Saving Stella Read Free Page B

know how to play on the puppy dog
eyes. Who could resist.
    Got him! Hook, line and sinker. I’m
getting my sister back!

 
    Brayden
    My foot was tapping ridiculously
fast as I waited for the elevator to reach the floor of Stella’s office. My
palms were sweating and I had to keep going over what I wanted to say to her in
my head. I didn’t want to screw this up. I had a feeling Stella was fragile.
Sloan confirmed it for me last night when she told me Stella had been through
stuff. She didn’t tell me what and I’m not sure I want to know.
    This chic was already affecting
me after just one meeting.
    The elevator door dinged and I
retraced the steps id taken yesterday to Stella’s office. When I walked in the
same doe eyed receptionist sat at the desk. Her eyes honed in on the yellow lily’s
I was holding. Sloan had told me they were Stella’s favourites. And I wanted to
make up for yesterday. Sloan also told me I had to take it slow with Stella.
Baby steps she said. So no drink invites today.
    “Is Stella in?”
    'Doe eyes' was frozen in place
just like yesterday. So I walked over to the door to Stella’s office, glanced
over my shoulder and gestured with my head that I was going to go in then knocked
softly. She just sat there and nodded.
    After I heard Stella yell out for
me to come on in, I slowly opened the door and poked my head in. The look on
her face said she didn’t expect to see me today. And I guess that’s my fault. I
did tell her yesterday that I was going to just drop the papers with her
receptionist.
    “Hey there.”
    She didn’t respond, just kept
watching me with those cautious green eyes.
    “I brought a peace offering.
After the way I handled our introduction and then how I left yesterday I felt
bad. Terrible actually. Sloan told me yellow lilies were your favourite.”
    Silence followed. She narrowed
her eyes as if she couldn’t figure out if that’s why I was really here.
    “Well I’ll just set them over
here shall I?”
    I walked all the way into her
office closing the door behind me. Placing the lilies in the centre of the
bookshelf she had sitting under the window. She remained silent the whole time.
I figured I wasn’t going to be forgiven for my behaviour yesterday, so I turned
to leave.
    “Wait.”
    She spoke so softly I thought I
was imagining it. I turned slightly to see her face. Her eyes had glazed over.
Shit! What did I do? In three large strides I was crouching down beside her
chair, bracing myself on her desk with my left hand. I reached up with my right
to tuck a piece of hair that had come loose from her braid behind her ear. Before
I reached it, she flinched away from me, her hand shot under her desk and she
pulled out a gun. I paused with my hand just inches from the loose strands
staring at the gun.
    What the fuck? A
gun? What had happened to this chick for her to be packin a gun under
her desk? I froze. Did she even know how to use that thing? She didn’t say
anything. Just sat there, her eyes wide, her breathing had picked up pace and
her hands were shaking.
    “I won’t hurt you Stella. I swear
it.”
    She didn’t speak. After a few
tense moments she gave a slight nod of her head and lowered her gun.
    Relief flooded my system, as I
slowly backed away from her made my way around the desk to take a seat across
from her. Putting a bit of distance between us seemed to help calm her too.
Jesus, I was still in shock. I dropped my head and ran my hands through my
hair. I was beginning to think this chic was going to be too much for me.
    But then I raised my eyes to see
her sitting in her seat shaking like a leaf. I wanted to hold her. Pull her
tight into my body and take away the pain I could see shining in her eyes. I
knew she wouldn’t let me though. We’d only met yesterday, and she had just
pulled a gun on me for fucks sake!
    I didn’t know what to say to her,
I knew I had to say something, but what? For the first time ever, I was at a
loss for words. Nobody had