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“So the bastard resented her?”
“He did,” I answered honestly. “But maybe that was for the best considering how everything turned out in the end.”
There had been far too many misunderstandings, and I was determined to be as up front as possible with Aiden.
“Did you know what he was when you married him? Did you know that the whole Marino family was dirty?”
“No,” I said quickly. “Do you really think I would have put our child into that situation if I had known?”
He glared at me. “I don’t know what to think anymore, Skye. All I know is that I want my daughter. I’ve already missed a hell of a lot of things in her life. Now that I’m well able to support her, she might be better off with me.”
Don’t cry. Don’t cry.
“I’m her mother. She belongs with me. She doesn’t even know you yet, Aiden. But I’m not going to try to keep her from you. She can see you whenever you want.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” he snarled. “I’ve missed over eight years of her life. I want her full time. I want to make up for those years that I lost. I want to be the father she’s obviously never had, and that she deserves.”
“I can’t give you that,” I refused. “I’m the only stable thing Maya has ever known.”
And I love her so much that she’s my entire life.
My stomach was rolling with fear, but I kept myself together. I had to.
“Then I’ll be another constant in her life,” he stated like it was a vow. “And she’ll have plenty of family here.”
My heart squeezed. Real family was something Maya craved. “She’s my daughter. I’m not giving her up. You can get to know her without taking her away from me.”
“I’ll want a paternity test,” he said ruthlessly. “But I’m not waiting for the results to be in her life. Since you were a virgin, I’m pretty doubtful that I’m not her biological father. And I’m going to do a hell of a lot more than get to know her. I’m going to be her dad like I always should have been.”
“So we’re going to end up fighting over her?” I asked, my heart broken by the thought that Maya could become caught in the middle.
“No,” he said stonily. “No fights. It sounds like she’s had enough upheaval. You’re both coming to live with me. And then after Jade leaves, and her wedding is over, we’re getting married.”
I shook my head instantly. “No.”
Aiden moved forward like a predator, pinning me against the counter of the breakfast bar. “Do you have a better solution?”
I closed my eyes, trying to will away the visceral reaction I’d always had when my body made contact with Aiden’s.
I didn’t want it.
I didn’t want to feel it.
I didn’t want to want him. And I shouldn’t after all these years.
He took my chin and tipped it up. “Look at me,” he commanded.
I opened my eyes, and I met the most determined stare I’d ever encountered.
Aiden wanted his daughter. And I knew how stubborn he could be.
“Marriage is never a good solution to anything,” I said, my voice wavering slightly. “I don’t want to get married again. Ever.”
“Even if it means you could give your daughter everything? I’m not a poor man anymore, Skye. I could give Maya the world.”
I felt a twinge of guilt. “Money doesn’t make people happy. I know that from personal experience.”
“I’d give her the love of a real family, of a real father,” he coerced.
“She can have that without us having to get married. This is the twenty-first century, Aiden. Parents don’t have to be married. We can work this out.”
“I’m not willing to settle for occasional visits, Skye. Or us shifting our daughter back and forth. If I’m pressed, I will fight for her. And I have an endless amount of money to make sure I win.”
And I don’t have the funds to fight him.
I was besieged by panic when I said, “We’ll come live with you for a while. Give you the chance to get to know each other.”
He was still holding my chin up so he could see my eyes, and I hated it. I didn’t want to be vulnerable to this man, and I knew I couldn’t completely hide my fear of losing Maya.
I stared back at him, unwilling to give in, but I was definitely weakening.
If Aiden could really be the father Maya never had, if he could really love her, I didn’t want to take that away from her. But I couldn’t stand the thought of losing her, either.
“That would be a start,” Aiden agreed grudgingly. “I’ll send a crew to help you move tomorrow morning. All you’ll really need is your personal stuff.”
“I can’t just move in one day,” I protested.
“There isn’t much I can’t make happen anymore, Skye. And I want to spend time with Maya. I think I’ve waited long enough.”
The rougher and rawer tone of his voice touched me like his anger hadn’t. There was a longing in his words that made my chest ache.
It was hard to reconcile the billionaire that Aiden was now with the struggling blue-collar man he’d been when he was younger.
Now he was an enigma I truly didn’t know.
But my body still reacted, just the same as it had all those years ago, to his close proximity to me.
I squirmed until I got my freedom, and put several feet of distance between us.
“Fine,” I told him breathlessly. “We’ll be here in the morning.”
“I say we tell Maya that there was a misunderstanding, and that I never knew she was my daughter. It’s pretty much the truth.”
I lifted a brow. “And you think that’s really going to fly? You don’t know your daughter yet. She’s going to ask questions. Plenty of them. She’s gifted with language—writing and reading. And she’s more mature than most kids.”
“Then we’ll answer them as honestly as possible. We’ll let her know that she’s important, and that you wanted her to be safe.”
I was relieved and slightly touched that he wasn’t going to try to blame me for what happened. At least not to my daughter’s face.
“She knows that I made some mistakes,” I explained. “I’ve always been as honest as I could with her. She was smart enough to know that being in the Marino family wasn’t normal.”
“Then let’s give her normal, Skye,” he rumbled.
God, I wanted that for my daughter so badly that the ache I’d been feeling turned into a physical pain in my stomach. My daughter had always been way too serious for her age. Even though I’d tried to give her all the love I had, she’d still been in a bad atmosphere for way too long. A place where nobody had even acknowledged her existence except me.
I nodded as I said, “We’ll be here in the morning.”
I didn’t want my daughter part time. I was going to have to give Aiden a chance to know her, but I wanted to be with her, too. So if that meant I had to move into Aiden’s home, I’d do it.
It wasn’t like I was going to miss our tiny apartment. It was always clean, but it was more than a little drab, no matter what I tried to do to make it brighter.
