A P.I.
They got their fucking P.I. to follow me around. This is a new low. I never liked Claude Arbour much, even less now that I know he’s been in my business.
“Anyway, please bring her. We would love to meet the girl who managed to capture our… flighty son’s attention.” I get ready to protest, feeling it ramp up, ready to explode. “If not, we can always get Claude to look further into her for us. Is that what you’d like?” I stay silent. “That’s what I thought. See you in a few days, dear! Mwuah!” She hangs up before I can wrap my head around what just happened.
Your mother hijacked your dad’s “business call” and threatened you into bringing Stella to Christmas.I fight the urge to smack my head against the table, instead, grabbing my coffee cup and crawling back into bed. I sit next to Stella’s sleeping form, borrowing some of her peace.
This was all supposed to be temporary; I know that, I even promised her I understood. She’s planning on leaving, doesn’t want any attachments. But fuck, I’m attached now. I brush somehair away from her face and it’s just enough to pull her out of sleep. Her eyelids flutter, crinkling into a smile when she sees me.
“Good morning,” I mumble out.
“Good morning,” she replies as she curls into me. “Your feet are cold! How long have you been up?”
“Eh, only a little while. My dad called.”
She frowns before burrowing her head into my side. “I’m sorry, that sucks.” Her eyes are far away.
“Come here, sunshine,” I say, bundling her towards me. Having her in my arms makes my heart swell. “I’m guessing you’re visiting your dad over Christmas?”
“I’ll swing by, but I won’t be spending a lot of time with him, unfortunately.”
“Can I ask why not?” I’ve learned that Stella is more than happy to over share, so if she’s not telling me something, it’s for a reason.
“It’s complicated,” she replies with a thin smile, one that doesn’t quite reach her eyes. It’s not my place to pry. I understand how difficult family relationships can be.
Despite having her naked in my arms, we’re not that close. Maybe that’s why I’m kicking myself when I blurt out; “Apparently, you’re invited to my parent’s house for Christmas. You could always come to that.”
She stiffens in my arms, her head snapping to stare up at me, and I can already read half of the questions in those sparkling baby blues.
“It’s not a huge deal, Nessa doesn’t come home for the holidays anymore, we don’t have to stay over, even though they’ll offer, and it’ll keep them from jumping down my throat about what I’m doing with my life.” I don’t want her to know I was threatened, or feel pressured into coming. Because I know if she knew, she would agree in a heartbeat. They can have that levelof control over me, I’ve accepted that, but she doesn’t owe them shit.
“How do they even know about me?” she asks, which is a fair question. Since this wasn’t supposed to grow into… whatever we are now, we agreed not to tell people.
“Apparently, they had a private investigator tailing me and he mentioned you.” I brace for her anger.
“That is such an invasion of privacy!” I start to pull away from her. “I can’t believe they’d do that to you.” I’m shocked. She’s not madatme, she’s madforme. “Do you want me to come?” She’s so earnest when she asks it makes my heart ache. Of course she would do this for me.
“I don’t want to subject you to them. They’re not the best people.”
“You don’t trust their intentions.”
“Yeah… they might be trying to be nice, or they might be…. Fuck, I don’t even know what they’re up to.” Stella thinks for a moment, weighing something in her mind before she speaks.
“They’re showing interest in something they think is important to you.” I start to interrupt her, but she keeps going. “I know what this is. I’m not delusional. But even if they’re seeing it wrong… if they’re not manipulating you then they might actually be trying to connect. Don’t you want to find out?”
I can feel myself pulling back, cutting off this horrible false hope.Hope.Not something I can count on in this situation. She may have a healthy relationship with her dad, be able to expect decency from him, but that’s not how it is in the Finlay household.
“I know it might seem deceitful, letting them think what we have is more important than it is. If nothing else, you won’t have to face it alone.”
That makes me pause, tilting her head up to look me in the eye.
“Stella, what we are is fucking important.” She gasps. My hand glides down her neck until my thumb rests firmly on her pulse. “You are important to me. Don’t for a second think otherwise.”
“Okay,” she squeaks out, her startlingly blue eyes not relinquishing the grip they have on my gaze.
“Just for the day?” She asks carefully, biting that plump lower lip.
“Just for the day. For the backup.”
