Page 25 of Rich and Rotten

“I tried, but she brushed me off before I could get the words out. Then she quickly left the room.”

Natalie sighed again. “The good thing is that you have someone as her security, so you can keep your distance and approach this gradually. If that little girl is your daughter, it means Nazani has an older sister, and we want to approach this—”

“I can’t approach this gradually. If she’s my daughter, I’ve wasted too much time already. Feel me?”

“Yeah, I get tha—”

“Dada,”

I looked over the couch at my daughter who was standing in the doorway holding her favorite blanket and teddy bear.

“Hey, baby, you wanna sleep with Daddy?”

Nazani quickly rushed into the living room and around the couch. She climbed up and jumped onto me, resting her head on my chest. I placed her blanket over her and kissed her forehead.

“Missed you, mamas.”

“Missed you too, Dada,” she yawned sleepily, rubbing her eyes as I gave her a gentle squeeze.

Natalie smiled. “We’ll continue this conversation another time. Get some sleep, you two.”

She grabbed her cup and quickly cleaned up her mess. Before leaving the living room, she nuzzled Nazani’s curls and kissed her head. I did the same, watching her softly snoring as I rubbed her back.

I never understood my role in this life until I became a father. Nazani Kane made me realize what I was meant to do: to love and protect her with my life. I loved being a dad and didn’t know what the fuck I was doing before I became one. If Tatiana’s daughter was indeed mine––which I strongly suspected she was––that meant I missed out on years with her. Tatiana went through this alone, and for that, I doubted she would ever forgive me.

Fuck.

Chapter Nine

Tatiana

The sun creeping through my windows should have been a sign that I needed to start my day, except I had beaten the sun rising for the third morning in a row. I found myself waking up in the middle of the night, tossing and turning until I finally admitted to myself that sleep would be the last thing I would get.

My sleep schedule hadn’t been the best since Karim passed, but after seeing Nazir the other day, it had gone from terrible to shit. All the memories I forced out of my mind had come rushing back in. His scent hadn’t left my nostrils, and he hadn’t been inside my house in over seventy-two hours, but who’s counting?

Before I wasted hours recounting every memory I shared with Nazir, I climbed out of bed and began my morning routine. Whenever I was in Greenwich Pointe, I alternated between working out in my home gym and going to town to exercise with Yaya and our personal trainer.

Yaya had been in her own world, which wasn’t anything new. Apart from me sending her brief text messages about how I was feeling, we hadn’t discussed it. Not because she didn’t rush over to check on me, but because I needed to put it out of my mind.

I looked into Bloom’s room and saw her tossed across the bed, still asleep. Before heading downstairs, I checked Nazira’s room and saw she was still asleep, as well. She had about an hour before it was time for her to wake up for school.

The security team Jonah had hired was already on duty, so it wasn’t unusual for me to run into one of them on my way down the steps. It was a bit of an adjustment, considering I was used to being the only one awake at this hour, sitting in silence alone.

Emilio, the head of security for our family, was usually found in the downstairs office. It used to be Karim’s office, but I cleaned it out a year after his death. Every time I tried to do it before then, I would break down in tears while sitting behind the desk. The memories and passing by it every day were too painful for both me and Zira. His office had become a mausoleum of memories. It housed all his pictures, degrees, and anything else that meant something to him. Whenever I needed to feel close, I would creep down there, sit in his chair, and look through old family pictures. I’d have a good cry and then close the doors to continue with life.

“Good morning, Mrs. Sterling. The car is ready for you, and a guard is already waiting,” he said, standing with tired eyes but refusing to rest.

The guest bedroom on this level was free for them to use. Karim’s office was now filled with monitors and advanced security systems that seemed too complex for me to understand.

“It’s Tatiana, Emilio. You’re going to be around my family often, so we can skip the formalities.”

He smiled. “Thank you for the food last night. We appreciate it.”

Usually, when I cooked, I made small portions for myself, Bloom, and Nazira. Bloom usually went out to dinner, so it typically ended up being just the two of us. Last night, I cooked enough to feed Emilio and the two guards who were also protecting the house.

I had to insist they sit down and share a meal with us. They eventually agreed, but not without keeping an eye on their phones connected to the security system. They unplugged as much as needed, and it was a pleasant dinner. Afterward, Nazira acted out a part in her upcoming play, which earned her a standing ovation she couldn’t stop raving about while going down for bed.

“Don’t expect home-cooked meals every night, because I’m the queen of ordering takeout. But thank you for making my baby smile. She couldn’t stop talking about her standing ovation.”