Stephan (8 page)

“No you won’t. I’m going to get you a good
one.”

“I can’t afford one that isn’t prepaid. The
new ones all seem to be on plans. The one you broke was a cheap
thirty dollar one. That’s all I need again.”

“No way am I getting you another piece of
shit phone.”

“Hey, a phone is a phone. We can’t all afford
the snazzy new ones with all the gadgets.” I glared across at him,
but he didn’t look at me he was watching the road.

“I can afford to buy you a good phone.”

“I don’t want you to spend that much money on
me. I already feel bad I agreed to let you buy me a new one. I
should have not worried, as I said the one you broke cost me thirty
dollars.” I was panicking; I didn’t want to be stuck in the car
with Stephan for an hour.

He grinned. “You just don’t want to be in the
car with me for an hour then be at the shops and have another car
ride home. You were hoping to get a cheap phone and leave me as
soon as you had it.”

Damn straight that’s what I was going to do.
I didn’t say anything because he’d been spot on. Crossing my arms
over my chest I looked out the window. He stayed quiet for a while
and I enjoyed the peace.

“You can turn the radio on or plug in my
iPod. It’s in the glove box. What type of music do you like?”

“I like most things. I’m not a fan of techno
music like you had on last night.”
Ha
,
take that,
wanker.
I reached into the glove box, got his iPod out, and
started going through it.

“As I’m sure you can see I have a wide range.
The techno last night was what the DJ had on.”

“There was a DJ last night?” Wow, I really
had been drunk. “Where was he set up?”

“He was set up outside?”

“I didn’t get that far? You have a massive
mansion for a house.”

“You didn’t get that far because you were too
busy letting my cousin chat you up.”

“He wasn’t chatting me up.”

“Yes he was.”

“Well he spoke to me first. I was busy
admiring your kitchen.”

“You like the kitchen?”

“I love your kitchen. It’s like my dream
kitchen. Baking and cooking is my thing. I like making things.” I’d
learned at a young age the best way to stretch money was to make
everything yourself. I borrowed every cookbook they had at my local
library.

“Is that what you are going to do when you
finish school? Become a chef?”

“No. I’m going to go to Uni. I want to become
a kindergarten teacher or group leader at a childcare center. I
love kids. They are so much fun.”

We were quiet again and I continued looking
through his iPod til I found a group I liked and plugged it in,
filling the car with tunes.

“Aren’t you going to ask what I’m doing after
school?”

I didn’t want to know any more about Stephan.
I was already having trouble resisting him. My guard crumbled last
night and I needed to keep it up around him.

“What are you going to do?” I couldn’t help
myself, as much as I didn’t want to. Stephan seemed to be my
kryptonite.

“I’m glad you asked.” I could hear the
happiness in his voice. “I’m going to go to Uni to study business.
When I’m done I’m going to work with my dad. My goal is to take
over when he retires.”

“What does your Dad do?”

“A bit of everything. He owns a bunch of
apartment and commercial buildings and he rents them out. He also
owns some fast food chains around Australia. Plus he is a big
investor.”

“Sounds like he is into a bit of everything
and I’m sure he runs them all differently. Will the business course
be enough?”

“I’ll learn from my dad and uncles. My
brother, Dustan, did it too, but he ended up moving to America to
help run things there.”

“You never mentioned Dustan before. I didn’t
even know you had an older brother until Cassie told me.”

Stephan shrugged. “Dustan is eight years
older than us. Mum had some problems conceiving again after Dustan.
They were about to look into IVF when Mum found out she was
pregnant with us. The rest as they say is history.”

“You don’t want to go to America?”

“I like visiting, but I don’t want to live
there.”

“Does Derick want to do the same thing as
you?”

“Nope. Derick wants to be an architect. He’s
awesome at sketching. He already has plans drawn up for his house.
Mum and Dad have said we can build on our part of the land once we
graduate from school. Mine is to the left of the main house and
Derick’s is to the right. Dustan has a huge section next to mine. I
don’t have a design for mine yet. I want my wife to help me with it
since we’ll both be living in it.” He glanced at me and I turned
away looking back out the window.

I was surprised he and his brother were so
organized. I didn’t expect him to have his life so planned out.
“Where are your parents?”

“They’re in their apartment in Melbourne.
Dad’s closing on a deal but they’ll be back by Wednesday.”

They had an apartment in Melbourne? The more
I learned the more I found out they were richer than I could ever
imagine. I was so out of my element. I was the poor little girl
with the druggie mother who died of an overdose and a grandpa who
sells drugs and owns a shitty little dive bar, even if I was
interested in Stephan he was way too good for me. I sat quietly and
focused on the scenery.

“What’s your favorite color? Mine’s orange. I
like the orange as it covers the sky at dusk.”

He kept surprising me. Who knew he would like
orange for that reason. “Blue.” Wait, no it wasn’t, I loved pink
like a girly-girl, why had I said blue? Stephan smiled. Ah, as I
looked into those eyes I knew exactly why I’d said blue. “Blue like
the deep ocean.”

“What’s your favorite thing to do? Mine is to
play sports. I like staying active.”

I remembered rugby practice. Yeah, I liked
sports too, at least I did if it involved seeing the Silverman
brothers shirtless. “Watching a storm. I like sitting on a chair
with a blanket and watching lightning crack across the sky. I used
to do it all the time with Mum. It was the only thing we bonded
over.” One of my positive memories of her—the two of us sitting on
chairs snuggling together and watching the skies. I closed my eyes
and let the memories bombard me.

“I didn’t mean to make you cry. I just wanted
to get to know you better.”

I touched my cheek, and was surprised to feel
the wetness. I didn’t realize I’d started crying. “You didn’t make
me cry. You made me think of some really good things me and Mum did
together. Thank you for being so sweet.”

His lips thinned and he nodded.

He looked aggravated and even his cheeks were
tinged pink. I wondered what I’d said wrong now.

“Er…okay next question. What’s your dream
car?”

“I don’t have my license or the money for
lessons, but if I suddenly did, I’d buy a red Volkswagen
Beetle.”

We talked about our friends for the rest of
the way. How long we’d known them and trouble we’d gotten into.

By the time we reached the city I was
enjoying myself. I ached to ask him to take me to my old
neighborhood, but it was another twenty minutes away, and he was
already parking at the shopping center.

Stephan came around and opened my door,
helping me down. He reached for my hand and I shook him off, but he
didn’t let it go. We walked to the entrance and went up the
escalators to the shops.

“Let’s go get some food first, I’m
starving.”

My tummy growled, but I didn’t have any money
with me. I didn’t want to say anything so I just followed him.

*****

Stephan

Jade wasn’t going to make this easy. She
argued when I’d bought her food, but caved eventually and ate what
I bought her while telling me she was going to pay me back. Ha. She
had another thing coming if she thought I’d take a cent of her
money. I intended to slip a fifty into her bag later when she
wasn’t looking. I wanted to give her more, but I hoped she wouldn’t
notice it with it being such a small amount.

Now we were arguing within the phone shop,
or more accurately she was attempting to argue with me. The shop
assistant wasn’t listening to her, for which I was grateful, but
Jade still didn’t stop.

“I mean it, Stephan. You can’t buy me a phone
worth that much. And under no circumstance will I have a plan where
you pay for it.” She crossed her arms and tried to stare me down. I
shook my head, Jade should know by now she’d never win this game. I
stared back and raised my eyebrow. She broke away first and glanced
around.

“Look, what about this one?” Jade pointed to
a cheap hundred dollar phone.

It had a camera but it was only four
megabytes. I wasn’t getting her that one. She was getting the one
with satellite connection so she could call from anywhere. It also
had top of the line of everything. I’d be able to find her anywhere
if she had the phone on her.

Gathering her to me, I hugged her. I knew
she’d come willingly because people were watching. “It’s done,
little bit. The sales assistant has gone to get the contract and
phone. I’ve already given him my bank details.”

Gazing at me, she whispered so only I would
hear. “I really hate you right now.”

Leaning down I kissed her. I knew I was
pushing my luck but I couldn’t help myself, she looked so cute
glowering at me. I chuckled when she broke the kiss.

“No you don’t.” She pushed at my chest but I
didn’t let her go.

The sales assistant came out with everything
and guided us to a seat. I let her sit on the chair next to me and
not my lap but I held her hand as the sales assistant explained the
terms of the contract and what the phone could do. I bit my cheek a
couple of times to stop laughing every time Jade would squeeze my
hand extra tight or dig her nails into me because of something the
guy would say about the phone or contract.

The sales assistant handed me the documents
to verify, but she snatched them.

“Stephan, please. This is ridiculous. It’s
not too late to stop this silliness. I don’t need this. What if I
take it and decide to ring China and England on it? It’ll cost you
a fortune for Christ’s sake, you bought the phone outright. Surely
I could just buy credit. I don’t need you connecting to a network
and paying for my calls.”

I waited for her tirade to finish. “Do you
intend to call China and England?”

“Er, no. But that’s not the point.”

“It isn’t?”

“Argh, no it’s not. The point is I could be
spending loads of money and taking you for granted. I can’t afford
the phone so you shouldn’t buy it.”

“I can afford it and I trust you.” I yanked
the sheets out of her grip and signed on the dotted line before she
could get them.

“You shouldn’t,” I barely heard her since she
whispered, as I checked my address and handed the papers to the
sales assistant who was doing his best to avoid looking at us. He
handed me the bag with the new phone and accessories, and then
thanked us. I stood and held my hand out for Jade but she ignored
it and marched out of the store. I grinned and followed her.

She’d been quick and disappeared before I got
out of the shop. Looking around, I couldn’t find her. My heart
raced and I jogged from one side of the mall to the other.
Shit!
Where the hell was she?
I looked around the busy shops. She
didn’t have any identification or even money. She’d left her school
bag with all of it in my car, not that she had any money in there.
Fuck, I shouldn’t have pushed her. I ran to the car hoping she’d
gone there, but she was nowhere to be seen, pulling my phone out, I
dialed my dad.

“Hey, son. Wha—”

“Dad, she took off and doesn’t have anything.
We are in Sydney shopping and she ran. I can’t find her and she has
nothing.”

“Son! Son! Calm down.”

“I can’t. What if someone took her? She
doesn’t have money or even a phone. Shit, Dad, what if—”

“Stephan! Shut it! You need to calm down. You
will be no help like you are. Stop and listen.”

I took a deep breath calming myself.

“I have Brand’s team trailing you. They are
with you and your brother while your mother and I are gone. This
deal is a big one and I don’t trust anyone.”

I gripped the phone tighter. I hated having
bodyguards but when your family had their hands into a bit of
everything the safety was needed. “I thought you took them all with
you.” Feeling calmer, I thanked God for my dad’s paranoia about
everyone being a potential threat to his family. I’d completely
forgotten about my bodyguards. They stayed hidden. No one knew we
had them until you tried to harm a Silverman.

“No. I split the new team up so we had enough
for everyone. Call Brand, I’d bet money he knows what Jade is to
you so I don’t think she’s alone.”

“Thanks, Dad.”

“Anytime. Go get your woman. Your mother and
I are staying longer and won’t be home until late Thursday.”

Dad hung up and I rang Brand. “I thought you
would have called sooner. You’re slipping. I didn’t think you knew
we’ve been watching. You’re turning into a pussy, or is it pussy
whipped?” I rolled my eyes even though I knew he couldn’t see
me.

“Way to speak to your employer.”

“Your father pays my check, I believe. You
know I would say the same to him.”

I chuckled, feeling lighter. Brand had been
with us for over ten years and he was a hard as nails ex-army
Special Forces. “So are you going to tell me?”

“What? You mean the pretty brunette with big
brown eyes walking down the street. She’s heading in the direction
of the train station but I don’t think she knows because she keeps
looking around like she’s lost.”

“Yep,” I growled. The silly girl. What was
she thinking?

“Do you want me to detain her?”

“No. I’m on my way now. She doesn’t know
about you, or that we all have bodyguards and she will too soon.”
Brand knew it goaded me to admit I needed protection. I’d learned
my dad may be ruthless but other men were worse.