Free Found (Not Quite a Billionaire Book 3) by Rosalind James Page A

Hemi’s going to be taking that jet of his home, off to do important things.”
    “No choice,” Hemi said.
    “Always got a choice, haven’t you,” Daniel said. “Whanau comes first, mate.”
    Hemi seemed to get bigger before my eyes, and I could tell that only his willpower was holding him back. Time to step in. I said, “Nobody knows that better than Hemi, wouldn’t you say?” and gave Daniel my best innocent look. “He’s in a pretty critical place with the business, yet he came all this way. Because of Koro, and to be with me. We’re expecting a baby, you see.”
    I said it to take the spotlight off Hemi. Besides, surely Hemi’s father would want to know he would be a grandfather.
    For a moment, it seemed to be working, as June let out an exclamation and gave me a quick hug, while a smile spread across Tane’s face before he was pumping Hemi’s hand and slapping him on the back. Koro just looked thoroughly satisfied.
    Daniel didn’t do any of that. He looked me up and down, long and slow, and then he looked at Hemi. “Expecting a baby, and she’s staying here? Not going home to be with you?”
    “Not for a bit,” Hemi said, his face and voice equally expressionless. “Koro needs the help just now, and Hope’s right. It is a critical time for me.”
    “If you’re going to be a dad,” Daniel said, “maybe you should start acting like a family man for once. Take Koro back to New York with you, get him looked after properly, and this time, see your woman goes with you as well, where she belongs.”
    I truly thought for a moment that Hemi was going to jump across the space between them and throttle his father. He didn’t, of course. He just gathered his energy into himself and stood motionless.
    “He didn’t suggest that,” Koro said, “because he knew I’d say, ‘Like bloody hell I’m going.’ I’ve been to New York. Catch me spending my time in the Big Smoke where I can’t hear the birds and can’t catch a fish, everybody talking on their phones night and day and never bothering to look up at the people around them, and nobody who’ll answer a civil “Morning” from a stranger. I’ll stay here with my whanau, thank you very much, and if Hemi wants to see me, he can visit. I reckon you couldn’t keep him away.”
    I thought Hemi was going to say something about me, but he didn’t. He just stood there, betraying none of the vibrating tension I knew he was feeling, and stared at his father. It was a pretty scary look.
    “Sounds like you’ve all decided already,” Daniel said. “As usual. I’d best be off. I promised a mate my company for the All Blacks match tonight. He’s just come out of the program, and only a month sober. Keep him from going to the pub, back with the old crowd. Temptation’s a hard thing, eh. Old patterns.”
    He shook hands with Tane, then turned to Hemi and said, “Walk me to my car, mate.”
    Hemi said, “Aren’t you going to say goodbye to Hope and her sister?”
    “Course,” Daniel said. I held out my hand, but he grabbed me instead, pulled me in, and held me too tight, smothering me with the smell of cigarettes. My stomach instantly rebelled, and I stiffened in the grip of his clutching hands.
    I hated being grabbed by big men, especially when they wouldn’t let me get away. And if you think that’s what Hemi did, you don’t understand my boundaries and the way Hemi watched for and respected them. Or the way his father didn’t. All I can say is, my body knew the difference.
    When Daniel finally let me go, I stood back and focused on breathing, but he wasn’t done. “Think about being a good wife to Hemi,” he said, his eyes shining with the tears that I could already see came too easily to him. “Such a thing as loyalty and supporting your man through the hard times. You could think about that.”
    The room was nothing but silence until Hemi said, “I’ll walk you out, Dad.” His voice was hard and cold as steel, and he didn’t even