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They all laughed again, Ella bouncing up off the couch and announcing she was going to grab appetizers she’d prepared earlier for their evening before she hurried out of the room.
The women grew quiet, Stasia contemplative, mulling over everything they revealed. Maybe it had been a mistake, leaving Gavin like she had…
She frowned. It had most definitely been a mistake. How rude her abrupt rejection of him had been, especially after they’d made love. That had been part of the problem as well. She’d felt so close to him, so connected, halfway in love with him, really.
And that had scared her to bits.
“You do remind me of my husband,” Gracie said out of nowhere, her quiet voice startling Stasia from her thoughts. “He grudgingly admitted a few nights ago that you looked like him.”
Stasia smiled at Gracie. She liked her, felt she had the most in common with her out of the three women, though they were all wonderfully friendly and accepting. “I can grudgingly admit I look like him too.”
Gracie laughed. “He’s not so bad, my husband. Beneath the slick attitude and sometimes gruff exterior, he really is a sweetheart.”
“To you, I’m sure.” Stasia sighed. “He was so awful to me in that meeting.”
“He is very protective of his family, bottom line. He will do anything, and I mean anything, to protect the family name.” Gracie paused. “He thought Tessa was a company spy selling ideas to the competition and treated her terribly.”
Tessa, who overheard them, nodded in agreement. “It’s true. He made me cry. More than once.”
“He made me cry too,” Stasia murmured, gazing downward. If she thought about it too much, she might start crying again.
“And now he adores Tessa. She adores him too…I think.” Gracie winked and Tessa smirked in return.
“I do. I understand his gruff side. It’s just…his way. Alex is the same. The only exception is Rhett. He’s a sweetheart. Protective but so charming you’d never realize he’s being an asshole.”
“Oh, trust me. He can be an ass,” Ella said as she came back into the room, carrying a platter of a variety of appetizers. “I’ve dealt with my fair share of Rhett’s jerk side.”
“But you still love him,” Stasia said, reaching for a stuffed olive the moment Ella set the tray on the coffee table. “Despite his faults.”
“Of course. And I have plenty of faults. I’m not perfect.”
“None of us are,” Tessa added.
Stasia ate quietly, absorbing everything they’d said. No one was perfect, least of all her. So why had she been so hard on herself, her family? On Gavin?
She missed him. They’d known each other for such a short time yet he’d somehow wound himself tightly inside her life. Made her long for things she no longer had, such as him. She wondered how he was.
Wondered if he’d ever see her again…
The call had come into his office unexpectedly on an otherwise boring Thursday afternoon, the sound of Alex’s voice reminding Gavin of Stasia. Not that he needed a reminder of the woman who stomped all over his heart and left him.
“I’m meeting with your client this weekend, but I don’t think I want you there.” Alex chuckled, sounding rather amused with himself. “I can’t deny the DNA test. Anastasia is definitely a Worth.”
Gavin stiffened, tapping the edge of his desk with impatient fingers. He really didn’t want to talk about this, about Stasia. She was a wound that hadn’t healed. “She’s not my client any longer.”
“Really? Well, that’s surprising. And fast.”
“She fired me.”
Alex blew out a breath. “Harsh.”
“I’m surprised you’re meeting her so soon. The three of you were rather hostile when we last saw you,” Gavin said, wanting information. His curiosity got the best of him though he knew it was pointless.
He wasn’t going to see her again. Learning more about her would only hurt later.
“Once we heard of the DNA results, we knew we had to act. Besides, the women love her.”
“The women?”
