Page 89 of Pink

“You ask that like I’m supposed to know why he just showed up,” Gigi said, “but I don’t, and he rubs me all wrong, anyway. I hope he doesn’t come back.”

That had Lev’s attention, making his blue gaze cut from the door to her in an instant. “Why?”

“I don’t know … it’s just a feeling I get when he’s around. He doesn’t say anything that screams bad or whatever, but yeah. It’s a feeling. Silly, I know—”

“Not silly,” Lev interjected fast, his tone offering no room for argument. “That’s called instinct, babe. That’s your mind and body’s way of alerting you to the fact shit ain’t right. Be it with someone or something. You should listen to that, okay?”

Her gaze drifted back to the door, and while Jensen was gone, her nerves still hadn’t entirely settled. Even sipping from the cool vitamin water, flavored lightly like sweet strawberries, wasn’t enough to make the strange pressure in her chest go away. “He asked about you.”

Lev stiffened on the spot, his arms flexing like straining coils when he crossed them over his chest. “Did he now?”

“Named your boss … or the boss the tabloids say you have. Mafia.”

“Word to the wise?”

Gigi arched a brow. “Try me.”

“Keep all of that out of your mouth unless you don’t have a choice, sweetheart. It’s better for everybody. You, most importantly.”

“Should that feel like a threat?”

“No, a warning from someone who knows all too well what happens when you get involved with something you think you understand … but really know nothing about it at the end of the day. That’s all.”

“So, you’re not going to talk about—”

Lev sighed, his jaw working with a tic like he was chewing over his next words. “That’s why we’re here, right?”

“Are you?” she asked, holding tighter to the bottle like it might ground her or keep her settled. “Are you here to really talk, Lev? Because from what I know, there’s a lot of shit you didn’t want to talk to me about before. The only reason why you would want to now is because the tabloids didn’t give you a choice. Right?”

He stared hard at her from the other side of the room. Gigi didn’t move, more than willing to take the intensity of this man if only he said the right things. He was so good at that every other time they were together. He did it without effort, and it never felt dishonest. She was trying to give him the chance to do the same thing now.

“Arely, you mean,” Lev finally murmured. “My daughter. That’s what you really want to ask. So, ask, Gigi. Ask me about my kid.”

“I don’t really know what to ask, I guess. I just—”

“She’s five and a half and starts kindergarten in September. Can’t fucking wait. We’ve got a whole countdown going on and everything. I’ve had custody since she was about six months old.” Lev kept talking, but Gigi was doing the math in her head, realizing he gained custody of his child around the time they first met. If he noticed her distraction, he didn’t say. “I wasn’t trying to hide her from you back then, or now. Let me make that clear, okay? I had every intention of telling you about her at the bar—even had a picture of her in an outfit she picked out that day. Thought you’d think it was cute because she was all done up in daisies. Even had daisy barrettes in her hair.”

Oh.

Because of the little daisy tattoo on the back of her neck. A simple flower, yes … but her favorite.

“But you didn’t tell me,” Gigi said quietly.

She couldn’t even hide the hurt in her voice, or how it broke at the end. She tried … God, she did, but it still came out. Because it did fucking hurt that he hadn’t thought he could trust her with just the knowledge of his child.

“When was I supposed to fit it in, sweetheart?” Lev asked, opening his arms wide to the room. “You’re just … fuck, you show up, and it’s like I get so wrapped in you. And then I’m stuck trying to figure out when I should slip in the fact I have a kid. Between the drinks and the darts or the blowjob in the backseat? When?”

“Lev—”

“What did you want me to say … hey, around the same time we met, I found out I had a kid with a chick I used to hook up with, but she didn’t even tell me. No, she gave my kid to someone else and then shot herself up with enough drugs to overdose? That would have really helped the mood, huh? Fucking hell.”

He had just given her a lot of information, and Gigi decided to absorb it before she spoke again. He didn’t mind, simply continued on saying, “Yeah, I wanted to tell you. She’s the love of my life—like I didn’t even know I wanted kids and then there she was. Mine. She’s all I had so the second she came into my life, I made sure she was my whole world. Do you think I didn’t want to share that with you? She’s important. Yeah, I wanted you to know how much. I just … fucked up.”

Lev shook his head and dragged a shaking hand down his clean-shaved throat as he muttered, “When I first got her, it was a mess. I didn’t even know how to be a dad. I had social services up my ass on every fucking aspect. You remember the old building manager?”

Gigi nodded. “A little.”

“She helped me all the time. And her granddaughter, too. It’s a lot to explain. Forgive me for not knowing how to do that.”