“Maia.”
Her daughter looked up, a wide smile of surprise on her face.
“Mommy?”
Maia got up and ran over to her. Ava leaned down and hugged her daughter. She stroked Maia’s hair, so happy her daughter was safe.
“Mommy, what are you doing here?” Maia asked.
“Taking you home early. How’s that sound?”
Maia leaned around her mother and looked at Dominic. “Who’s he?”
“Ms. Hill, I could ask the same. I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting your friend.”
Ava looked up. Maia’s teacher, Mrs. Kelly stood next to them, her eyes drinking in Dominic. Ava wanted to scratch her eyes out, a completely new reaction for her. Today Ms. Kelly was trying her patience more than usual. The woman was already on her short list for what she’d pulled with Maia. Ava glared at her daughter’s teacher but before she could say anything, Dominic’s hands were on her shoulders.
“I’m Ava’s boyfriend, Dominic.”
Ava turned and looked at him. She fought to keep the surprise off her face. Boyfriend? Boyfriend!
“Mommy, I didn’t know you had a boyfriend,” Maia interjected.
“We haven’t been dating long but I can already tell Ava’s the one,” Dominic said smoothly.
“Well isn’t that sweet,” Ms. Kelly said in a sugary, far-from-sincere tone.
Ava decided to play along. She smiled at Maia’s teacher. “Yes it is. I don’t know how I got so lucky.”
Ms. Kelly’s smile slipped. Ava turned to her daughter. “Honey, why don’t you go and get your things?”
“Okay,” Maia said. She gave Dominic one last glance before she ran off.
“It was a pleasure seeing you again, Ms. Hill.”
“Uh hmm.”
Ms. Kelly walked away heading over to one of the centers on the far side of the room.
“Bitch,” Ava said under her breath.
“Whoa. Where’s that coming from?” Dominic whispered in her ear.
“You have no idea.”
“I’m ready,” Maia said.
“Why don’t you let me take that backpack for you?” Dominic asked. He held out his hand towards Maia.
Ava waited to see how her daughter would react.
“Okay.” Maia took off her backpack and gave it to Dominic. Then she grabbed his free hand and held it.
Dominic looked down at Maia. A wide smile was on her face. Then he looked at Ava. She shrugged, just as perplexed by her daughter’s behavior as he was.
“Let’s go,” Maia said. She tugged on Dominic’s hand and led him out of the classroom.
Ava followed behind, watching the two of them together. Her mind raced. Was Maia taking to Dominic because she sensed something about him? Felt some closeness? What would Maia say now that Dominic had introduced himself as her boyfriend? She listened as Maia chatted happily to Dominic. Well at least the two of them were getting along. That was something to be grateful about.
They made their way outside and Dominic strapped Maia into her car seat before opening the door for Ava. He closed it and went around to the driver’s side to get in.
“He’s cute,” Maia said.
Ava turned around and looked at her daughter. “What do you know about cute?”
“Who’s cute?” Dominic asked.
Ava looked at her daughter and shook her head. Maia promptly ignored her.
“You are.”
Ava couldn’t even look at Dominic.
“Why thank you, Maia,” Dominic said.
He started the car and Ava turned and faced the window. Her daughter was smitten with her new “boyfriend.” Now what was she supposed to do? Dominic had already been insistent about her giving him a serious chance. Now with her daughter’s blessing he’d managed to further ingratiate himself into her life. But what was so wrong with that? Her daughter liked him. She liked him… She pushed her private thoughts away. Right now, she didn’t have time to be sentimental. Someone was trying to kill her or Dominic and she had no idea why. Finding out the truth was her main priority.
She turned from the window when Dominic grabbed her hand. His gaze was intense as he stared at her.
“You okay?” he mouthed to her.
She nodded her head. Glancing in the rearview mirror, she saw her daughter watching them. Maia giggled.
“Baby, how would you like an ice cream sundae when we get home?” Ava asked.
“I can have ice cream before dinner?” Maia asked.
“Today you can.”
“Cool. Can Dominic have some too?”
Ava laughed uneasily. “If he wants to.”
“You wanna have ice cream with me, Dominic?” Maia asked.
“I’d love to.”
“Well aren’t you two becoming best buds?” Ava said. She couldn’t keep the snark out of her tone.
“Your daughter has good taste. Just like her mother.”
Ava couldn’t come up with a response as they pulled into the driveway of her home. As soon as the car stopped, Maia was trying to get out of her car seat. Quickly Ava unbuckled her daughter. When she went to grab Maia’s hand, her daughter had already scrambled out of the other side of the vehicle where Dominic was. The little traitor. Ava couldn’t believe how her daughter was acting. She closed the car door and followed her daughter and Dominic up to the house.
With the two of them bonding so quickly she felt like the third wheel. Dominic handed her the keys and she unlocked the house, quickly disabling the security system.
“Come on, Dominic. The kitchen’s this way.”
Dominic gave her a helpless smile as her daughter fairly dragged him away. Despite herself, Ava couldn’t help smiling. Things could always be worse. Maia could not like Dominic at all and then she’d really have trouble on her hands. She leaned against the door as she heard them rustling around in the kitchen.
It was weird. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen her daughter so happy. Yes you can, Ava. When she was with her father. Joseph. That was why her daughter had taken to Dominic so quickly. There was no male figure in her life. She was missing a father’s attention. Ava blinked back the tears that came to her eyes. Her daughter didn’t deserve this—to be without a father. Ava had tried her best to give Maia all the love and attention she could, but obviously a mother couldn’t do it all and after a little over six months without Joseph it was becoming painfully evident.
A tear slipped down her cheek. The doorbell rang, startling her. She wasn’t expecting anyone. She opened the door and was nearly frozen in place. Angelo stood outside her door. Things were really about to hit the fan now.
Chapter Twenty-Three
“Angelo, what are you doing here?”
“Come on now, Ava. You can’t forget what I said. Things aren’t over between us.”
“There was never anything between us, Angelo. You need to go.” Ava tried to close the door, but Angelo pushed it back and stepped into the foyer.
“I’m not going anywhere, Ava. You can’t keep avoiding me.”
“I’m not avoiding you. I don’t have time for this right now, Angelo.”
“Well make time, Ava.”
“Mommy. Mommy, do you want some ice cream?”
Maia ran into the room, a bowl of chocolate ice cream in her hands. Her face was already sticky with the dessert.
“No, sweetheart. That’s alright. You enjoy it.”
“Maia, you’ve gotten so big since the last time I saw you.”
“Who are you?” Maia asked.
Ava nearly laughed. “This is your Uncle Angelo. Daddy’s brother.”
Angelo glared at her before he turned his attention back to Maia. “I’d have thought you’d at least remember who I am.”
“She’s only seen you a couple of times in her life. There’s no reason she would remember you,” Ava said pointedly.