2. Stefan #3
“That’s not fair!” she yelled. “I did what I had to do for my kid. And I’d do it all again if I had to. He was safe with me, and cared for, and I was able to provide him everything he needed. I love my son, and I won’t apologize for anything I’ve had to do to support him.”
It was ironic. The whole reason I’d gone to work for my father—the reason I’d thrown myself into the business in the first place—was because of her.
Because I needed the resources my father had, the money, the connections, in order to find her.
And now she was telling me it was part of the reason she’d kept herself hidden from me.
I wished I could tell Anja all about how I planned to dismantle the trafficking ring once I was in control. But I didn’t trust her. Especially now that I knew how much she owed my father.
“Fine,” I said, rubbing my temples. “I don’t agree with any of this, but I won’t say I don’t respect your choices.
It’s obvious you made some very hard decisions.
And I’m sure you’ve been…a wonderful mother.
” It was true. She’d always had that warm, maternal quality.
I’d seen it, experienced it firsthand myself.
“But I still don’t understand. Why did you come back now? ”
Anja got up from the couch and knelt in front of me.
She took my hand, looking up at me again with that pleading expression.
My jaw was clenched, and I met her gaze coldly.
I couldn’t deny the heat that stirred between us, regardless of all these years that had passed, but even if I wasn’t in love with Tori, and committed to my marriage, I still wouldn’t ever touch Anja again.
She’d betrayed me in the worst possible ways. I wasn’t sure I could ever forgive her.
“I have felt guilty about what I did every single day for the past eight years,” she said.
“I just couldn’t do it anymore. Couldn’t let you go on any longer not knowing about me, or your son.
” She took a breath, her eyes searching the room as if it would give her the right words.
“Raising Max as a single mother is the hardest thing I’ve ever done.
But also the best thing, and the thing I’m most proud of.
I know you’re angry, and that’s okay. Just don’t be angry at Max. ”
“Fuck.” I pulled my hand away from her and got up, pacing to the window again.
Had she expected me to just fall at her feet, grateful that she was back, asking no questions, accepting her and her child without hesitation?
Everyone around me was manipulating me. I hated the way Anja had chosen to handle everything, from the pregnancy to the disappearance to the way she’d decided to just show up now out of the blue.
And I hated the way my father was involved—had always been involved.
Taking joy in pulling all my strings, like I was nothing more than a puppet for him to play with.
He wasn’t standing in front of me right now, though. Anja was. I spun around, furious.
“What the hell am I supposed to do about this kid?” I said. “I can’t just magically be a father without any notice. Does he know who I am? Does he know anything about me? Did you spend the last seven years telling him his father was a bad man? Or that I’m dead?”
Anja blinked back tears and shook her head. “I’ve always told him I didn’t know who his father was. He’s accepted it. But I understand how you must be feeling and I—I’m not going to tell Max anything until you decide what you want to do. If you want a role in your son’s life.”
My son.
No matter how many times I said the words to myself, I couldn’t get them to make sense.
I stalked toward her, and she stood, not shrinking back. My temper was new to her, but she’d never been afraid of me and she apparently wasn’t going to start now. “I will never forgive you for this,” I said. “You’ve taken everything from me.”
Even as I said the words, I knew they weren’t true.
My father was the one who’d robbed me of my relationship, of fatherhood, of a parallel life that I couldn’t even begin to imagine.
But I had Tori now—and I loved her more than anything.
The life we would build together, however it turned out, was the life I wanted.
In the end, I wouldn’t have traded it—or her—for the world.
“I need to think,” I told Anja, suddenly exhausted.
“Please do. I’ll wait for you to make your choice, so just…take all the time you need,” she said, stepping back. “Your father has my number.”
“Of course he does,” I scoffed, disgusted. Then I headed for the door.
“Stefan—”
“Yeah.”
When she didn’t immediately reply, I turned around to look at her.
She took a long, slow breath and moved as close to me as she dared.
For a moment she was quiet, but the second she placed a hand over her heart, I knew whatever she was about to say was the truth.
The gesture was familiar to me, and I steeled myself for the reveal of another devastating piece of information.
But I wasn’t prepared for what came out of her mouth as she stared into my eyes.
“For what it’s worth,” she finally said, “I still love you. I always have.”