Spark: Book 1 (The Heat Series)

by MJ Masucci

  Daniel sat down at his desk and typed on his laptop. “She is in office sixteen fourteen. I’m sorry that you have to be separated from Xander, but we cannot play favorites. I hope you understand.”

  “I do. We never wanted to jeopardize the firm.” With that Ava left the office to pack up her desk and move downstairs.

  While she was having a talk with Daniel, Peter sat glowering in the head chair of the conference room. Xander waited for him to speak. He knew that his father would have nothing good to say and he braced himself for the onslaught. “Alexander, do you want to explain to me what you think you are doing with this girl? Jason would have a fit if he knew you were dating his daughter. Are you dating her or just sleeping with her? Is she your rebound from Abby?”

  Xander could feel the anger rising in his body. He wanted to yell at his father, but that would only bring his wrath down harder. Nothing he seemed to do made his father happy. Nothing. “You know what Dad, first off she is not a girl; she is a woman. I love her, and I won’t be looking for the next woman; she is the next woman and hopefully the final woman in my life. Secondly, what I do in my bedroom is none of your business. I am in love with her.”

  His father threw his head back and laughed. “Alexander, do you even know what that is? You told me that you were in love with Abby but look what you did. You cheated on her so many times that I’m surprised she stayed with you this long. She gave you a taste of your own medicine by finally cheating on you.”

  “Who told you I cheated on her? Did she? It was the other way around. She cheated on me several times, and I always forgave her. I never cheated on her and if that is what she told you then you should not have believed her. Why didn’t you come to me and ask? You never gave me the benefit of the doubt, ever.” Xander watched as Peter thought about his words.

  “I have been pretty hard on you these past years, but it’s only because I want the best for you. She did come to me and tell me that you cheated on her several times.”

  Xander softened his voice, “It wasn’t true. I tried everything to make it work, but I was never good enough for her. All our relationship did was make me feel bad about myself. I don’t feel that way with Ava. She loves me, and I want to be the best man I can be for her.”

  Peter put his hand on Xander’s shoulder. “Son, I hope we can make our relationship better now that you are here.”

  “I hope so too. It’s something I have wanted for a long time.”

  Xander exited the office feeling light and heavy hearted at the same time. On one side, his relationship with his father was going to improve. On the other, he felt like he was losing Ava. The only way he could see her was if they left the office and that would be complicated. His schedule was such that he wouldn’t be able to do that often and who knew what her schedule would be.

  As Ava packed up her desk, Sam around the side of her cube and asked why she was packing. Ava explained she was transferring to the Real Estate Division on the sixteenth floor. Ava didn’t want to reveal her relationship with Xander just yet. Sam wasn’t thrilled that she would not longer be working next to her. She asked if Ava wanted to get together the upcoming weekend. Ava expressed concern over Liam since he was Justin’s best friend. She didn’t want to run into him while they were having fun. Sam told her that she was worrying too much about the situation with Liam and to move on. Ava told her she would let her know and headed for the elevators.

  When she arrived on the sixteenth floor, she made her way down to Victoria’s office. Victoria was sitting at her desk, and Ava knocked softly on the door. Victoria looked up at her. She was a thin woman of about thirty with dark brown hair, a sharply pointed chin and square glasses in thick frames. Before Ava could introduce herself, Victoria beat her to the punch.

  “I assume you are Ava, are you not?”

  “Yes, I am. Daniel sent me down.”

  “You do know that you aren’t working in my office, don’t you? I’m wondering why you brought your things down here instead of coming ready to work,” Victoria practically snarled at her.

  “I was just told to come down here. I haven’t been assigned a desk yet.”

  “Ava, I think we need to set some ground rules before we get started.” Ava swallowed hard and shifted the box in her arms. She placed the box near her feet and sat down in one of the chairs in front of Victoria’s desk.

  “I have several requirements for my assistants. I expect you to be on time and by that I mean I want you in by seven thirty not eight as some of the other assistants. I expect when I ask you to take care of a contract, title search or any other paperwork that I will have it in my hands before you leave the office. Do not, and I repeat, do not leave without talking to me before you go. I need a briefing of your activities during the day. Don’t just hand me paperwork or a folder without an explanation. When you are in the office, you are on my time. That means unless you are at lunch on your time, you will not take care of personal business. I don’t want to see your cell phone. I consider that personal, and that does not concern office business. It has no place here for how many hours you are in the office. If I work late, so do you unless I give you permission to leave before I do. If you have a question, and I am not busy, you can either ask me or Mark Malloy (Mark was the head legal assistant in the real estate division).

  Do you know who he is?“

  Ava answered. “Yes, I do.”

  “And lastly, I expect you to call me Ms. Carter. Other superiors might have let you call them by their first names, but I do not. Are you clear on all of this?”

  Oh yes, she was clear. She was certain she had walked into a snake’s nest. What a bitch. She looked familiar, and Ava wanted to ask where she was from in Georgia, but she was firmly intimidated by Ms. Carter.

  “Please get settled at your desk. I expect to see you in my office at seven thirty sharp tomorrow. You may go.”

  Ava reached down to pick up her box and left her office. She felt physically ill. What had she done to deserve working for this woman? Surely there were other attorneys that needed assistants. Ava called HR on her cell and was told to take any empty cubicle. As she unpacked, she checked the desk phone to make sure it worked. The last thing she needed was not to have a working phone.

  Ava left the office feeling like a dog that just got kicked. Why is this woman such a bitch? Is it me or is she like this with everyone? Ava had noticed that she wore no wedding ring and wasn’t surprised. She felt like she wanted to cry. She wouldn’t even be able to work out in the mornings or ever if this witch kept her late. She had no idea what the next day would bring, and she needed to go home and prepare for it. The only saving grace was that Xander would be with her tonight.

  He was bringing dinner, but Ava doubted that she would feel like eating. She knew that Dr. Emory had said for her to gain some weight and this was not the way to do it. By the time Xander arrived at her apartment, she did feel a bit hungry. He had picked up sandwiches from Stan’s. She told him about Victoria and how nasty she was to her. He tried to cheer her up, but nothing helped. She was going to have her hands full with Victoria. Her personal hell would start tomorrow. Something had been bothering her about what Daniel had said.

  “Can I talk to you about something?” Xander stared at her because he almost knew she had questions concerning today.

  “I told you, you can ask me anything.” Ava wanted to get the conversation she dreaded out of the way.

  “Uncle Daniel had told me that Peter had said that you cheated on Abby several times…”

  Xander held up his hand for her to stop. “That is not the truth. Abby was manipulative and went to my father and told him lies. She consistently assumed that I cheated on her even though she had no proof. One time we had a horrible snowstorm and the metro system was shut down. Even the cabs were not running. It was a choice between trying to walk home many blocks in dress shoes or stay at coworkers home. That coworker happened to be a woman. She had two roommates, and there was hardly any privacy to hav
e sex. Abby knew this yet she went crazy when she found out. It was after that that she approached my father.”

  Ava hung her head. “I’m sorry I doubted you. I knew it wasn’t true.”

  “I will always protect your heart; you are precious to me.” He stroked her cheek.

  “Let’s get into bed. I’m just so exhausted from the stress of today.”

  Xander brought light into her previously dull life, and she was happy to have him. When they got into bed, he wrapped his arms around her, and that is how she fell asleep. Xander, on the other hand, was wide awake long after that. He hated that she would be away from him during the day and what’s more that he wouldn’t be able even to text or email her. Maybe he would talk to Victoria. She seemed like someone who had something to prove. Abby was the same way, and he knew the type. He was worried that working for Victoria would make Ava upset and in turn, that would upset him.

  Chapter 14

  The next morning Ava awoke at five. Xander was under the covers with his arms around her, and she had to slip out without waking him. She didn’t want to be late this morning. She had the feeling that crossing Victoria would not be a beneficial position for her. She planned on being in the office before seven thirty. As she chased around the apartment doing her morning rituals, Xander finally woke up. It was six, a full hour after she had been awake.

  “You've dressed already? Why didn’t you wake me up?”

  “Because you haven’t been directed to be in the office by seven thirty. I want to be there even earlier than that. I don’t want to be late the first day working for her.”

  “You didn’t tell me that she wanted you in earlier than most of the other assistants.”

  “Uncle Daniel gets in at six-thirty.”

  “Yeah, but he is a partner. My father and Brian get in at eight. All the attorneys have their own schedules as long as they do the work. So we aren’t going in together?”

  Ava shook her head, “I’m sorry, but I’m leaving in a few minutes.”

  Xander got out of bed and headed to the bathroom. She heard him showering. He came down the hall with a towel wrapped around his waist, his chest and arms dripping drops of water on the floor.

  “What are you doing?”

  “I might not be able to see you during the day, but I certainly am not going to allow that woman to steal the few final minutes of the morning with you away from me. I want to smell your perfume on me and hold you until we get into the building. Please wait for me. We can take a cab and still get there in time.”

  Ava felt that way, too. She wanted to be near Xander as long as she could and be heady with his cologne for the whole day. She was sad thinking she would not be allowed to see or talk to him even electronically.

  “Okay, but you need to be ready within the next fifteen minutes.” She went to the kitchen to feed Riley then sat on the couch until he was dressed.

  “I’m done, and it only took me twelve minutes.” He sat down next to her to lace up his dress shoes. Then he took her in his arms and kissed her, sucking on her bottom lip and removing any lip gloss she had applied. “Mmmm, I taste strawberry,” He said licking his lips.

  “Xander! Now I have to fix it, and I don’t have time.”

  “Do it in the cab.”

  They made their way down to the street, and Xander hailed a cab. It was still early, so the traffic wasn’t rush hour heavy yet. When she was done fixing her lip gloss, he kissed her neck and gently sucked on it. She said softly,

  “Xander, stop, please.” She could feel a heat coming over her as his lips ran the length of her neck.

  “I need to get my fill of you before we get to work.” He placed one last kiss on her cheek before the cab pulled up to the building. Ava hurried to the elevator almost leaving Xander behind. He kissed her forehead just before the car stopped on the sixteenth floor. As she exited she reached her hand out to him, their fingertips touching. Then the door closed so he could continue his ride up to eighteen. Ava went to her desk to find several folders stacked upon it. There were instructions in handwriting that Ava could barely read. Her stomach knotted because she knew that she would have to approach Victoria for translation. Fortunately, when she logged on to her email, Victoria had sent her instructions in bold type.

  Ava,

  Please see attachment with duplicate notes. I expect you will bring the finished requests to me before you leave today. I will be in and out of the office all day. If you have any questions, please see Mark Malloy. As the Senior Assistant in this department, he should be able to help you.

  Regards,

  Victoria C. Carter

  Ava wondered what the C represented, but then again she had thought of a four-letter word, and it wasn’t very nice. She hated how Victoria kept stressing to ask Mark for help as if she were stupid. She wanted to work in the alcove near Victoria’s office. The couch looked brand new, but she was fearful that if Victoria came looking for her, she wouldn’t be at her desk. After a few hours of work, her eyes began to hurt. She wondered what Xander was doing at this moment. She hated that she had no contact with him. She needed to hear his voice or see his name in her email box. At least it was Friday, and she would have the entire weekend to spend with him.

  Xander sat staring at some of the documents related one of his current cases. He was bleary eyed from pouring over them the past few hours. He also felt at a loss because Ava wasn’t here. She was toiling on sixteen for a woman that probably wouldn’t appreciate her skills the way he did.

  He regretted the past twenty-four hours because if they hadn’t seen Jacob last weekend they probably would have kept quiet about their relationship. He was pissed off that she wasn’t with him. He put down the case files and typed off a text to her. He knew that she would have wait for lunch to look at her phone and work email was strictly out. The last thing they needed was the IT staff to see emails back and forth between them. They were company property, and he wouldn’t put it past his father to check to see that he was keeping contact with Ava to a minimum during work hours.

  Sweetheart, I long for you. I wish you were here with me in my office. I can no longer smell your perfume from this morning. I can’t wait to see you tonight.

  To Xander’s surprise, he got a text back almost immediately

  Your admission makes my day. I am on my own time right now and having a protein bar for lunch. I love you.

  Xander wasn’t happy that she was only eating a protein bar. That had what about two hundred fifty calories. He wished he could take her out to lunch. Unfortunately, her time was no longer his when they were in the office. She worked for someone else, and he couldn’t dominate her time and get her in trouble with Victoria. She had mentioned that the woman’s name sounded familiar, but she couldn’t place her. He wondered if Michael had any idea who she was. He picked up the phone and dialed his number, and when he didn’t pick up, he left a voicemail.

  He put the phone back in the cradle and hoped that Michael would get back to him soon. He opened the case file he had been working and started taking some notes. Several minutes later his phone rang.

  It was Michael Keene and after a few pleasantries, he got right to the point. Xander asked him how he knew Victoria Carter.

  “We dated for a few months in between graduation and my first year in law school. It didn’t work out for a few reasons; mainly she was a bitch.”

  “Well, your sister is dealing with that bitchiness. The woman is not very nice to her subordinates.”

  “Ava is working for her?”

  “Does Victoria know who Ava is?”

  “She was only thirteen or fourteen at the time, but she met Victoria several times.”

  “Did your relationship end amicably?”

  “No, it did not. Victoria wanted a long distance relationship, but I couldn’t see that. She accused me of using her as filler for the summer. She might remember Ava, but I guess Ava doesn’t remember her.” Xander whistled through his teeth.

  “Why are
you taking such an interest in my sister?”

  Xander wasn’t about to reveal that he and Ava were dating.

  “I’m interested in seeing Ava happy, and she is a friend.”

  Michael paused, “just a friend?”

  “Even if she wasn’t a friend I can’t see anyone treating her poorly. She is kind and sensitive.”

  “Geez, Xander, you want her, don’t you?”

  Fuck, was it that obvious?

  “No, I just want her to be treated well.”

  Michael didn’t press the issue anymore. “I have to go. I need to be in court in twenty minutes. Tell Ava if you see her that I want her to call me.”

  “I will. Goodbye.”

  Xander replaced the phone back in its cradle. He hated lying to Michael, but it wasn’t his place to tell him without consulting Ava. He would discuss it with her tonight.

  Ava finished the work she was doing by 4:15. She gathered the materials together and made her way to Victoria’s office. The door was closed, but she could see light illuminating from the window above the door. She knocked.

  “Enter.” Ava opened the door, but Victoria kept her head buried in a book.

  “Vict…Sorry, Ms. Carter, I finished the contracts you wanted. I also made the calls you required and took notes on the conversation I had with the county clerk.” She paused waiting for Victoria to answer her.

  “Bring them here so I can look through them.” Ava approached her desk and placed the files in front of her. She accidentally jostled her cup of water on Victoria’s desk causing it to slosh over the edge of the cup. The water splashed onto the desk and wet the large calendar she kept there.

  “Dammit, Ava. Did I tell you to throw them on the desk like that?”

  Ava bristled. “I didn’t throw...” Victoria cut her off.

  “Don’t argue with me. And don’t just stand there with your mouth hanging open, get some paper towels to clean up this mess.” Ava turned and could feel her eyes burning from the tears. She swiped at them as she hurried to the bathroom. When she came back, Victoria was still sitting at her desk waiting.