Falling for My Dad's Best Friend

by Cassandra Dee

  Annelise turned to go, but then hesitated, looking over her shoulder at me curiously.

  “What about you, Miss Tina? What about those men who stopped by your office last week? I couldn’t help but hear,” she said quickly, “but it seems you were in a romantic relationship with them?”

  I paused for a moment.

  “Yes, I was. In fact, they’re the fathers of my baby,” I said softly, wistfully.

  “Fathers!” exclaimed Annelise. “All three?”

  I nodded, not saying any more. It was too complicated and I was still heartsore after the encounter, staying up nights, unable to sleep, replaying the conversation again and again in my head. Had I done the right thing? Had driving Karl, Kristian and Kato away been the right thing to do? Maybe I’d been overly harsh, too much the alpha female and should have taken a gentler approach. Maybe I should have waited until the babies were born before turning them away at least. Then again, maybe I’d done everything right.

  But Annelise was impressed.

  “You were wonderful,” she said with a big smile. “I couldn’t help but overhear, but you were the boss!”

  And I smiled sadly then.

  “Yeah, I was, wasn’t I?” I said softly. “I wore the pants that day, didn’t I? Maybe I should have been nicer, I don’t know,” I said, sighing. “It’s too late now.”

  Annelise was silent for a moment.

  “I know what you mean,” she said slowly. “I know what you mean about being the boss. Because like we talked about, I’m running the family business now, I’m not letting my husband hold the reins anymore. I’m the daughter of a rice farmer, the granddaughter, the great-granddaughter of rice farmers. Rice is in my blood, and I know how to plow, how to harvest, how to market rice better than anybody else, including my husband.”

  “But Miss Tina, it’s more complicated than that. Because I’m in charge now, but my husband and I, we’re still a partnership, don’t you see? For our family to succeed, personally and professionally, I need him. I can’t just send Mr. Peuh away. My husband is still my everything, even if I’m CEO. So be kind to your men, let them into your heart,” she said.

  I smiled wryly.

  “Oh Kristian, Karl and Kato are in my heart, there’s no doubt about that,” I said. “If you knew how many sleepless nights I’ve had since they showed up, how much I’ve thought about what happened.”

  “But that’s it,” Annelise replied slowly. “You didn’t do anything wrong, it’s just what they asked for wasn’t totally wrong either. They asked for time, and that’s not so crazy. You think my husband was okay with me being the boss immediately? Heck no! Mr. Peuh, he sulked and skulked around the house for weeks, even months, after I told him I was taking over the business. It was a change, and I had to give him time to come around. Isn’t it the same for your men?”

  I thought for a moment.

  “But I was pregnant and alone,” I said softly. “That’s no way to leave your woman.”

  “Did they know you were pregnant when they left?” asked Annelise.

  “Well no,” I frowned. “But they should have known because, we were, ah… how do you say it?” I blushed.

  “You were making love every day,” finished Annelise, smiling mischievously. “Twice a day. Trust me, Mr. Peuh and I have seven children, Cambodians believe a big family is a prosperous one.”

  And I gasped again. Annelise was so small, so thin, not to mention young, and she was the mother of seven children? Again, the Cambodian woman was full of surprises, and I looked at her with renewed respect.

  “Well, what would you do in my case then?” I asked. “I was so harsh with them when they came by last time, telling them to scram, how I never wanted to see them again. What should I do? Beg for their forgiveness? Crawl on my hands and knees?”

  And here Annelise laughed.

  “I don’t think you need to be so dramatic,” she said mirthfully. “I was outside waiting when they came out, remember? And the men, when they came out … those aren’t men who hate you, Miss Tina, those are men who love you. They looked terrible, sad and upset, but you can’t beat down a good man who has his heart set on something.”

  And I perked up, feeling hope blossom in my chest.

  “Do you think so? Do you really think so?” I asked tentatively. “After seeing me scream at them, do you think I still have a chance?”

  “I know so,” replied Annelise firmly. “And I have one other piece of advice. Mr. Peuh and I, after we fight, after we struggle over something, we always get into the bed and make love. It works like magic, the anger dissipates, and oh! He feels so good in me. How else do you think we have seven children?” she said mischievously.

  And I blushed then, my core growing warm as I rubbed my stomach gently, a little kick fluttering against my palm.

  “Well, we’ll see,” I said, blushing. “They haven’t seen my new body yet.”

  “Why not try it?” asked Annelise, “Go to them, you have nothing to lose.”

  And I sat back, thinking. I wasn’t totally sure about what Annelise was saying. I understood her point, that change takes time and any shock to the system takes a while to settle in. But I still wasn’t sure I was in the wrong, that I’d been too harsh. After all, Kristian, Karl and Kato had left me during a trying time, and aren’t partners supposed to stick together through thick and thin?

  I shook my head miserably, the confusion overwhelming. I missed the men, I craved Kristian, Karl and Kato desperately, thought about them all the time. But my path was unclear, the future uncertain. And what did I have now? Nothing, I thought unhappily. I had nothing.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  Tina

  I knocked on their hotel room door tentatively. I’d gotten Kristian, Karl and Kato’s room number through my friend at the front desk, bringing him dragonfruit as a half gift, half bribe. I knew he appreciated the red, fleshy tropical berry, it was a delicacy here in Cambodia.

  “Please?” I begged. “Please, please?”

  And Tot had agreed, telling me it was Room 505.

  “You better not do anything bad!” he admonished. “This dragonfruit’s not worth it!”

  And I nodded, smiling over my shoulder in a rush to get to the elevator. “I won’t!” I called backwards. “I won’t,” I promised.

  But the minute Karl opened the door, my promises evaporated because the man looked so good, so gorgeous that I could hardly focus. All I wanted was to do something bad to this man, with this man, something so dirty, so filthy that I was already feeling weak in the knees, my balance unsteady.

  But fortunately, my pregnancy was the perfect excuse.

  “Watch it,” he growled, grabbing me, one big hand on my arm and the other on my ass to support my weight. “Come in,” he said.

  And I sighed, leaning against him heavily.

  “Thanks,” I said softly as I sat on the bed. There were two huge beds in the room, plus a giant sofa, a giant TV, and an office area. Clearly, the men hadn’t held back, mercenaries command high prices for their work.

  “Here,” rumbled Kato, handing me a glass of water. “Drink it, you’ll feel better.”

  And I took the glass gratefully, letting the cool liquid run down my throat, moistening my lips before I began to speak.

  “Karl, Kato, Kristian,” I said slowly, not quite knowing where to begin. “I wanted to say …”

  But before I could say anything, the men were kneeling in front of me, their eyes serious.

  “Before you can say anything,” began Karl.

  “We wanted to apologize,” finished Kato quickly. “You were right, we took off like three fools, three cowards, leaving you in the middle of a mess and that was the wrong thing to do.”

  I was stunned, looking at them with shock. I’d expected to be the one crawling on my knees, I didn’t think the men would jump the gun and tell me that they were sorry. But I was in for more.

  “I guess what it is,” said Kristian with a wry glance at his br
others, “is that we have some kind of abandonment syndrome.”

  I looked at them with a puzzled expression. Abandonment?

  “Yes, abandonment,” said Kristian, his face sober. “I felt abandoned because my mother was never really in the picture. I mean Agatha,” he clarified quickly. “Agatha was never interested in me, as you’ve probably guessed,” he said. “I never saw her when I was growing up, I was raised by assorted nannies, our family butler, whoever happened to be around,” he shrugged. “Agatha was always getting her nails done, her hair done, having lunch with friends, who knows? It sounds crazy but I wouldn’t see my mother for two weeks at a time, even though we lived down the hall from one another.”

  “Anyways, I buried my feelings of abandonment,” he said wryly. “I had a lot of other things to keep me busy, judo, lacrosse, wrestling, and after a while, politics and economics, the things a young prince was expected to take up. I didn’t realize how hurt I was by Agatha’s lack of interest until recent events, when I saw how Violet jumped through hoops for the twins, acting crazy even, doing anything to protect Kato and Karl.

  “So when shit hit the fan, I had an internal meltdown. I know I should have stuck around,” he said slowly, “made sure that everything got back on track before jetting off with Halliburton. But I didn’t. I guess I felt so hurt by the revelations that I turned inwards, seeking peace and solace within myself, putting myself in radically different environs so that I could get away from it for a while, deal with it in my own good time.”

  I shook my head confused.

  “But Kristian,” I said slowly. “What happened that made you break down? I mean if Agatha’s never really been a part of your life, why would you feel abandoned all of a sudden?”

  “That’s the thing,” he said slowly. “It’s not that the abandonment came on suddenly. It’s been a constant thing, a drip drip in my life that’s existed since I was a child. And there was no cathartic moment per se,” he added wryly. “I guess it was seeing how much Violet loved Kato and Karl … and then finding out she was my mother too.”

  “Kristian, we were all played by the Rothchilds, don’t blame Agatha,” rumbled Kato. “She was a pawn, just like everyone else.”

  “Yeah, but see, I thought I was one of them,” said Kristian slowly. “I thought that my grandfather, my uncles, my aunts all across the Continent were on my team. And it turns out I was just an interloper to them, they never loved me … and neither did my so-called mother.”

  I was still for a moment. Okay, yes, there had been a lot of revelations about his heritage. Maybe finding out that Agatha wasn’t his biological mom explained her disinterested behavior, but how was anything going to change from here on out?

  “So what’s different?” I said slowly. “Are you going to try and form a relationship with Agatha? Is that what you’re saying?”

  “Oh hell no,” he said with a laugh. “That’s over and done with, that woman can kiss my ass. Did you notice?” he said with a pause, “that she’s barely been a part of all this? That we haven’t heard a peep from Agatha, she’s had nothing to say, avoiding us all, doing her own thing, despite the fact that she’s a major player in this drama? That’s how she is,” he nodded. “My entire life, that’s how she’s been – uncaring, non-existent, a big zero.”

  I nodded. It made no sense to build bridges with a woman who had never been, and probably still wasn’t interested in you.

  “So what does this mean?” I asked slowly. “What does this mean for me and the babies?” I asked, gesturing to my stomach. “Are you over your so-called abandonment issues? If you’re not seeking closure with Agatha, then what are you looking for?”

  Kristian paused for a moment.

  “I’ll be honest with you and say that I’m not totally sure,” he said slowly, looking at me somberly. “Because I still have a hole in my life, a giant-sized feeling of loss,” he admitted. “I think the only thing I can do is work on it. Work on myself, find fulfillment and happiness through you, the babies, our quad,” he said. “I know now that you’re everything to me, and believe me when I say I’ll never leave you again.”

  And here Karl coughed a bit.

  “I don’t want to butt in, but have you thought about building a relationship with Violet?” he suggested. “She’s come off as unsteady, flighty, with a vindictive streak against Georg, but at the same time, she was a good mother to us. Over-protective, yes. Afraid of setting us free in the world, yes. But she loved us, and Kato and I,” he said, nodding at his brother, “we’ve never doubted her love for us, that we were number one in her book always.”

  Kato snorted then.

  “Violet, if anything, was overbearing. She should never have gotten into a spat with Georg, a custody war of sorts, hiding us out on the farm so that he couldn’t see us. But it’s all over now,” he said with a growl. “We’re not on the farm anymore, we’re in Afghanistan,” he said grimly.

  And I gasped then, my hands flying to cover my mouth. This was terrible news, for both myself and the girls. Afghanistan? They were sure to be killed.

  But the twins merely nodded at me.

  “We can’t tell you much of what we’re doing, but we won’t lie,” said Karl. “It’s brutal. We’re soldiers baby, we always will be, and there’s blood, death and guts around us all the time.”

  I nodded mutely, my eyes shining.

  “But where does that leave us?” I asked plaintively. “Where does that leave Corinna and Carlton?” I said. I’d decided on names for the babies and Corinna and Carlton reminded me of twin peaks in Andorra, a favorite childhood hiking spot that I’d often visited. The peace and tranquility I’d found on those hikes was what I wanted to pass onto my children, a foil for the drama we’d recently been through.

  “Well, we have abandonment issues of our own,” ground out Kato, “but it’s no big deal, we’re over it,” he said flatly.

  “What my brother means,” interrupted Karl, “is that yeah, we felt abandoned because we thought Georg ditched us. That he had no interest in us, everything was focused on Kristian,” he added, shooting his older brother a meaningful look. “But none of that was true. Georg had been looking for us, had reached out multiple times, was trying to get in touch. It was Violet who rebuffed him, who kept us isolated, away from his tentacles.”

  “And I kind of don’t blame her, to tell you the truth,” he said thoughtfully. “Violet knew what she was up against. The royal family, the Rothschilds, their Machiavellian machinations forced her to the limit. They’d already taken one son after all,” he said slowly. “So she did what she could for her remaining two. She went into the shadows, shielding us, protecting us, and the constant fear, the paranoia, warped her a bit but it was all for a reason.”

  “I guess from here on out though,” he added, taking a deep breath, “it’s going to be different. Kato and I,” he nodded at his brother, “we know the truth now. And we’re going to try and be better men. Maybe build a relationship with Georg, get to know him better at least, who knows?”

  Here, Kristian snorted.

  “I assure you, Dad is no piece of cake,” he ground out. “He’s made like he had no say in a lot of this, but trust me, he knows more than he’s letting on. He is the King after all.”

  “That’s true,” replied Karl mildly. “But see, we don’t even see Georg as a father figure yet. He’s a stranger to us, someone we’ve studied from a distance. So yeah, building a relationship is probably the first step.”

  “I’m just saying,” warned Kristian. “You’re up against a power player. He’s not letting on to everything he knows.”

  “We hear you,” growled Kato. “We hear you, loud and clear.”

  And the three men looked at each other, different emotions flitting over their faces. Because we were in the midst of a massive shake-up, the Venetians made the Mansons look sane and tame. Family dysfunction? Oh yeah, we had that in spades.

  But that still didn’t address the question of me and the girls.


  “So what does this all mean?” I said slowly, bringing the conversation back full circle. “What happens from here on out?”

  The men looked at each other again, mentally communicating on some level.

  “Well we’ve realized what you mean to us,” rumbled Kristian. “In all the shit that’s gone down, you were our center, our calm in the eye of the storm. And yeah, we shouldn’t have left you.”

  Kato shook his head vehemently again.

  “We fucked up, baby girl, and we’re so sorry,” he growled. “We’ll never do it again.”

  “Because you mean so much to us,” said Karl slowly, going down on one knee before me, his brothers also on bended knee, forming a small semi-circle in the room, “we want to make it permanent.”

  “Will you?” he asked, pulling a small velvet box out of his pocket and popping open the lid, showing me what lay inside. “Will you, Tina?”

  And I remained motionless for a moment. The ring that glittered at me was beautiful, a tri-color dazzler, the rose gold, yellow gold, and platinum intertwined in an intricate, yet deceptively simple pattern.

  “Is this what I think it is?” I said slowly, meeting each of their eyes in turn.

  “Yes,” answered Karl.

  “Yes, yes,” repeated Kristian and Kato. “Marry us.”

  And I reached for the ring as if in a trance, sliding it onto my slim finger. It was beautiful, glimmering in the light, and I twisted the metal band thoughtfully. I wanted so badly to say yes, to throw myself at them without abandon, pitch my load in with theirs, bind myself to these powerful, charismatic men for eternity. They were the fathers of my unborn children after all, but something held me back.

  “I have to think about it,” I said softly, twisting the ring on my finger. “Thank you so much, but with everything that’s happened lately, I have to think.”

  And the men look stunned. I think they’d been expecting a joyous “Yes!” since they’d been alpha males their entire lives, women throwing themselves in their path, desperate to get whatever they could from these virile, gorgeous males. So my hesitation, my tentative “I don’t know,” was puzzling and utterly confounding to them.