Neo stared at his daughter. 'What do you mean, "She's at the door"?'

Willow shuffled nervously. She swallowed twice, struggling to find her voice. Everything was happening too quickly for her to process.

'After I talked to you, I called Dante and told him about Mom. He agreed to talk to her, so I phoned her, but Dad, I never thought she'd just show up here like this. I'm so so sorry.' Willow's lip quivered.

Neo smothered his immediate reaction, not wanting to upset his daughter even more, but the truth was the idea of his ex wife being anywhere near his home frazzled him.

Dante skidded into the room with wide eyes, though even Neo could see that he was happy.

And then in she walked; the woman that Neo had once thought of as the love of his life. The same woman who'd left his family in tatters.

She'd styled her hair into following waves of brown that fell to below her shoulders, and framed her face. Her skin was still a beautiful caramel colour that set off her hazel eyes to perfection.

But Neo could tell it was all an image. That's all that ever mattered to Samira.

Her hair was dyed with not a hint of grey, although she was closer to fifty than him. The smooth skin he remembered was still there, but it was stretched painfully tight over her high cheekbones, a result of the fillers and Botox she'd already been messing with when they were married.

What surprised him the most was that he felt nothing towards her. The love he'd struggled with after she'd left had faded and in its place was indifference. He was no longer the same man he'd been when he'd fallen for her. And the man he was today found her false image a further deceit.

'Hi, Neo.' Samira smiled, her perfectly neat teeth flashing white, though it dimmed when she spotted Charlie hovering at the table. 'And who is this? Your girlfriend?' Samira chuckled as though she'd made a joke and Neo bristled.

'This is Charlotte-'

'I'm helping Neo with a case.' Charlie finished.

Samira's eyebrows rose. 'Oh, you're with the police force,' she said dismissively.

'Nope,' Charlie replied, not giving any further details.

'I'm not sure I follow,' Samira said politely, though Neo could tell Charlie's presence and his coolness rattled her. No doubt she had returned expecting him to still be the husk of a man that she'd left, having not found that had unsettled her.

'Not to worry.' Charlie smiled in her direction and picked up her bag. 'But I should let you two talk.'

'Thanks for dinner, Charlie. It was epic,' Dante rejoiced, inadvertently setting Samira's teeth on edge.

'True, that was the best pasta I'd ever eaten. Thanks Charlie.' Willow's thanks had more feeling. It wasn't just the food she was trying to thank her for, but also for bringing her home.

'It was my pleasure, you two.' She walked up to Neo and winked when her back was turned to everyone else. She kissed his cheek quickly. 'Thanks for coming with me tomorrow, I'll text you the details.'

Neo stood frozen to the spot, but it was Samira's tight lipped expression that snapped him out of his revere. The mischievous smirk on Charlie's face and the down right murderous one on Samira's made him smile.

Charlie was playing his ex wife like a fiddle. And Neo was kind of enjoying seeing Samira not getting her way for once. He'd always been a pushover when it came to Samira. In fact, there were very few people his wife couldn't control; it came with being one of the best barristers in London, but Charlie wasn't just any person.

'Well, it was nice to meet you...' Charlie trailed off, pretending like she didn't know who Neo's ex was. Of course, that was untrue. Her name had been part of Neo's file when Charlie had done some digging on him.

It had surprised Charlie to know that she recognised the name when she'd seen it there in black and white print. Samira Chaichana, was well known in certain London circles. She was a tiger in professional clothing. Vicious in the courtroom and equally a predator in her private life. What she wanted, she got, and Charlie made a note to stay as far away from the woman as possible. She didn't need to cause Neo any more trouble than she already had.

'Samira Chaichana.' Samira held out her hand for Charlie to shake.

'Nice to meet you, Samira,' Charlie lied. 'Enjoy your night.' Though she highly doubted they would. The tension that had oozed from Neo when he'd found out his ex was at the door didn't promise a good night.

Neo's gaze trailed after Charlie as she made her quick escape.

'Well, she seems...pleasant,' Samira said lightly as the front door clicked shut.

'Kids, could you go wait in the living room? I need to have a quick word with your mum.'

'But Dad-' Dante went to complain before Willow forcefully dragged him from the room.

When he was sure they were far enough away, his gaze focused on his ex wife.

'What are you doing here, Samira?' Neo discarded the pleasantries now that Dante and Willow were no longer there. Samira didn't deserve the niceties.

Samira removed her coat, her hourglass figure on perfect display in the pencil style dress. Her heels echoed across the tiles as she took a seat at his table. She snagged his glass from the table and took a sip, leaving a smudge of lipstick on the rim.

Neo bit his tongue so he wouldn't say anything. He hated her ability to just walk into a room and own it. She should have felt uncomfortable here, in a home that he'd built without her, and yet now that Charlie was gone, she seemed perfectly content.

'I made a mistake, Neo,' Samira admitted, making Neo reel back in surprise. 'I want to make amends and get to know my kids. I've missed so much of their lives already, I don't want to miss anymore.'

Neo leaned on the kitchen counter. He'd expected his ex wife to say a lot of things, but admitting she was wrong was not one of them. Samira had too big of an ego to admit she was wrong. He couldn't remember a single argument throughout their marriage where she'd apologized. Even when he'd found out about the affair, she'd never been sorry. Instead, she'd made him feel as though it had been his fault for driving her away.

'Why now? Why turn up at our door after all these years?'

Samira sighed. 'Next year I'm going to be fifty and it puts a lot of things into perspective. I don't want the rest of my life to go by without getting to know them.'

'And you thought just turning up like this was a good idea?' Neo gritted his teeth. It was a typical Samira thing to do. She was never good at considering how her actions would affect other people.

'Willow asked me to come, so I got in my car and drove here.'

Neo knew his daughter had not asked Samira to come in so many words, but he didn't bother to point that out. She was here now, and there was nothing he could do to force her out.

'You can't just think that by coming here you'll manage to fix things in one night?' Neo pulled another glass from the shelf and poured himself a wine. He needed fortifying alcohol if he was going to make it through the conversation.

'Of course not.' Samira dismissed the idea. 'I'm staying at the Sailor's Mate for the week.'

Neo choked on his wine. 'The week?' he spluttered.

'Really Neo? Did you think I was just joking about getting to know my kids?' She rolled her eyes. 'A week is a good place to start in my books. And hopefully we can work on it from there. Maybe in the future they'll even be able to come down and visit me. Dante seemed keen on the idea when I spoke to him.'

Neo turned his back on her, his body tense. The idea that she was trying to take his kids away from him flashed through his mind, but he knew it was just jealousy talking. No matter how different this Samira seemed to the woman who'd left them, he doubted she wanted the kids full time. Kids would just weigh her down as she'd once said.

'Now, do you think I could actually see my kids?' Samira snapped.

Neo clenched his fists against the countertop. It went against every bone in his body for Samira to call Willow and Dante "my kids". They weren't her kids, they were his.

Samira left the room before he gained his composure, leaving Neo to trail after her when he was ready, a fresh glass of wine now clasped in his hands. He was never one to mask his feelings with alcohol, but these were special circumstances.

'And this one was when we went to Spain.' Dante was handing a photograph to Samira. 'Dad didn't want to go on the camels so he walked next to us.'

'Your Dad never did like large animals.' Samira laughed, Dante joining in.

Willow sat looking conflicted on the other settee away from her Mom and brother. Neo, sensing that she needed his support more, went and sat down next to her.

'You okay, kid?' he whispered.

She nodded, not looking at him. 'It's just hard to see her sitting here.'

Neo wrapped his free arm around her shoulders, and she lent into his strength.

'So I was hoping that you'd both join me for dinner tomorrow in Shrewsbury? It'll be my treat. I just want the chance to talk to you and get to know you after all the time I missed.' Implying as though their time apart had been everyone else's fault but her own.

Neo screwed his eyes shut for a few seconds and counted to ten. How she sounded so innocent was beyond him.

'That would be awesome.' Dante fist pumped the air. 'We can go, can't we Dad?'

Dante's hopeful expression tore into Neo like a knife. This was the hardest part of being a parent; putting his own feelings aside for the betterment of his kids.

'It's okay with me but it's still a school night so you'll need to be back before 10pm.' He would let his kids decide, but he wouldn't let go of the parenting reigns completely.

'So Willow, how does that sound to you?' Samira flashed her a megawatt smile, which Willow didn't return.

'Okay, I guess,' she mumbled.

'Excellent.' Samira clapped her manicured hands together, oblivious to her daughter's lackluster agreement.

Samira started doing what she did best; smooching people and Dante was just eating up her attention but Willow remained quietly tucked into Neo's side.

He lent down and placed a kiss on her head. 'Don't worry, mush, we'll get through this,' he reassured her.

For the first time in an hour Willow smiled. 'Thanks Dad.'