Opposing Forces by Juliet Anderson

a friendly slap on the back. He planted a filial kiss on his mother’s cheek and his father extended his hand.
     
    “Glad you could make it, Son,” was the caustic response from his father.
     
    Steffen shrugged, he was not going to rise to the bait.  He opened one of his bags and passed a beautiful, hand tied bouquet of pink roses and peonies to his mother.  Her face positively lit up.
     
    “Steffen, they’re absolutely stunning,” she gushed.  She inhaled their scent. “They smell heavenly.”  She kissed his cheek fondly. “It reminds me of an old English garden.”
     
    No guessing where the inspiration came from, Steffen thought to himself.  Sabina eyed him suspiciously.  “That is a decidedly un-masculine bouquet,” she whispered to him. “Care to confess?”
     
    “Someone I know has a roof top terrace full of these flowers. The smell was intoxicating.”
     
    “I knew there had to be a woman somewhere,” Sabina grinned.
     
    Steffen shook his head.  “I need to freshen up before we leave for dinner.
     
     
    It was a large affair, with extended family, all in the private dining room of his mother’s favourite restaurant, Tortula.  The food was good, wine plentiful but he was always on his guard. 
     
    His Uncle Max started the inquisition. “So, Steffen, who was the gorgeous blonde you made the headlines with at the Chateau Villette charity ball?”
     
    “That would have been Miss Maisie Carrington, the event director for Chateau Villette,” he responded without emotion.
     
    Heinrich looked up intrigued. “Why would you make the headlines for a charity ball?  Is news that slow at the moment?”
     
    “Maisie Carrington?” his Aunt Lisette mused. “Why is that name familiar?”
     
    “My God, that’s Helen of Troy, isn’t it?” Sabina exclaimed, clearly impressed.
     
    “The Raiders fiasco?” Heinrich was horrified.
     
    “I’m lost,” his mother spoke up.  “Would someone care to explain?”
     
    “Back in May, Steffen’s boys arrested Helen of Troy and half the players of the Lausanne Raiders in a bust that went very wrong.  Maisie Carrington is Helen of Troy.” It made perfect sense to Sabina.
     
    “The Carrington woman is nothing but a grasping, jumped up socialite.  The reason the picture made the headlines is that nobody would have expected to see the Chief of Police dancing and smiling with the woman that is suing his Department for everything she can get her grubby hands on.” His father’s voice echoed around the room.
     
    Steffen resented his father’s remarks; his disapproval over his handling of the case was clear.  But he also did not like the way he talked about Maisie.  For some strange reason he felt he had to defend her. “As you have never met Miss Carrington, Father, I am surprised you can jump to such a conclusion about her.” He glowered heavily at his father before turning to the rest of the table. “Maisie Carrington is one of the most enchanting women I have had the pleasure to meet.  Her lawsuit against the Department is quite justified but something I cannot, for obvious reasons, talk about. It has, however, nothing to do with the Raiders incident. My father, it seems has his facts wrong.”
     
    Max grimaced.  “I’m almost sorry I asked.”
     
    Bettina steered the conversation down a different avenue.  She could sense her son’s discomfort.
     
    “So is she really pretty?” Sabina asked a while later.
     
    “Is who pretty?” Steffen responded
     
    “Maisie, of course.”
     
    Steffen did his best not to think about those soft lips of hers and that red dress. “Yes, I suppose she is.”
     
    “She would make a far more interesting girlfriend than those emotionless sticks who occasionally sleep with you.”
     
    Steffen choked on his wine. “Sabina!  I’m not going to start talking about my sex life.”
     
    “Wasn’t she rumoured to be dating Frankie Lavigne?”
     
    “Just rumour.”
     
    “How do you