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“Okay, that’s enough,” I interject, standing at the breakfast table. “Everyone’s getting tense.”
“The damn hearing is coming up,” Pike reminds me as if I don’t have it marked on my calendar.
“I have good hearing,” Lily informs us, and I arch an eyebrow at Pike.
“Yes, honeybee, you do. You have the best hearing in the world,” Pike agrees, appearing sheepish, as if he forgot that Lily is sitting with us at the breakfast table.
“More coffee, Aspen?” Zoe asks.
“Yes, please,” I tell her gratefully, but as the words leave my mouth, the sound of Flint’s office door banging open echoes through the house.
“He’s got it! He’s finally fucking got it!” Flint yells, rushing into the kitchen. Like a cartoon character, his feet screech to a stop when he sees Lily. “Good morning, darling.”
“Papa Flint, put money in the swear jar for Disneyland.”
“You’re right, lovey,” he says, his smile wide and bright as he yanks his wallet out of his back pocket and drops a hundred-dollar bill on the table. “Why don’t you put that in there for me?”
With no sense for money yet, Lily shrugs and picks it up off the table, sliding off her chair to do as he requests, leaving the beaming real estate mogul in our wake. “The results are back,” he whispers. My heart hammers in anticipation.
“And?” I squeak. “What do they say?”
His blue-gray eyes lock on mine, shining with gratitude and happiness as he waves his head. “They say that you’re a damn genius, Aspen Palco. One of us is the father.”
CHAPTER 31
Pike
“Are you sure you want to do this, Pike?” Aspen asks me again, her hand on my knee as I steer my Jeep toward the seedy motel. “We could just as easily have a process server do it.”
“No,” I say firmly. “They blindsided me twice. It’s my turn to return the favor.”
She smiles at me from the passenger seat, and I return her grin. I’m not nervous, not with Aspen at my side. It feels good to stand up for myself and know I’m the one ending this once and for all.
“Pike…”
I glance at her, putting the car in park.
“Are you okay?”
The smile on my face feels painted on. I can’t seem to shake it off, my elation unlike anything I’ve ever known before.
“I have never been better,” I answer honestly. Her hand squeezes my leg.
“Just because you’re biologically Lily’s father, doesn’t mean that Caden and Flint are any less connected to her.”
I shake my head without hesitation. “I already know,” I reply. “We’re all her fathers and always have been. You don’t have to tell me that, Aspen.”
Aspen’s smile widens, and she kisses my cheek, handing me the manila envelope. “Let’s go get these monkeys off our back once and for all.”
Hand-in-hand, we climb the exterior steps to the second floor and find the room where Raya and Matthew have been staying.
I pound on the door assertively, and Raya answers, a leer forming on her pixie-like face.
“Why, Pike Hartley and the nanny!” she sneers. “Where’s Mr. Hoity-Toity? He didn’t want to get embarrassed again?”
Without a word, I thrust the envelope in her face and spin to walk away.
“What’s this?” she calls out, but I don’t respond. “That’s not very polite, Pikey.”
