A Broken Fate (The Beautiful Fate Series book 2) Page 22

  Ari’s office was decorated in the same fashion as the rest of baio. He had a few personal items on his desk. A photo of the two of us with our faces pushed together, wearing sunglasses, out sunning on the sandy beach by our home. The Times was resting, folded up near his computer and his empty, coffee-stained mug sat on the other side of the paper along with the most recent baio catalog.

  I picked Max up and walked over to Ari’s huge window. I pointed to different buildings along the skyline, then looked down towards the street at the cars buzzing by and got dizzy. A few minutes later, I heard the door click open I turned around expecting to see Ari, and was seriously disappointed to see Ari’s assistant, Fauna.

  Fauna did not look at all as I had expected. She wasn’t a fake, tall, skinny blonde. She was my height with long, wavy brown hair, green eyes and a pretty, dazzling white smile. She was naturally beautiful.

  “Hello, Mrs. Alexander,” she said to me with a kind smile, “Mr. Alexander is in a meeting but he’ll be out shortly. Is there anything I can get you?” She ran her fingers through her hair a bit nervously.

  I eyed her for a minute then shook my head no and looked over at Aggie to see if she needed anything. She shook her head no, too and Fauna quietly let herself out of Ari’s office.

  Fifteen minutes later, I started to get restless and so did Max. Aggie was flipping through the catalog at Ari’s desk so I decided to take Max for a walk through the building. We walked the halls for a little bit and everyone offered Max candy and chips, whatever little snacks that they had holed away in their desks. He thought the whole place was great and probably created just to amuse him, but I was growing increasingly ill at ease. I continually suppressed the chills that ran up and down my spine.

  We reached the back office, Margaux’s office. The lights were off and the door was closed. She was gone, just as Ari had promised. I looked around and saw no one, so I opened the door and flipped the switch.

  Max and I walked in and I slowly looked around the room. Ari was right; there were pictures of me everywhere, not in a stalker kind of way, but it a loving grandmother kind of way. Margaux had a picture of herself on her desk; in it, she was smiling from ear to ear and was holding a very tiny baby with a head full of dark hair and bright green eyes. That picture was the first and last photo the two of us had ever had taken together.

  She showcased my life in photos. She displayed my awkward and clumsy school pictures, piano recitals, dance recitals. She even had pictures of Ari and me from our wedding.

  I picked up a photograph of our first dance and showed it to Max.

  “Look, Max, that’s Ari. Do you remember Ari?”

  He smiled and then giggled a little bit and said, “Ari!”

  “Yes?” Max and I both turned around and saw Ari leaning against the doorway with a huge, beautiful smile stretched across his face. I set Max back down and he ran over to Ari and hugged his leg. I was right behind Max and wrapped my arms tight around Ari’s neck.

  “What are you doing in Margaux’s office?” he asked curiously.

  “I guess I just had to see it for myself.”

  “Ah, well, she’s still around here somewhere, so let’s hurry up and go.”

  I flipped the light off and shut the door. Ari picked Max up and carried him back down the hall, tickling him the whole way. The hall rang with Max’s loudest giggles ever, but Ari didn’t stop. He didn’t care at all that people were working or on the phone, he just tickled Max harder, causing even bigger laughs. I stayed a few steps behind him and saw how happy he was. How would I be able to tell him that I had agreed to let Aggie take Max? Pain attacked my stomach when I thought of what I had done.

  Once we arrived back to Ari’s office, he handed Max off to Aggie. Then Ari pulled me into his arms and kissed me passionately. I could feel my cheeks getting pinker and pinker by the second.

  “Alright,” Aggie finally said. “Some things are better off being done at home.”

  Ari pulled away and smiled at me again, looking at me in my eyes. He tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear and gave me one more little kiss. Max whined and pushed out of Aggie’s hands and wrapped himself around Ari’s leg.

  “Ari, Margaux stopped by here looking for you. She said she needed to speak with you.”

  “About what?” Ari asked as he picked Max back up in to his arms. “I just spent the entire afternoon stuck in a meeting with her.” He rolled his eyes. “What more could she have to say?”

  “I wouldn’t know, darling. She said she was looking for you -- you weren’t here so she said she would just talk to you when she got back from her trip. Margaux and I chatted for a bit and she left.”

  Aggie took a step and stumbled forward towards the floor. Ari, with Max still in his arm, jumped towards her and grabbed hold of Aggie, steadying her on her feet.

  “Jeeze Ma, are you alright?”

  She looked up at him and slowly shook her head. “I’m ok. I’m just a bit dizzy; jet lag from the long trip.”

  “Sit down.” He ordered.

  Aggie smiled. “I’m fine now, Ari. Let’s go home.”

  He gave her a sideways glance, she patted his cheek sweetly and we left his office.

  “Have a nice evening, Fauna.” Ari knocked on his assistance’s desktop with his knuckles and she waved goodbye while she talked on the phone.

  Ari grabbed hold of my hand and we walked through the halls towards the elevators with every single person saying goodbye or wishing us a nice evening. I had a feeling of uneasiness while in the baio office, and the feeling seemed to stay with me as we left and headed for home.

  Ari continued to hold my hand on the ride home, kissing each knuckle seemingly a hundred times and stroking the back of my hand with his thumb. He asked how the trip was. I filled him in on the details of Maya’s funeral and of going through her meager belongings. When I was through, he told me I hadn’t missed much at home other than a squabble between Rory and Julia over whose turn it was to do the laundry.

  “I didn’t get any furniture yet for the extra bedroom so Max will just have to stay with us in our room until we can pick out some things. The three of us can shop this weekend. I called the painter; he will come out Monday morning to paint the room and I…”

  “Uh… Ari? I think Max is just going to stay with your parents.”

  He furrowed his brow and looked over at me.

  “What…why?”

  “It’s just…he isn’t safe staying with us. I have to figure this out with the last Kakos and deal with him. Aggie and I talked things through and both of us agreed that Max will be safer with them.”

  “Ava, why didn’t you talk with me about this?” Ari asked, crestfallen.

  “Your mom and I talked about the situation on the plane. This is the first chance I have had to talk with you… It’s for the best, Ari; really.”

  He sighed. “Are you sure you are up for it, Ma?” Ari looked back at his mother in the rearview mirror.

  Aggie laughed in the backseat.

  “Of course, Ari; I’m not that old.” I peeked back at her and Max. He had wet tears in his eyes, causing my heart to break.

  “Ok, well, Ava and I will get you whatever Max needs.”

  “What and take all the fun shopping away from me? I don’t think so.” She laughed.

  ****

  Ari and I stayed at Aggie and Andy’s house most of the evening. We played with Max on the floor with some of Ari’s old toys and helped unpack his belongings in Ari’s old room. We didn’t leave for our home until long after Max had fallen asleep. I think Ari was worried about leaving him behind. I had to assure him over and over again that Max staying with Aggie really was for the best; that his safety was the most important thing.

  When we got back home, Rory, Julia, August and Collin were all camped out in the living room watching a movie.

  “Where’s the newest member of our little family?” Rory asked, making room for us on the couch.

  “Aggie’s,” Ar
i huffed, flopping down on the sofa. I frowned and snuggled up on the couch next to my husband.

  Chapter 22

  Corruption

  I woke up the next morning very surprised to find Ari still cuddled up in bed with me. I was fairly certain that it was a Friday but jet lag was fogging my brain and my days had been running together so much that I could have been wrong. I reached across Ari and grabbed his cell phone off the bedside table. I was right, it was Friday and Ari was extremely late for work.

  “Ari,” I said shaking him awake, “you’re late -- get up!”

  He blinked his sleepy eyes, wrapped his arms around me and pulled me on top of him. “Margaux’s in Chicago remember? I don’t have to go to work.”

  I let out a happy sigh and rested my forehead on his. Ari flashed me a salacious grin and we played around for a while together in between the sheets. Eventually, I kicked off the blankets and we made our short journey to the shower to start the day.

  It was eleven o’clock in the morning by the time we left our house to cross the lawn to Aggie’s. When we walked through the back glass door, we found Aggie sitting at the table with Max eating lunch. Aggie held a knife in one hand and an apple in the other.

  “It’s a little early for lunch don’t you think?” Ari said stretching his arms up over his head in a yawn.

  “Please tell me you didn’t just wake up,” Aggie huffed as she sliced into the apple.

  A sly smile spread across Ari’s face.

  “Well, Ava and I have been awake for a while, but yes, we did just get out of bed.”

  Aggie tsked and shot me a cold look.

  “Ari, I swear Ava has corrupted you.”

  I stared at her in disbelief; Ari laughed and kissed his mother on the cheek.

  “Max and I have been up since five this morning, isn’t that right, Max?”

  Max blinked his sad eyes at Aggie. She didn’t wait for any other response and began to chat with Ari.

  I pulled a chair up next to Max.

  “What’s the matter?” I whispered.

  Max is a quiet child and didn’t respond, but his bottom lip trembled a bit and he wiped his runny nose with his hand.

  I frowned and looked over at Ari, who was still talking with his mom. “There’s nothing to be scared of here, Max. Andy and Aggie won’t let anything happen to you. You are safe and loved.”

  He let out a tiny whimper and I sat with him for a while and talked a bit more, but he still didn’t say a word.

  I stood up to re-fill Max’s drink and grab him a tissue.

  “So what are you and Max doing today?” Ari asked, still giving his full attention to his mom.

  “Well, I need to run to town and pick up some things for him, and then we’re going to meet your father, sister and her boyfriend for dinner out.”

  “So was Dad okay with this whole situation?” Ari asked, pointing to Max.

  “Of course he was, Ari. You know your Dad. He would never turn anyone away, especially someone as sweet as Max here.”

  “Okay, just making sure.”

  Ari walked across the kitchen to my side at the sink.

  “You ready, Ava?”

  I nodded and gave Max a kiss on the top of his head and promised to come back over later in the evening. Ari and I went back home to get started on some more decoding.

  After an entire day of diligent code cracking, Ari and I were able to decipher that my mother and I had been staying with Margaux and Perry in L.A. after my father died. A Kakos came to my mother and demanded my life. Margaux made the deal that saved me temporarily, but we were no longer safe with her. We fled to Canada and we lived there unbothered until I was thirteen and at that time another man named Steven Spruce, Kakos zealot, came for my life. He had been sent by the Kakos to do their dirty work. One look at my beautiful mother made him weak. He made a deal with her that he would spare me if my mother left Canada to be near him in Chicago. She agreed, desperate to do anything to keep me safe. She didn’t know that Spruce never even had the power to make such a contract. The deal sealed her fate, but it sealed his as well.

  “So Margaux sacrificed her soul for me and is now possessed by No. 7? The part of Margaux that is still my grandmother is trying to fight for my survival, while the part of her that is No. 7 is trying to kill me? Let’s see, I have to try to save Margaux and destroy No. 7 all at the same time, before Margaux loses her internal battle and comes to kill me. If she comes to kill me before I figure out how to save her, we are all dead. The whole thing is absurd!”

  I laid my forehead down on the cool wooden desk and let out a frustrated moan. Ari reached across the desk and ran his fingers through my tossed hair.

  “Why do you think Margaux set my dad’s study on fire? I mean, why not just leave you in Chicago? If she hadn’t brought you here, you would never have known anything.”

  “Well, I don’t think Margaux set the study on fire; I think No. 7 did. I do think that Margaux brought me to California. You have to look at it as if they are two different people. Margaux is fighting to save me and No. 7 is fighting to kill me. It just so happens that they are stuck in the same body. Bit of an inconvenience, that.”

  “That’s pretty messed up, Ava,” Ari said, flipping the page in the journal.

  I lifted my head.

  “Yeah, it is. Poor Margaux.”

  “What, so you like her now?” Ari gave me a sideways glance.

  “Ari, I can feel sorry for her without liking her. I have always hated the person inside her and that is the only person I really know. She can’t help but be hateful towards me when I am around.”

  I paused for a moment thinking about the few times she had been nice to me and how at those times she had been an entirely other person.

  “Have you ever noticed her eyes change before?”

  “I’m not sure I know what you mean.”

  “One minute she is on a rampage of hate and her eyes are cold and black and then for like a split second she gives a look as though she is so sorry and so sad and her eyes turn a deep blue. And her face looks a little bit older and little more tired.”

  “Yeah, I guess I know what you are talking about; I just never really gave it much thought.”

  “That moment of weakness, or strength, however you want to look at it, that’s Margaux, the real Margaux.”

  Ari and I were interrupted by August and Collin. They came in a little before dark and announced that they were getting in the hot tub and asked if we wanted to join them. I really wanted to, but I knew I would feel guilty abandoning my work. I needed to figure out how to destroy No. 7 and fast.

  Ari pulled me to my feet, “Listen, Ava, you can’t keep this up; you need to give yourself a little break.”

  I pursed my lips and looked down at the mountain of work before me.

  “Please,” he said and smiled one of those smiles that I cannot resist.

  “Okay, but let’s go next door real quick to see Max. August, you guys should come, Max is scared -- afraid of being in a new place. I know he would really like you.”

  “Yeah, sure,” August agreed and he and Collin walked with us over to Aggie and Andy’s house.

  It may have been the first time I ever walked through the back door at Aggie’s and found the kitchen with no one in it.

  “Hello?” Ari called though the house.

  My ears perked up when I heard the TV.

  “Come on,” I said, “they’re in the den.”

  Andy, along with Lauren and Luke, were sitting on the couch while Max sat on the rug right in front of the TV. They were all sucked into an episode of SpongeBob SquarePants. All four of them were watching the television intently, heads cocked slightly to the side, and none of them noticed our arrival.

  Ari cleared his throat and Andy spoke up, “hey guys,” he said without taking his eyes from the TV.

  Ari walked across the room and turned off the TV.

  “No way, this stuff isn’t good for Max.”

  “
Oh really?” Andy said. “Maxy, sing the song.”

  Max giggled then sang the chorus to the SpongeBob theme song.

  “That’s great, Max,” I said with a fake smile. “I’m sure several hours per week of watching SpongeBob will look super on your college applications.”

  He smiled his little boy grin at me and I was relieved that he seemed to be a little happier than he had the last time I saw him.

  Andy tsked at us.

  “That cartoon is fun, guys, and Max is three. Lighten up. Ari and I used to watch some dopey show he had on DVD all the time when he was little. What was it called again, Ari?”

  “I don’t know what you are talking about,” Ari said deadpan.

  “Oh, come on, you do too… you watched that show so often the disc wore out and your mother had to buy a new one…”

  Ari sighed.

  “Power Rangers.”

  A huge laugh burst through my lips.

  “Yes, that’s right!” Andy said. “You were obsessed with it; watched it every single day!”

  “He’s exaggerating,” Ari grumbled to me.

  “Don’t lie, Ari!” Lauren yelled playfully. “Ava, he watched it every day after school and then again before bed time. He even had Power Ranger underwear!”

  I laughed harder.

  “Lauren,” Ari smiled an evil smile, “I suggest you stop talking before I reveal some seriously embarrassing stories about you in front of your boyfriend.”

  Lauren blanched and pinched her lips together quickly.

  “I was like seven years old,” he said defensively to me.

  I smiled warmly and leaned up on my toes to give him a kiss.

  “I think it’s sweet.” I moved my lips to his ear, “Do you still have the undies?”

  “Maybe...” His eyes sparkled mischievously, “and if you’re good and you play your cards right, I might model them for you one day.”

  August sat down next to Max and had him laughing in a matter of seconds. August generally talks very fast and, like a true Frenchman, uses expressive hand gestures and facial expressions. Max laughed and clapped his hands while we all sat around and played with him. Before long, Aggie walked in through the laundry room door carrying a heavy basket of clothes. Max climbed up on my lap in a hurry and Ari rushed up off the floor to help his mom.