I sit there for the longest time with my cell still in my hand and resting on my chest.
Did I make a mistake keeping this from her?
Shaking my head, I drag myself from the maybes and what-ifs. It’s too late now. The damage is done.
I start tapping in numbers and hit call before I change my mind. I didn’t need to save this number; I’ve known it like the back of my hand for years.
“Doukas,” Dad’s deep voice booms down the line.
“Daddy.”
His loud gasp fills the line. “Stella,” he breathes. “I’m so sorry.”
Swallowing the emotion that threatens to bubble up at the torment in his voice, I square my shoulders and forge on, desperate for some answers.
“Why? Why didn’t you come and see me after I woke up?”
“Sweetheart, things aren’t that simple.”
I scoff. I almost died and things weren’t simple enough for him to be there and support me?
“I was alone, Dad.”
“I can assure you, you weren’t.”
Realization hits me. “Oh my God, it’s because of him, isn’t it? Do not tell me you stayed away because you were told to by a fucking kid.” My anger begins to get the better of me and I’m unable to stay seated.
Hauling my sore body up from the lounger, I begin pacing back and forth in front of the pool.
“It’s complicated. I’ve been busy trying to find who did this to you, and yes, Sebastian and I had… words, of sorts.”
“I can’t believe this,” I mutter, wondering how Seb suddenly managed to find the power to call all the shots. “He doesn’t have a say in all this. In who gets to visit me. He’s no one. Insignificant.”
Dad sighs, shifting around as if he’s unable to stay still too.
“He cares about you, sweetheart.”
“He’s an asshole,” I hiss.
“Yeah, well. We all make some less than stellar choices in life from time to time,” he confesses.
I stop dead on the spot. “You don’t say,” I mutter. “The mafia. The fact that I’ve got a brother. The fact that my mother isn’t actually dead. Where would you like me to start with your screwed-up choices, Dad?”
“Everything I’ve done is to try to protect you.”
“And how’s that working out for you?” I spit, my legs moving me forward once again.
“Why did you run? We could have looked after you here.”
“We? Who’s we, Dad? Because from what I can see, you haven’t done all that much since I was stabbed.”
An exhausted groan rips from my father as soon as I say that final word, and I can’t stop the guilt that threatens to wash through me.
Despite all his lies, his deceit, I know that deep down, he’s not a bad person. He’s not. I’m a better judge of character than that. I think… I hope.
“We just want you to be safe.”
“And you decided that the best way to do that was to lie to me my entire life. You let me walk into that school, not having a clue who I was. Who they were.”