Page 111 of Pink

TWENTY-TWO

“ARE YOU going to do a little strut for me, too?” Lev asked Gigi.

Too low for Arely to hear where she stood in front of a large mirror position directly across from the sitting room’s wall of windows. Checking out her poses in the reflection, she shot the mirror a kiss into the air in front of her.

“I could put on a little something to—”

The ringing of a phone stopped Gigi from saying anything more, making Lev groan when she tossed him a wink over her shoulder. It certainly wasn’t the right time for the two of them to be playing their games together what with his kid there, but he couldn’t help himself. Plus, he was keeping it clean.

Mostly.

“Give me a second, that’s the conference phone,” Gigi explained, heading through the open concept rooms to where a long table sat between the sitting area and the small kitchen on the other side. “The hotel uses it to call me. Same with security. And my team … yeah.”

He laughed under his breath. “Does it ever end?”

“Not really.”

Lev couldn’t even imagine.

“Daddy, I forgot, look at what Gigi gave me!”

Gigi answered the conference phone at the same time Arely came rushing over to his spot on the white leather sofa. He swore his kid didn’t know the meaning of quiet, but he tried to shush her all the same.

“Gigi here,” came the sweet voice from across the suite.

In his lap, however, Arely wasn’t having any of his efforts to keep her quiet when she shoved a mini backpack—mini for an adult, anyway—into his face. The supple leather of the bag was enough to tell him the backpack was pricey. The logo printed all over the item, including on the hardware of the bag, only confirmed his suspicions.

In her second outfit of the evening, a dress that was probably short as hell on Gigi but fell to the floor on his daughter, combined with a belt to keep it tight to her tiny waist, Arely couldn’t be happier. It was not lost on him that, with women, his daughter really shined. She found familiarity in feminine things that he couldn’t provide.

She looked like every girly girl that ever existed with her curls piled high on her head, and her cheeks pink with a rosy blush. The lipstick had faded from her lips after drinks and snacks, but a stain remained to make her look as though she had been sucking on a popsicle.

“Arely, are you sure Gigi said you could have—”

“Yes,” his daughter rushed to interject, grabbing the mini Louis Vuitton backpack right out of his hands to clutch it to her chest. “She did, Daddy. I promise. It’s mine.”

“Oh, really?” he heard Gigi say to his far left.

He wasn’t trying to listen to her conversation. Especially when he had his kid to handle. Some habits were hard to break, though, and being aware of his surroundings was just one of those.

“Yeah, okay. I’ll see what I can do.”

“Arely, baby,” Lev said, chuckling as Gigi ended the call across the room, “I don’t think you understand how much this bag costs and—”

“Five thousand dollars,” Gigi said, her approaching footsteps gaining his attention and stare. She’d changed outfits too the second time she disappeared into her hotel suite’s massive walk-in closet with his kid to play another round of Arely the Model. Although, the cut off shirt and low-hanging sweats were probably more for comfort than style. Even if she did look like sin in it all the same. “It was also a gift from a popular florist in the city that wanted me to shout out her boxed arrangements while I was in town. The bag was … incentive. Trust me, Arely can keep it. Doesn’t she start kindergarten soon?”

“Next week, actually.”

“Five more days,” Arely put in, grinning a toothy smile.

Gigi smiled right back. “See. Let her use it for that.”

“Yeah, Daddy. For school.”

Like he hadn’t already bought her a bookbag for school. Not that it mattered because he was clearly losing this battle terribly. Lev sighed, giving Gigi a look from the side that had her grinning. “Killing me here. What happens when you start them this early on designer shit, huh? Don’t worry. I know exactly what happens.”

The collection only continued to grow. Because he would be expected to buy it.

Gigi shrugged, falling gracefully onto the arm of the couch where she sat with an all too pleased smile. “It’s just a little flex. How many other kids are gonna have that kind of backpack their first year?”