“Saw you on the news.” Of course the national media had picked up on her piece with Tala.
“And now you see me in person. Hurrah.”
“I’d like to see a bit more of you.”
“Piss off, Graham.”
“Like to see a bit more of my grandbaby too.”
Blood rushed in her ears. “What the fuck did you just say?” Her voice sounded like it was being pulled through taffy, thick and slow.
“You’re looking a little fuller there, girlie.” Graham wandered into her eye-line, gesturing down at her breasts and torso. “Your mother was the same way. Green around the gills and popping out of her pants early on. You look like she did when she was carrying you. But you’re my daughter through and through, aren’t ya?” He settled in one of the plush blue chairs in front of her desk and Stella made a mental note to have it recovered immediately. “A prince, huh? Nice work if you can get it.”
In and out. In and out. In and out.
“So let’s talk visiting rights.”
Laughter blurted from Stella’s mouth like a foghorn. “I wouldn’t let you near my child if the only other babysitting option was Jeffrey Dahmer.”
“No time with the kid? Aw, that’s a shame.” Graham’s mouth twisted in a sardonic grin. “I’m gonna miss that. How much do you reckon it’s worth for me to leave the little sprout alone?”
There it is.
The shakedown wasn’t a surprise, but Stella still felt it like a kick to the gut. Of all the people a girl is supposed to be able to count on…
She took another deep breath and a second to organise her thoughts before meeting her father’s smug eyes.
“You listen to me, Graham Warren,” she began, in the coldest voice she could muster, fixing him with the glare that had once caused an errant groomsman to literally crap his pants. Admittedly, he’d been deeply hungover. “I owe you nothing. You’re a shitty human and a worse father. If it wasn’t for Mum’s memory I would have cut you loose at eighteen. And that’s what I’m doing now. If you ever come near me or any member of my family again, if you try and make one red cent from my life, I will destroy you. I know all the bookies you cheated, I know all the scams you ran. I will give your name to every heavy in town and they will find you. I will have every speeding ticket and drunk driving incident and drug charge pulled out into the open and I will create such a fuss that any judge in this country will wet himself with excitement at the idea of being the one to do me a favour by putting you away. Hell, Luke will consider it a wedding gift to me. So, you get your filthy arse up off my chair and you walk out of this office right now on knees that I still allow to work, and you thank God that I am not a vengeful person. But if you ever cross me, if you give one interview, show up at one kindergarten session, try and buy my child a fucking ice-cream cone, know that I will find you and I will ruin every single part of your life until you are dead and cold in the ground.”
Stella watched with a flat, frozen glower as the man who’d let her down every day of her life stood, shuffled uncomfortably on his feet, then left her office in silence, her eyes following him each step of the way. When she heard the main shop door close behind him, she leaned back and exhaled gustily, blowing out twenty-eight years of hopes and despair.
Finally, it’s over.
Perhaps she should have felt a sense of mourning, but she’d been grieving the father she’d never had for as long as she could remember. The only thing left in her was an overwhelming relief that her child would never feel as unloved as she had. For all of Aleki’s faults, he already loved their child unconditionally. It was in everything he had said and done since he’d discovered the existence of the precious life buried within her.
That thought warmed her, melting away any vestiges of the coldness she’d felt in Avali. She could see clearly now the pressure Aleki had been under, torn between his love for his country and his care for her and their child. Unlike Graham, all of Aleki’s actions had been driven by his inherent goodness - wanting to please everyone. It wasn’t his fault that her desperate need to feel like the most important thing had spilled over into the very real need for him to do the best for his people. How could she ask that her selfish desires outweigh the needs of an entire country?
Oh no. I’ve been such a fool.
Tears stung at the back of her eyes. She loved Aleki, the reality of that throbbed through her as true and as tangible as her own heartbeat. Yet when he needed her support and her understanding, she’d demanded his attention to try and heal the ugly scars of her past.
He’d been a better partner to her than she had to him.
Resolve strengthened her. She straightened her spine and blinked back her tears. Now was not the time to mope and feel sorry for herself. Now was the time for action.
“Stella?” A knock sounded at the door and Jessie stuck her head around the jamb. “Are you okay?”
Stella offered her assistant a tired smile.
“I’m okay.”
Jessie said nothing, but raised an eyebrow and eyed Stella’s midriff.
“Ugh.” Stella sighed. “How did you know?”
“The exhaustion. The frequent toilet visits. The fact that I’ve never seen you eat a steak and cheese pie before, but you had one for lunch three times last week.”
Stella wrinkled her nose. “I hate them. Why does my body want them so much?”
“So, about my job…”
“Yes, your job. I wanted to talk to you about that.” Straightening, Stella motioned to the chairs in front of her desk and closed the binder for the Chamber of Commerce event. Her diminutive redheaded assistant sat perched on one like she was ready to take flight, teeth worrying at her bottom lip.
“Your job is safe, Jessie. We’re booked right through the upcoming wedding season and have deposits down for at least half our available dates for the following season, as well as the corporate calendar events. Your coverage of client meetings and the admin side of things while I was in Avali was sensational. I don’t want you to leave. In fact,” Stella hesitated, trying to gauge Jessie’s reaction. “I’d like to make you a partner in the business.”
Colour bloomed in Jessie’s cheeks.
“A partner?”
Stella hurried on. “I know you’re young, but you’ve been working here since you finished school.You’re an enthusiastic and personable assistant with strong attention to detail. You know our clients, our vendors and — most importantly — the level of quality Stella Warren Events aspires to. With the baby coming, I’m going to need to bring someone on, and I’d like to offer you the opportunity first.”
“But, the money—.”
“We can work out a payment structure for the initial buy-in and increasing stakeholder potential, if you’re happy with that.” She paused slightly. “There is one condition.”
Jessie, still looking fairly stunned, nodded mutely.
As Stella laid out the details, hope bubbled deep inside her. She would make this right. For Aleki, for their baby, but most of all for herself. And maybe, if she was lucky, they could work together to build the beautiful future he’d hinted at, free from the resentment and expectations she’d burdened him with.