13. Ava

Chapter 13

Ava

T he temptation to murder my own father had never been more present in my mind.

I stood in the doorway of the kitchen in my tank top, cardigan, and oversized joggers, my hair tied up in a messily made bun. Dad had offered for me to spend the weekend in his penthouse, and when he'd invited me downstairs for family dinner , I didn't think that meant anything more than he and I and whatever he'd decided to cook.

I hadn't expected to find Adrian leaning against the kitchen island with a glass of wine in his hand, midway through a fit of laughter, in a white button-up shirt and a pair of nice jeans.

His eyes met mine, and I nearly fucking bolted.

"Dad—"

"Ava! Good God, I've been calling your name for twenty-odd minutes. Dinner's done," Dad said, lifting his apron up and over his head before hanging it on the side of the fridge.

"Why…why didn't you tell me Adrian was coming?" I asked, trying to keep my voice as level as I could. "I should change."

I glanced over at Adrian just in time to catch him mouthing, I'm sorry.

"Don't be ridiculous, pop tart," Dad scoffed. "Adrian's seen ya in pajamas before. I doubt he has a problem with it."

He's seen me in a lot less than pajamas.

"Honestly, Dave, I don't mind if she wants to change. We can wait a few more minutes to eat," Adrian offered. He glanced over at me, and for a split second, his eyes wandered below my chin, snagging briefly on the swell of my breasts. I should have worn a fucking bra. I pulled the sides of my cardigan closed at the front.

Dad groaned as he spun on the spot with a giant pot of Alaskan king crabs. "Fine. Go change clothes, kiddo. Be quick."

————

I didn't feel that much more comfortable in one of Dad's hoodies and my jeans, but it was better than being braless in front of the one person I was actively trying not to be attracted to.

"So," Dad said, hooking the cracker tool around the widest part of a claw and clamping down, filling the dining room with a loud crack . "How's the matchmakin' going?"

"Great," Adrian lied.

"A disaster," I clarified. I shoved my tiny two-prong fork into one of the long sections of a leg and fished out the meat. "Don't listen to Adrian, he's just trying to be nice to me."

Adrian's gaze lingered on me for half of a second too long, and I found myself tearing my gaze away, focusing instead on dipping the strip of meat into the little bowl of melted seasoned butter.

"It hasn't been that bad," he said. "I just haven't found anyone I'd like to see again yet."

I shot him a glare. He was sugarcoating this— hard .

"Really? Ava's usually a mastermind when it comes to this kind of shit," Dad said, cracking another bit of shell with his tool. "You sure you're not being a particularly difficult client?"

I snorted as I shoved a strip of meat between my teeth.

"I think we've both just been severely unlucky," Adrian chuckled. "Some of the women I've met with have been…questionable at best, but I don't think that's Ava's fault. I mean hell, one of them came right out and told me that she'd lied about being okay with kids purely to have the chance to go on a date with me. That's not Ava's fault."

"That's true, I had no idea. Lucy was very convincing," I said, popping another bit of crab into my mouth.

"Maybe you should be pulling from people who are a little less desperate to go on dates with wealthy men, kiddo," Dad offered.

I shrugged. "It's hard to keep up with all the requirements Adrian has," I said, and it wasn't technically a lie. I didn't know how much Adrian had told my father in terms of what he was searching for, but I wasn't about to out him on it if he wanted privacy in that regard. "Widening the pool seemed like a good idea when we started a few weeks ago. I probably need to go back to the drawing board."

"After Melissa? Absolutely you do," Adrian laughed.

"Melissa?" Dad asked.

Adrian chuckled as he cracked into a claw. "The woman I met last night. She turned up stoned to high hell and wearing a fairy costume."

A staggered coughing sound came from Dad, and for a split second, I wasn't sure if he was cackling or choking on crab meat.

" Jesus . Right, you two seriously need to work this out." Dad wiped his mouth with his cloth napkin as he set down his cracker tool.

"Maybe Adrian is just too hard for me to pin down," I shrugged, glancing across at him. "He'd probably do better on his own at this point."

"Ava—"

"Don't be ridiculous," Dad snapped, cutting Adrian off. "Listen, you two have barely scratched the surface. And I get that—I do, kiddo. You knew him when you were a teenager and probably barely paid attention to him."

I swallowed. I paid far too much attention to him, Dad.

"And Adrian, it can't be easy speakin' about all this shit with my daughter, y'know? There are boundaries there that ya don't want to cross, and I respect that."

Adrian's knee knocked against mine under the table, and for the briefest of seconds, the memory of him taking me from behind with his hand on my throat invaded my senses. The buttery bit of crab didn't taste like it should anymore—it tasted like his mouth.

"You've still got that place over in the Hamptons, yeah?"

"Yeah," Adrian said, cracking a leg in half and breaking the meat along with it. He cursed at himself before holding his hand out in my direction as a silent request for the little fork I'd been hogging. I gave it to him carefully, making sure we didn't even touch. I didn't need another flashback. "Why?"

Dad plucked another couple of whole crabs out of the pot at the end of the table and whacked them down on the serving dish in front of us. "Why don't you take Lucas and Ava out there next weekend so you two can…I don't know, iron out all the kinks?"

I nearly choked on my fucking crab.

"That's not?—"

"Adrian, respectfully, hear me out, would ya?" Dad snapped, and oh no, here we went—the I know better than you and will not be told otherwise side of my father was kicking in. He was incapable of being reasoned with when he was like this, and I could already feel myself shrinking into my fucking seat. "If she had the chance to be around Lucas, see how you are with him, and get to know you a bit better outside of business mode, I think it could really help her get a better idea of who you need in terms of a partner. You forget she hasn't been around ya at all for the last ten years?—"

"Dad," I interjected. "If Adrian isn't comfortable with it, then don't force me on him."

"No, look at him. He loves the idea."

I glanced at Adrian. All I could get from his face was mortification. "No, you've freaked him out, Dad."

"He's not…you haven't freaked me out, Dave," Adrian clarified, swallowing his food. "I just don't know how Lucas would feel about that."

Yes. Good. Perfect excuse.

"Lucas loves going to the Hamptons," Dad said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "He didn't have a problem when I came with you last time. Why is Ava any different?"

"I…"

"Listen," Dad insisted, leaning forward on the table toward Adrian. My stomach twisted as the realization slowly sunk in that neither of us could fight this—not without Adrian suddenly finding someone he wanted to spend the rest of Lucas's childhood with in the next five days. "You wanna find someone soon to help with Lucas? Because this might be your best bet."

Adrian sighed, and for the briefest of seconds, he met my gaze. "All right."

Dad's joyous, I was right laughter filled the room, and all I wanted to do was run. This was a horrible idea. For both of us.

Adrian nearly jumped as Dad's hand clapped him on the shoulder, tightening fiercely and giving him a little shake. "You should feel honored that I trust ya so much with my kid," Dad chuckled. "Don't think there's a man alive who I'd trust enough to ship her off for a weekend with except you."