Sexting My Ex’s Dad (Forbidden Silver Foxes)

53. Stella

53

STELLA

“ S tella? What the hell is this?” Owen demands accusingly.

I’ve been caught red handed. I shouldn’t care what Owen thinks; he’d been the one to dump me and get together with a new girl a week later; not even hesitating to plaster her all over social media.

Still, I’m sure there are better ways to find out your ex and dad are dating.

“Owen, we need to talk,” I say. Despite what he’d done, I didn’t hate him, and I’m not trying to hurt his feelings.

“Talk? About what?” His gaze flicks between Elio and me, his anger mounting. “About how you’re screwing my dad behind my back?” I swallow at his words, not knowing what to say to them. “That would explain why you didn’t want to get back together with me. Why go for me when you can get the newer model right?” He scoffs, shaking his head. “What does he have that’s better than me? More money?”

Why do people always immediately think that it’s about the money?

“Owen, listen—” Elio begins, but Owen cuts him off.

“Shut up!” he snarls, pointing an accusatory finger at Elio. “You just couldn’t wait to swoop in and play hero, could you, Dad?” he snaps. “You always have to be the one to save everyone, don’t you? Even if it means screwing over your own son. Oh, right, you couldn’t save everyone. That’s the reason Mom died, right? You don’t care about anyone but yourself. You never have.”

Mentions of Owen’s mother quiet Elio almost instantly. It almost makes me feel bad. From what I’d heard, it hadn’t even sounded like her death was Elio’s fault. But, that’s Owen – he always has to find someone else to blame.

“Owen, I understand that you’re angry,” I say, forcing myself to meet his gaze. “But you need to hear what we have to say, the same way that I heard you out.”

“Save it, Stella,” he spits, his eyes filled with hurt and betrayal. “How could you do this to me? I thought you cared about me!”

“Of course I care about you, Owen,” I reply, struggling to keep my composure. “But that doesn’t mean that we’re compatible! You’re the one that proved that.”

“Yeah, well I didn’t dump you to date your mom now, did I?” Owen snaps. The hurt in his eyes transforms into an icy rage as he glares at Elio. “Unbelievable. Both of you. Tell me that it was worth it, Dad. Tell me a quickie with her was worth it.”

“Owen, don’t say that,” I snap, my own anger flaring. “It’s not some quickie. I love him.”

My words seem to just make the situation worse. “Of course you’d say that, you slut,” he spits back, and I physically reel from the venom in his words.

Slut…? He’d never called me that word before.

“Don’t talk to her like that,” Elio’s voice is deep. “Say whatever you want to me, but you don’t get to blame her.”

“Of course you’d defend her. Everyone is more important to you than your own son. Forget this. You two deserve each other. I’m done.”

Before he gets the chance to leave, the door shatters, and the sound of a gunshot rips through the air. My body reacts before my mind can catch up, dropping to the ground as shards of wood splinter around us. The acrid scent of gunpowder lingers in the air.

“Stella! Get down!” Elio shouts beside me, his voice full of urgency.

My heart races, hammering against my chest as I press myself flat on the floor. I barely notice the cold tile seeping through my clothes, my attention focused on the intruder now stalking towards us.

He’s a man I recognize from Elio’s office – the guard who’d tried to stop me from coming in. Massimo was his name, right? His eyes are wild, filled with rage and desperation.

I don’t get it. If he’s supposed to protect Elio, why is he standing here pointing a gun at all of us?

“Massimo?!” Elio exclaims, and I realize he has the same confusion in his eyes as me. “What are you doing?”

“I’ve been biding my time, Elio,” He laughs, eyes switching over to Owen. “You got one thing right, Elio doesn’t care about anyone but himself. I was treated like shit for you from the last few years, waiting until I could retaliate, until I could make you pay.”

“Make me pay?” Elio repeats. “What are you talking about?”

“You never found out the man your wife, Margot, was having an affair with, did you?” He takes a step closer, gun pointed at Elio. “It was me.”

Elio breathes in sharply. “You can’t be serious.”

“Oh, but I am.” He laughs like a mad man. “In fact, I’d arranged for the raid, myself, so the two of us could run away together, but you’d gotten in the way… things got messy and then the man that I hired had to protect himself. He should have shot you – you should have gotten in front of Margot but you didn’t. You let her die.”

I replay Massimo’s story in my head, but it sounds like it’s more his fault than Elio’s. Still, Elio seems to take it hard anyways, teeth gritted and hands balled into fists.

“Since you took Margot from me, Lombardi. And now, I’m taking Stella. An eye for an eye. Then you’ll see how I feel.”

“You know, I never quite liked you,” Elio admits harshly. “To think that you’d blame me for the death of my wife that you’d had an affair with…you’re a fucking joke. I’ll kill you if you don’t leave Stella out of this.” Elio’s voice is dangerous low, a tone I’ve never heard it before. He shifts slightly, trying to place himself between the gunman and me. “This is between you and me. If you want to fight me then man up.”

“Wrong,” the man spits. “She’s part of it now. Just like Margot was.”

My heart feels like it’s about to burst from my chest as fear courses through me. The cold metal of the gun is now pointed directly at my face, and I can’t tear my eyes away from it. I can now officially say I’ve faced a gun head on before.

“Please,” I whisper, praying that my voice will reach some shred of humanity within this man. “You don’t have to kill me to prove a point.”

But my words fall on deaf ears. “Shut up!” he barks, and my breath catches in my throat. “I’m going to kill you, and then me and Elio will finally be fair.”

I look at Owen. His face is twisted with anger, but he hesitates, clearly torn between his resentment and the desire to save me. Our eyes lock for a moment, and something seems to shift within him.

“Get away from her!” Owen roars, suddenly springing into action. He lunges at the intruder, knocking him off balance just as the gun fires.

The sound echoes through the room, and an intense pain erupts in my side. I look down in horror to see blood soaking through my shirt. My hand trembles as I touch the wound, feeling the warm, sticky liquid coating my fingers.

“Stella!” Elio calls out, rushing toward me.

“Owen,” I gasp, the pain intensifying with each beat of my heart. He’d tried to save me…even after everything that happened today, he’d tried to save my life. “Thank you.”

Maybe he really isn’t the selfish man I’d once known.

Owen has Massimo on the ground, and Elio grabs me just as I fall to the ground. “You’re okay, you hear me?” Elio says over and over again. “You’re going to be fine.

My vision begins to blur, but I cling to Eli’s words, holding onto hope even as darkness threatens to consume me.

The world tilts, spinning like a whirlwind as pain sears through my side. Elio’s blue eyes are the last thing I see, filled with fear and resolution, before I close my eyes, losing the strength to open them back up.

“Stella, stay with us!” his voice pleads somewhere in the distance.

“Get her on the couch,” Owen barks, taking charge of the situation. I feel hands lifting me, cradling me gently as they lower me onto something soft. The pain intensifies, making me want to scream, but all that escapes is a gasp.

I don’t even have the energy to scream.

“Where’s your first aid kit?” Owen snaps, urgency lacing his tone.

“Kitchen cupboard, next to the sink,” Elio answers, his voice wavering for a moment. The sound of footsteps hurrying away fills my ears.

I struggle to make sense of what’s happening, to regain control over my fading consciousness. The bullet... It tore through me, didn’t it?

I’m going to die.

“Stay with me, Stella,” Owen murmurs, rushing to my side and gripping my hand tightly. I wonder what he did to Massimo. He’s not dead too, is he? “Damn it, Dad, we have to stop the bleeding!” Owen’s frustration is palpable, and for a moment, I wish I could offer him some comfort.

“I’m trying!” Elio snaps.”Press this against the wound, Owen.”

I feel more pain in my side, but this time I can’t even gasp. I can feel the life draining from me.

“Stella, can you hear me?” I can feel his breath against my cheek. “You need to stay awake, alright? Open your eyes!”

But I can’t. I’m drowning in darkness, and no matter how hard I fight, it’s pulling me deeper.

“Owen... Elio...” I manage to choke out, my voice barely a whisper. “I’m so sorry.”

“Save your strength,” Owen says, his voice thick with emotion. “You’re going to pull through this.”

“Promise me,” I beg, my grip on consciousness slipping further away. “Promise that...you’ll both be okay...”

“Stella, just stay with us,” Elio pleads, desperation etching itself onto his face. But the darkness is relentless, swallowing me whole as his image fades away.

“Stella!” is the last thing I hear before the world falls silent, and I succumb to the numbing embrace of unconsciousness.