Page 30 of A Stolen Christmas

Chapter 21

Saul

We stood scraping the food from the plates when I noticed how shit Seth was at it. He had gone soft being married all these years. Katya probably wiped his arse for him when he was at home. I glanced at the plate my dad put in the dishwasher. His was the cleanest, and he had almost forty years of marriage behind him. Mum still seemed to like him.

“Any words of advice for me, Dad?” I asked, aware of the ring burning a hole in my trouser pocket.

“Don’t fuck it all up like your brother. His was a close call,” he said with a grin.

Seth scowled at us before he tossed a gravy-covered Brussels sprout at my head. I batted back towards him with the palm of my hand, but it flew over his head.

“At least I didn't need to kidnap Katya,” he retorted, and my Dad paused in, putting that cutlery in the dishwasher.

That lousy, big-mouthed bastard.

“You weren't joking earlier, were you?” My Dad said as he slowly stood upright to glare at me.

“It’s a joke, Dad—” I began to say, but the dickhead cut me off.

“He’s been stalking her for five months and engineered her divorce,” Seth added spitefully. “So I think you will find he is the major fuck up.”

I turned to swing at him, but my Dad grabbed the back of my sweater.

“Cut it out, the pair of you. There will be no fighting on Christmas Day,” he snapped as he pulled me back. “You're going to be thirty-seven in a few months. Act like adults. I don't want my grandchildren to end up bickering like you two.”

“Harsh, Dad,” I muttered while giving Seth a quick middle-fingered salute. He ran a hand through his hair in frustration.

“Saul, can anything come back on you or the company?”

I turned to face my Dad’s dismay, but his lips were curled upwards in amusement, and his blue eyes twinkled.

“I was very careful, Dad, and it's blabbermouth over there that will get me caught,” I said with a clenched fist and thumb pointed over my shoulder at Seth. “Sirah doesn't know it, but I got her out of a really shitty situation.”

I was surprised that my Dad was taking my criminal activities so well. He released my sweater and patted me on my shoulder.

Why was he taking this news so well?

“You're both more like me than you know. I didn’t waste time closing in on your mother, but I did remove a few obstacles she didn’t know about. I knew she was mine the first time I laid eyes on Evelyn,” he said before he began to casually empty some vegetables off a platter dish and into a plastic tub. “Love, respect and trust. It all continues to grow as long as you nurture it.”

I glanced at Seth, who had a sheepish look on his face. He would look better with a black eye.

“You never let your obsession lead you to the point of madness,” my Dad said, grabbing my attention. “Do whatever you must to deal with it, but keep that side of you in check.”

“Geez, thanks, Dad. Where was this advice when I needed it?” Seth grumbled.

“You boys kept your situation quiet, but when your mother found out, she took charge and kept an eye on you. I didn’t need to interfere. Plus, I think she enjoyed watching you squirm since you made us wait so long for a grandchild,” he said with a grin before he passed the plastic boxes to Seth.

I watched Seth put them in the fridge before putting the leftover turkey in the oven.

“A baby girl. It’s your mother who will be descending into madness for the next six months,” my dad said with a chuckle. “I have a remedy for that, though.”

“Ugh, gross, Dad,” Seth said when my dad wiggled his grey eyebrows up and down.

I smiled and wondered who my niece would look like. We didn’t have enough girls in the family. My uncle lived in Canada, and our cousins were all boys. I thought about my selfish plans for my week with Sirah and took my phone out of my pocket to add a new note to my kidnapping plan. I wanted to see her smiling and laughing outside, not trussed up at home.

My heart began to pound against my chest as it dawned on me that I could see myself growing old with Sirah. Her beautiful, serene smile while being surrounded by our children and grandchildren. Those hazel eyes would be full of love for our family. A warm glow spread across my chest as it accompanied the exhilarated rush that took my breath away.

“Oh, damn, he has it bad,” Dad said as he stared at me. “Breathe, son.”

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