26. Ava

TWENTY-SIX

AVA

Blayne was gone when I woke. Off to train with the other shifters again, I was sure. I didn't know how he was doing it. They'd been going like that for days on end. He was getting less than five hours of sleep a night most of the time. I hoped it was all worth it. If they were working themselves to death, it had better make them good enough to beat Antonio's guys.

A glance at the clock showed I had an hour before Dad had to be at the clinic. This was the first day of his last chemo treatments. Once we saw how the tumor had reacted, the doctor would either go ahead and prescribe surgery to remove it, or if it hadn't shrunk enough, we would go to radiation as the next step. The nurses were hopeful thar the chemo would be the only treatment needed. I prayed they were right, though that was a pretty rare occurrence. We had nothing to do but wait and see.

I dressed and headed into the main house to get Dad. The house was bustling with energy even that early in the morning. It had been like this since Dad had aligned himself with Blayne and the others. Our family hadn't truly had many enemies in all the years I'd known about my father's business. Mostly it was because we were in the middle of the country. Most of the bigger crime families were concentrated in the big cities—New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, LA. All Dad and my uncles had to worry about were some of the drug cartels. Antonio's threat seemed to have injected life into everyone in the organization.

Dad's bedroom door was ajar. I leaned in and didn't see him.

"Dad?" There was no answer from his closet or the bathroom. "Are you in here?" I walked in and visually checked both. Nothing.

My father had been an early riser most of my life, but the treatments had done a number on him, and for the most part, he'd been sleeping in most days. Some days he didn't get out of bed until almost ten. This wasn't typical.

I hurried out of his room and went down the hall to his office. Also empty. The guest bathroom, living room, and back porch were vacant. I found Uncle Luis in the kitchen with a cup of coffee in his hand.

"Where the fuck is my father?"

He flinched at my tone and set his cup down. "Um, he had some business to tend to."

"Business?" I hissed. "What kind of business? And how fucking important could it be? More important than his fucking chemotherapy?" My vision was literally going red. I couldn't remember the last time I'd been this angry. I'd also never spoken to one of my uncles like this.

Luis looked flustered and confused. "Shit, Ava, I didn't know this was a treatment day. Honestly, I didn't. Hang on, let me try and get him on the phone."

"You do that," I snapped.

He glanced at me and gave an apologetic shrug. "I have to warn you, he may not have service where he is."

"I don't give a fuck. If you can't get him on the phone, you get your happy ass in the car, drive to him, and tell him to get his ass home. Now."

Luis hustled out of the room punching numbers into his phone. "Jesus Christ, okay, okay."

I pulled my own phone out and called the hospital. There was no way we were going to make it on time. I waited almost ten minutes to speak with someone about changing his appointment to later in the week. The whole time, my anger kept building. He'd promised me he was going to go through with all the treatments. He told me to my face that he would make them a priority. Now he'd gone off on some business that was somehow more important than his own life.

Luis leaned back into the kitchen. "Ava?"

"What?" My voice was only a step away from a scream.

"Sorry." He dragged the word out. "Uh, Gio's on the way home. Should be here in thirty minutes or so."

"Good. Tell him I'll be in his office." I brushed past my uncle and stomped up the stairs.

Once I was in his office, I flopped into his large leather chair. I'd hoped being up there in the quiet would help calm me down. It didn't. I looked around the room and saw pictures of me and Mom standing next to Dad. It reminded me of what I'd lost and how much I still had to lose.

I was not na?ve. One day my father would die. Everyone would. But goddamn it, if there was a way for him to stay for a few more decades, I wanted him to.

Half an hour later, my father walked through the office door. He blinked in surprise when he saw me sitting in his chair. "Ava? Hey, sweetheart."

"Don't hey sweetheart me. Sit down."

He walked toward me and gave a lopsided grin. "Are we going to have a talk?"

"Sit the fuck down," I snapped.

Dad's knees almost buckled and he fell into the chair in front of me. His face went pale. He'd never seen me this angry because I'd never directed my anger at him. "You're mad."

"You're damn right I'm mad. You knew you had a treatment today. Knew that I would come over to take you. So you got out of the house before I even woke up. How selfish are you? I can't believe we're even having this conversation. What do you have to say?"

Dad leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "Listen, Ava, there were some things that needed my attention. Things that were more important than?—"

I bolted to my feet. "More important? More important ? Are you fucking kidding me right now? Don't you dare sit there and tell me anything is more important than your life. Nothing— nothing— in this world means more to me than your life." Tears sprang to my eyes, and that just pissed me off more. I hated crying in front of my father. "You can't throw your life away for some stupid job."

He held his hands up. "Honey, I'm sorry."

He got up and came around the desk. He tried to hug me, but I slapped his hands away. I was still pissed off, but he didn't back away. Instead he wrestled me into a hug, his large arms encompassing me. I gave in and sobbed against his chest.

The stress must have been getting to me. I never broke down like this. Ever.

"I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking. You're right. I was an insensitive asshole."

He was probably only trying to appease me, but I didn't care. It was good to hear those words, and I hugged him tighter.

"I love you, Daddy. You have to take care of yourself. I can't lose you."

"I love you, sweetheart. I promise, I'll go to the treatment. I'll call and reschedule."

"Already done."

"Okay then." He laughed. "I'll see you on my doorstep whatever morning that is, I guess."

"Bet your ass."

"As much fun as this has been, are you okay if I go take a nap? I'm worn out."

"You mean waking up before dawn to go on some secret mission while dodging your daughter was tiring? I'd have never thought."

He shook his head and grinned ruefully. "I'm going for a nap. See you later, little one."

I watched him until he closed his bedroom door behind him. I stayed in the office until my tears dried and my face wasn't red anymore. I didn't want the whole house knowing I had been sobbing my eyes out like a baby.

Downstairs, the activity level was increasing. Everything was chaos. There were people everywhere, and so much going on that it was hard to think. I thought about going back to the guesthouse, but the only thing worse than all these people being around was the thought of being alone. It was a very strange feeling.

Blayne was busy, and Dad was tired. There was one person I could call and hopefully get to hang out a bit. I found a quiet spot in the living room and dialed April.

"Hey, Ava. What's up?"

"I really needed to talk to someone. Listen…I need to get out of this house. I'm going stir-crazy. Are you free?"

"Lord, I'm glad you said that. I feel the same way. Steff has been gone all day every day. It's like I am a prisoner in my own house or something. Can we get some coffee?

"Yes, please. Can I meet you at that place downtown?"

"Yeah," she said. "I have to warn you, Steff has a few of their security techs following me. Hope that won't freak you out."

I laughed. "It's fine. Your bodyguards and my bodyguards can exchange notes. It'll be like a big family get-together."

I texted Dad letting him know where I was going. To my surprise, he wasn't asleep. He responded within seconds:

I'll have a couple of extra guys patrolling outside the coffee shop. Have fun. Be safe.

I rolled my eyes and walked to my car. The two guys assigned to watch me were hustling to jump into their car and follow me. Ignoring them, I drove to town and met April at the coffee shop. She'd already arrived and had gotten a seat in the back. I waved to her and placed my own order. Once my drink and pastry were ready, I carried them back to sit with her.

"Hey girl! This is nice, isn't it?" April said looking around at the busy shop. "I'd almost forgotten what it was like to have people around."

"I've got the opposite problem. My dad has, like, everyone who works for him at my house. At least that's how it feels. I can't think straight. But at least these are normal people," I said, glancing around. "Not hulking mafioso guys who have a hard time finding their sense of humor."

"Ugh, true." April took a sip of her drink. "How are you holding up? With everything going on, I mean?"

"As good as I can. Things with Blayne are going really well. If there's one good thing that came out of this, it's me getting to be with him."

"Amen. This whole curse thing should have been a bitch, but it found us all some really good guys. In the life I had before, good honest men were hard as hell to find."

"How are the others doing? Celina and Harley?"

"Harley is stressed. She's texted me nonstop since she's been gone. The kids are enjoying the beach. Her girls are old enough to know something is going on, but she's done all she can to keep them from knowing. That adds another level of stress. She knows they're safer away from Lilly Valley, though. It'll be easier for Tate to concentrate without worrying about them.

"Celina got back to LA safe. She's more or less setting up camp in her friend's place. She seems okay, but it's not ideal to be pregnant and have to leave your doctor and your man behind for however long." April stared at her cup, slowly turning it in her fingers. "I'm scared, Ava. I've hidden it pretty well, but this whole thing has me freaked out. I finally got Steff back. Now I might lose him again. Forever."

"That's pretty much right where I am. I'm worried more about losing Blayne than what might happen to me."

"Well," April said with a shrug, "we'll have to make sure to screw their brains out as much as possible. That'll keep their stress low and remind them what they have to come home to."

I choked on my coffee. I wiped my mouth and laughed. "I'm sure they'd hate that."

"How's it really going with Blayne? I know you like him, but is there anything else?"

I mulled that over. Then I realized the whole reason I wanted to meet up with her was to discuss Blayne. Why not get it all out there and see what my friend thought?

"I think I might be falling in love with him."

April raised her eyebrows. "And how does that make you feel?"

I huffed out a breath. "It should make me happy, and it does, don't get the wrong idea. It's brilliant. Exciting and scary at the same time. I wonder what it'll do to me if I lose him. I loved his brother, and his death almost killed me. I don't know whether I can survive it happening again."

"I get it. I really do. I didn't lose Steff to death, but I lost him for years. That was bad enough. I can only imagine what it might be like if he was truly gone. We have to trust that they'll all come out of this war alive and well. There's nothing else we can do."

I picked at my croissant and took a few sips of my drink before another question sprang to mind. I'd tried to keep it far back in my mind, but this was probably the best chance I'd have to verbalize it.

"April? I know the curse brought me to Blayne. It brought you and Steff together. And it allowed you to become shifters, and it allowed you to have kids together. I…well…when I officially rejected Blayne and broke the curse, did that end those possibilities? Like, will I not turn into a shifter? And does it mean Blayne and I won't be able to have babies?"

"You want children?" April's eyes were big as saucers.

"Well…no…er, yes…maybe. I don't know. I'm thinking about what it means for me to have rejected him. I've always thought about being a mom. I just never thought it would be in the cards for me. Even when I was with Liam, he'd told me humans and shifters couldn't have babies, so I pretty much put that out of my mind. Then he died, and I spent years running from relationships."

"You're wondering if it'll still work even though you broke the curse?"

I nodded. "Yeah. I know Blayne, but I'm worried I might have ruined whatever chances we might have had by rejecting him."

April leaned back in her chair and looked overwhelmed. "Honestly? You need to talk to Blayne about all this. You're the first one of us to ever reject their mate. I do not have a lot to go on."

"Thanks for rubbing it in," I scoffed.

"I know, right? If not for the whole she's dead thing, I'd say we should ask the witch who cast the spell. Barring her returning from the dead like a zombie, I think you'll need to talk to him and see where things go once all this is over."

"I'll talk to him tonight," I said.

I swung by the store after leaving the coffee shop. I wasn't sure when Blayne would get back, but I wanted to make sure I had dinner ready for him. He'd been working his ass off, and it was the least I could do.

Deciding I wanted something that would stick to his ribs, I bought chicken to fry, potatoes to mash, green beans I'd pair with bacon, and fresh bread rolls. Living in Virginia had given me some exposure to Southern cooking. If Blayne didn't like what I was going to make, nothing would satisfy him.

Thankfully, Blayne texted when he was on his way. It was still late, but it was seven instead of ten or midnight. By the time he got home, I was almost finished with the potatoes.

"Holy God," Blayne said as he closed the door. "What is that smell? Whatever it is, it smells delicious."

"I made dinner," I said, placing a big tray of deep fried chicken on the table. "I've gotta get the rolls out of the oven. Can you put the potatoes and green beans out?"

"Hell, yes." Blayne looked like he was trying not to slobber as he grabbed the two pots.

After setting the rolls on the table along with a stick of butter, I sat beside Blayne. "So. How was the day?"

He shook his head and sighed wearily as he filled his plate. "It's like I'm in military training. Tate is like a drill sergeant. Steff is almost as bad. Thank fuck, Miles isn't in charge of that. I don't think I could handle all three of them yelling all day."

"A bunch of new shifters showed up today," I said. I'd seen them when I returned from the store a few hours before. "My uncles were getting them up to speed today. They'll join you guys tomorrow morning. I'm surprised how many of Dad's people knew about shifters. I guess Liam worked with more of them than I thought. Word must have gotten out over the years since he died. None of the guys seemed to bat an eye seeing a guy change into a dragon. Speaking of, how's Jared doing? I haven't seen him much lately."

Blayne stuffed a huge hunk of fried chicken into his mouth, chewed, and swallowed before answering. "He's all right. Tate has helped him really get a hold of his dragon. He's in control and can shift on command." He looked at me as he scooped a massive forkful of mashed potatoes into his mouth. "I still wonder if he'll have the heart for it when we end up going against Antonio's guys. Or if we meet up with Antonio himself. That bastard fucked that kid's head pretty good. How was your day?"

"Me? Oh, it was fine. I had coffee with April."

"Did your guards go along?" Blayne asked, suddenly suspicious.

"My normal guards and some extra to watch the coffee shop. Dad was a little paranoid."

"The more, the merrier."

I hadn't touched any of my food. Instead, I sat there beside him, wondering how to broach the subject. I twisted my napkin nervously in my hands.

Blayne looked down at my fidgeting fingers and raised an eyebrow. "Something on your mind?"

"Huh?" I jerked my head up from where I'd been looking at the table.

Blayne laughed and set his knife and fork down. He wiped his mouth with a napkin and grabbed his glass of water. "Spit it out. Whatever is bothering you. I want to hear it."

It was like I was a grenade, and by saying that, he'd pulled the pin. My eyes widened. I knew what was getting ready to come blurting out of my mouth, but I had no power to stop it. It was coming, and there was no way to keep it from happening.

"Is it still possible for us to have babies?"