Chapter 30

" You go to work everyday though, no day is is an exception " She said thoughtfully, eyeing him from her long lashes.

" And what is it to you if I go to work or not? Last time I checked, it's my fucking company and I can fucking do whatever I want with it " He lashed out.

" Exactly! " She replied in the same tone, matching his energy.

" Every normal human should work in 5 working days so I wouldn't dare question you for staying home on a Saturday, you need all the rest you can get " She added.

Alex's eyebrows creased in a frown " Are you implying that I'm not normal? " He asked, somewhat offended by what she said.

" Oh no! " Ava exclaimed dramatically and clamped her hands on her mouth as if doing that would prevent her from uttering more offensive words. " I didn't say that, did I? "

Alex opened his mouth to reply but the sound of a phone ringing stopped him. At first, he thought it was his but relaxed when the vibration sound wasn't coming from his pockets. Then he looked up to see Ava holding up her phone and staring at it intently with her eyebrows furrowed deeply in concentration.

" Are you okay? " He blurted out without thinking. Of course, his instincts always kicked in whenever it had to do with her.

" Huh? " Ava asked mindlessly, still staring down at her phone like she wasn't sure if it would be a good idea to pick the call.

" Is something wrong? " Alex asked again, loudly this time.

Ava finally looked up and nodded " Yeah, everything is fine " She answered and sent him a quick smile as if she was trying to reassure him. Without another word, she hit the receiver button.

" Hello? " She said cautiously.

A second later, her voice changed from an anxious one to excitement.

" Hunter?? What took you so long to call me?! " She screeched and laughed at what the person on the other end said.

Alex could only watch her as she kept acting all cute with the person. His guess was the douchebag, whom he had seen pictures of was the one talking to her that moment. He seethed in anger and clenched his fists, wanting some blood.... The douchebag's blood. He heard a whimper and his look of anger cleared immediately he realized what he had done. Little Liam stared at him as his big eyes welled up in tears. He probably couldn't figure out why Uncle Alex was being mean to him suddenly.

" Hey Liam, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you, alright? Uncle was just thinking about a bad guy, okay? " He said softly.

Liam stared at him in confusion and Alex knew the boy probably didn't understand everything he said. He held the boy against his chest and patted his soft, silky hair. He looked in Ava's direction and saw that she had not ended the call. In fact, it seemed to him like she was enjoying every bit of it.

Because of the attempt he was trying to make at putting Liam at ease, he lost track of her conversation with the douchebag. Ava even seemed to have forgotten that he had and Liam existed. She paced back and forth for a while and finally sat on the couch nearby. Alex thought of what to do to gain her attention and also end her conversation with the guy and finally arrived at a suggestion after some minutes of thinking.

He called out to her " Liam seems to want to sleep " which was actually true.

" Oh alright " She said, taking a glance at them. To the douchebag, she said sweetly " Hold on a sec Hunter, I've got a kid to put to bed " She walked to where Alex stood with Liam in his arms. His gaze on her was hard now. He was annoyed that his plan didn't work the way he wanted after all. Ava didn't seem to notice his anger though. She stretched out her arms for the boy to be handed to her and muttered a ' thank you ' before walking away.

Oh God, her scent was driving him crazy, he thought as he sniffed the air discreetly.

" Don't tell me you're jealous?! " She asked, laughing.

" Yeah, I'm jealous " Alex said to no one in particular, gritting his teeth and he stormed back into his arm.

Later in the evening, Jack cake to pick up his son and he thanked Ava profusely for watching his sone while he was gone.

" I hope you didn't give Miss Ava a hard time did you now? " Jack asked his son and stroked his head lovingly.

" Of course he didn't " Ava answered on the kid's behalf and smiled at him warmly.

" You were such a good boy, right? " She asked without really expecting an answer from the little boy.

Liam nodded and grinned at Ava. At that moment, Jack looked behind Ava " Hey brother, I didn't know you were home. How strange "

Alex rolled his eyes the same time Ava turned to acknowledge his presence. Again, there was that thick, electrifying atmosphere around them, Jack thought. There was definitely something going on between the two. He was sure they weren't dating, at least not yet, but there was definitely something brewing and he was determined to be patient enough to find out.

" Don't tell me you were banned from your own company? " He teased Alex, making a surprised face.

Alex scoffed " Not funny Jack, where have you been all day? "

Jack's smile dropped instantly and his face hardened as though he remembered something upsetting.

" I had some unfinished business to take care of " He replied sourly.

Alex thought about it for some seconds and arrived at an answer.

" With Mabel, I guess? " He asked quietly.