Chapter 22
CHAPTER 22
ELIJAH
P en offers a sly smile.
“There’s nothing more enticing than a game of cat and mouse. Especially if you’re the cat. I know exactly what trap to set.”
“You appear to be enjoying this way too much,” I grumble.
“No,” she says, her tone becoming more serious. “But I enjoy taking down the bad guys.”
Something in the way she says it makes me wonder if she’s had years of practice at bringing them down.
I stare at her, but she gives nothing away.
I shake my head. “I know. No questions. But you will explain it to me when all this is over?”
She nods, but somehow, I’m not sure I’m going to be given the whole truth. Pen has changed, there’s a definite edge to her now.
She returns her gaze to the screens, making it clear this conversation is over—for now.
I leave the room and lean against the wall. Dropping my head back, I stare at the ceiling. I’m not sure what I’d have done if Gabriel hadn’t called Pen. I’m rusty. I wouldn’t be able to do what she’s done in the current timeframe.
I always knew she was good. It’s why I bought my way into her life. Paid to become her partner all those years ago, not that she or anyone other than myself and Prof Dunn know that. It was the best money I ever invested.
I inhale deeply. Her scent is everywhere, invading my senses, getting into my head. The same way it did at university. I resisted her for years. I knew back then Pen was dangerous to me. When she was around, I could forget all about my responsibilities of keeping up expectations. I was able to be myself. Then I split from Darra that Christmas and broke my ankle a month later. Pen was there, helping me pick up the pieces, never asking more than I could give, and supporting me as I recovered from my broken dreams. That was when I fell in love with her, my best friend, but before I could act, fate stepped in.
FIFTEEN YEARS AGO
“So today is the day you’re finally going to ask Pen out?”
I can’t keep the grin from my face as I turn to my best friend.
“I am.”
He claps me on the back.
“About time, man.”
“I know. I just hope...” I stop, not sure I want to vocalise my fears out loud. “It’s going to be more than a little embarrassing if she doesn’t feel the same.”
“Believe me, she does, I’d bet money on it,” Jaxson says, squeezing my shoulder. “And, just so you know. You two will look great together.”
I want to laugh. When we first met one another, nothing could have been further from the truth. We were polar opposites. But over time, Penelope Dawson has definitely thawed in her feelings towards me. She’s become one of my best friends. She challenges me. Makes me feel alive. Around her, I strive to be a better version of myself. Not what I’ve programmed myself to be, as I try to keep up with expectations of being the eldest Frazer son. Pen is not what you would call a typical woman my parents or society would expect me to date. However, my parents love Pen, my whole family does. She’s special.
“But what if I ruin our friendship? Have misread the signs.”
“Stop panicking. You already know each other’s likes and dislikes. You’ve been friends for nearly four years. Plus, she’s got drive. She’s crazy-mad intelligent, not to mention industrious. May have a more competitive streak than you, and that’s saying something. You and she are the perfect pair. Your family adores her. She’s also not hung up on the Frazer name. Shall I go on?”
I laugh. “No, I think that’s enough of her virtues.”
“Pen will never try to hold you back.”
I grimace at his words, knowing full well who he’s talking about. Darra, my ex-girlfriend.
I raise an eyebrow, making Jax grin.
“And you haven’t been able to keep your eyes off Pen since we got back this term. You’ve been panting after her.”
I give him a playful shove but know he’s not wrong. I’m not sure when my feelings for Pen changed, but they have. She’s all I can think about.
My phone rings.
I stare at the screen and groan.
“What does she want?” Jax says, staring down at the offending piece of tech.
“I don’t know, but it’s about the tenth time she’s tried to call me today. It’s like she knows I’m about to ask Pen out.”
To say Darra has issues with Pen is an understatement. If she knew what I was about to do…but then, even before her demands of a marriage proposal, I was growing tired of all Darra’s sniping. Her possessive tendencies were taking their toll.
“Ignore her. You and she have been over for months. You don’t owe her anything,” Jax says when I frown. “Look, I hate to say it. I know she was your girlfriend, but she’s pushy and not in a good way. Treated you like a possession. She’s never going to let you simply walk away, at least not without a fight. Stand firm, my friend.”
I shake my head. I can’t deny what he’s saying.
I’ve been so focused on my Olympic goal, Pen, my business plan and finals. I missed the signs. I simply stared at her when she announced at Christmas that her parents were coming to see us after New Year and that I should think about talking to her dad about my proposal. I initially thought she was joking, but the look on her face told me she wasn’t. The conversation that followed was hard. Explaining to the person you have dated casually in your eyes for four years, that you don’t love them in that way.
Darra hadn’t cried. She laughed. Asked me what love had to do with it. Told me we’d be the perfect power couple. How we would be unstoppable.
Staying together after that was impossible. I explained I would never marry someone I didn’t love and broke up with her. Cutting off all contact until today.
Jax turns me to face him, gripping my shoulders and looking up at me. He doesn’t know what Darra said to me that day.
“You were straight with her from the beginning. Yes, you dated, and in all honesty, for longer than most would have put up with her. Eli, you were very clear about where your priorities lie and that being in a serious relationship, aka marriage, was not one of them. She knows of your plans and aspirations. It’s all we talked about every bloody holiday. We all did. Whether she’s willing to admit it. You never made her any long-term promises.”
I flinch. I know he’s right.
The phone rings off, and I breathe a sigh of relief until it starts up again almost immediately.
“For fuck’s sake.”
I answer the phone with a growl.
“Darra,” I say, offering no niceties.
“About time,” she snaps, followed by a sniff.
“Can I ask why you feel the need to blow up my phone?”
“I need to see you,” she says.
“We have nothing to say. I made myself very clear. I’m sorry you misunderstood, but nothing has changed.”
“Everything has changed,” she says cryptically.
Shit, has she found out I’m going to ask Pen out? I shoot a look at Jax, but he shrugs. He’s the only person I’ve confided in, and I know he’s watertight.
Darra sighs. “Look, Elijah, I really need to see you.”
I press my thumb and forefinger into my eye sockets.
Darra has never been one to surrender. I need to make sure she stops whatever she’s doing.
“Fine,” I say after a moment. “I’ll meet you in the coffee shop.”
“No,” she says. “It will be better if you come here.”
“I’m not coming to your house, Darra.”
“I can’t say what I have to say in a public place. I need to see you, Eli. You owe me that much.”
“I—”
Darra sighs again. “Bring your sidekick if you must.”
I turn to Jax, and he shrugs.
“We’ll be there in ten minutes.”
I disconnect, wondering what the hell’s going on. Glad Jax is going to be with me. I don’t want any further misunderstandings.
“What the hell does she want?”
Jaxson is not a member of the Darra fan club. He thinks she’s a user and social climber, irrespective of her father’s wealth. Not surprising when she treats everyone she considers beneath her with contempt. Something my friend admitted to me after Darra and I split. As Jax comes from a middle-class family, she’s dismissed him on more than one occasion, and as for Pen…I wish she’d told me some things Darra had done. When I broached it with Darra, she shrugged and made a joke of it, telling me they needed to toughen up. Life is hard.
“I don’t know. Let’s get this over with.”
We arrive at Darra’s apartment. Her parents have put her up in a luxury three-bedroom penthouse. She is no longer a student, having graduated at the end of last year, and she’s working as a personal assistant to one of her father’s friends.
I knock on the door and wait.
Darra opens it, her hair dishevelled, her makeup smudged, not her usual immaculate appearance.
“Darra?” I question.
“Come in,” she says, stepping back from the door and holding her arm out toward the living area.
I limp my way inside. It’s been almost two months since my accident, and although my leg is out of plaster, it’s still healing. We make our way inside. Her parents have furnished the apartment to a high standard. Nothing is too good for Daddy’s little girl.
Jax drops himself down on the sofa, but I remain standing. I want to get out of here as soon as possible.
“How are you?” Darra asks, her eyes going to the boot supporting my ankle.
“I won’t be making this year’s Olympic trials if that’s what you’re asking,” I say.
“I’m sorry, Eli,” she says, her eyes filling with what looks like genuine concern.
“It is what it is. My fault,” I say.
Something my therapist has been helping me work on.
“Can I get you a drink?” Darra asks, always the perfect hostess.
“No thanks,” I say. “Just tell me what you want, and we’ll get out of your hair.”
Darra stares up at me, her eyes filling.
Shit!
I hate tears.
She’s used them a lot in the past six months. They seem to be her number one manipulation tactic in public, I’m beginning to realise.
“I’m…I’m pregnant.”
I stare at her.
“Did you hear me, Eli? I said I’m pregnant.”
“I heard you.”
“It’s yours,” she says, her hands going to her flat stomach.
“Impossible. We’ve always been careful. We’ve also only been together once since Christmas.”
She tilts her head and raises an eyebrow.
“No form of contraceptive is one hundred per cent reliable, and do I need to tell you, it only takes once?”
I think back to the night in question. It was the night before she’d dropped her parental engagement bombshell. We’d all drank too much to celebrate the New Year. Everyone stayed over at my parents’ house, and Darra came to my room. Fifteen hours later, our relationship was over.
Fuck.
I sink down onto the sofa, my head spinning.
This can’t be happening.
Jax remains silent next to me.
“What are you going to do?” I ask.
Ultimately, it’s Darra’s body. It’s her choice.
“I’m having our child,” she says firmly. “We’re having this baby.”
I squeeze my eyes closed as spots dance across my vision. My lungs constrict as I struggle to take in enough oxygen.
This can’t be happening.
“How does he know it’s his?” Jax says, the venom in his voice unmistakable.
“You bastard,” Darra says, her eyes filling. “I know you hate me, Jax, but that’s low, even for you. I’m just over two months pregnant. Do the maths, dumbass!”
“It’s mine,” I tell him.
“Oh hell,” he hisses.
Oh, hell, indeed.
“Now you have to marry me, Elijah. If you don’t, I’ll make sure I go to every newspaper in the country and disparage your name. The Frazer name will be mud by the time Dad and I are done.”
The look in her eye lets me know she’s telling the truth. I may have the Frazer name and money behind me, but reputation is everything, and Darra will be out for blood. I can’t let her destroy my family.
“Okay. I’ll marry you. Once it’s been proved the baby is mine.”
“Elijah,” Jax says. “You don’t have to do this.”
I turn sadly to my friend. “Yes, I do.”
“Fine,” Darra says. “I’ll get a DNA test done and prove the baby is yours. I’ll need a sample.”
“Fine. Tell me when and where, and I’ll do it.”
If the baby turns out to be mine, there’s no way on this planet I’ll leave a child of mine to be raised by this manipulative bitch, even if it does mean giving up my own freedom to secure theirs.