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Story: Lela's Choice

“More tests and monitoring are required,” he recited findings he’d clearly memorised.

“It’s a lie.”

“He’d question her mental health to get his own way?”

He was slow to anger, but Lela sensed it in him now.

“Papa has been known to bend rules. Have you spoken to the doctor yourself?”

“Giving false evidence in a court of law is a crime,” he snapped. “And yes, I’ve asked my office to make direct contact.”

“I’m sorry. I bet the report is carefully couched. Plenty of wriggle room for the doctor to say under cross-examination that adolescent rebellion is also a possibility.” Lela understood the pincer move her father had executed; a machination where Hamish’s integrity had been exploited, and hated her father in that moment. “Papa plays to win. That can involve being selective with the truth.”

“‘Never underestimate him,’ that’s what you said. How do you live with your father as a constant enemy?” He sounded baffled, but already she could see he was applying his mind to the puzzle.

“Because I refuse to see him as an enemy. I could hate him for inveigling you in his schemes. But I never forget that when I was a little girl, he was a happy, cuddly giant. Before our life changed forever. Having Sophie around has softened him—our home is not a place of permanent conflict.”

“‘Stalemate,’” he murmured, confirming hehadheard her that first night. “That’s why you look for a draw. Total victory isn’t what you want.”

“Total victory won’t keep my family together.” Lela had known from the first she shouldn’t underestimate Hamish or his perception.

“He’s not content with a draw. Victory at any price.” He was frowning.

“I’ve paid the price until now. Friends argue I’ve given in too many times. This time the price is too high.”

“You guessed I hadn’t told you everything.”

“I didn’t think you understood the lengths Papa would go to get Sophie home on his terms.”

“Did he seriously think you and Sophie wouldn’t fight a claim of mental instability?” He grabbed the back of his neck. “He’s an idiot.”

“He’s desperate. Sophie’s always been his princess, and she adores him. He’d see this as a blimp on their relationship. I ruled out letting him choose her partner, but he’d want to approve him,” she explained. “Meeting Peter couldn’t have been foreseen, and given Papa’s history with Mariella, it must have infuriated him.”

“He thought he could use me to push for Peter to be prosecuted?” A quiet rage underlay the calm question.

“Papa gambled on it never getting to court.” Lela reached for his hand. Comfort was a poor apology for the position he’d been placed in. “You might have hesitated to take the case of a seventeen-year-old, unless you’d been convinced of her vulnerability.”

“I did hesitate, until that medical report. But you verified my assessment. Vulnerable, you said. Why did you reinforce my view?” His frustration at misjudging the situation was palpable. “Why?”

“Because, although she’s loved and has all the material comforts she might want or need, she has no mother, no father, no sibling.” Lela cursed herself for adding to Hamish’s dilemma. They’d been talking at cross purposes. “You’re always different. There’s a fragility, an insecurity, a distrust in the safety of life, even with all the care we’ve provided.”

“A sense of abandonment.” He nodded slowly, and his understanding made it easier for her to confess her tangled thoughts.

“Peter’s her first love, her first time to dream about being a woman, the possibility of creating life, establishing something of her own.Her very own. But maybe I’m wrong about that. I don’t want to presume or assume.”

“What doyouwant, Lela?”

“I don’t understand.” Was he asking about this moment, her life, her dreams?

* * *

HAMISH REPLAYED THElast few days in his head. Everything he’d learned about or seen of Lela demonstrated that she faced problems directly. If Sophie had health problems, Lela would face them and deal with them.

“I accepted the brief largely because of the medical assessment.” And he’d kept the secret to himself, until now. “But the pieces aren’t adding up. Mariella Debrincat is an intelligent, experienced woman determined to protect her family, and she didn’t mention anything odd about Sophie’s behaviour.” Logic indicated that Vella had lied to him.Well, damn that!

“You’re still the person Sophie’s most likely to talk to. I’m prepared to do this your way, unless I find strong evidence to the contrary. And believe me, even with this, I’m going to look for it.”

She stared at him.