Chance on Love (29 page)

She cleared her throat. “Say them.”

He looked her right in the eye. “I’m sorry.” His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed hard. “Every name you ever called me, I deserved.”

“I screwed up real bad when I was with your mama. I didn’t know what being in love meant.” Frank smiled sadly. “Crazy, I know. A grown man with kids and he doesn’t know that. I mean, I
loved
her, but then I just got...”

He glanced around, as if searching for the right word. “Bored? There was no excitement anymore. I had a wife, kids, and bills. Then I met Sue and when I was with
her
, there were no responsibilities to worry about. I was so—” He looked up at the ceiling, pressing his lips together. “I
am
so damned selfish. I didn’t stop to think of what I was doing to your mama or what I was doing to you kids.”

“You told me I was the reason why you’re...the way you are. I made you close yourself off to love, but Stephie, when you do that, you close yourself off to
everything
. See, I didn’t come to my senses until your mama died. I had taken her for granted so long and then—” He sucked in a breath. “—she was just gone. I’d give my own life in a heartbeat to have Vicki back.”

With stinging eyes, she looked away from him. She didn’t need to hear any of this right now. Ever.

“You see, baby girl, I finally figured out what love was, but it was too late for me to do a damn thing about it. And here you are, still young, but already cynical.
I
did that to you, and I—I’m sorry. You had to grow up way too fast. Taking care of your sister when you were still a baby yourself. It wasn’t right. I came back after your mama died, but...” Sniffling, Frank shook his head. “I still wasn’t there.”

Her mind drifted back to the conversation she’d had with Chance about having kids. Helping raise her sister was likely the closest brush with motherhood Stephanie would ever experience. It had been difficult, but she had to admit it hadn’t been entirely bad. Still, she had been a baby herself, too young to shoulder such a responsibility.

“I made you feel unloved, not worthy of being loved, and the truth is,
you
never did anything wrong. Your brothers have told me that, when you were little, you always used to think Daddy left because of you.” With glistening eyes, he shook his head. “No, baby,” he said softly. “Not all men leave—just the stupid ones.”

She stared at him, her eyes welling up with tears. “Thank you,” she said quietly. She’d never expected him to acknowledge his wrongdoings, not really. Sure, when he was drunk, it was easy to slur some words together and have them sound like an apology.

Having him look her in the eye, completely sober, and admit to all the ways he’d let his family down was like balm to her battered spirit. It didn’t heal the original injury, but it definitely eased the hurting.

Frank stood up, slowly expelling a breath. “Now, I don’t expect you to forgive me. We got a long way to go before we even get to less shaky ground, but...I needed to say all this to you—in person.” He walked over to open the door.

Stephanie wiped at her eyes as she followed him.

Turning, he held out his hand. “Thank you for letting me.”

She stared at it for a few seconds before slowly putting her hand in his. “Welcome,” she said weakly.

His eyes began to glisten again as they looked at one another.

“Now get out,” she said.

Smiling, Frank walked away. “That’s my Stephie...”

Stephanie closed the door and leaned against it. “That’s my father,” she said softly.

Chapter 34

The next morning, Stephanie made a beeline for her office. She’d arrived at work extra early. For one thing, she hadn’t been able to sleep so it’s not as if she’d had to wake up. Also, there was no way Chance would drag his carefree ass out of bed at an ungodly hour in order to be at work before eight; not having to see him was a good thing.

Of course, she couldn’t avoid him forever. She was still stuck as his little assistant for the next couple of weeks. Besides, there was still one non-work related matter they needed to handle.

Stephanie pulled the long, velvet necklace box from her purse. She had to give it back. She didn’t want a single reminder of her time with Valentine. He’d said the necklace wasn’t some sort of payment, but the man wasn’t opposed to lying. She was holding the gorgeous, expensive equivalent of him calling her a whore.

She opened the box, and the diamonds caught the horrid overhead light. She swiveled her chair toward the lone window in the office. Weak, rays of February sunlight streamed in, and the jewels glittered even more brightly.

Stephanie ran her finger over them. She’d been tempted to sell the necklace. In fact, she was still tempted. It wouldn’t go too far in making a dent in the amount of cash Kenny needed, but...maybe Chance’s asshole, playboy ways could go toward something good.

Once she gave it back to him, what would
he
do with it? Give it to the next gullible woman in line, she supposed. Sighing, she closed the box.

The next woman...

The thought of Chance with her—whoever she was destined to be—turned Stephanie’s stomach. The very idea of him fucking someone else—

Her growing indignation fizzled to an abrupt stop.

She had hoped they’d managed to move beyond fucking. She’d thought the last few times they’d been intimate, they’d made love. That, however, was back when she
thought
he wasn’t a lying, two-faced jerk who’d been stringing her along, all the while planning to humiliate her. Making love.
Yeah, right.

Her stupid body had betrayed her as well. Even now, after what he’d done, it ached for him. She’d tossed and turned all night—wanting to hate him, pretending she did anyway, wishing he were there moving inside her, making her come.

It was insane, but... No matter what had happened between them, no matter how furious she was, or how much he’d hurt her, a huge part of her felt possessive as hell when it came to that schmuck.

That wicked, dimpled smile he gave when he was about to descend like a famished beast, the sweat that slickened his body soon after; the tender, faraway look he’d have sometimes while she’d been talking to him—all those things were hers. Yeah, even now.

Stephanie sat back heavily in the chair. She never would’ve thought she would be this damn stupid.

The knock on the door made her roll her eyes.
Fucking Carlene.
“Get lost,” she said, placing the jewelry box on the desk.

The door opened. “Is that any way to talk to your dad?”

Stephanie smiled, rounding the desk as Kenny entered. “What are you doing here?” she asked as they hugged.

“To see
you
, of course.”

Grabbing his hand, she pulled him toward the chair. “Sit down. This is great timing, actually,” she said, taking a seat behind her desk. “I have a lot to tell you.”

Kenny sat back and folded his hands on his stomach. “Shoot.”

“I’m quitting.”

“Quitting what?” He leaned forward. “Quitting your
job
?”

She waved the question away. “That’s not important. I have something else—”

“Not important, my ass,” he cried.

“
This
might be important.” Stephanie slid the small, velvet box toward him. “Open it.”

He did. Whistling, he sat back hard in the chair. Finally, he lifted his gaze to hers. “Mr. Valentine give you this?”

“How did you know?” she asked quietly.

“This looks like it cost a pretty penny. Then, the other night, when you were talking about him, it sounded like you...” He shrugged. “You know. Plus, I sort of figured when he—”

“I’m an idiot, Dad,” she said flatly.

He put the box on the desk and slid it toward her. “Huh?”

“Your daughter’s an idiot.”

“No daughter of mine’s an idiot, kid.”

“This one is,” she said, staring past him. “I made such a huge mistake with Chance. I—”

“You’re in love with him.”

“It’s over. Everything,” she said with a sigh. “It’s all...over.”

“So you
were
in love, but now you’re not? That easy, that fast?”

“Yep.”

He narrowed his eyes. “Since when are you a liar?”

She didn’t want to acknowledge the extent of her feelings for the schmuck. She’d already said too much. She tapped the box with her finger. “I can sell this to help you.”

He broke the eye contact, choosing instead to focus on her desk. “You know that’s not necessary.”

“Kenny, please. I
want
to help you. Let me help you.”

“You’ve helped me more than you know. I don’t need anything else—”

Stephanie scowled. “
Let
me help you, you stubborn old—”

“Hey,” he said in a low, menacing tone as he finally looked at her again. “I came here to thank you for the help you’ve already given me. Don’t make me regret that.” He gave her a gentle smile.

Confused, Stephanie shook her head. “How did I help you?”

He peered into her eyes. “You told Mr. Valentine about me.”

Shit.
She saw what this was now—sarcasm. Kenny wanted to thank her for her ‘help’ all right. “I’m sorry. It was selfish, but I had to unload on
somebody
. I’d seen Frank that day and then I found out about you and—” She closed her eyes. “I asked him not to tell you. He’s such a lying bastard.”

“That...uh, bastard is helping me.”

She slowly opened her eyes. “What?”

“Because of
you
. If you hadn’t opened that trap of yours...” He chuckled and shook his head. “I wouldn’t be where I am today.”

“And where is that?” she asked, frowning.

“On my way to Los Angeles to see one of the best cardiothoracic surgeons in the country—hell, the
world
,” he said excitedly.

Stephanie gave him a puzzled smiled. “What?” Chance had gone to great lengths to make her fall for him—and he’d succeeded. But the necklace, and being nice to her biological father and her differently-raced dad had nothing to do with it. Funny. In any case, it had all been for naught.

She’d fallen all right and had landed flat on her ass. She would never give Chance another...well, chance. Stephanie stifled a groan.

God, she was Amber, with the bad puns now.

“Very next day after I talked to you, he called, offering to foot the bill. Naturally, I refused. Then, Gwen and I talked and...and I have too much to live for, kid.”

Valentine had called him
that
quickly? No wonder he hadn’t seemed moved by her impassioned plea to hold a fundraiser for Kenny. She had to stay strong by remembering that he’d had ulterior motives. “So you’re leaving this morning?”

“Well, I’m only headed out there for the pre-surgical tests I have to have. Surgery’s tentatively scheduled for the end of this month, if all is well with the test results.”

She could only stare at him. What had seemed almost impossible to overcome, Chance had fixed in the blink of an eye. Money was most definitely power.

It was unfortunate that Kenny had to be yet another unwitting pawn. Once again, however, the end far justified the means. Asshole or not, she owed Chance for making it possible to have her dad around for what would hopefully be a long, long time to come.

“I don’t even know what to say. I just...” A tear fell, and she brushed it away. “I’m so grateful and happy and relieved.”

Kenny smiled. “Now back to what you were saying when I first came in.”

She no longer wanted any part of this particular conversation. Explaining why she’d quit would lead to explaining how she’d been fucked over by a man she’d been dumb enough to trust. And
that
might lead to Kenny finding out just how far Chance was willing to go to make her fall for him.

She wasn’t about to risk having him refuse Chance’s money once he found out why the schmuck had offered it in the first place. “What was I saying?” she asked, wrinkling her brow.

“Stephanie...”

“Oh,” she said excitedly, “Frank dropped by last night, and we actually managed—”

Kenny crossed his arms and glared at her.

She sat back in a huff. “
Fine
. I was planning to use Chance so he’d promote me before he left. Then, I could hire you back.” She waved her hand dismissively. “Of course, this was before I knew you hadn’t been fired. Anyway, stupid Carly was eavesdropping on my conversation with Amber, and she told him what I’d said. Can you believe that?”

Kenny opened his mouth to speak.

“But,” Stephanie continued, “the tramp’s nosiness was actually good for something because she also ratted Chance out right after she ratted
me
out.” She shrugged. “So I quit. I mean, I’m finishing up my two weeks, and then I am so out of here.”

He lifted an eyebrow. “Ratted out Mr. Valentine?”

The shock of what she was about to reveal might very well send his blood pressure sky-rocketing. A dangerous possibility for a man with a heart condition. Leaning forward, she spoke in a calm, subdued tone. “Kenny, Chance had been planning to fire me.”

He looked at her blankly. “Right.”

“‘Right’?” Sneering, she raised her voice. “‘Right?’ What kind of dad are you?”

He sighed, running his hand over his face. “A confused one.”

Stephanie pointed at the door. “You should be on your way to his office to kick his ass, and you’re sitting here telling me, ‘Right.’”

“Didn’t you talk to him about this, kid?”

“There was nothing to talk about,” she said, teeth clenched. “So, what? He gets you a fancy heart bypass and suddenly you’re on
his
side?” She took a deep breath. “The man was sleeping with me and plotting to fire me the whole time.”

“Who said that?”

Suddenly feeling as though she had officially slipped into a highly surreal version of her life, she frowned. “
What?
”

“Mr. Valentine didn’t tell you that, surely.”

“He said he—he admitted to—” Stephanie thought about it. “Well, no, he didn’t admit to that exactly.”