All We Have

by Len Webster

  His brother leant on the doorframe. “What? I’m not good enough for you? I get it, she’s fucking beautiful, but that’s my fiancée … Oh, hell. I sound like Noel.”

  “Not your fiancée,” Stevie corrected.

  Julian peeked over his shoulder. “Blondie, you gotta put more clothes on than that. You’re indecent right now.”

  Stevie peeked over Julian’s shoulder and smiled at Rob. Her smile did absolutely nothing. Not a stutter in his heart’s beat. Not that light-headedness he got from Allison’s smile. Stevie Appleton had become plain to him. And the realisation only added to the confirmation he’d already had.

  Allison O’Connor was it.

  “Says the guy answering the door in his underwear. Let Rob inside and get some clothes on,” Stevie instructed.

  Rob shook his head. “I just need your phone, Stevie. Then I’ll leave.”

  She pushed her fiancé aside, opening the door and showcasing her short and revealing red lace nightdress. “You’re not calling her from my phone. I told you. When she’s ready—”

  “I won’t call her,” he interrupted. “I need to call someone and I know you have his number. I may have not been able to save my mother, Stevie. But I sure as hell am saving Allison from that life she has. Her father cuts her off for good, then so be it. I’ll provide for her. I’ll help her find a job. I’ll support her through university. I’ll do whatever it takes to make her happy. I love her. Nothing matters more to me than her. Just her. That’s all I need. That’s all I’ll ever want. Allison O’Connor is my everything. My life.”

  Stevie’s eyes filled with tears. His speech had moved her. She blinked twice and then spun around, Rob just able to see her enter her bedroom. Then she returned moments later and handed him her unlocked phone. Rob went into her contacts and found the number he needed. He dialled it and listened to it ring.

  It took seconds for him to answer. “Miss Appleton.”

  “Serge, is it?”

  There was silence.

  Allison’s bodyguard did not say a word. Rob took this as his opportunity to make his intentions very clear.

  “I’m Rob Moors. And I’ve hurt someone you care about. I’ve hurt the woman I love. It kills me that you have to hear that I love her before she does, but I believe that’s the only way you’ll let me near her. I’m not calling to get your permission. I don’t need it. But I am warning you. I’m going to be in Sydney tonight. I’m going to her, and I will tell her I love her. You will not stop me. Understood?”

  More silence.

  Rob focused on the concern on Julian’s face. The wait for Serge to speak was a form of torture. But it was about respect. That was why he had called Allison’s bodyguard.

  He finally spoke. “Her father has her making an appearance at an event tonight. Wear a suit. Sydney Town Hall. We’ll be arriving at seven thirty. You break her heart once more, and I will break every fucking bone in that good for nothing body of yours. I will end your rowing career. I will make sure you are never near her again. Understood?”

  “I’ll see you in Sydney,” he confirmed and then hung up. Rob breathed out, relieved that it had gone better than he had expected. Just as he was about to return Stevie’s phone to her, Serge had texted him through her.

  Serge: Miss O’Connor lives at the Stamford Marque on Kent Street. She’ll be with her cousin getting ready for the event for most of the day. Say your name at the desk and you’ll be able to enter her apartment. You may change there before you meet her at Sydney Town Hall.

  “Blondie, pack your things, we’re going on a search and rescue operation. We’re gonna bring back Ally!” Julian announced, snapping Rob’s attention from the text message to his brother.

  He shook his head and handed Stevie back her phone. “You two are staying here. I have to do this on my own.”

  “Is it me or did I get wildly turned on over how alpha you got with Ally’s bodyguard?” Stevie grinned.

  Julian gagged and then made a shooing motion with his hand. “You can go now, Robbie. I gotta go teach Blondie here who exactly turns her on.” Then he pretended to push up the sleeves of his non-existent shirt. “All right, Stephanie, we are not leaving that bed all weekend, got it?”

  Stevie rolled her eyes and then spun around, yelling, “Good luck!” over her shoulder to Rob.

  His younger brother gave him a smile, and just before he closed the door, Julian said, “All you have to do is tell her you love her. That’s it. Three simple words. That’s all you need and that’s all she needs to hear. I love you, bro.”

  “I love you, too,” Rob said and then headed towards the elevator, determined to finally tell Allison that he was in love with her.

  Adam: As usual, you are fashionably late.

  Ally: I am not! I’ve been here. Watched you walk up the stairs thinking you’re some kind of rock star. Been waiting to overshadow you.

  Adam: That would be right. They love your father.

  Ally: Of course, they do. He’s the richest man in Sydney. You ready for the big unveiling tonight? Adam Duncan, Vice President of Operations. Sounds quite nice.

  Adam: What about Allison O’Connor, temporary Operations Director in training? How is she feeling tonight?

  Ally: Like no one will believe her and her new title. How are you feeling?

  Adam: Like a shit friend. I’m stabbing Liam in the back.

  Ally: He stepped down. Left us to deal with all of this. Have you heard from him?

  Adam: Nope. You?

  “Miss O’Connor, it’s time,” Serge announced.

  Ally glanced up from her phone and nodded. She would just have to tell Adam that all her calls and messages to her brother went unanswered. She was sure Liam had ditched his phone. Normally, Ally was the reckless one. Liam was the playboy millionaire until he had dated and then was engaged to Clara. When her brother did return, he was going to hear just how annoyed Ally was with him. With a huff, she slid her phone into her grey clutch and then closed it with a loud click.

  “Serge,” she said, staring out of the window and seeing the flashes from the paparazzi. It had been months since she was in front of those lenses. It had been months since they screamed her name. And it had been months since her last appearance. Tonight would be her final event. No more socialite Ally. No more magazines painting her as a deviant. No more of her old life. After tonight, she would be someone new. The real her no one wanted around.

  “Yes?”

  “I just wanted to say thank you for the last two years. For seeing the real me under all those lies,” she said, blinking quickly to prevent any tears from escaping and ruining her makeup. “I’m going to make you proud of me. And I know you’re going to say that you always have been, but I’m serious, Serge. This is about us now. You deserve a lot more than dragging a nineteen-year-old out of a club.”

  She craned her neck slightly to see him smiling. Then he cut the engine and got out of the car. Seconds later, her side door opened and Serge offered his hand for her. Taking it, Ally gathered the bottom of her grey couture dress in her free hand as she stepped out of the Jaguar. Frankie, her assistant, was by her side taking Ally’s clutch from her and amending her dress. The Elie Saab dress she wore had a sheer, lined bodice that hung off her shoulders, and the sheer lace skirt flowed down her body perfectly. It had been a choice between the grey dress and a rich crimson lace piece that she loved. But the old Ally would have worn the almost lingerie type dress. The Ally now had to be elegant and sophisticated. A lot was riding on her making the perfect impression. To have the board and the people who also worked for the company to have faith in her, she had to prove to the world that her wild days were over.

  “You look beautiful, piccola,” Serge whispered next to her as he led her away from the car and to the bottom step that led to the Sydney Town Hall.

  “Thank you, Serge,” she said, appreciatively. His words made her feel beautiful. Getting ready for the gala at her cousin, Veronica’s, house had been long and tirin
g. Besides trying to keep CeCe entertained, Ally had to sit and have her hair, makeup, and nails done.

  “You look stunning, Ally,” Frankie commented as Ally faced her.

  “Thank you, Frankie. What are the plans for tonight?”

  Frankie reached forward and adjusted the curls swept to one side. When they appeared to have settled to Frankie’s satisfaction, she smiled. “Light canapés and champagne then a performance by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. After that, your father will announce your brother stepping down from his position in Melbourne. Adam will be introduced as the new VP of operations and investments. Then your father will announce the shift in ownership, that you own the majority of the shares. Small speech about how you may be the major shareholder and owner, but you will not assume the role of CEO until after your father’s retirement. You will reveal your plans to attend university and learn every aspect and role of the business.”

  “Simple enough,” Ally muttered. The nervous tremors began to inch their way through her body. This time, it wasn’t about being scandalous. This was the first time the media would ever see her so tamed. So poised and so unlike the Ally they had loved to write about and ruin. But they weren’t entirely to blame. She had given them the fuel for the inferno that was her life.

  With a deep breath, Ally grabbed handfuls of her dress and lifted it up off the concrete footpath. Gazing down at the first step, she nodded to herself. All those steps she had to make to finally be free. One last time to say goodbye to her old life. To say goodbye as her true self. Thankful that her stitches had been removed and her cut was healing faster and better than she and the doctor had expected, Ally smiled at the first step she had made. Then she climbed a few more, loving the empowering sensation that had replaced her nerves. Ally dropped her left hand as she began to climb the rest. Just as she made it halfway, a hand wrapped around her wrist and halted her.

  For a split second, that hand and that touch felt familiar. It made her heart ache and warm. It made her stomach fill with all those unwanted butterflies, but she clenched her jaw, steadying herself for disappointment. He wouldn’t be here in Sydney. Not after she had made it clear that she didn’t want to talk to him.

  “Don’t, Allison. Don’t go up there. That’s not you,” Rob said, as his thumb gently stroked her wrist.

  Ally’s eyelids closed as she let his touch consume her. Then she turned to see him two steps below her. First, she wanted to slap him. Then she wanted to kiss him and tell him she loved him one more time. But she told her rushing heart that it wasn’t the time to be rash. Not anymore. Not when it had hurt her so deeply the last time. When she had left him, he was stunning, but now, in his black tuxedo, he was beautiful. His hair sleeked back and he had gone unshaven since she’d last seen him. A short and groomed beard covered his face. It was sexier. And that tux … she knew she was in trouble. The way her heart had accelerated at his nervous and awe-like expression was proof that Robert Moors was her everything. That all the nevers on her list were all the nevers she didn’t want with anyone but him.

  “What are you doing here?” she half whispered, half demanded.

  Rob took one step forward, still towering over her. “You’re here.”

  Shaking her head, Ally tried to pull her wrist free, but he held it firmly. “You can’t be here, Robbie. The paparazzi’s here.”

  His hand left her and settled on her cheek. “I don’t care, Allison. I don’t.”

  “But I do. I can’t be seen with you. I don’t want this life for you.” Her eyes met his light blues and every weak wall she had built around her heart collapsed at the soft gleam in his eyes. Rob’s lips parted as his other palm settled on her other cheek, cupping her face. “Please, you can’t be here.”

  “Give me a few words to tell you why I’m here, giving up the Olympics and my career to be seen with you.” His voice was low and had enough power to take away the rest of her heart’s defences.

  Unable to help the tears that formed, Ally gazed up at him and whispered, “Okay.”

  Rob took a deep breath and his smile softened just like his eyes. “I love you, Allison. I’m here because I love you.”

  This time, it was Ally whose lips parted at his confession. He loved her. He’d come all the way to Sydney to tell her, dressed in a tux and ready to walk into the battlefield of a life she lived. He appeared willing. His words sounded promising and truthful. But part of her was afraid to have him love her. It was all she had ever wanted but learning about his mother had dented her bravery.

  “Can I kiss you?” he asked softly.

  Instead of saying yes, she said, “I love you, too, Robbie.”

  Then his lips found hers and everything felt right. She loved the way he kissed her. Slow and savoured with enough pressure and passion to weaken her knees. He kissed her as if he knew all the ugly was worth the taste. He kissed her as if he loved her. And Ally believed him.

  The sound of a shutter and the brightness of a flash ended their needy lips. Ally quickly turned in the direction of the camera that continued to take shots of her and Rob.

  His career.

  The wave of nausea hit her hard and made her gasp. If they put two and two together, they’d find out who Rob was and there went his chances of making the Australian team. Before she could even beg for the camera, Rob’s hands left her face and settled on her arms, holding her in place. Then she noticed Serge storm up the steps and grab the camera from the photographer. Her bodyguard was about to destroy it when Rob took a step away from her.

  “Serge, wait!” Rob yelled, holding out his hand for the camera.

  Her bodyguard handed the expensive looking camera to Rob. Ally made her way towards them to find Rob searching through the pictures. They were stunning. Pictures of him cupping her face as he kissed her. The moments just before he’d kissed her. The moment she could tell she had heard him tell her he loved her for the first time. They were beautiful, and she wanted to keep them.

  “I’ll give you twenty thousand dollars for that SD card,” she offered the middle-aged photographer.

  His eyes lit up. “Twenty?”

  Ally nodded. Far more than she should have offered. “Thirty thousand and I’ll call you if I attend any other events.”

  The photographer’s hands raked through his salt and pepper hair. “Fuck, that’s a lot of money.”

  “Allison, I want the world to see them. I want them to know. Hell, I want the AOC to know,” Rob fought. His determination made her heart swell.

  “Mr Moors, you understand what that means?” her father asked, surprising them all as he made his way down the steps. “Thank you, Ron. You may go. I will speak to you later.”

  Her father had planned the photographer that had now left them. Ally must have appeared shocked and pale as Rob wrapped his arms around her as if to keep her on her feet.

  “I know, sir,” Rob said, his strong arms tightened their hold.

  Her father nodded and produced a chequebook from his jacket pocket. Then he took out a pen, scribbled something down and ripped the cheque from the book, holding it towards them. Ally pushed away from Rob’s protective embrace and took the rectangular piece of paper from her father. Looking at the amount and the name on the cheque, she gasped.

  $20,000,000.00

  “Take the money, Mr Moors. Leave my daughter. She needs to stay here,” her father demanded.

  Ally tore her eyes from the insulting paper and glared at her father. She thought he was a better man. But it was all a trick. A play to get her to commit to the company. She was a pawn. Facing Rob, she saw the anger on his face. She handed him the cheque. It was a lot of money. He’d be set for life. He’d never have to find a sponsor. His career and all his needs would be taken care of. It’d be selfish of her to tell him not to take it. Twenty million dollars and he’d have any coach and training facility he needed for Rio. Suddenly, Rob began to rip the cheque into pieces, his eyes never leaving her father. Then he climbed the few steps until he was face-to-face
with David O’Connor. Ally watched as Rob shoved the pieces in her father’s hand.

  “I’m sure I’ll never make whatever amount of money you wrote on there in my entire life. I make seventy thousand dollars a year after tax. I live in a small two-bedroom apartment. I have no debts. I may not be a millionaire, but I can provide for your daughter. Unlike you, I would never pimp her out the way you do. I love Allison. No amount of money could ever make me leave her,” Rob growled.

  “Allison,” her father called. Ally went up the steps so she could stand next to him, staring at Rob. She knew what was next. Her father would make Rob go away. He had that habit. Her father was persuasive. “You fell in love with a determined one. Go with him.”

  Shock.

  It was the only way to describe what took hold of her system. Ally quickly swung her gaze from the taken aback Robert Moors and to her smiling father.

  “What?” she asked, shaking her head.

  Stunned was another word she’d use to describe how she felt.

  “Adam and I can handle tonight. We won’t make the announcement about your shares until your brother gets home. It doesn’t need to be made public with a gala.”

  Before she could say a word to her father, he spun around and left them. Frankie was by her side in seconds, handing over Ally’s clutch. Serge removed the SD card from the camera and passed it over to Rob. And then, they were gone, too. Just Rob and her on the steps of Sydney Town Hall, staring at each other.

  “Would you like to go inside?” Rob asked.

  Ally stared into his eyes, searching for regret. But she found none. He wanted this life with her. She should be honest with Rob, tell him of the things she could never give him. But for tonight, she’d be selfish.

  He had told her he loved her.

  She never thought it was possible.

  “Behind me is the rest of my life,” she revealed. “I’m not a socialite anymore. He gave me a way out. Someday, I’ll be the CEO of my family’s company. But my past, it won’t ever go away, Robbie. You have to understand that. None of it was true. I was a virgin before you.”