“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 blink at Stella’s speech. His fury was a quiet thing, but it was all-encompassing in its intensity. There would be no reasoning with him tonight. “If you would rather side with an outsider you’ve known for a few months over your family, then you don’t belong at this table.”
Stella went rigid while her mother sucked in a sharp breath. “Jarvis—”
“Right now, Stella.” He ignored his wife’s broken protest. “Leave before I throw you out myself.”
Natalia stirred, unease finally sliding over her face at the shitstorm she’d unleashed. “Daddy—”
“Perfect timing. We were just about to excuse ourselves.” I folded my napkin into a neat square and placed it on the table before I pushed back my chair. “Stella.”
I placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, rousing her from her stupor.
She stood and, after a last glance at her frozen family, followed me out the door.
Silence followed us into the car and onto the road like an unwanted interloper, but I let it sit until Stella broke it herself.
“He kicked me out.” She stared out the window, sounding dazed. “My dad has never even yelled at me before.”
“You hit a nerve. He wouldn’t have reacted so strongly if a part of him didn’t know you were right.”
“Yeah, well.” She let out a watery laugh. “Now you know why I didn’t want you at dinner. My family puts the dys in dysfunction.”
A grim smile touched my lips. If she thought her family was dysfunctional, wait till she learned about mine.
Not that she ever would.
“I’ve seen worse.” I stopped at a red light and slanted a glance at Stella, my face softening. “You didn’t have to defend me.”
“I wanted to.” The conviction in her voice sent a strange pang through my chest. “You didn’t deserve to be attacked like that. You were standing up for me, and it’s only right that I do the same.” A hint of red colored her cheekbones. “Besides, what I said was true. Even though you piss me off sometimes”—my mouth curved at her uncharacteristic but adorable use of the term piss me off—“you’re a good person beneath it all.”
I would’ve laughed at her assessment had it not sharpened the pang into a blade that slotted neatly between my ribcage.
“You put too much faith in people. I’m not the knight you think I am,” I said softly.
It was a warning as much as it was a compliment.
I usually scoffed at those who were naive enough to believe people were inherently good when there was so much evil in the world. One only had to turn on the news to witness the depths of depravity to which humanity could and would sink.
But for some reason, Stella’s unwavering belief in the goodness of people struck a chord inside me I hadn’t known existed.
She wasn’t the only light of optimism around me, but she was the only one that mattered.
“Maybe not. But you’re not the villain you think you are, either.” The passing streetlights cast her face in a warm golden glow, highlighting her delicate features and the trust shining in those beautiful jade eyes.
If you only knew…
The light turned green. My eyes lingered on her for an extra second before I faced forward and stepped on the gas.
We didn’t speak again during the ride, but at the next red light, I curled my hand over hers on the center console and kept it there until we arrived home.
