“Avi,” Dad’s voice comes from the other side.
Her entire body jerks. Wide eyes. Panic. “Shit. What is Daddy doing here?”
I slide out from beneath her and step off the bed, an amused smirk tugging at my lips as I start toward the door.
But she leaps down in a flash, throwing her arms wide, blocking my path with frantic desperation. Whisper-yelling, she hisses, “You can’t open the door!”
She pushes against my chest, and I let her drag me toward the bathroom. She swings the door open and shoves me inside. “Stay here.”
The door slams shut, only to crack open again a second later, my shoes flying inside. I pick them up and put them on, shaking my head with a half-smirk.
Avira
I open the door with a wide grin. Daddy is standing there in a blue suit, looking impossibly handsome even this early in the morning. Without a second thought, I throw myself into his arms.
“Good morning, Daddy.”
He hugs me back. “Good morning, pumpkin.”
I pull back, only to find his sharp gaze fixed on me, a frown tugging at his features. “I need to talk with you.”
I nod, step out of my room, and close the door firmly behind me. “Let’s go downstairs. Where’s Mama?”
“She’s in the apartment below, unpacking,” he replies as we move down the staircase together.
A relieved sigh escapes me, thank God he didn’t get the idea of talking in my room.
We settle onto the couch in the living room. He takes my hand in his large one and pats the back of it gently, but his expression stays heavy.
“Are you sure you want to get married in a week?”
We’ve had this conversation before, on the very day I decided to marry. Even now, he’s surprisingly unsettled by the idea.
“Of course I’m sure, Daddy.”
But his frown doesn’t ease.
The apartment door opens then, and Mama walks in. I spring from the couch and run straight into her arms. She hugs me back with a light giggle.
When I pull away, she cups my face in her palms. “You look happy. Your daddy was getting stressed over nothing.”
I stroll back to the couch and sink down beside him again. “Why are you even stressed?”
“I didn’t think that the day I proposed the idea of marriage you would agree so quickly. It just doesn’t sit right with me, considering how unhappy you were that day.”
I lean back on the couch, glancing around as if the perfect answer might come from some hidden corner.
“It just clicked. You know, Roxion and I fell for each other very quickly. Love at first sight, sort of thing.” I chuckle softly, trying to lighten the tension.
“How many times have you met him?”
I hold up three fingers.
“But you’ve been staying here for the past week.”
I realize my father in interrogation mode is not good. I look around again, buying myself time. “He’s busy, Daddy. He’s not free all the time.”
“No one is ever too busy to not meet someone they love at least once a day,” he says firmly.
