Page 33 of Faking It with my Bestie's Billionaire Brother

Once I escorted Ava to the car and waved goodbye to Mrs. Moretti, who was waving at us from the porch, I spied Leo standing behind his mother and watching us carefully.

Once I was behind the wheel and pulling away from the curb, I tried to ask casually, “I never asked, what does Leo do for work?”

“He’s a private investigator,” Ava said, as if that was a commonplace profession.

“I’m sorry, did you say private investigator?”

“Yeah, he was a cop in the military for a while, but once Pop passed, he got out and started his own gig,” she explained with obvious pride in her voice.

I paused, not wanting to ruin the simple, comfortable dynamic between us, before asking, “Aren’t you worried that he could put a kink in our plans?”

She shrugged. “Not really. He’s got a backlog of cases, and he doesn’t have time for mucking around in his sister’s business. Besides, then he would have Ma to answer to.”

That last sentence would have been comforting, if it wasn’t for the fact that I knew all too well what it meant to worry for a little sister, especially when you felt like you were the only one to do it. Mrs. Moretti had mentioned that Leo, being the oldest, seemed to feel the need to fill his father’s shoes as his family’s protector. I would definitely need to keep an eye out for Leo.

“You did good in there, Duke. I have to say, I had my worries,” Ava admitted as we headed back to my place.

“Yeah, well, you weren’t kidding. That’s an intimidating bunch. If any of them ever want a job in the corporate world, I think I could use some of that kind of muscle behind me.”

“I’m not sure if you’re talking more about my brothers or Ma.” Ava laughed, and I couldn’t help but smile. For all of the nerves of the night, she seemed so much more relaxed now that she’d spent some time with her family. It was obvious that even though they were pretty open about driving each other nuts, they also looked to one another to fill their metaphorical wells.

After a long silence, I told her, “I’m glad Penny has you.”

“Come again?” Ava asked in surprise.

“You heard me,” I said. “I tried to be everything I could be for her when she was growing up, but it was always just the two of us. I’m glad she knows she has others in her corner, too.”

Ava didn’t say anything at first, but she eventually piped up, “You know I have her back now, too, and I’m grateful for that. Aside from all her other qualities, Penny is a formidable figure in her own right, whether others realize it or not. I’m starting to see more and more that she got that steel in her spine from you…although, lucky for me, she decided to ditch the stuffy, arrogant part of your personality.”

In my peripheral vision, I caught her mischievous smile and couldn’t help but chuckle to myself. How we’d gone to our intense interaction in the kitchen the night before to a fun, relaxing evening spent with her family? The whiplash was mindboggling but did not change how badly I ached for her, how fiercely I wanted her.

But at that moment, things were light between us, and if I was really smart, I would ride that out and let it smooth over the rough edges of the night before. That way, we could accomplish our plan without so much tension between us. However, there was no convincing my body that leaving her alone was a good idea.

Once we arrived back at my place, Ava put the leftovers in the fridge, then turned to me with a small smile. “Well, thanks for not being too stuffy with my family. I am exhausted, though, so I think I’ll turn in early,” she said, the color high in her cheeks as she hurried down the hall.

Something struck me about her abrupt goodnight as odd, but maybe things hadn’t smoothed over as much as I had initially thought. It was still difficult to be alone together without feeling that pull.

She was doing the right thing, I tried to tell myself, by taking herself out of a situation that had the potential to get out of control quickly. It was a smart decision.

So, why was I so anxious for her to change her mind and come back down that hall?

I needed to remember why she was here in the first place, and with that in mind, I went to my briefcase and pulled the collection of notes and pictures out. It was time to investigate whether my inkling was right. I called up Ralph.

“Hey, Ralph, sorry to call so late, but I can’t help but think that our note problem may lead us back to an old, familiar source,” I said, not even able to say the name because it felt like a curse on the whole family just to utter the syllables.

Ralph grunted, then said, “I was afraid you might say that. I’ll call the same PI we used last time. He was pretty good at finding her the last time.”

“Alright, keep me updated.”

“How are things going with Ms. Ava? Are you all playing the doting couple convincingly enough?” he asked before I could thank him and say my goodbyes.

I bit back a groan, not wanting to answer the question just yet.

“Things are going just swimmingly, Ralph, don’t you worry. Now, I really have to go, have a goodnight,” I said, hanging up as he tried to rush out more questions.

I was going back to my laptop when I heard a soft noise in the distance that had my ears perking up. I waited for it to happen again, but after waiting a minute or two, I gave up.

I chalked it up to a loud neighbor and went back to what I was doing when I heard it a second time. It was a faint moan, one that instantly had my high-strung body on high alert because I’d been imagining those sounds in my fantasies for the last twenty-four hours.

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