Chapter 25
Chapter Twenty-Five
Austin felt strangely light.
It was as if he had let go of a part of his past by sharing it with Lilly. It had lost power because he no longer gave it any.
He would always be hurt and angry about it, but he no longer wanted it to ruin his future because his future was sitting with him in the limo. He wanted nothing more than to make Delfina and Lilly happy.
The banquet was at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel.
Actors, singers, and professional athletes – mainly because of Penny Clark’s involvement in the cause – were all attending the benefit.
A small red carpet lay before the exit, separated by a waist-high wooden barrier, in front of which the paparazzi and journalists milled.
Austin explained to Delfina and Lilly why the photos were being taken and when Del said she was afraid of doing something wrong, he leaned over, looked at her intently, and whispered, “You can’t do anything wrong.
You’re perfect just the way you are. Whether you smile or stick your tongue out at them.
” He personally was all for a middle finger, but Lilly probably wouldn’t have been thrilled about that.
He made the red carpet appearance quick and painless.
He wanted to hold Lilly’s hand, but also didn’t want to stir up rumors.
So he placed his hands on Delfina’s shoulders, who seemed a little overwhelmed by the whole situation.
He was glad when they were finally in the hotel’s banquet hall, where only a few journalists were allowed.
“It’s huge,” Del remarked in awe, staring up at the high ceiling. “Even bigger than your house.”
Austin smiled. “Many things are bigger than my house.”
“No, not that many,” Lilly countered with a smile, taking two glasses of orange juice from a passing waiter’s tray and handing one to Delfina.
“Do they have a pool here?” Del asked.
“I’m sure they do, but I think it’s probably closed for the event.”
“Oh.” She seemed disappointed.
“You can use my pool all day tomorrow,” Austin promised. “And I think I owe you a pool party, too.”
“Oh, are we all invited?” someone asked. They turned around.
Leon had spoken, but behind him stood the rest of the hockey players. Everyone was wearing a tuxedo except Charkov, who, in his white tailcoat, looked like he was about to perform in an Elvis revival show.
“Yes!” Delfina announced loudly before Austin could vehemently reply, No! “Everyone’s welcome! But you have to wear a swimsuit.”
“Damn,” Matt muttered. “Mine’s at the dry cleaners.”
“We’ll hold off with the party until it’s ready,” Delfina promised kindly.
“Oh, you can borrow mine, Matt,” Dax said patronizingly. “I’ve got a Borat-style swimsuit I think would suit you.”
“Can I get in the pool too?” Melody asked, who had just joined Moreau and Anna.
“Sure, I can teach you how to swim really fast,” Del said.
“Oh yeah? How fast are you?” Leon asked skeptically.
“Faster than you!” Del replied defiantly.
Leon snorted. “Nobody’s faster than me.”
“I’m faster than you!” Dax retorted.
“Maybe in your dreams!”
“I never dream about you, Leon,” the striker stated dryly. “Because – and I can’t stress this enough – I already see way too much of you.”
“Since the video on the beach, the whole world has seen too much of him,” Jack muttered, shaking his head.
The men laughed, Leon rolled his eyes…and Moreau squeezed Austin’s shoulder. “Just a heads-up: Christine at twelve o’clock. And she’s heading this way.”
“What?” Austin abruptly looked up and, sure enough, there she was.
He stiffened. As if Lilly sensed it, she gently placed a hand on his back.
“It’s okay,” she murmured. “Let’s just get it over with.”
“No, it’s not okay. Shit, she’s going to make a scene to support her side of the story,” he whispered, rubbing his face. “She’s a better actress than a model. I don’t want to drag you into this and especially not Del!”
“I guess you can’t stop us from being drawn into your life if you want us to be a part of it,” she said softly, smiling at him. “So it’s okay. We know you don’t want this, but we’re not running away.”
He sighed. “Lilly…”
“Well, look at this,” a sharp voice interrupted. “If it isn’t my cheating ex-husband with his floozy girlfriend and his bastard daughter,” she said loudly, causing several bystanders to turn around — which was definitely her plan. Christine liked an audience.
Austin gritted his teeth and pulled Del protectively toward him, who was looking up at her wide-eyed. He opened his mouth to tell her she couldn’t speak to his daughter in that tone, but someone beat him to it.
“Is there a problem?” Moreau demanded, stepping to the side that wasn’t occupied by Lilly.
Christine laughed, but before she could reply, Leon remarked, “Lady, if even I can tell you’re being rude, then you really should be concerned!”
Christine opened her mouth — but didn’t get a chance to speak.
“I could simply remove her from the room, you know,” Devreaux remarked, looking at Fox. “She looks awfully thin. I could just carry her and throw her out on the street. Like a used toothpick.”
“That’s littering, Devreaux,” Jack said. “But okay, I’ll help.”
Christine tried to speak again, but this time Charkov beat her to it. “Women like her…in my opinion: burned at the stake,” he said in his heavy accent.
Fox chuckled softly. “You don’t have to defend me.”
“Of course we do,” Blake Ford said. “We’re family.”
“Yes,” Dax agreed. “And you protect your family. Especially the member who makes us family in the first place.”
“Oh, that’s so sweet,” Christine said, rolling her eyes. “You’re hiding behind your personal security.”
“Well, I don’t need them,” Lilly whispered and the next moment, she stepped forward and stood in front of Christine, hands on her hips.
“Hello,” she said coolly, her eyes flashing angrily.
“Not at all pleased to meet you. I read your Instagram post this morning and thought I’d google when you can sue someone for defamation — it’s easy, I’ve discovered. ”
Christine smiled smugly. “So what are you going to do about it?” she asked sweetly. “Explain to the world that you kept your daughter a secret from Fox so everyone would hate you?”
“Oh, shut up,” Lilly snapped, annoyed, and Austin heard Del gasp in shock, as if she’d never heard her mother speak like that before.
“What kind of person drags an innocent nine-year-old girl into their mudslinging? How the hell do you justify it? How can you look in the mirror in the morning? The world can think what it wants, but if you mention our daughter again in a post, an article, or even an email, I’ll sue you for everything you hold dear. I don’t have the money, but…”
She took a deep breath…and all Austin could think was: Our daughter. Not hers. Ours.
“Hey, you can have my money,” Leon offered. “Penny always says I should finally invest it wisely.”
“Thanks.” Lilly nodded gratefully. “See, one problem solved! So go ahead and drag me through the mud, insult Austin, but you’ll regret it for the rest of your life if you attack our daughter even once more!
I hope you like it warm because after everything you’ve done, there’s an uncomfortable chair with your name on it waiting for you in hell.
You know, I don’t lie awake at night wondering what I’ve done and if you weren’t visibly pregnant, I’d punch you.
And oh yeah, stay the hell away from Austin.
He doesn’t deserve to have to look at you.
But I guess that’s his choice.” She glanced at him, then took Delfina by the hand and walked through the crowd.
Austin could swear she mumbled, “We’re searching for a pool. I need to cool off.”
A smile slid across his face.
He didn’t need defending. He was perfectly fine on his own. But, shit, it felt good to see Lilly so angry because of him.
Christine looked at him, her eyes narrowed. “Anything to add to that, Austin?”
He shrugged. “No, she summed it up rather well.”
She snorted. “You’re such a coward. You let everyone else speak for you and continue acting like a hero, even though you know perfectly well you cheated on me with her.”
“We were separated at the time.”
“We were married!”
He sighed and turned. Perhaps it was a good thing he was meeting her here today. Perhaps this was the perfect opportunity to finally put the Christine issue to rest. So he muttered, “Guys, can you leave us alone for a minute?”
Moreau didn’t look pleased with his request, but he nodded reluctantly and gestured for the others to move on.
Everyone gave Christine a warning look until it was just the two of them left.
Austin looked at Christine. He let his gaze travel over her short, silver sequined dress, reaching her face…
And felt nothing.
No anger, no longing, no sadness.
As long as she didn’t attack Delfina, he simply didn’t care. And damn, that felt good.
“Aren’t you tired of the lies, Chrissy?” he asked wearily.
“Aren’t you fed up with exploiting our disastrous marriage in the media and hoping someone will give you more attention than you deserve?
Is nothing sacred to you anymore? Not even the well-being of an innocent child, even though you’re fucking pregnant yourself? ”
Christine opened her mouth, looked away, and closed it again. “I didn’t mention her name, okay?” she said irritably. “I know her name, but I deliberately didn’t mention it. And the photo is completely pixelated; you can barely recognize her.”
“And that makes it better?” He ran a hand over his face. “You know, when I first met you, you were a sweet, kind woman who helped an old lady across the street. What happened to her?”
“The world swallowed her up and spat her out, Austin,” she replied bitterly.
“Do you know how many people called me a gold digger because my career was crap, but I was married to you? You weren’t even in the NHL when I met you!
Fine, tell me I’m terrible, but back then, you weren’t interested in me, just in being comforted and playing hockey.
As soon as you had your team, I was worthless. ”
He sighed heavily. “I’m sorry if I ever made you feel worthless. That wasn’t my intention. But man, you got your revenge, didn’t you? It doesn’t matter. Go ahead and talk badly about me, but don’t involve Delfina and Lilly in your plans for revenge.”
“I’m just tired of being portrayed as the bitch who used you and broke your heart, okay?”
“Yet both are true,” he replied coolly.
She pressed her lips together. “Austin, I loved you, okay? Not in the end, but…it wasn’t all bad!”
“No, of course not. I loved you too. Until you broke my heart by lying to me that you were pregnant.”
She closed her eyes. “I regret that, you know? But you deserved to have people think badly of you for once. You kept me hanging on for way too long, even before the…thing. But I know I went too far. I was young and desperate.”
“Desperate enough to make letters and emails disappear that Lilly sent me when she found out she was pregnant?” he asked softly.
He needed to know. It wouldn’t change anything.
He had decided to forget the past — Lilly was his future.
He had never been so sure of anything in his life, and he had long since forgiven her.
But he needed the truth. “You owe it to me to be honest for once. Did you delete the emails and throw away the letters Lilly sent? Did you know Delfina existed?”
Christine’s eyebrows shot up. “Fox,” she said coolly.
“If I had ever stumbled across a letter like that and found out you had cheated on me — do you seriously believe I wouldn’t have screamed at you and torn you to shreds?
Do you think I wouldn’t have used it to play the victim and make some money?
Do you think I wouldn’t have used it in court to get more than half your fortune in the divorce? ”
He gave a dry laugh. “No. At least you could always be counted on to do that.”
“See. I didn’t make anything disappear. I had no idea who Lilly and Delfina were until a week ago. Is that it, then?”
“Yes. Good luck with the baby, Christine.”
She swallowed and nodded. “Thank you,” she whispered as she turned and disappeared.
He sighed softly and rolled his neck. He believed Christine; she had no reason to lie anymore. Which meant…that Lilly hadn’t told him the truth. She hadn’t sent any letters. But that was okay. She’d been alone and scared and believed he was an asshole. He wasn’t going to dwell on it any longer.
He wanted Lilly and Delfina. He wanted a future with them. The rest…the rest didn’t matter anymore.