by Aya Mai
‘’What are you still doing here?’’ William’s voice interrupted Grayson’s inner monologue.
‘’What are you doing here? I thought you were busy playing house?’’ Grayson snapped.
‘’I guess they were right.’’
Grayson rolled his eyes at his brother’s confusing statement. ‘’Who are they, and what are they right about?’’
‘’All the employees are talking about how you have turned into a broody monster.’’
‘’Hmmm…’’
‘’It’s a very different side of you. You’re always the funny, charming, tough businessman.’’
‘’Whatever. Did you want something, Willy?’’ Grayson said, purposely pissing off his brother by using the nickname he despised.
William, however, just smiled a knowing smile at him, which Grayson found rather unsettling.
‘’Has your newfound grumpiness anything to do with the fact that Ava has dumped your sorry ass?’’
Grayson pulled his lips over his teeth and snarled at his brother. He wasn’t in the mood. One wrong word from him and Grayson would punch the stupid knowing grin off his brother’s face.
‘’Do you have anything else to say, or was that it? If not, then please get the fuck out of my sight.’’
‘’Actually, I came because I wanted to discuss something with you.’’
Grayson studied William when he didn’t go on. His brother opened and closed his mouth several times, his worried look made Grayson nervous. He just knew something was wrong.
‘’Spit it out, Willy!’’
‘’Don't call me that!’’ William exclaimed. ‘’The thing is...Ava won’t be able to return to work at CPH for some time. She’s taking an indefinite leave of absence.’’
‘’What have I done?’’ Grayson mumbled defeated, losing another piece of his heart to pain. ‘’What have I done since she won’t come back?’’
‘’It’s not for me to say.’’
Grayson snapped his head up at William’s comment, for the first time feeling hope of finding out the truth. His brother knew why Ava was giving him the cold shoulder, ignoring him as though he didn’t exist. Grayson was certain that it was all an act, that Ava did care about him. His little church mouse, his feisty little kitten couldn’t possibly have faked their connection, could she?
Grayson launched at William, grabbing him by his shirt collar, pushing him up against the wall, letting the rage he had felt all week buzz through his body.
‘’Tell me what you know!’’ Grayson barked, spit flying out of his mouth. ‘’Tell me!’’
‘’Calm the fuck down, brother!’’ William shouted, grabbing onto Grayson’s arms, trying and failing to remove them.
‘’Fucking talk, William, or I swear to god I’ll…’’
‘’I can’t tell you. I promised Nicole I wouldn't tell you shit. She promised Ava she wouldn’t say anything, not even to me.’’
‘’But Nicole did, didn’t she?’’
‘’Only because I came home to a crying a Nicole, so I forced it out of her.’’
A sad expression overtook William’s face. Grayson didn’t know what it meant, but he was determined to figure it out.
‘’It’s time for you to spill the beans, little brother,’’ Grayson growled, putting extra force behind his already brutal grip on William’s shirt and suit jacket.
‘’Maybe you should try and talk to Ava.’’
‘’Don’t say stupid shit. You know I’ve been trying to get into contact with her all fucking week!’’
Grayson inched closer to his brother, yanking him forward for then to shove him back against the wall.
‘’Stop it, Grayson. I’m not a weak nerd anymore. I will fight you.’’ William’s fiery gaze convinced Grayson he was speaking the truth. A fight with his little brother would no longer be a walk in the park. William was just as muscular and tall as Grayson. They weren’t in high school anymore.
‘’Just tell me what’s the matter with Ava.’’
‘’Grayson, I…..’’
‘’Please,’’ Grayson begged, his eyes burning with angry, unshed tears.
William muttered inaudible words under his breath, but he must have seen something in Grayson’s face because in the end, William relented.
‘’Ava has moved back to her dad’s place for the time being, and she won’t return to CPH for some time, so you need to fill her place. You’re the only one I trust.’’
‘’What about Montgomery Inc?’’
‘’I’ll do the necessary work. I’ll make sure our current clients are happy, and their security systems are working as they should. We don’t need to take any more new clients on for the time being. This would also give me more time to spend with my family. I also have some app ideas I want to play with.’’
‘’Why?’’ Grayson asked.
‘’Why what?’’
‘’Why have Ava moved back home?’’
William shook his head. ‘’I really shouldn’t be the one saying this to you. If Ava had wanted you to know, she would have told you.’’
‘’Just tell me, William.’’
‘’She got some test results back from the hospital.’’
‘’Test results? Hospital? What the fuck are you talking about?’’ Grayson shouted, feeling confused and helpless.
‘’Ava has been diagnosed with breast cancer. I’m sorry.’’
‘’Cancer?’’ The word seemed foreign on Grayson’s lip. He hated the way it sounded. ‘’Is she going to be okay? Is that why she broke things off with me?’’
William’s lack of response made Grayson throw him back against the wall once more.
‘’I don’t know, Grayson,’’ William shouted, his eyes looking everywhere but at him. ‘’Nicole is the only one she talks to. But…’’
‘’But what?’’
‘’But according to Nicole, Ava said that cancer or no cancer, she would still have broken things off with you. Something about you having other women to attend to, and that the two of you were just some fun between the sheets.’’
‘’Other women to attend to? What the fuck is that supposed to mean?’’
‘’How the fuck should I know?’’ William’s accusatory glare said everything Grayson needed to know. His own brother still thought he was a replica of their old man.
‘’Is Ava going to be okay…’’ Grayson asked again. William still hadn’t answered him and it was driving him mad. Hundreds of horrible scenarios had already rushed through his mind. Ava had to be okay.
‘’The odds are good. They are a lot better at treating and curing breast cancer these days than they were back when Nicole and Ava’s mother died of it. Luckily, they caught it early.’’
Grayson couldn’t breathe, an invisible figure was clamping his throat shut. He wanted it all to be a bad dream. He wanted to wake up at his desk, realizing it was just a horrible nightmare. This couldn’t be real. Ava had to be okay. She had to be. He couldn’t lose her. An evil voice in his head taunted him, saying he already had, that Ava was never truly his to begin with and never would be. Women like Ava Campbell deserved better men the likes of him. It didn’t matter that Grayson loved her and wanted to give her the world, Ava deserved someone better. Someone like that author-jerk Martin Johnson, CPH’s newest bestselling author.
Grayson unfroze from the position he had been trapped in and released his hold on William. His brother threw some curses his way while correcting his suit, unwrinkling it. William’s words were nothing but static noise to Grayson’s ears.
In a split second, Grayson’s world had been turned upside down because he had just realized that he loved Ava Campbell. He was in love with her, and the foreign and painful feeling he was experiencing in his chest was heartbreak.
Chapter 9 - Ava
The room was dark. Her mind was dark. Everything was dark.
The clock proved it was one in the afternoon, but Ava still hadn’t gotten out of bed.
She didn’t feel like doing anything. She felt death take root in her body as she laid there unmoving and unwilling to fight it. She had lost all her power and energy. She was even too worn out to cry. She had no tears left to give.
Her phone went off again, alerting her to an incoming text. To her surprise, it was a text from Elaine, her assistant, saying she missed her and hoped that she would come back to work soon. Elaine had no idea what she was going through. Ava didn’t want anyone at the office to know. Not yet. She didn’t want their looks of pity, she just wanted to lay in the dark and feel sorry for herself.
Ava made the unwise decision of clicking on her gallery button, coming face to face with pictures of her and Grayson. The sight of herself on those pictures gutted her. She looked so happy. She missed those days. She missed him. She was sure he had already moved on by now if not with one then several women. A man like Grayson Montgomery was never alone for long.
Sadness and anger overtook Ava, giving her strength. She tossed her phone across the room, hitting the wall beside her bedroom door.
As on cue, the door to her bedroom opened, and Nicole stuck her head inside, asking if it was safe to come enter her chambers. Ava grunted, not bothering responding to her sister’s attempt to lighten the mood. William followed behind Nicole. He looked good, but not as good as Grayson.
Nicole went straight over and tore the curtains to the side, letting the burning sunshine in. Ava held up a hand in front of her eyes, the bright sun was painful.
‘’Where’s my nephew?’’ Ava asked, looking between the couple.
‘’He’s downstairs with dad,’’ Nicole answered, standing by Ava’s bedside with her hands on her hips and a determined look on her face.
‘’Are you going to lie here all day?’’ she asked.
‘’What else am I supposed to do?’’
‘’Are you seriously already playing the ‘I can’t do anything because I have cancer’-card? Even though you hate it when people feel sorry for you and pity you.’’
‘’A lecture is not what I need right now.’’
‘’It sounds to me like a lecture is precisely what you need right now,’’ Nicole argued.
‘’Did you see Dad's face?’’ Ava asked. ‘’Did you see his face when I told him about the..ca..cancer?’’
‘’Yeah,’’ Nicole muttered, taking a seat on Ava’s bed but keeping her distance as though she was afraid of breaking Ava if she were to touch her.
‘’He looked at me, but all he saw was Mom. He looked at me as though I was already dead. He barely looks at me now, and when he does, he stares at me so intently as if he is afraid it will be the last time he lays eyes on me.’’
‘’I don’t know what to say to that.’’
‘’You don’t have to say anything. I’m just sorry that I have to cause him so much pain that he has to live through me having cancer again. It’s not fair.’’
‘’I wish it were me,’’ Nicole muttered, tears running down her cheeks. William grumbled in the background, not liking his wife’s words one bit.
‘’Don’t say that,’’ Ava exclaimed, grabbing her sister’s arm in a firm hold. ‘’Don’t ever say that.’’
Nicole coughed and dried her eyes. ‘’I’m such a big crybaby these days. It’s all those damn hormones running through my body.’’
Ava gave Nicole a forced smile, knowing her sister was trying to lighten the mood. But Ava didn’t want to lighten the mood, she wanted to stay full of sorrow and hate and misery.
‘’Anyway, we came to get you out of bed, which is why William brought something for you to do.’’ Nicole held her arms out to William, who handed her a large pile of papers. ‘’These are some manuscripts. Grayson has read some of them and would love to hear your thoughts on the scripts and on the notes he has made, so when you’re done, you can just give him a call.’’
Energy surged through Ava’s veins. She wanted to scream. She didn’t want anything to do with Grayson effing Montgomery. Her heart wasn’t ready to see him or hear his low, manly voice that sent vibrations through her body.
‘’Not a good idea, sis.’’ Ava groaned, not even bothering to hide her dislike of the idea in her tone.
‘’Please, Ava,’’ William interrupted. Both Ava and Nicole looked up at him. ’’Grayson is a mess without you. He misses you. Everyone at the office complaints about his sour ass.’’
‘’Not possible. Nobody hates Grayson Montgomery. Everyone at the office adores his charming, devilish ass.’’
‘’Not anymore they don’t. He has turned into a broody, grumpy boss who hates everything and everyone. I’ve never seen my brother act this way before. Please, just give him a call regarding the manuscripts.’’
Ava took the heavy pile of papers, a part of her wanted to run them all through a shredder, another part of her craved to read. Reading had the power of inviting a person into another world and become a part of that world, making people dream and fantasize and forget all about their real-life problems for a short while.
Some handwritten words caught her attention. Ava would recognize the handwriting anywhere. It belonged to Grayson Montgomery. Unlike most men, Grayson Montgomery had a neat handwriting most women would be jealous of, but these notes looked to have been written in a hurry and with aggression. The notes looked angry next to the computer written text.
She traced a finger over Grayson’s notes. Why on earth would he want her opinion on these manuscripts? Grayson Montgeromty didn't need anyone else’s opinion on anything, and if he did, he could have asked people from the office.
‘’Your opinion is the only one that matters to him,’’ William answered, surprising Ava. She hadn’t realized she had voiced her musings out loud. ‘’According to him, no one at the office is as good as you. He only trusts your opinion.’’
‘’Well, that’s new.’’
‘’Not really,’’ Nicole argued. ‘’Since you guys started working together, you and your work is all Grayson has raved on and on about. The man can’t function without you. He wants your opinion on every little thing. You make him question himself and his own viewpoint. I can tell by the look on your face that you don’t believe me, but you’ve said so yourself that he would interrupt your workday all the time with questions about an author or to demand to know your thoughts on a certain manuscript.’’
‘’Grayson only ever did that to distract me from my own work and to get a rise out of me.’’
‘’I don’t think that’s true,’’ Nicole whispered. ‘’I think Grayson truly cares about you.’’
Ava scoffed. What a load of bullshit.
‘’I’m going to go downstairs and check on the little guy,’’ William interrupted, squeezing his wife’s shoulder, giving Ava an intense stare. She could see why her sister had fallen for the man. Something about those Montgomery brothers made it impossible for the Campbell women to ignore them and tell them no. ‘’Believe me, Ava, when I say that my brother cares about you deeply. He’s a sulky, angry mess without you.’’
Ava watched as William left the room, not waiting for a response, not that she would have given him one anyway. She didn’t believe him. Grayson was fine without her. Ava was just a shy church mouse with breast cancer. She wasn’t an attractive black-haired woman with great attributes, she was a sick brunette that soon would lose her hair and her womanly figure. Grayson wouldn’t want to fuck a thin broomstick. Hell, with cancer, Ava’s sex drive would be non-existent.
Grayson Montgomery would never wait for her.
‘’Tell me what he did,’’ Nicole demanded in a calming whisper.
‘’Nothing,’’ Ava sniffed, not realizing her cheeks were wet and her eyes stinging painfully. She was crying. Again. Just when she thought she had nothing left to give, Grayson Montgomery still somehow managed to get more out of her.
‘’Tell me what he did, Ava.’’
‘’He cheated!’’ Ava shouted, gasping for air when the words left her mouth, making t
hem real. ‘’He cheated on me with some stunning Hispanic woman.’’
‘’You saw it?’’
‘’I sure did. With my own fucking eyes. I saw him disappear inside a hotel room with her,’’ Ava sobbed, snorting unladylike. ‘’She was so beautiful, Nic. Black hair with curves in all the right places. I could never measure up to someone like her.’’
‘’That’s a load of BS, Ava. You’re beautiful.’’
‘’No. I’m pretty, but not drop dead gorgeous. And now I have cancer, you know what that does to me. My hair, my weight, everything.’’ Ava couldn’t control her emotions. She let out a broken scream, the pain overtaking every inch of her body.
‘’Maybe there’s a logical explanation for what you saw. Maybe Grayson…’’
‘’Don’t defend the scoundrel! I get him and me weren’t technically together, but seeing him with that woman fucking broke me, Nic. I wanted him. I wanted us. He made me break one of my rules. It wasn’t supposed to happen. I wasn’t supposed to fall in…in...in...’’
‘’...in love with him,’’ Nicole finished her sister’s sentence, leaning in, hugging her fiercely. ‘’I know you don’t believe me, but I’m sure Grayson has an explanation for what you saw that day. Grayson has been a lost puppy without you. He is constantly calling William, demanding updates on you because you refuse to answer any of his calls or texts. I know Grayson has feelings for you. I just know it.’’
‘’I hate him,’’ Ava exclaimed angrily, hugging her sister tighter. ‘’I hate him.’’
‘’How much do you hate him?’’ Nicole asked, knowing exactly what Ava was actually telling her.
‘’A lot,’’ Ava admitted, violent subs racking through her body at her admission.
‘’Oh, sweetie,’’ Nicole cooed, comforting her sister to the best of her abilities.
‘’It hurts. Everything hurts.’’
‘’I know. Love is uncontrollable. You don’t see it coming until it’s right there high-fiving you in the face with a baseball bat.’’
