“I was embarrassed. Humiliated and hurt,” I admit. “I wasn’t going to beg someone to be involved if they didn’t want to be. It’s not like I couldn’t take care of the baby on my own.”
“You being capable of caring for the baby on your own isn’t the point, Aliette.”
“Dad, didn’t you always tell me not to trust football players? Not to get involved with them?”
“Alie, I think you had already made your bed, so to speak, by that point, no?”
I can’t help but blush.
“Aaron’s father and I are good friends, as you know.”
“I know.”
“And he told you this, with certainty?”
“Yes.”
He sighs. “I’m just surprised.”
“I was, too, but even more so now.”
His eyes sharpen. “Now?”
“Liam had no idea about the baby.”
He leans forward, elbows resting on the desk. “You’re telling me that he found out he had a daughter two years later?”
My eyes water. “Yes.”
“But you’d believed he didn’t want her?”
I nod. “He says he tried to find me and even came here to New York and met with Aaron, who told him I wanted nothing to do with him.”
“So, Aaron lied to you both, is what you’re telling me?”
“It appears so.”
He studies me.
“You brought him into this organization.” He shifts his head back and forth. “We wanted him, sure, but you handled the trade.”
My throat tightens, and I swallow. “It’s what was best for the team.”
“That’s the only reason?”
I hesitate, and he sees it.
“Alie.”
I shake my head. “I … don’t know.”
His brows lift.
“Okay, fine, if I’m being honest,” I admit, “there’s a part of me that wanted him close. To understand his reasons for why he hadn’t wanted to be involved. Maybe to see if he’d change his mind.”
He leans back in his chair again, slowly. “So, football wasn’t the only reason.”
“No,” I whisper, “I guess not.”
