Stella:

by K A Sands

  The door banged open and before I’d even turned to see who’d come inside, I was rushed from behind. I knew his smell any where and as soon as his body crushed mine, I was home.

  “Ayden…”

  He pushed from me, holding me at arm’s length, inspecting me up and down before his eyes finally connected with mine. Hauling me into his chest, he held on tight. “I was shit scared,” he whispered.

  My hand found his jaw and I cradled his face, while pushing my thumb through the loop on the back of his jeans. “Hey, I’m okay. You taking me home?”

  His breath hit my ear before he pulled away. “Yeah, and I’m gonna make you forget today ever happened.”

  “Sounds good to me.”

  A throat clearing had Ayden moving away from me and turning to face the others in the room. Adrian and Tony had joined us, Taylor was wrapped up in Ryder much the same as Ayden had been with me seconds earlier, and Lucca was hovering by the door. The small room was suddenly crowded.

  “You’re free to go, Shaun.” Adrian said.

  “Ryder?”

  He shook his head. “We have a few things we need to go through first. Lucca will get him and Taylor home. You should head out. Your belongings are at the front desk.”

  I looked to Ryder and then to Lucca, whose face was giving nothing away.

  “Go on home, son. We’ll call later.”

  Tony opened the door and hitched his head toward the hall. “Come on, guys. I’ll walk you out.”

  Gripping Ayden’s hand in mine, I wasn’t about to argue. There was very little I could do, I was pissed enough at the thought of Ryder taking the fall for something that had nothing to do with him.

  “This was not on him,” I said to Adrian before following Tony from the room, Ayden dragging behind me.

  “I know, Shaun. Just go home, we’ll sort it.”

  Laura

  Unnerved. Anxious.

  I couldn’t pin point what exactly I was feeling but I was out of sorts. Maybe wedding jitters. I wasn’t getting cold feet, not for one teeny, tiny second, yet something unpleasant niggled at me and I didn’t like it at all.

  The fact that Lucca and Taylor had gone to bail Ryder out of jail didn’t help either. I got a short two sentence explanation via text, and a frantic Taylor thrusting a giggling Emily at me five minutes after that before she bolted out the door. Stood to reason Taylor would want to go make sure Ryder and Shaun were both okay. She had a huge soft spot for Ayden’s boyfriend, despite his appearance and initial gruffness, he was one of the most pleasant and charming young men I’d met. Both Ryder and Taylor mollycoddled him like a child at times. Secretly, I think he loved it.

  I had my own love for him and it had come easy, much like it had for Ayden. They were my boys and I loved them both like their own mothers should have. Not having my own children, that constant yearning for a child, had dramatically dimmed since the arrival of beautiful little Emily, and the growing relationships with Ayden and Shaun.

  But it was Sophie.

  Beautiful, lost, broken Sophie, who had stolen my heart in ways I could never explain. And for some reason the young woman clung to me as hard as I did to her, she held tight, like I was the only thing keeping her afloat. After all she’d been through, perhaps I was.

  Still, the growing sense of unease was never far behind, and I wasn’t one for ignoring those signs.

  The rain had finally stopped, for days it had come down, mud was traipsed into the house and it was getting ridiculous. Lucca was going to have to get the driveway redone, but we were crawling into winter and the days of decent weather were dwindling. I’d have a time to go before I could beat the mud being trampled inside the foyer.

  Huddling Emily up into a cute little pink suit, I tucked the sweet little bundle into her all terrain buggy. Peering up at me with big blue eyes, I couldn’t help but bop the end of her pudgy button nose with my knuckle.

  “What do you say, girlie? Wanna take a walk?”

  Going down into the village was a piece of cake, a gorgeous walk, but coming back up was a bitch. I considered it my exercise for the week seeing as I’d left the house only once in however many days I didn’t care to think about. I’d left Sophie sleeping, she hadn’t stirred for a few hours, didn’t yet know her brother had been arrested. It was for the best, she didn’t need the stress in her condition.

  I shoved on a semi warm jacket and tucked the buggy rain cover into the tray underneath, just in case. The sky was clear, but sometimes the weather rolled in quick and fast off the sea and caught people off guard. Many a time I’d been soaked coming up that bloody hill.

  Wrestling the buggy out the front door, I headed down into the village, noting halfway down the hill Emily had fallen asleep. Bless her. Teeth were coming through and her routine was all knocked off because of it, the motion of the buggy was always a sure-fire way to soothe her and send her to sleep. I’d often seen Ryder walking along our road end, pushing Emily in the buggy, as he tried to get her to nod off if she’d had a night of disturbed sleep.

  I don’t know why, or maybe subconsciously I did, but I ended up at the plot of empty land, where my house had been. Of course there was nothing left now, bar overgrown foundations. Lucca had had the charred remains bulldozed and cleaned the space, it still haunted me, and I could still see my home if I thought about it for long enough.

  Standing on the edge of the plot, almost afraid to set foot on the grass, I looked out toward the sea, missing the view I’d once had from my kitchen window. A stray tear fell, one I didn’t allow often, not for here anyway, and I cursed at myself. I knew not to come back. I should just sell the bloody land and be done with it.

  But I just couldn’t seem to let it go.

  Like I was tethered to this exact piece of the world, never to be set free.

  Perhaps it was the reminder I needed. A reminder of all the obstacles I’d climbed over to get to where I was now. Perhaps it was to remind me I was alive.

  I’d wondered if I’d always have this land. If I’d ever sell it or let it be built on. I was kidding myself thinking I could banish it to memory. But I had to let it go some time. Today was, however, not that day.

  Leaving the solemn memories behind, I took Emily into the little shop around the corner, the owners always cooed over the baby. Once they’d oohed and ahhed for a few minutes, I decided it was home time. The sky had darkened with thick cloud and the likelihood of making it back up the hill without getting soaked was becoming a real possibility.

  That uneasy feeling came back with a vengeance, yet it was different. Like an awareness, someone’s eyes on me. A familiar feeling I hadn’t encountered in so long. I realised it was how I’d felt the other day when I’d left the house to nip down to the restaurant.

  I hurried my steps, pushing Emily’s buggy quicker, and half way up the hill, through aching legs and panting breaths, dread washed over me.

  The car I’d heard a second before from behind, roared past, barely an inch from the kerb of the pavement I was walking on. It was so close I felt the hot whoosh of air skim my legs, my heart beat doubled in fear, it was thumping so hard.

  I screamed and yanked Emily’s buggy closer to the trees lining the pavement then stopped and bent over, leaning my head down onto the handle of the buggy, dragging in harsh breaths.

  The car had been too close, far too close, too fast.

  Lifting my head, I looked over the hood, up to the top of the road and gasped when the car that had almost knocked me off my feet, came into view, idling at the top of the street.

  I had no demons chasing me, they’d been left behind on the vacant plot of land overlooking the sea down in the village. They’d burnt to cinders, along with the house I’d loved and my self-inflicted chains.

  Yet somehow, I knew the person at the top of the hill, sitting in the car, waiting, was about to crash into my world and make life a living hell again.

  There was only one person I knew who could illicit the fear working its way
through my veins, like ice spreading across a cold window pain.

  Stella. Only Stella.

  Lucca’s ex-wife was back.

  Lucca

  “Three kilos of coke.”

  Ryder whistled low and Taylor groaned. “Jail sentence.”

  “Guaranteed.” Ryder’s voice was quiet, subdued. He hung onto Taylor like she was keeping him upright, his demeanour worried me.

  “Everyone take a seat.” Adrian motioned to the table.

  Chairs scraped across the floor and bodies moved as we all sat down, Ryder tugging Taylor into his lap. There was only four chairs in the room so it made sense, he wanted her close enough to touch her.

  Tony’s brother cleared his throat, then began. “Three kilos of low grade coke. I think someone planted it in the van when it stopped somewhere on route to you.”

  “No shit,” Ryder grumbled.

  I knocked my fist against his shoulder, a movement to get him to shut the fuck up and let the detective speak.

  “We took the dogs to the driver’s flat. Gary. We got nothing. There are no prints on the van that shouldn’t be there.”

  I didn’t expect any different. If someone was setting them up, it would be clean, their tracks covered.

  “We’ve collected CCTV footage from as much of his route as we could find, showing only one discrepancy. Not sure if it’s intentional or not but he parked in a blind spot at a garage a few streets away. Camera didn’t pick up anything, only the van going in and out of frame.”

  “Someone could have planted it then?” Taylor asked.

  “Yeah,” Adrian sighed. “We need to talk about Shaun.”

  “Wait a minute…” Ryder growled angrily, and I watched as his fingers tightened around Taylor’s arm.

  The detective held his hand up, halting the tirade I was sure my best friend was getting ready to hurl. “He only opened the box?”

  Ryder nodded his head. “Yes. He used the box cutter to slit the top open. Didn’t touch what was inside.”

  “Not at all?”

  “No. the kid was freaked the fuck out, fell on his arse.”

  “He doesn’t do that shit anymore,” Tony piped up, his statement strong and true, as he pierced a looked at his brother. “I can vouch for him.”

  “He’s the common denominator here.”

  The room stayed quiet for a beat until Tony huffed out an aggravated sigh. “No. It’s not. There’s another.”

  My head whipped up and I stared at him, wondering what the fuck he was on about. This was Charlie’s work, through and through. Two birds, one stone.

  “Like?” Adrian encouraged.

  “Stella.”

  Her name shouldn’t have surprised me in the least, but the shock of hearing it did. I sucked in a breath and closed my eyes. “Fuck…” My heart took a dive right to the pit of my stomach. I was getting married and my ex had timed her return to perfection. Why was I not surprised?

  “I dug around,” Tony continued as I snapped my eyes open and gave him my full attention. “One of Charlie’s little runts mentioned a blonde woman staggering out of his office a while back. He remembered because Charlie’s heavies had been standing outside his office and the sounds from within gave him a hard on. His words not mine. Said she was fit as fuck for her age.”

  “Laura…” Taylor pushed up and out of Ryder’s hold and paced the room. “She’s back for Laura.”

  “Baby, come sit down. She ain’t coming back for anyone.”

  Oh, Ryder was being an idiot. Of course she was.

  “I need to go home. Emily is with Laura.”

  My eyes widened at what Taylor was indirectly pointing out, while Ryder stared blankly at her, taking longer to reach the same conclusion.

  “Shit,” Tony hissed out. “I’ll get on it as soon as we leave here.”

  Yeah, while we were sat in this godforsaken room, Stella, if she was back, was out there doing whatever the hell she wanted. I had no doubt Laura would be in her line of sight, we all would.

  “Can I go?” Ryder’s moved Taylor from his lap, chair scraping across the floor while he stood tall, reaching for her hand.

  “It’s not that easy.”

  “The fuck it isn’t.”

  “I can’t caution you. I have to charge you with possession and intent to sell because of the amount, low grade or not. You’ll have to figure out your club licence, it’s likely you’ll lose it until this is sorted out and we can prove otherwise and wrap this up.”

  “This is bullshit, and you know it, Adrian.” He turned to me. “Take Taylor home. Tony can drive me back or whatever.”

  Tony nodded in agreement. “I think we need a chat anyway, mate.”

  Ryder pulled Taylor into his arms and kissed her head. “Go home, I’ll be right behind you.”

  A tear slipped down her face and my anger at the whole situation softened. Our women were going backwards instead of forwards. They’d looked over their shoulders for years, lived a paranoid existence long enough, and now the possibility of my ex-wife being back would plunge them head first into a place they should have been free of.

  Guilt slammed into me and I stood up with more force than I intended, the chair toppling behind me. Stella was not getting to do this. Whatever she had up her sleeve was not going down. I needed to nip it in the bud, so her venom didn’t infect any of us again.

  My phone ringing jarred my attention and I fumbled it from my pocket, automatically smiling when I saw it was my soon to be wife. The cosy feeling was gone two seconds later when she rushed out the name ‘Stella’.

  Screwing my eyes shut a second time, I listened to Laura on the other end of the phone, her panicked voice sending shivers through me as she recounted the car that almost ran her off the road.

  “Lucca, I swear it was her. Stella’s back.”

  Stella

  I’d known Lucca had bought a property for Ayden, but I couldn’t find that on record anywhere. There were no recent purchases, bar his stupid little restaurant and the house, to be found. I knew when he’d bought the house in Beaufort before he’d even scrawled his signature across the contract. He was hiding where Ayden was though, more than likely from me, but Charlie knew everything, hence my visit. I’d done what I needed to in Beaufort, and the rest could wait for now. The Loft was my next port of call.

  To see my son.

  I wasn’t expecting a warm welcome, didn’t need one. I’d always known Ayden was gay, it didn’t particularly bother me no matter how much I protested and turned my nose up. What did bother me was who he was shacking up with. Ironic, I’d say.

  Oh no, that wasn’t flying well with me.

  The little prick that was Gripp, clearly liked keeping it in the family. My Ayden was too good for the fucking dirty little street punk that he was. I remembered vividly our last meeting, the threat he’d slung my way. It had fallen on deaf ears, he was no more a threat to me than a safety razor was when I shaved my legs. He hadn’t scared me, he’d no longer been of any use, and I quickly understood I had been flogging a dead horse. I let him think he’d had the upper hand then strolled away.

  The man didn’t know me. You cross me - you don’t get to walk away unscathed. Gripp had crossed me and I didn’t like it. He wasn’t going to be living with my Ayden for very much longer, I was going to make sure of it. His little trip to jail was the least of his worries.

  Lucca knew I was here, he had to, and he’d most likely have his Private Investigator tailing me. The silly scare I’d given his girlfriend would be sure to have her tongue wagging and telling tales. Now, I wasn’t particularly bothered if he knew or not. I had no more reasons to hide and I’d be seeing him soon enough. We may have been divorced but our relationship was far from over.

  Oh yeah, Lucca was on my shit list, right at the top, along with that lovely little fiancé who didn’t hold a candle to me. I’d have them broken and bent before the week was out.

  The key I’d acquired to the bottom flat door was real handy, I co
uld let myself in without announcing my arrival. There was something to say about the element of surprise. I was all about the entrance and the shock I created, not so delusional however, that I didn’t know my relationship with my son was unsalvageable.

  God, I’d been the worst mother, never putting him first. I was all about me - and nothing much had changed. I wasn’t going to start regretting it, you look out for you at the end of the day. Ayden had had his father, that was enough, my son had always been a pawn in the games I played, a way to keep Lucca at heel. I didn’t need him, he didn’t need me.

  I straightened my pant suit and squared the glasses on my face as I walked the hall to Ayden’s Loft. I couldn’t help the grin, I was going to knock Gripp on his arse.

  Thumping with purpose on my son’s door, I stood back and waited for the carnage to begin. The little bastard took his time, so I knocked again, impatient for the fun to start.

  “Well, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes?” My eyes travelled the length of Gripp’s mostly naked body, stopping at his dick, which had poked its head through the slit at the front. “And happy to see me too.”

  “Who is it, baby?” I recognised my son’s voice calling from somewhere in the flat. The shithead in front of me couldn’t speak, his mouth hanging open the instant he’d realised who it was standing in front of him. “Shaun?”

  “Hi, son.” I smiled my brightest smile over the top of Gripp’s head when Ayden came into view. All sharp teeth and pretend cheer, like I wasn’t there to rip his world apart.

  “Mum?”

  Ayden stepped forward, pushing Gripp out of the way, his body blocking my view of him. Not taking his eyes from me, he gritted his teeth. “Go get dressed.” He waved a hand behind him and I smirked as Gripp toddled off down the hallway without so much as another word. Good to know he knew when to heel.

  “You not going to invite your dear mother inside, son?”