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“Malcolm and I have been speaking. We want you to move back here. We would like you to be close to us.”
I rest my head against her shoulder. “I love that you both want that, but I’ve made a home in the States now, Ray-Ray. I finally feel as though I’m home. That doesn’t mean that we won’t visit each other.” I slide a hand down to my stomach, where my baby is currently growing. God, everything is so different now. Never did I plan on any of this happening.
“Gab?” she questions.
“I’m pregnant,” I whisper. “I never got to tell her.”
She chokes on a sob. “Oh, Gabby,” she cries. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
I shrug. “I’m not that far along. Only seven weeks or so.” I wasn’t even sure if I was going to tell Raylee, but I need my girl. I need my best friend.
“Are you sure you won’t move back? You’ll always have a place to stay with us. You know that. Not to mention, my brothers adore you and they’ll be happy to have you back.”
She’s right, her brothers do adore me. I consider them my own. Coming back to Spain would be the best option. I’d be surrounded by people I love and who love me. But it’s not what I want. I don’t feel at home here. There are too many memories. My heart and soul hurt just thinking about the past.
“My life is in America now, as much as I hate to admit it.” I crack a smile. “Besides, Dad’s there, and he’s trying,” I tell her. “He’s been amazing since he found out about the baby, and then Mum.”
She nods. “He really was amazing. I was in awe of how he took charge of everything.”
“I wouldn’t have gotten through the last week without him.”
“So,” she begins carefully, and I instantly know where this is going: the father of my baby. “I didn’t know you were dating anyone. The last guy I knew you were with was Christian.”
I sigh. My love life has always been a subject I rarely talk about. Raylee and I know what it means to be the daughters of powerful men. Thankfully, most don’t know about my father, but they know about my connection to Raylee Silver, and in turn her father. It led to a lot of heartache growing up, as the majority of boys we dated were only with us in the hopes of joining the Silver gang. I learned the best thing to do was keep who I was dating, quiet. Only when I’d date them longer than a month would I tell Raylee about them. Most never even hit that mark, they’d show their true colors before that. It’s been a while since I have been dating.
“Christian and I weren’t dating,” I remind her.
“I don’t get it,” she whines. “You both are awesome, hot, and single. You're similar, and you love me.”
I laugh. No matter how much Raylee pushed Christian and I together, it wasn’t ever going to happen. That’s not to say we didn’t hookup—we did. Anytime Christian was in the States or I came back to Spain, we’d get together. He’s a great lover, we’re just not compatible for more than a casual fling. “Isn’t Christian dating someone now?”
Her lips turn up at the corners. Raylee is extremely territorial when it comes to those she cares about. She wants the best for them, and judging by the disdain on her face, Christian’s new woman isn’t what she’d like for him.
“Yes,” she grunts. “But both Mal and I thought you and Chris would have gotten out of the friends zone.”
“You just want that because if Christian and I did get together, I’d move back here, and you’d be happy.”
She throws her hands up. “Is that so wrong?”
I shake my head. “No, you want everyone you love around you, Ray, and I get that. If it were only me, I may have come back, but my baby is going to need his or her granddad.”
Her eyes fill with tears. “He’s really trying, isn’t he?”
When I moved to America, Ray was worried Joe wouldn't change and that he’d continue to put me second best, but he’s tried to mend our relationship and he’s worked damn hard to keep me in his life, even if it meant going against his wife. Christina made it known she didn’t want him and I to have a relationship. She’d have preferred if I wasn’t anywhere near Joe, but my dad put his foot down and gave her an ultimatum. She either accepted that I was in his life, or he’d file for divorce. She chose to accept it, but it doesn’t mean she likes it, and I can’t blame her for it either.
“He really is. He’s told me he wants to be active in the baby’s life. He’s talking about going straight.”
She sits up and stares at me, her eyes wide and filled with disbelief. “Fuck off,” she gasps.
I laugh and sit up next to her. “Right?” I ask, still unable to believe what he said.
“Wait, so is he saying this as a way to try and get you to stay in America or is he saying it because he means it?”
“He seems to be determined. I’m not getting my hopes up—I’ve been let down too many times by him to accept his words. We both know that actions speak louder than words.”
“Our parents are trying,” she whispers. “We just have to know when to walk away.”
I don’t say anything. Raylee’s still trying to figure out what’s happening with her mum. When the truth came out about her dad and how he and his organization would steal women and put them into a whorehouse, Raylee’s world crumbled around her. Harry Silver was her idol, the man treated her like a princess, and she never had any idea who her father truly was.
