Page 78 of Settling the Score

‘Nah, this is probably best left to Olly…’

‘No way, man. The more heads the better on this one.’ Then, leaning closer. ‘I know she’d want you to be involved. Come on.’

Then, Chase had turned to Aiden. ‘Excuse us. Urgent, erm, wedding business.’

He nodded, watching as the three of them walked off, heads bent in conversation. Aiden took the opportunity to catch up with some of the team, to sit and shoot the breeze like he always did. He’d been playing long enough to know he was a bit of an elder statesman of the game, that the younger players looked up to him. When he sat down and gave them the time of day, he could see the way it puffed out their chests, made them feel good. It was everything he and Blake had always said they wanted to give back to the sport that had saved their lives.

The morning passed and he was able to make a decent show ofnotspending a fair amount of his time casting his gaze around for a certain blonde to walk by. How could he be so desperate to see her again after having spent the night – and morning – with her?

Eventually, he made his excuses to the team, restless as all get-out, for reasons he couldn’t explain. A walk seemed like as good an idea as any to burn off excess energy. Except, only a few minutes into his walk, bam…

He heard her before he saw her, and every cell in his body damn well told him it was Sienna, even prior to rounding the corner and finding her sitting on the grass lawn, looking out to the beach.

‘You wouldn’t believe it, baby. It’s sooo pretty here. Hang on a sec.’ She pressed the button on the phone, so the camera turned around, filling the screen with the pristine beach, the palm trees, the luscious nature of it all. When she flicked the camera back, the face she was talking to went back to prime position on the screen. A girl, a teenager, with a few spots and braces, grinned back at Sienna.

‘Ohhh, I’m so jelly. Is it amazing? Is Astrid having fun?’

He knew he shouldn’t be eavesdropping. Just standing behind a ficus hoping not to be seen. But curiosity was throbbing through him, along with some other things he really should have been getting better at controlling by now.

‘She is. She’s a perfect bride. Relaxed, happy, nothing’s stressing her.’

‘Soo good. Are you taking a billion pics?’

‘At least a billion. Probably twice that.’

The teenager laughed. He knew it was Sienna’s sort of step-daughter. He’d always figured Sienna had some kind of supercharged maternal gene, but seeing it in action now made an archaic part of him thunder and roar to life. A part of him he had subjugated a long time ago.

Not being like his father was high on his list of priorities.

Not having kids was there too.

Too risky.

Too terrifying.

If there was any chance he might end up out of control, he didn’t want to risk having a child caught in the crosshairs.

But Sienna? She made this shit look easy.

No, she made it look… fun.

‘What’s the food like?’

‘Ahmazing. I’ve eaten my bodyweight at least ten times over. There’s been lobster and shrimp and these amazing chicken satay skewers that I can’t get enough of. The breakfast bar has omelettes and crepes, and there are the juiciest sliders served with afternoon cocktails.’

‘Oh, man,’ Melanie groaned. ‘You’re making me hungry, and all we’ve got in the house is two-week-old bread.’

He saw the way Sienna sat a little straighter. ‘Oh, yeah?’

‘Don’t worry,’ Melanie immediately compensated with a bright smile. ‘I had June’s lunch leftovers. It was pasta bake. She hates pasta bake.’

Sienna made a soft noise that Aiden suspected he only heard because the wind was blowing his way.

‘You know what? Could you do something for me, honey?’

‘Sure.’

‘Go over to my place and check the freezer. I’m 99 per cent sure there’s a lasagne in there that needs to be eaten.’