‘Why the fuck are you here?’ I ask and the bite to my tone catches him off guard and I watch as the spiteful man he truly is takes over.
‘Not sure that’s any of your business, kid. But, in case you missed it while you were off winning, my wife died last week.’
‘Ex wife. I really don’t think it would be a good idea if you attended today.’ My tone’s icy as I try to keep the volume down; the press don’t need to hear this.
‘My kids will need their father.’
I scoff at him and he flinches, clearly not expecting a twenty-five-year-old to be calling him out on his bullshit. ‘Kian and Elise don’t need you,’ I say. ‘I don’t think for a second Kian wants you there today after you abandoned them both before they were even born.’
‘Who put you in charge of Kian’s life story? You his boyfriend or something?’
I wish. I bloody wish. Yet my silence must speak magnitudes, because Tyler sucks his teeth at me, his stare brutally disappointing. ‘You can tell he was raised by his mother, no son of mine would become a pansy.’
He’s lucky that I don’t want to create anymore bad headlines for Kian. Otherwise I would have decked him. I would have wiped the smug look off his face.
Finally, my security form a wall around me and I’m escorted away from the potential subject of my fist and into a car which I’m praying gets me to the funeral just in time.
ChapterTwenty-Nine
Kian
Nothing can prepare you for a final goodbye.
Not all the grief counselling in the world or knowing in advance that the end is coming for your loved one. They’ve already left the world, but this is the last time you’ll get to be in the same room as them before you subject them to ground.
We decided to have a small, private funeral without celebrities from Mum’s career or big crowds. It feels like what she would have wanted. She left that world behind a long time ago, and neither Elise nor I want to be subjected to the glare of the media.
I watch my sister and her little family as they get ready, and I envy what they have on a day like today. I know my twin is there for me, but it’s not the same. I see the loving touches and comforting looks that she shares with Grant, and I know that I want that for myself, too.
As they walk ahead of me into the church, a wave of profound sadness washes over me.
If only…
‘Hey.’
His voice startles me, but I know immediately who it belongs to.
I turn and there he is. It’s like I dreamed him into existence. He looks so good in his black suit and I am too stunned at first to say anything.
‘Is it okay that I’m here?’ he asks, uncertainly. ‘I’m really sorry about…’
I don’t know whether he’s offering his condolences or apologising for being a prick back in Singapore, but right now I don’t care.
I nod, and when he opens his arms to me I walk into his embrace. I can’t believe he’s really here.
‘How…?’
‘I asked Anders to arrange it, and I got the details from your sister.’
I pull back from the hug and look at him in shock. Then I turn and see Elise looking back at us with a small smile. Of course my sister was involved in this. She shrugs and tilts her head, as if to say,what did you expect?then continues into the church.
‘Thank you for being here,’ is all I can manage.
He squeezes my fingers, and I look down to where he’s still holding my hand in his, and then I meet his gaze again, a silent question floating between us.
‘Is it okay…?’ he asks again.
Yes, Harper’s hand is in mine and I don’t want to let go. I’m not going to let go.
