“Go,” she whispered. “Talk to your fine ass baby daddy, Elle.”
He extended his hand just a little for me to take. I hesitated before putting my hand in his and leading him to the VIP lounge upstairs. My entire world had just shifted again, and I knew whatever he said next was about to change everything.
Chapter 17
Niko
Iclosed the door behind us and stepped in front of her, giving her the space to stand but not the space to run. She stood there fidgeting with her fingers, eyes everywhere else but on me.She’s nervous.
“Noelle,” I said, “look at me.”
When her eyes finally met mine, my chest tightened. I didn’t drag it out or sugarcoat shit, I just told her the truth the way I knew how.
“Let me break this shit down for you before we go any further. My real name is Nikolai Frost, Niko for short. I live in Dallas and I’m a celebrity chef. I own Fire and Frost Culinary Group?—”
“Oh my, I’ve heard of you but never knew it was… you. This is insane. Wait, your father is?—”
“Gregory Frost… the owner of Frost International. I gave you a fake name in Winter Haven because I wanted to be known for just being me and not being a rich successful celebrity chef and the heir to my parent’s company.” I paused, gathering my thoughts before continuing. “That woman you saw me with,” I said quietly, “she’s not my wife or my girlfriend. She’s a face my family needed beside me for some shit. It’s business… optics,nothing more. I don’t want her and she damn sure don’t want me. We play a role in public, then go home to our separate lives.”
Her shoulders eased just a little, but she still looked unsure, like she didn’t know if she could trust what she was hearing.
I stepped closer, lowering my voice. “I wasn’t up on that mountain last year looking for a woman to pretend with. I wasn’t pretending with you. Everything between us was real.”
She swallowed hard. “Then why didn’t you tell me that night? When I saw you?—”
“Because I didn’t get the chance,” I said. “You ran like a thief in the night before I could even move. I searched that whole damn lodge looking for you, just to find out that you checked out shortly after.”
Her eyes dropped and she nodded once, slow, absorbing everything. “I panicked when I saw you with her.”
I rubbed my jaw, trying to steady the way my chest was starting to feel. “I don’t want her, Noelle. I came back up that mountain hoping to clear my head and find you. I stepped in closer until I could feel her breath and smell her sweet scent. She didn’t back up, and that was all the invitation I needed.
“Noelle,” I said, voice low. “We need to talk about her.”
Her lips parted. “Her?”
“Our daughter.”
She froze, her chest rising in one sharp breath.
“You… know?” she whispered.
“I know,” I said. “I found your Facebook page, looked through your picture and put two and two together. Was that what you were coming to tell me?”
She nodded as tears rushed into her eyes. She swallowed hard. “Her name is Nikole.”
Nikole.I felt that name hit a place in me that had been untouchable for years. I stared at her because I couldn’t do anything else.
“You… named her Nikole?” My voice sounded rough even to my own ears.
She nodded fast. “My foster mother. I named her after her. I didn’t know your name at the time to?—"
I shook my head slowly because she had no idea what she’d just done.
“My twin sister’s name was Nikole. She died when we were twelve on Christmas Eve from Leukemia.”
Her entire expression changed.
“Oh my God… Niko… I had no ide—” she whispered.
