Chapter 29 29
Stefan's pulse jumped.
He stared at the words, reading them again and again as something cold and sharp coiled in his stomach.
There was no name or signature and Stefan felt jealousy and anger rush to the surface. Thankful for you? Who the hell was this person and why were they so thankful for the mother of his child that they had to send her that? Was Alana dating someone? She'd told him that she wasn't. Had she lied to him?
His jaw tightened. He looked at the flowers again — the perfect arrangement, the card, the deliberate tone. Whoever sent them wasn’t guessing. They knew her. Familiar with her. How familiar was she with this person?
Fighting the urge to destroy the damn things and throw them in the trash, he walked out of the kitchen, not wanting to look any longer, just in time for him to hear the distant sound of tires crunching on the driveway cut through his thoughts.
Alana was home.
________
Stefan crossed to the window, shifting the curtain just enough to see outside. She stepped out — hair slightly messy from the day, purse over her shoulder — and then he saw him.
A man stood on the passenger side, smiling as he walked around to meet her. He was carrying Alana's office bag in one hand, and Stefan’s chest went tight. He didn’t recognize him — neat suit, clean-cut, the kind of man who belonged to Alana’s world before he crashed into it.
They stood close, talking, her face lit up as she laughed at something he said — a soft, easy laugh that made jealousy run through Stefan. Then the man leaned in and kissed her. It wasn’t long. Just a quick, tender kiss on the lips. Alana pulled away— but it hit Stefan like a punch.
He was so angry, and hours later, he was sure he would have gone out to punch that man, whoever he was in the face, if not that Juliana stirred in his arms that very second, almost like she was sensed the sudden tension in him.
“Shh,” he whispered at his daughter, his throat tight.
He pulled away from the curtain, unable to watch anymore. The sight of Alana kissing someone else, right after spending last night in his arms made him see red. He felt like strangling someone. Carefully, he went to put the already sleeping Juliana in her crib, then he headed for the kitchen. He had to take his anger out on something or he'd definitely go crazy.
By the time Alana came inside, the roses were no longer on the counter in the kitchen. They sat crushed in the trash bin, petals scattered like red shards.
Breathing hard, Stefan returned to the living room, just in time to see Alana come in. His expression was unreadable — calm on the surface, but his eyes burned.
Alana froze when she saw him. “You’re here.” She'd expected to see Diana since they'd not discussed him coming over like they usually did.
“Yeah,” Stefan said quietly. “Been waiting. I told Diana she could leave early,”
She looked away. Was it guilt, Stefan wondered.
“I'll go check on Juliana. How’s she been?”
“Fine,” he said. “Sleeping easy.”
He waited in the living room while she went to check on their daughter, but he was still fuming inside when she returned. When she met his gaze again, his voice changed — lower, rougher. “Who was that?”
She blinked, thrown off. “Who?”
Stefan chuckled, even though there was nothing funny about the situation. Even though he wanted to punch a wall, “Don't toy with me, Alana,” he replied. “The guy you were kissing outside. Who was he?”
Alana’s eyes widened, color rising in her cheeks. “You were watching me?”
“Yeah, and good thing I was.” His voice sharpened. “You told me you weren’t seeing anyone, Alana. That’s what you said.”
“It’s not what it looks like—”
“It looks like you were with someone who sends you roses and kisses you goodnight,” he snapped, stepping closer. “So tell me what it is then.”
Alana looked surprised, “What roses?” she asked,
His lips curved ever so slightly, his expression almost mocking as he remembered what he'd done to the flowers. He didn't regret it. “The ones I found in the kitchen,”
She moved past him to the kitchen, and then gasped when she saw the destroyed pile in the trash. The note was still on the table, and when she picked it up and read it, she was still a bit confused about who it'd come from, although she suspected that it was Travis.
Travis had insisted he wanted to take her out on a date, but when he realised that her answer wasn't going to change, he'd offered to ride with her in her car as she went home, just so they'd have some time to talk outside of work.
He hadn't said anything about sending her flowers in the car, but Alana assumed he'd intended for it to be a surprise. She was surprised all right. Mission accomplished.
Diana must have received it and brought it into the kitchen for her, but then Stefan had seen them and now they were nothing but garbage. Slowly, her own anger began to rise. He had no right to come into her house and destroy the flowers someone had sent to her. Father of her child or not.
She dropped the note back on the table and lifted her head to see him standing at the doorway.
“How dare you, Stefan,” she asked, careful not to raise her voice so as not to wake Juliana.
How dare he? Stefan couldn't believe his ears. His anger went into full blown rage. He stepped into the kitchen and Alana froze at the fury in his eyes. She knew he would never physically hurt her, but the look in his eyes still terrified her.
“Who the fuck was he, Alana?” he asked again, “Or so help me…”
She drew herself up, defensive now. “He’s a friend. A colleague. Travis probably brought the flowers to thank me for helping him with a project. That’s all.”
“Probably?” He picked it up and read the message aloud. “‘I’m thankful for you’?” He shot her a frown. “What the hell does that mean?”
Irritation rose at his sharp tone. She thought it was pretty obvious. “Yes, probably. I'm not even one hundred percent sure that it came from Travis. He never told me anything about it. Maybe he or someone else sent it.”