I look at my dad, and he’s watching the whole thing.
“Sir.” Liam nods to him, then walks down the stairs.
My father watches him go, then turns back to me.
“Well,” he says calmly, “shall we?”
I nod and follow him down the hall in silence.
As soon as the door shuts behind me, the nerves kick in. I haven’t felt like this since I was a teenager and got caught sneaking in after curfew.
The stakes are infinitely higher now.
My dad takes his seat behind his desk, but I remain standing.
“Sit, Aliette.” He gestures to the seat across from him at the desk.
I sit.
“Would you like to start,” he says evenly, “with why you were just kissing my quarterback—my new quarterback—in the hallway?”
I inhale slowly. “He’s Seraphina’s father.”
The words land between us like something solid, but he doesn’t react the way I thought he would. There’s no explosion or outrage. Just a calm, assessing look.
“Hmm … I see.”
“That’s it?”
He shrugs. “Well, what can I say? The resemblance isn’t subtle. I noticed the first time I met him in person. And by your demeanor when he came into that meeting, I suspected you knew him somehow.”
I blink in surprise. “You never said anything to me.”
“It wasn’t my place to speculate.”
That alone makes my chest tighten.
“Can I ask why you never told us?”
There it is. The question I’ve been avoiding for the last two years.
“It was a one-night stand,” I say quietly. “I’ll spare you all the details, but I convinced myself that’s all it was. Then I found out I was pregnant, and he was already back in New Orleans. Aaron was there?—”
My dad interrupts, frowning, “Aaron?”
“Yes, the day I found out.”
“And?”
“He told me he would reach out to Liam for me and then told me later that Liam didn’t want anything to do with the baby.”
Dad goes still. “Why would you believe that without speaking to him directly?”
“Because, at the time,” I say, my voice shaking slightly, “it made sense. I believed our night was just that—one night. And I thought he might be involved with someone else in New Orleans. Plus, Aaron said Liam wanted to focus on his career. So, I believed Aaron—you know, the guy who has been my best friend for most of my life.”
His jaw tightens.
“Alie, I still can’t believe you didn’t speak to him yourself. Something this life-altering?—”
