AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He shook his head as if trying to clear it. “What do you mean if we aren’t together? Did something happen when I was gone?”
She blinked at him. How clueless could one man be? He charged through life, running over people in his path without realizing what he was doing. She still wasn’t sure if he didn’t notice or just didn’t care.
“The something that happened is you were gone. Mia was so sad when you didn’t show up for her field trip, it broke my heart. You can’t do that to my kid, Nikolas.”
“First of all, she’s our kid. Second of all, she’ll get over it. I missed one minor thing. So what?”
“It wasn’t minor to her. She cried, and every tear she shed made me hate you more.”
He growled deep in his throat. “Damn it, Chloe! You can’t keep jerking me around like this. You seem to have a secret list of rules that you won’t share with me, but you hold me accountable for breaking them.”
For a second, her anger deflated. Was he right? Had she been trying to bust him for something so she could push him out of their lives?
She took a deep breath and lowered her voice. “Maybe you don’t think a field trip is a big deal, but she did. You broke her heart today, Nik. You let her down. She’ll probably get over it and forgive you the first time you smile at her. Just know that I’m not that easy.”
His jaw tightened. “Are you saying you don’t want to see me again? If you are, then say it. Say it to my face. Do you want me to disappear from your life forever?”
A wave of panic hit her hard, and she couldn’t breathe. She wanted to throw her arms around his neck, but he had hurt Mia. Worse, he didn’t see it as a problem. That meant he would continue to do it without hesitation. Mia had to come first.
“Are you saying you’ll leave me and Mia if I tell you to go?”
He jabbed the chilly night air with his finger. “I will never walk away from my daughter. Get that straight right now. If you don’t want me in your life, I’ll go, but I will be here for her.”
“You weren’t here for her when she needed you. That’s the point I’m trying to make. If you are going to be her father, you need to be a full-time father. That means you don’t toss her aside when something you think is more important comes up.”
“Nothing is more important to me than my daughter! I missed one freaking field trip. It wasn’t like I ran out on her when she was having surgery. She is fine.”
“Keep telling yourself that.”
He got deadly quiet. “You haven’t answered my question. Do you want me out of your life? Do you want an annulment?”
Everything in her screamed. Nooo! But her numb lips said, “Yes.”
He staggered back a step as if she’d slapped him. “Then you shall have it.”
She stood there frozen, watching him walk away. When he made it halfway down the sidewalk, she called out, “What will you do? After the annulment, are you going to go back to Vegas?”
He turned to look at her, pain and anger burning in his eyes. “I don’t know what I’m going to do. You just ripped my heart out for the second time. You won’t get a third chance.”
She started to go to him, desperate to comfort him, but he lifted a hand. “Go inside and take care of my little girl. She needs you. I don’t.”
An invisible dagger stabbed through her heart. Nik lashed out when he was hurt or angry. In his family, if someone hurt you, you needed to return the pain a hundredfold. It wasn’t his fault. His whole family believed in that motto. Why wouldn’t he?
She watched him leave her with tear-filled eyes. A feeling of terrible dread settled over her, and she felt like she’d never see him again. But that was silly. He had said so himself. There was no way he would let her keep him away from their daughter, not that she would try. Mia loved him and needed him. Hopefully, he would make time for her on a regular basis.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
The next day, Nik didn’t show up for work in the bakery. Instead, he had a messenger deliver papers for her to sign. At first, she thought they were divorce papers, and her heart dropped to her feet. Relief flooded her entire body when she saw he had just returned her business to her.
After she signed the papers, her bakery would once again be in her name only. That felt good, but the victory was bittersweet. Her heart ached for Nik. She started to rethink her position. Maybe she had overreacted about the missed field trip.
The bell over the door rang. She hurried to the front of the store in the hope it was Nik. Her blood turned to ice when she saw the identity of her visitor. Estelle Andropolis. For some reason, the cold and calculating woman was in Brookhaven.
“I was wrong about you,” Estelle said without greeting her first. “My private investigator told me how hard you work and that you don’t seem to need a man in your life. He claimed you built up a nice little business for yourself.”
Body stiff and hands locked behind her back, Chloe nodded. “Thank you for admitting you were wrong. I guess.”
“But I wasn’t wrong about how unsuitable you and Nikolas are for each other. He is a diamond, and you are cubic zirconia at best. In fact, you might even be one of those tacky plastic rings kids get from gumball machines.”
