Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
ELENA
Dealing with a bunch of unruly teenage rugby players was challenging at the best of times, but when your head was all over the place, it made the experience pure torture.
Try as she might to concentrate on the stretching regime she’d devised for the team, her mind kept rerunning her argument with Danny.
She’d never seen Danny so unravelled before, so raw. If she wasn’t so bruised, she might have seen the confrontation as a breakthrough. He’d finally unleashed all that bottled-up rage. Unfortunately for her, she’d been on the receiving end of his fury, and it wasn’t a good feeling.
Elena waited until the carriage had emptied before hoisting up her heavy holdall and exiting the train. It had been a long day and she was bone-tired. That was the downside of being ‘dramatic’, as Danny referred to it. It was draining.
As she headed home, she replayed the argument again in her head, wondering why Danny thought she’d betrayed him and told Sofia about Connor’s past. The fact he thought her capable of such an act stung. She’d never betray him like that.
Logically, she shouldn’t care. They were done. She should shrug it off as a bad experience and move on, but for some reason she hated the idea of Danny thinking badly of her. Maybe because underneath all the outrage, she missed him.
It was a sad admission, but true. She’d never admit as much to him, and whatever her feelings, he was the one in the wrong, his name was still on those court papers. When it came to betrayal, he held the trump card.
It was dark by the time she arrived home, and as she opened the front door she heard muffled voices coming from the living room.
Dumping her jacket and holdall in the hallway, she went to investigate and discovered her sisters huddled together on the sofa.
Luisa was wearing her giraffe onesie and a sparkly fairy headband, which bobbled about as she comforted a crying Sofia.
It took Elena a moment to compute what was happening—it was usually Sofia supporting Luisa.
She rushed over. ‘Oh my goodness. What’s happened? What’s wrong?’
‘Everything’s wrong.’ Sofia’s sobs were hard to hear.
Luisa stroked Sofia’s loose hair. ‘It’s okay, sweetie. We’re here for you.’ She pulled a weird face at Elena. ‘Quick recap. Connor discovered his brother is the opposing solicitor in Sofia’s employment case. He wasn’t happy.’
Elena frowned. ‘We already knew this.’
‘There’s more.’ Luisa glanced at Sofia. ‘Connor also discovered you and Sofia are sisters.’
Elena sat back on her heels. ‘Again, something we already knew.’
‘But Connor didn’t, not until the other night, anyway. And now he’s told Sofia they can’t be together, as it would be “too messy”.’ She mimed air quotations.
Sofia snatched a tissue from the box next to her. ‘That’s not the only reason.’
Luisa grimaced. ‘There’s also the minor issue of Sofia having found out about Connor’s past. He kinda freaked out.’
Elena’s sense of grievance rose to the surface once again.
‘He isn’t the only one. Danny’s furious.
He thinks I betrayed him, but I never said a word.
’ She placed a hand on Sofia’s knee, noticing she was wearing her best Ghost dress.
‘I’m really sorry this has happened, Sofia.
And I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about Connor, but until the other day, I honestly had no idea you and Connor even knew each other, let alone had feelings for each other.
Danny told me about Connor’s issues in confidence and asked me to keep the information private.
It wouldn’t have been appropriate for me to tell you. ’
Sofia blew her nose. ‘It’s okay, I understand. You did the right thing.’
Luisa flinched. ‘But I didn’t, right? Come on guys, just say it. Let rip. I let the cat out of the bag, it was me who told Sofia about Connor. I’m the big bad wolf here.’ She slapped her own cheek, making her fairy headband slip. ‘But in my defence, it’s serious stuff. I felt she should know.’
Elena dropped her head in her hands. So that’s what had happened. Danny had the wrong sister. She wasn’t sure whether this made her feel better or worse.
Regrouping, she looked up. ‘How did you even find out about Connor?’
Luisa shrugged. ‘I’ve been volunteering at the community centre with Sofia, helping to redecorate.’
Elena really had been out of the loop lately. ‘Is that the secret art project you’ve been working on?’
Luisa nodded. ‘Connor’s lovely, and anyone can see they’re made for each other.
’ She patted Sofia’s back when her sister groaned.
‘Sorry, but it’s true. And I didn’t mean to pry, I wasn’t deliberately looking for dirt, I just stumbled across those articles on the internet when I was researching ideas for my mural about mindfulness.
And then the articles were linked to all these social media posts. ’
Elena sighed. ‘Oh, Luisa, this was what Danny was afraid of. The stuff on the internet doesn’t cover the whole story, and most of it is untrue and inflammatory.’
Luisa folded her arms defensively. ‘Well, I get that now. But see it from my point of view: the guy your sister likes has a criminal record, she had a right to know.’
‘But he doesn’t have a criminal record.’ Elena shifted position. ‘The charges were dropped, it was a case of mistaken identity and Connor was wrongly accused. The police eventually found the real culprit and all charges were withdrawn.’
Luisa pushed her fairy headband back. ‘Oh.’
Sofia grabbed a cushion and buried her face in it. ‘I knew Connor was innocent!’
Elena moved to sit next to Sofia and put her arm around her. ‘Sofia, listen to me. Danny and I are over. It’s done, we’re not dating. I hate the idea of you losing Connor over this, so let’s focus on how we resolve things.’
Sofia lifted her tearstained face. ‘I had no idea you and Danny had even started dating, why didn’t you tell me?’
‘Yeah, why didn’t you tell us?’ Luisa echoed, looking disgruntled. ‘Bad form, Elena.’
‘Because we hadn’t been dating, not really.
We hooked up that weekend we went away, and honestly, I thought it was a one-time thing.
We’re not exactly compatible. But he wanted more, and I wasn’t sure, but I agreed to a date to see if things between us might develop, but the date never happened.
I found out he was acting against Sofia at the ET hearing and called the whole thing off. It was over before it even began.’
Sofia looked puzzled. ‘Why?’
‘Why?’ Elena raised an eyebrow. ‘Because acting for the opposition would hurt my sister, that’s why.’
‘He’s just doing his job,’ Sofia said with a sigh. ‘It’s not personal.’
‘Not personal?’ Elena shook her head, wondering why Sofia wasn’t more outraged—she should be furious. ‘How can you say that? Of course it’s personal. This could damage your future career prospects.’
‘Honestly, Elena. It’s just a job.’ Sofia sniffed and wiped her eyes.
‘I’m seriously not that invested in the outcome.
I’ve decided to move on anyway, whatever happens.
I don’t want to work for a corporate any more.
Working at the community centre has opened my eyes to so many other possibilities better suited to my temperament.
So please don’t let my issues damage your chances with Danny. If you like him, date him.’
Luisa adjusted her fairy headband. ‘Good advice.’
Elena shook her head. ‘I can’t.’
Sofia sighed. ‘Why not?’
‘Because it’s the Felix situation all over again.
Danny’s choosing his career over his personal life, and I’m not going down that route again.
It hurt too much last time.’ She swallowed past the lump in her throat, refusing to cry over Daniel bloody Jackson.
‘And anyway, this is not about me. It’s about you and Connor, and how we fix things. ’
‘In which case, I’ll get the wine. We need stimulants if we’re going to strategise.’ Luisa disappeared into the kitchen, her fairy headband bouncing as she walked.
Sofia flopped against the sofa. ‘I don’t know that it can be fixed. I tried talking to him, but he says he’s too damaged, and he’d only bring me down with him.’
Elena rested her hand over Sofia’s. ‘And what do you think?’
‘I think he’s wrong. I know things have been difficult for him, but he’s worth it. He’s the only man I want to be with.’ Sofia rolled her head to look at Elena. ‘I love him.’
Elena smiled, even though her chest ached like she was having a coronary. ‘Well, newsflash, Sofia. He loves you too. And according to Danny, Connor’s as distraught as you are.’
Sofia’s eyes grew hopeful. ‘Danny told you this?’
Elena winced at the memory. ‘Shouted would be a more accurate description. But yes, he told me, and I believe him. So if Connor loves you, and you love him, then it would be crazy not to do something about it. Right?’
Sofia nodded. ‘But I don’t know how. He said he’s stopping volunteering at the community centre, so I may never see him again. He loves that place, and he’s invested so much time into improving things, I hate to think he’s walking away because of me.’
Elena was about to respond, when her phone pinged with a message.
Seeing Danny’s name flash up on the screen made her physically recoil. She wasn’t in the mood for another yelling match. But any ill feeling vanished when she read the message.
Connor’s gone missing. I can’t find him. I’m panicking. Is he with Sofia?
Elena typed an immediate reply.
He’s not with Sofia. Sorry. Hope you find him.
She regretted her terse reply the second after sending it. She should have been kinder, he must be out of his mind with worry.
She waited, but no further message popped up.
Luisa returned from the kitchen with a bottle of wine and three glasses. ‘What’s the deal? Are we hatching a plan?’
‘Not right now.’ With her mind in a whirl, Elena stood up. ‘I need to head out for a while, something’s come up. Luisa, can you stay with Sofia for me?’