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“No. Your visit must be kept under wraps. Your place in Aaliyah’s life will not be announced until if and when she is prepared to recognize you as her father.”
“I cannot come on a moment’s notice.”
“With Giatrakos at the helm? I think you can.”
Gene frowned. “Fine. She deserves a little sacrifice on my part.”
“More than a little, I think, but luckily for you she has me now and no major sacrifices on your part will be necessary.”
*
“You called my father?” Aaliyah jumped up and paced across his mother’s receiving room. “And he’s going to be here within the hour?”
“Give or take, yes.”
“But why?”
“Because you deserve an apology for his idiocy.”
“What did you threaten him with to force the apology?” she asked suspiciously.
“No threats were required. He was already trying to find you.”
“Is that what he told you?”
“Yes.”
“I doubt it.”
“I’d already hired a private detective and have the retainer receipt and first reports to prove it,” Gene Chatsfield said, having entered the room with Yusuf through the side entrance, indicating the bodyguard had brought him into the palace discreetly. “How he missed your location when your engagement is all over the media, I don’t know.”
Aaliyah spun around to face her father, her face blanching before her expression turned wooden.
Sayed crossed the room and put his arm around her waist. “All will be well. You are not alone.”
Gene smiled at them. “You look very good together.”
“Why are you here?” Aaliyah asked baldly.
“I owe you an apology. I should have heard you out to begin with, but I’m a suspicious man. I made mistakes in the past and they made me vulnerable to a certain type of people. You were not like them, but I was blinded to that at first.”
Sayed was impressed with the older man’s openness and sincerity.
Aaliyah didn’t look quite as taken with her father’s words. “So, you acknowledge I’m your daughter now?” she asked suspiciously.
“Oh, yes.”
“Don’t you want a DNA test, or something?”
Gene glanced at Sayed and then back to Aaliyah. “Already done. Your fiancé provided your results.”
“From the blood test?” Aaliyah asked quietly.
“Yes.”
She scanned his face, as if looking for something. “You planned this.”
“I did.”
