“Too late. I know one of them.”
“Pitz, I’m telling you, don’t fuck this up.” He looks down at the binder in front of him and opens it. “Gentlemen, shall we sign some paperwork?”
I look away from Scott, back down at Alie, and see her speaking closely with her sister. Presley looks up and catches me and places her hand on Alie’s arm.
Alie doesn’t look at me, but instead picks up her pen and flips through some papers in her own binder.
“Let’s get to it. I have a date tonight with my lovely wife, and we need to get back to the city before traffic becomes a problem.” James leans over and kisses his wife’s temple.
I notice she doesn’t make a move to leave, so she must also be involved in the team's inner workings.
Scott hands me a pen.
“Thanks,” I mumble, then open my own binder.
The meeting goes by in a haze. Lunch is served, but I don’t eat a bite. And as soon as we’re done, Alie takes off without a goodbye. Joke’s on her though. She won’t be able to run from me forever.
CHAPTER
THIRTEEN
Alie
When I get back to my office, I go right into the bathroom, close the door, and lock it. I’m not prone to getting panic attacks, but I might just have one today. I grab the sides of my sink and hang my head down, taking deep breaths in and out. Seeing him again was everything and nothing like I’d expected it would be. I didn’t expect him to look so happy to see me. Makes me wonder if he remembers everything about that night the way I do.
I turn on the faucet and splash some water on my face, trying to cool down the flush in my cheeks. I need to get control of myself because I’m going to have to deal with him on a regular basis.
A knock on the door doesn’t surprise me, but I’m also not in the mood to talk to anyone right now.
“Alie, it’s me. Open up,” my sister says from the other side of the door.
“Give me a minute,” I tell her.
“Come on, Alie. I just wanna make sure you’re okay. I have to go back downstairs and get everything set up for his testing.”
I dry off my face. Take another deep breath, then straighten my shirt and open the door.
“I’m fine, I promise. I’m not gonna lie—it was a lot to see him. But I’ve been preparing for this for the last few weeks, so it’ll be okay.” I suck in a breath. “I’ll figure out a way to deal with this.” I’m not sure if I’m trying to convince myself or my sister.
“Okay, but I also need to find a way to work with him because I’m about to tear into him. I still can’t get over the fact that he wanted nothing to do with you and the baby, and now you’re gonna have to look at him all the time. What happens if he sees the baby? And Alie, you know Mom and Dad are gonna realize this out soon enough. Seraphina looks exactly like him—not just her eyes, her smile, and her hair color, but some of her mannerisms. Like the little dimple she gets when she smiles is identical to his.” She reaches for me, but I move to my desk.
If she hugs me right now, I’ll probably start to cry, and I hate to cry, dammit.
“No, I know it’s gonna be hard to keep this a secret for too long from Mom and Dad anyway. And he might not want to have anything to do with her, but I guess it’s inevitable. He’s gonna see her around the complex. He could very well see her in the nursery today.”
Thankfully, we have a nursery on-site. My family has always supported on-site child care, so I can pop down to see her anytime I want.
I pick up the picture of my daughter off my desk. It’s from her first birthday in September. Her chubby little cheeks are smeared with pink frosting from her cake. She really does look a lot like him. I never told my parents who her father was, but Presley is right. One look at them, and anyone could figure it out, especially now that he’s here.
I knew this was a possibility when discussions started about bringing him here, but in all honesty, he is what’s best for ourteam. I can’t let our past or our daughter compromise the role he has here. We need a winning season.
“I won’t say anything to him out of respect for you, Al. You need to clean up your own mess, but it’s gonna be hard for me to bite my tongue, so if I can make a suggestion … I think it would be best for everybody involved if you have a private discussion with him sooner rather than later. We’re all going to have to work together, and we’ll likely have to address that Seraphina is his daughter publicly.” She sits in the chair across from me and leans on the desk, arms crossed.
“I don’t see any reason to announce that publicly. She has our last name.” I set the picture back on my desk.
“Well, if that’s how you feel about it, what are you gonna do if he changes his mind and decides he does want to be involved with the baby? Wants her to have his name?”
“I think … it’s a little too late, don’t you think, Pres? He made that decision when he found out I was pregnant. He’s had time to come to me to ask me about her, and he never did. He was too busy with football and who knows what else. He could have a girlfriend for all I know. But I guess I should notify our attorney what’s going on. Just in case we need him.” The thought makes me sick, but I try to act like I don’t care.
