between having her in my life and the company I helped you build. But if I have to, she wins. Every time. If she’ll give me another chance. And you should know…” I hesitate. What I’m about to say might deal the final blow to Leo, but I know it’s the right thing to do. What the hell. I’m on a roll. “I’m not moving overseas. I can’t fix my relationship with Ava if we’re apart. She deserves better. I got us into this mess with the expansion, and now I’m bailing. If you want me to resign, I will. That’s not what I want, but I’ll do it. This expansion is going to cost Checkmate a fortune, especially if it fails. Which it might since I’m no longer moving overseas to be the watchdog.”

  I shove my hands in my pockets. “I’ll sell my apartment. That’ll bring in several million in cash, which I can put back into the business. Hell, I’ll even sell my Porsche.”

  “Ouch.” Leo puts a hand over his heart like it’s been pierced with an arrow. “Not the Porsche.” Then he gets serious. “You’re an idiot.”

  So I’ve been told.

  “The answer to this expansion has been in front of you the whole time,” Leo says. “You just didn’t want to see it. Oz and I weren’t going to force it on you because this was your baby.”

  A light bulb flickers and then lights up my brain. Of course. I should’ve seen it sooner. “Magnus and Gerard.”

  Leo shrugs. “They masquerade as Europeans anyway. Might as well make it official. They can manage our overseas operations permanently.” He takes a drink and studies me, a smartass smile still playing at his lips. “So you want to date my sister?”

  Jesus fucking Christ. Leo takes obtuse to space station levels. “I want more than to just date her, Leo. If I can get her to speak to me again, I’m going to ask her to marry me, and I’m asking for your blessing.”

  Notice I didn’t ask for his permission. Leo is like a brother, but it’s time for him to let go of the illusion that he can protect Ava from all the risks in life. And love is a big fucking risk for anyone. I should know.

  I decide it’s time to dish out a little smartassery of my own. “Only because it would mean a lot to her. I actually don’t give a damn if you offer your blessing or not.”

  “I’ll tell you what.” He folds an arm across his chest and steadies his glass of orange juice on top of his forearm. “If you can talk her into marrying you, then I’ll freely give you my blessing.”

  “Really?” I’m not sure I understand, because I expected him to fight me tooth and nail.

  He nods, then downs the rest of his juice. “Really.” He starts toward the kitchen. “Good luck with that by the way,” he says over a shoulder. “She’s far more pissed at you than I am.”

  Okay. Not the explosive confrontation I expected. I turn to look out the expansive window when a tumble of honey-blonde hair snags my attention. I spin all the way around, and there she is. Hands on her hips.

  The most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. And she looks mad enough to spit nails.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Ava’s hands are firmly planted on her perfectly curved hips. I can’t help but let my gaze drop to them, and I think about how much I love kissing the dip of her waist and her small, dainty hipbones.

  She clears her throat. “My eyes are further north, Dexter.” Her tone is harsher than ever before.

  My stare anchors to hers.

  Right. North.

  Her foot starts tapping against the wood floors. She’s wearing black leather ankle boots, and the sound echoes through Leo’s apartment. She’s waiting for me to fess up.

  “Why didn’t Leo kick my ass?” I ask. I can’t help it. I need to know what’s changed since I saw him an hour ago in my office.

  “Leo and I have come to an understanding. Thanks to you, he realizes he can’t spare me from every disappointment or the pain that life sometimes brings. It’s just simply not realistic, and he’s finally accepted that.” She shrugs. “Or at least he’s trying to. It may take some time, but I told him to suck it up and hurry the process along if he wants our brother-sister bond to continue.” The speed of her tapping foot increases until it’s like hummingbird wings. “Do you have something to say?”

  Hell yes. There’s so much I want to say right now. “Uh,” tumbles out.

  Goddammit.

  I pinch the bridge of my nose. “I’m not sure where to begin.”

  “You could start with the part about loving me.” A sliver of softness filters through her tone.

  “I do.”

  She raises a silky brow. She’s not letting me off that easy, and that’s one of the things I love about her. She doesn’t mind calling me on my bullshit.

  “Love you, that is. I love you.” I’ve never let those words form on my tongue, but I know they’re true. They have been for so long. “And I’m sorry for being an ass back at my office. In my own defense, I thought I was doing the right thing for you. Ava, I know what it’s like to be alone in the world, and I couldn’t live with myself if I got between you and Leo.”

  “I’d be so much more alone without you, Dex.” Her foot slows to a stop, and her shoulders relax. “Leo and I will work things out. So will you and Leo because that’s what families do. They don’t cut and run when someone disappoints them.”

  Mine did.

  “We fight, we argue, we may even need some space from each other once in a while, but we always stick together in the end,” she says.

  “That’s why I love you, Rookie.” I take slow steps toward her until I’m standing in front of her.

  Her blue eyes glitter up at me.

  I take a lock of her hair between my finger and thumb and tuck it behind her ear. “So what do you say? Do you love me?”

  She nods, swallowing back emotion. It’s still shimmering in her baby blues, though.

  “I do…” She gives me a sassy smile. “Love you, that is.”

  I cradle her face in my palms and slant my mouth to her exquisite mouth. She opens for me, and I slip my tongue through her lips. I kiss her long and lovingly. I want that kiss to communicate everything I feel for her.

  She sighs into my mouth, and her palms slide up my chest, around my neck, and one hand weaves into my hair. Her touch sets my skin on fire, and heat rockets through me, finds its way to my heart, and encircles it.

  We finally unlock our lips, and her eyes flutter open to look at me like she’s floating on a dreamy cloud. “Did you have something you wanted to ask me? I distinctly remember you asking my brother for his blessing.”

  I drop to a knee and take her hand. “I…uh, I’m sorry I don’t actually have a ring.” I pull her bracelets from my pocket. “But this is the next best thing until we can go shopp
ing tomorrow.” I look up into her sparkling eyes, and I know her answer to my question before I even ask it. “Ava Foxx, will you marry me?”

  “Yes.” Her voice cracks, and she covers her lips with her fingertips. “Yes, I’ll marry you, Dexter Moore.”

  I try to put the bracelets on her, but she winces.

  “Sorry.” She withdraws her hand.

  The sting of rejection pinches my chest. She’s already changed her mind.

  “That’s the wrist I hurt this morning.” She gives me her other hand. “Put them on this one.”

  I crack a smile as wide as the Hudson because she’s just made me the happiest man in the Big Apple. I slide the bracelets onto her wrist.

  “Now get up here and kiss me.” She pulls me to my feet, and I do exactly what she wants. This time, I kiss her hard and fierce to make sure we’ve sealed the deal.

  “I’m staying in New York,” I blurt. “I’m not leaving you, Rookie. Not when I’ve finally found you.”

  A breath slips through her lips that are swollen from my kiss. “So I heard. But, Dex, it’s your dream.”

  I shake my head. “It was my dream. Now my dream is building a life here in New York with you.”

  A smile pulls at the corners of her lush mouth, and emotion brightens her eyes. “You know I’d wait for you.”

  “I know. But that’s not the life I want for either of us.” I brush the pad of my thumb over her bottom lip. I take in her beautiful face, her blue eyes, her plump lips, her slender neck.

  “Eww.” Leo walks in again. “Go someplace else.” He plops onto the sofa and props up his feet.

  “Good idea,” Ava whispers against my ear. Her hot moist breath causes a shiver to race through me.

  I’d like nothing more, but I’ve got some unfinished business with Leo.

  I squeeze Ava’s side, more for my own comfort than hers. I’m not sure how to tell Leo that I’ve fucked up way more than anyone knows. “Truth is, the expansion is far bigger than what we can handle. Even with Magnus and Gerard overseas, the road ahead is still going to be rocky. We need more working capital than I thought.”