“You stepped over the line, Stella.” His low voice sent another wave of nausea crashing against my insides. “Apologize to your mother. Right now.” The backs of my thighs pressed against the tops of my hands while my head swirled with a thousand responses. I could apologize and
smooth things over. Anything to erase my mother’s hurt and my father’s anger. The little girl in me still cringed at the thought of making my parents mad, but anything less than full honesty would only be a temporary salve for a festering wound. “I’m sorry if I hurt you, Mom.” The crack in my voice matched the one splitting my chest. “But Maura practically raised me. We both know that’s true, and she doesn’t have anyone else to care for her. She spent the prime years of her life looking after me and treating me like I was her own daughter. I can’t leave her alone now when she needs me.” I didn’t look at Natalia, who’d liked Maura but didn’t have the same bond with her. My parents’ careers hadn’t taken off until I was five and Natalia was ten. By then, she’d been too old to form the same attachment to our nanny that I had. She wouldn’t take my side.
She never did. Other than a small flinch, my mother didn’t react to my words. My father, on the other hand, grew even angrier. Jarvis Alonso did not take well to people disobeying his orders.
Thunder swallowed the usually warm brown of his eyes until they turned a hard, implacable black. I’d never been scared of my father, at least not in the physical sense. But in that moment, I was terrified of him. When he spoke again, it was in a rumbling growl he usually reserved for discussions about foreign dictators and terrorist cells. “Stella Rosalie Alonso, if you do not apologize to your mother this instant, I will—” “I suggest you don’t finish that sentence.”
Christian’s quiet voice sliced through the toxic fumes of my father’s anger like they didn’t exist.
Like Natalia, he’d been silent since dinner went off the rails, but the tension pouring off him said a thousand words. If my father’s fury was a gathering storm, Christian’s was a dark, silent tsunami. By the time those in its path scented danger, it was too late. And as my eyes darted between my father’s pulsating jaw and Christian’s lethal stare, I had a sinking feeling that the bad evening was only going to get worse.
27
CHRISTIAN
“Are you threatening me in my own home?” A steel edge ran beneath Jarvis Alonso’s voice.
“Not threatening, sir. Suggesting.” The contrast between my polite tone and the tension crackling in the air drenched an otherwise deferential address with mockery. I rested my hand on Stella’s thigh beneath the table, stilling her. She’d done an admirable job of keeping her expression calm, but tiny shivers trembled under my touch. I’d held off saying anything for as long as I could. It wasn’t in my nature to sit quietly when faced with injustice done to me, and every fucking slight against Stella was a slight against me. But to her, this was a personal issue with her family. She needed to stand up to them and say her piece without anyone else stepping in. I could deal with her parents getting angry, even though they’d been pissing me off all evening. But what I would not tolerate was anyone, even Stella’s flesh and blood, guilt-tripping her into giving an apology they didn’t deserve. I fixed Jarvis with a pleasant smile that didn’t match my icy tone. “If you’re wondering why your daughter would keep things from you, look in the mirror,” I said. “Look at how you reacted. Instead of supporting her, you attacked her.
Instead of being proud of her drive and passion, you force her into a box she doesn’t belong in.
Stella is one of the most selfless, creative, and brilliant people I know, yet you belittle her for not conforming to your limited definitions of success. Why? Because you’re embarrassed to have a child who dared stray from the rigid path you yourself took? Your pride matters more to you than her happiness, yet you’re surprised that she considers the only adult who was there for her growing up to be more of a parent than either of you were.” I addressed the last sentence to both her father and mother, who hadn’t stirred since Stella’s outburst. The woman must be in shock.
Good. She deserved it. Rage was a monster in my gut, aimed at both Stella’s parents for jumping down her throat about her fucking finances without a single thought about how she was feeling and her sister for exposing her departure from D.C. Style in such a cruel, vindictive manner. How many of Stella’s insecurities had stemmed from growing up in such a judgmental household? Most of them, I bet. The only leash on my anger was Stella’s presence and the fact this was her family. Despite her strained relationship with them, she probably wouldn’t react well if I drained their bank accounts or targeted their devices with destructive viruses. There was one particularly nasty code I’d developed out of boredom last year that could collect and destroy all the data on an infected device until said device was nothing more than a useless lump of metal in less than ten minutes. Jarvis glared at me, a vein throbbing so hard at his temple I expected it to burst at any second. “This is a family matter,” Jarvis growled. “I don’t care how long you’ve been dating Stella. You are not, and never will be, family. I know your reputation, Christian Harper. You pretend you’re an upstanding businessman, but you’re a snake in the grass.
You’ve got blood all over your hands, And if you think I’m letting you anywhere near my daughter after tonight, you’re sorely mistaken.” I examined him with a faint smile. Few things amused me more than people trying to threaten me. He was Stella’s father, which offered him some degree of protection. But what secrets lurked in the cyber sewers of his digital life? Dig deep enough, and there was always something. Google search histories, photos, link clicks and emails and private chat rooms. People’s online lives were rife with information, most of it tossed out so casually the owner didn’t think twice about how it could incriminate them. It was a goldmine for someone like me. If Jarvis Alonso thought he could hold Stella over my head, he’d find out how quickly and easily I could expose the skeletons in his closet. “Leave Christian out of this.” Stella’s soft, fierce voice interrupted my musings. “I don’t care about unfounded rumors or what you think you know about him. Here’s what I know from firsthand experience: he’s been nothing except helpful since we’ve met. He encouraged me to follow my dreams and believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself. He’s been more supportive of me in the few months I’ve known him than you’ve been of me my entire life, and I won’t let you insult him for standing up for me.” I was so startled I almost flinched before I caught myself. Something warm and foreign moved in my chest, eating away at the steel barriers I’d erected. No one had defended me before. Ever. I didn’t need or want them to, but Stella had always been the exception to my every rule, and seeing her so strong and clear-eyed with conviction lit a match of pride in my chest. Her conviction was misplaced because I was exactly what her father accused me of—a snake in the grass, a monster with bloody hands and a bloodier past. But after seeing myself through her rose-tinted glasses, I wished, for the first time in my life, that I was the man she thought I was. Ruthless, perhaps, but honorable at his core. In reality, the only bits of honor I possessed these days were the ones reflected in her eyes. “Get out.” Jarvis didn’t so much as