Starr Destined (Starr Series) (4 page)

“I don't know what to believe anymore, Liam.  I’m confused, and tired, and angry, and now I really do have a bad headache.  I just don't get who would set you up like that.  I don't understand.”  She sighed as she let herself lean back against me, and I kissed the top of her head.  At least her anger seemed to have burnt out, that was something.

Seraphina, my fiery angel.

“You don't get to be successful in business, in life, without making a few enemies along the way, Sera.  I've lived a pretty full life, and it seems that maybe some of my past life-style choices are co
ming back to haunt me, and I'm really sorry that you’re being tainted by all this.  But I’m afraid it could get even uglier, so I need to fill you in about what I think happened, and prepare you for what could come next.  However, you have to promise to hear me out in full, without jumping to hasty conclusions.  You have to learn to trust me.  I know that I have to earn that trust from you, and I’m going to do everything I can to prove how much I love you from now on, until you finally stop doubting me.”

“I want to believe you, Liam, I really do,” she murmured.  “I'm just so scared of getting burnt, of getting too dependent on you and then falling to pieces when I have to cope on my own again.”

“But you won't have to cope on your own ever again.  I'm not going anywhere.  Look, let me get you something for your headache, and then we can sit down and talk all this through, so that you understand what’s happened, and see that I am telling you the truth.  Please?”

We were still standing by her bed, with me holding her tightly against me.  I felt her slowly nod.

“Okay,” she sighed.

I carefully moved her away from me just enough to be able to lead her out of the bedroom and head towards the kitchen, avoiding the pieces of  broken glass from the smashed photo frame that were splayed all over the carpet.  I didn't let go of her, scared that she still might bolt from me.

When we went through to the kitchen, there was even worse destruction.  There were smashed plates, cups, glasses, everywhere.  It was totally wrecked, and I could see that the lounge hadn't fared much better.

“Wow.  This is a pretty impressive trashing of the place you’ve managed here.  You really went to town, didn't you?  You have one hell of a fiery temper, Seraphina,” I commented, thinking that a fiery and passionate nature could be a very erotic combination - under the right circumstances.

“I don't lose my temper very often, but when I do…” she shrugged as she looked round. “I’ll clear it up and replace what I've broken.”

“Don't worry about any of that.  Right now, we need to talk.  I suggest we go up to my place, rather than try to pick our way through this mess,” I said.

“I'd have thought all this would’ve convinced you to run a mile, that you’d want to be shot of a loony like me, knowing how you like everything so pristine and perfect,” she tried to joke.

“It just proves how strong your feelings are, and I'm taking that as a positive sign,” I replied, very aware that although I’d told Sera that I loved her, she had yet to make any kind of response about how she felt.  But all this fury had to indicate that she had strong feelings for me, didn't it?

“Mr. Starr!  I did not expect to be seeing you here today,” Agnieszka exclaimed in her strong Polish accent, as I ushered Sera into my apartment.  My housekeeper always came during the day while I was usually out at work, so our paths rarely crossed.  Her slim, wiry figure was dressed in practical black trousers and blouse, and her grey hair was tightly scraped back into a bun.  Aggie eyed us cur
iously, her beady brown eyes taking in Sera sagged against me - now that all the fight had gone out of her, she’d been left exhausted.

“Aggie, this is my girlfriend, Seraphina, and she isn’t feeling very well, so I’ve brought her here to get something to help with her headache,” I explained, as I headed into the lounge and sat Sera carefully down on the settee, where she sat back and closed her eyes.

“Oh, the poor girl is being so pale.  I make her my special herbal tea,” Aggie offered, as she hurried off to the kitchen.

“And some Nurofen please,” I called after her, preferring not to rely on some old wives remedy.

While we were waiting, I gave Andrew a quick call to organise one of his clear-up squads for Sera’s apartment.  I let him assume there’d been a wild party that had got out of hand, so he’d understand what was required.  That done, I took off my suit jacket and tie and threw them over the back of the sofa, before sitting down next to Sera and taking her small hand in mine.

“Girlfriend, eh?”  Sera murmured.

“Girlfriend,” I insisted.  “And I don't care who knows from now on.  No more secrecy.  Once we’ve got things straightened out between us, the next thing I'm going to do is ring Jamie to arrange to meet up and put him in the picture about us.”

“But his finals…” she protested.

“I believe his last exam is tomorrow, but I’m past caring anyway.  For God’s sake, Jamie’s an adult now - I was running my own company at his age.  He has to be able to cope with whatever life throws his way, and I've tried to protect him for far too long.”

It was true, I realised.  We’d become entrenched in a set routine, one where I treated him as a child, and he responded by acting as exactly that - a child.  It was ingrained behaviour that was doing ne
ither of us any favours.

Aggie bustled back in.

“Here you are, my dear.  My daughter, she be about your age, and when she gets the bad headaches, she always finds a nice cup of Mama’s herbal tea helps.  And here are some Nurofen as well.”

Aggie handed the tablets over for Sera to take with the tea, then frowned as she leant over and felt Sera’s forehead, fussing over her like a mother hen.  She was one of the few people I dealt with who never seemed in awe of me in any way - maybe because she was a mother, used to dealing with her grown-up family, and at times she seemed to look on me as another of her brood, rather than her employer.  But she was certainly the most efficient and trustworthy housekeeper I had ever had, and I never had any qualms about letting her have the run of my apartment.

“You not feverish,” Aggie pronounced, as she stood back and folded her arms.  She tipped her head to one side as she studied us, and I caught her little smile, as her eyes focussed on my hand gripping Sera’s.

“It’s just a silly headache.  It’ll soon pass.  Thanks for the tea,” Sera smiled weakly.  The herbal tea looked and smelled disgusting, but she bravely continued sipping it.

“Thank you, Aggie.  Have you finished for today?”  I asked, desperately needing to speak to Sera in private, now that she had calmed down.

Aggie looked at both of us, and picked up my none too subtle hint.

“Yes, I’m done for today.  You want to be alone.  I go now,” she declared.  “It was very nice meeting you, Seraphina,” she beamed, quite obviously approving of her.

“Yes, you too, Aggie.  And please, call me Sera.”

“Okay.  I hope to be seeing you again, Sera, very soon.”  She smiled at me too, before she made her way out.

I turned to Sera next to me on the sofa, still holding her hand in mine.

“Are you ready to let me explain now?  Are you going to hear me out?”

“I’m prepared to listen to what you have to say, Liam.  You say you were set up - who would set you up with Kimberley like that?  And why?” she frowned at me.

“It was Scott Franklin, Sera.  I got him fired, so it seems he feels he has a score to settle with me.”

“You got him fired? But… how… why?”

“I’m one of the partners in the consortium that owns the Butler’s Wharf Fitness Complex.  I contacted Hugh, a fellow partner and told him to get rid of Scott.  One phone call was all it took,” I explained, as I gently stroked her knuckles with my thumb.

“I see.  I should have known you’d have connections everywhere.  So that’s the ‘how’, but I still don't understand why.  I thought he was a friend of yours?”

I sighed.  This was where things were going to start getting decidedly murky.

“Scott was never what I would call a friend, Sera. More of a useful contact.  He was the point of re
ference for anyone interested in forming uncomplicated sexual arrangements.  He put like-minded people in contact with each other.”

“Oh!  You mean he was the one who arranged your fuck buddies for you,” Sera worked out.

“Yes, basically that’s what he did,” I admitted.

“So, what did he do to upset you so much that you had him fired?”

“Scott knew that you were with me, but he still acted inappropriately towards you.”

“Oh come on, Liam.  I know he made me feel uncomfortable, but he didn't actually
do anything.  I think you overreacted by having him fired.”

“Trust me, I didn't.  Your instincts about not trusting him were spot on.
His tastes run to very young, petite girls, and he has a reputation for coercing inexperienced girls like you into having the extreme type of rough sex he prefers, when they could have no idea what they were letting themselves in for.”

“What?  And you think he was coming on to me for that reason?”

“Yes, I do.  Even though I’d warned him to stay away from you, he just couldn’t help himself.  I've always turned a blind eye to his activities in the past, telling myself that what he got up to in his own time was none of my business, but the thought of him trying anything like that with you…  It brought home to me that his behaviour with naïve young girls was totally unacceptable.  I’ve suspected for a while that he was cooking the books and fiddling the accounts, so that gave Hugh, who handles that side of things, legitimate grounds to dismiss him.  I also took steps to ensure that Scott wouldn’t get another similar position at any other reputable gym in the area, to try and prevent him from targeting other vulnerable young girls.”

“How does he know that it was you who screwed him over?”

“Oh, I warned him not to cross me or there would be consequences, so he’ll have worked it out in about two seconds flat.  He should have heeded my warning, knowing full well that I don't make idle threats.  So now it seems that he’s trying to get back at me, by trying to ruin things between us.  I know it has to be Scott, because no one else knows about us, but I told him that you were with me when I took you down to the gym.  And Kimberley confirmed that it was Scott who told her this pack of lies about my supposed ridiculous secret fantasy that I wanted to act out with her, and she believed him, because he’d set things up between us in the past.  The only thing I haven’t figured out yet is how he seemed to know that you could walk in on us. Either he’s been somehow spying on us, or he’s managed to gain inside information about our daily routine.  I don't like either option.” 

“Well, surely it’s all over, now that his little game didn't work?”

“So you do believe me?”  I cupped her beautiful face in my hands, and gazed straight into her eyes, so she could see that I had nothing to hide.

“That would be one hell of a story to make up, and besides, Scott really did give me the creeps.  So I guess my gut instinct is telling me to believe you,” Sera whispered.  Her eyes seemed to be shimme
ring with flashes of silver as she stared back at me.  It was as if there was a spell cast between us, some kind of a truth spell.

“And you know you should always listen to your inner voice, don't you?”  I whispered back, hardly daring to believe that she was finally listening to reason.  When she slid herself over to sit on my lap, I felt an overwhelming sense of relief that this crisis between us seemed to have passed.

“Just hold me, Liam.  Please.  Just be here with me,” she murmured, as she curled herself up against me.

“Always.  I’ll always be here for you.  Because I love you.”  I held her tightly against me, as I kissed the top of her head.
 

Now I wondered why on earth I hadn't told her that I loved her before.  Maybe then she would’ve trusted me, if she’d realised sooner how I truly felt about her.  Trouble was, ever since my mother had died, love wasn’t really a word that had existed in my vocabulary.  It had certainly never been a word used by my father.  Even the deep bond that existed between my brother and I had never been vocalised in any way.  But now it felt completely right to talk about love with Seraphina. 

She tucked her head under my chin, as she curled her arms around my neck.  We couldn’t get physically any closer right now, with her lovely soft curves moulded against me, and it felt so good. 

But I was disappointed that she hadn't felt able to tell me that she loved me too.  I thought, I really hoped anyway, that she felt the same as me, and I wanted her to acknowledge her feelings out loud, just as I had.  I wanted to be sure that she no longer saw me as some kind of a man-whore who was frightened of committing to just one woman.  That wasn’t me anymore.  But gutted as I was, I had to be patient.  I wanted the words to come from her heart, of own free volition, not to be reluctantly prised out of her.

“It hurt so much, thinking that you were cheating on me,” she finally whispered.

“But I wasn’t cheating.  You do accept that now?”  She nodded her head against my chest.  That was good, that was a huge step in the right direction.  Hopefully her move to Barcelona was now off the cards.  “What I don't get is, with that temper of yours, why didn't you come and confront me?  Why didn't you just march right in, shout and swear at me, go full out and slap my face?  At least then I could have answered you, and we could have got things straightened out there and then.”