Xavier’s phone rang just as he stepped out of the hospital and into the brisk night air. When he looked down, it was Bella’s name he saw flashing across his screen. Instead of picking up immediately, he walked to his car, pressed the button on his key fob to activate the vehicle’s gull-wing doors, and slid inside.
He needed the extra moments to collect his thought and tamp down the white-hot irritation that felt damn near all-consuming. Xavier didn’t know who he was angrier at, Ava for refusing his help, or himself for creating a breech so wide that it was impossible for the female to meet him half-way.
Xavier grimaced. The knotted web of feelings he felt for Ava were far too volatile, too complex for him to bother considering at the moment. Thinking about his wayward mate sure as
