Talking about his wife openly was a very sore subject for Jack.
He nodded anyway " Yeah " and glanced down at his son who lacked his mother's love. Another look of pain crossed over his features. On noticing the thick and uncomfortable silence, Ava quickly thought of what to do to clear the air and an idea came to her finally. She made a funny face at Liam and the latter bursted into an uncontrollable laughter, startling the two men. They both looked at him and followed his gaze to see Ava making funny faces at him. They smiled, but for different reasons. While Jack's smile was a wistful one couple with gratitude that at least his son had someone like Ava in his life, Alex smiled, thinking about how great of a mom she would be. He could picture her tending to her kids lovingly... His kids. He stopped, after realizing where his thoughts were leading. He slapped himself mentally. Holy shit, where had that come from? His kids??
" No fucking way " He thought he said it in his mind but didn't know he actually said it out loud to everyone's hearing. Three pair of eyes stared at him blankly.
" Huh... Sorry " He apologized stiffly and Jack smiled at his brother knowingly.
He had seen the way his brother stared at Ava with longing.
" What? " Alex asked with a glare, his eyes daring Jack to try anything funny.
Jack quickly shook his head " No no... Nothing at all. We should get going now, Liam "
They said their goodbyes and wanted to leave but Liam refused to move an inch without taking Ava with him.
" Come with us, Ava " He said in his cute, baby voice and Ava felt her heart melt at his words.
" Awwwnn, my sweet Liam " She pinched his cheeks lightly and pecked him on his forehead.
" I promise to come play with you tomorrow, we'll play around till we get tired, huh? " She coaxed but Liam shook his head
" No, come with us now " He said again, as though he didn't hear what Ava previously said.
Alex came to her rescue and bent down to the child's eye level " Look young man, Miss Ava is mine and I don't share what's mine "
Ava's cheeks turned a light shade of pink as she blushed furiously. His words sounded genuine and someone who didn't know better would think he meant every word, not just trying to scare the little boy.
Alex realized he had sounded too serious when he was just trying to do was to scare little Liam but it all came out wrongly.
He faked a cough " She's my babysitter, you can tell your dad to find you one too "
He bumped Liam's nose with his index finger and straightened up " Now shoo, we've had enough of you today " He said firmly with a light shove and Jack shot him a playful glare. They all laughed. Ava made more promises to Liam and they finally left. She waved until Jack's car was out of sight.
A sigh escaped through her lips " I'm no match for his energy " She said to herself and turned to find Alex right behind her. He uttered no word and continued to stare down at her.
Ava cleared her throat " Uh... If you'll excuse me " She mumbled and brushed past him to go inside the mansion. Alex followed her quietly and took a seat once they got to the large sitting room. He swung his right leg over the left one and watched her pick some things here and there. She was on the verge of leaving the room when he stopped her by asking a question.
"The other time, who were you on a call with? " He said without thinking about the implications of what he just said. Ava stopped in her tracks and turned to him. But instead of giving him the answer he wanted to hear, she threw a question back at him.
" Giving you the details of who I call wasn't included in the contract, was it? " She asked quietly.
Alex was taken aback for a minute as he struggled with an answer. He didn't expect her to throw a question back at him but he definitely knew she wouldn't give him a reply right away.
" Okay, if you'll excuse me now " She said for the second time that evening and started walking away.
Alex facepalmed himself, thinking he fucked up. He shouldn't have asked her that question or any questions at all. Heck, who she talked to or met with was none of his fucking business. He just couldn't help himself.
Later that night around 7, Ava came out of her room looking as gorgeous as ever. She met Maggie downstairs.
" Oh, I didn't know you were still up, I was just about to leave a note for you that... " Maggie interrupted Ava's sentence with a gasp and an excited squeal.
" Wowww! Who's this angel?! " She spined around Ava and the latter laughed at at Maggie's attempt to make her feel beautiful.
She was not too sure about the whole thing and knew it was just her feeling but she felt too dressy. It was probably because she had never worn something like that before neither had she dolled up herself that way.
Maggie came to a halt before her " Do you trust me? " She asked seriously and Ava laughed lightly.
" Of course Maggie, you know I do " She answered, still laughing.
Maggie then pointed a finger at Ava " You, my girl, look very beautiful tonight " Tears gathered in her eyes but she blinked back the tears threatening to fall .
" I never thought I'd live to see this day to witness you looking so breathtaking! " She sniffed.
Ava pulled the woman to her and gave her a warm hug " Thank you so much " She whispered and her voice trembled as she tried to prevent herself from breaking down in tears.