“I have no intention of undoing anything.” Again, his tone became harsher, as it always did when we got into this same discussion. “According to your logic, famous rock stars aren’t capable of having children. My best friends all happen to have them, and those kids are well adjusted and happy.”
“I’m happy you’ve been exposed to happy children, but my job is to protect my daughter—”
“Our daughter,” he corrected. An unexpected surge of nausea engulfed me.
There it was. Maybe what I was really afraid of was that Trey had changed in other ways as well and would decide to make up for all the years he’d been absent from our daughter’s life. Maybe I was terrified he’d try to take her away from me altogether. Crazier things had happened, and I couldn’t compete with the fancy lawyers his money could buy.
“You’re expecting me to give up my kid,” he went on to say. “Yet you won’t tell me why I should. I have my assumptions, and if I’m right, your reasons aren’t good enough for me.” He twisted on the bench and cupped my face, forcing me to look at him. The unexpected spark of attraction I felt caused me to flinch away from his touch and prompted him to drop his hand. “I want you to tell me why you suddenly came to me after six years only to expect me to give her up, Camilla.”
During my panicked silence, Alivia suddenly came rushing over. “Train! Train!”
At first, I had no idea what she meant, until I realized she was calling Trey. “Sweetheart, his name is Trey, not Train.”
“Oh.” She shrugged and amended, “Trey, can you push me on the swings?”
“I sure can,” he said on a chuckle. The biggest smile spread over her sweet little face before she scurried off toward her absolute favorite activity in the park. But as Trey stood to follow her, he first paused and met my eye. “You need to accept this, Camilla.”
Trey
Our park visit was a short one. When Camilla gave the excuse that Alivia had to eat dinner, I offered to take them both out, to which she vetoed the idea. A few minutes after saying my goodbye, Alec appeared to drive me back to the city.
On the way toward the highway, we passed a massive toy store. “Can you pull in here, Alec?” His inquisitive eyes met mine, but instead of questioning me he simply nodded. Although he was there the night Camilla showed up at my building, I hadn’t verbally voiced who she was or why she had come to see me. Even earlier, I hadn’t shared the purpose of our impromptu trip to Queens. By the time he pulled up to Camilla’s house to pick me up, she and Alivia were already back inside, putting distance between us.
“I’ll just be a few minutes,” I said before hopping out of the SUV and into the store.
Only two steps beyond the automatic doors, I went stone-still, sticking out like a sore thumb.
“Can I help you?” an acne-afflicted skinny dude asked from where he stood behind the courtesy counter. Ensuring my cap was low over my sunglasses, my heart sped up, hoping he wouldn’t recognize me. That was the last thing I needed right now, being outed on social media while shopping for toys.
“Do you have Hello Pussy stuff?”
“You mean Hello Kitty?” He rolled his eyes before scowling at me like I had two heads. “Aisle twelve.”
“Thanks.” Five seconds later, I was smack in the middle of an aisle filled with a million choices, all sporting that white cat with the pink bow that I only first saw on my daughter’s T-shirt. The shelves reached floor to ceiling and the options made my head spin.
“This is insane,” I grumbled, not having the slightest idea what the hell a six-year-old would want. I glanced around, debating on asking someone for help, and then thought better of it.
So, what does a man with no clue and a bottomless bank account do? I found the biggest box with the highest price tag and carried it toward the registers.
The figure was probably taller than Alivia, spoke fifteen different phrases, could be tailored to say her name in each one, and could record a personal message.
Perfect.
I found Alec leaning against the passenger door, waiting for me to appear. He took one look at the monstrosity I carried and smirked. Ignoring him, I loaded it in the back seat of the Escalade and slid in beside it.
Once back on the road, I found an accident had turned the usually twenty-minute ride into a ninety-minute one, yet I barely felt the stretch in time. The entire drive was spent with a gorgeous little girl consuming my thoughts. Actually, that wasn’t true… Camilla had also been on my mind.
I tried to imagine her life these past six or so years. She’d done a fantastic job raising our daughter so far. Alivia was intuitive, kind, curious… at least from what I could tell. Being in her favorite place to play left no room to talk to her, and no doubt that was purposeful when Camilla had suggested the park.
I guessed I couldn’t blame her. I really hadn’t thought it through when I decided to just appear at their doorstep. Maybe I hadn’t expected my daughter to be a little person who could actually ask questions, which I really wasn’t prepared for. Still, I didn’t regret the visit. It validated those paternity results while reminding me I couldn’t be all that bad if I had helped create such a perfect human.
By the time we crossed the bridge back into Manhattan, I already missed my daughter. Just like that, within the short amount of time I had spent with her, she had wiggled her cute little self into my heart.
“Your place?” Alec asked.
“Yes, but I’m just going to run this upstairs, and then can you drop me off at the Lairs’?”
“Of course.”
Fifteen minutes later, Jack answered the door with a concerned frown. “Please tell me that you’re okay, because I insisted Lei shouldn’t call you, and if you’re not she’ll kick my ass.”
“I’m fine.” Appeased by my confident response, he moved aside to let me in. “Did I interrupt dinner?”
“Nope, all done. The kids are getting baths.” I followed him into the kitchen, where Leila stood at their massive island, wrapping up leftovers. “Look who’s here,” Jack announced, pulling her attention toward me.
“Are you okay?” she said, repeating her husband’s question. “Jack wouldn’t let me call you earlier.”
I exchanged an all-knowing smirk with her husband before confirming, “Jack was right… I’m fine.”
She followed my gaze to the covered containers before her. “It’s Italian. Hungry?”
“I can eat.”
As she turned to grab me a plate, Jack took a barstool beside me. “Have you decided what you want to do now that you know?”
“Yes, I have.” Without warning, I blurted out, “I went to see her.” Instantly, their eyes widened. “I needed to meet her,” I said, defending my decision. “Granted, Camilla wasn’t happy I just showed up.”
“What’s she like?” Leila asked, her eyes shimmering with emotion.
“She’s gorgeous, Lei.” I wasn’t sure if it was my words or my expression that caused a trembling smile to spread while her trembling hand fisted the fabric over her heart. “I can’t believe she’s my kid. So smart, feisty, and happy. She loves Hello Kitty.”