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Chapter 14
Weariness stole across Aleki’s shoulders, settling around him like a blanket. Even in the violet light of dawn, the promise of another beautiful day lingered in the heaviness of the air, the warm whisper of the breeze through the coconut palms that lined his driveway. It did nothing to alleviate the tension bunching his muscles tighter than the strings on a fresh ukelele. Each step away from his truck towards the villa balcony bathed in gold light felt like a step towards the gallows.
Stella would be pissed off. There was no getting around it. Last night, in the little fale in the bush, he’d tossed and turned in the bed that suddenly felt too big, examining the events of the ball and their fight after from every angle.
He’d been wrong.Even now, the realisation hit a bum note, clanging uncomfortably within him. Stella was nothing but an asset in every facet of his life, and ignoring her at the ball when he should have been celebrating her, letting her shine so that the strength of Avali’s future was apparent in every flash of her smile and squeeze of their hands would have done more to soothe the ruffled political feathers in the room than his desperate attempts to secure support.
Doubling down in her bedroom by implying she was nothing more than a pretty face was simply the act of an imbecile.
No, he had no doubt she planned to make him pay for her forgiveness.
I’ll make it up to her, he vowed as he reached the carved door. The next three days before she leaves will be the best of her life.
Determination gave his push of the door an extra edge and he entered the foyer to see Lani scrambling off a low bench by the stairs, straightening her skirt as she stood.
“Lani?”
“Your Highness.” She bowed her head.
“What are you doing here? You don’t start until seven.”
Lani bit her lip, a faint blush painting her cheeks a copper shade as her eyes darted between him and the floor.
“Is it Pania? Did you have a fight?”
“No, sir.” She took a deep breath and focused her gaze on him. “It’s Ms Warren.”
Aleki winced. “How angry is she? What should I prepare for?” Because there was no question that Lani would not have stayed the night for just any angry girl he left behind.
“You don’t need to prepare for anything. She’s gone.”
Time stopped. His breath soured in his lungs, twining up his esophagus and squeezing the oxygen from his body in a gasp. The sluggish beat of his heart echoed in his ears, loud enough to drown out Lani as she stepped closer to him. Her mouth was moving, but he couldn’t register anything over the dull thump-thump-thump that pounded through his head.
“What about Monday?” Aleki blurted. “She’s supposed to stay until Monday.”
Lani paused and took him by the elbow, leading him over to the bench she’d been resting on while clearly waiting for his return. He allowed himself to be led like a lamb, settled on the plush seat before she continued.
“Yes, she was supposed to stay until Monday.” Lani said gently, slowly. “But there was a complication. She had some bleeding, and we had to call the doctor.”
Aleki whipped his head around, fear clutching at him.
“The baby?” Gods, no, not our baby.
“The baby is fine,” Lani hurried to reassure him. “The doctor checked Ms Warren thoroughly. There was a strong heartbeat and no other signs of concern. She mentioned that sometimes in the first trimester there can be a little blood, but she didn’t see any reason to worry. Ms Warren also indicated she would be seeing her own specialist as soon as she returned home.”
“I don’t understand.” The panic that had held him hostage since he walked in was receding, leaving a rising wave of anger in its wake. “Why would she leave? If she were concerned about the baby and only had three days remaining in her stay, why creep away in the middle of the night?”
Discomfort played across Lani’s full mouth. “She, uh, she seemed to make the decision after being unable to get hold of you when the doctor left. She tried to call you as soon as the doctor had been summoned but after several hours without an answer, she decided to leave.”
Aleki stared at her for a beat, then yanked his phone from his pocket.
Thirty-seven notifications.Missed calls and texts from Stella, Lani and Andreas. Hours worth of aborted attempts to reach him. The last one was from Andreas thirty minutes ago, confirming he’d escorted Stella to the airport and watched her board the early flight safely.
He sagged back against the wall.
“I was at the fale in the valley.” His voice was hollow. “No reception. And my phone was on silent when I came back out.”
Lani rubbed his shoulder gently, a maternal gesture.
“Would you like me to arrange a flight for you?”
“It won’t help.” Aleki was sure of that. “We had a fight after the ball. I treated her poorly. Stella won’t have any desire to see me at the moment.” A frustrated sigh squeezed from his chest. “Perhaps it’s better if I just let her cool off.” He rose wearily to his feet.
“Thank you for your help, Lani. You’re a good friend. Please take the rest of the weekend off. Give all staff the rest of the weekend off. I’ll see you on Monday.”
He trudged up the stairs and down the hallway, the yawning hole his chest tightening as he passed the closed door to Stella’s room. He made it to the master suite and kicked off his shoes, each one landing with a soft thump against the wall. Undoing his cufflinks, he tossed himself on the bed then turned to place them on his nightstand when he saw the folded paper.
Jackknifing up, he reached for the note.
Aleki,
You’re not answering your phone and I don’t have another way to get hold of you. Lani’s tried as well. The doctor was here earlier - there was some bleeding but she assures me the baby is fine. I’ve decided to leave early to return to New Zealand. Not because of the baby, though I’ll be happy to see my own specialist. I’m leaving because this isn’t working. The lines between us have become blurred. I keep forgetting what it is you want from me, and I can’t keep pretending what I want isn’t important. The truth is, I want someone who I can call to be there in the middle of the night for me. Not just for the baby, but for me. You can’t give me that and it’s not fair of me to ask you to put aside your work for a sham of a marriage. So I think it’s better if we call the whole thing off. I’d rather our child grow up with happy co-parents than in an unhappy marriage. I left the ring in my room. I’ll be in touch soon to hash out the details of the coming months.
Stella.
There it was. In black and white. He couldn’t give her what she wanted. As if a house, a husband, a baby and a title wasn’t enough. The anger started slowly, rolling to a boil as he read and reread the words. Maybe she was right, perhaps they were better off apart. But dammit, she should have spoken to him about it. Not snuck out in the night like a thief, leaving him alone in this big house without her laugh, or her lists or the slight firmness of her tummy where his pepe grew.
Now it was just him. No staff. No family. Just a man without a fiancée. At least he had his liquor cabinet.
It was time to get very, very drunk.
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