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I reach for Felicia, enveloping her small hand in mine, before pulling her into the video call’s frame with me. I look at down at her—her eyes are glassy, her hair still unkempt with sleep—then look back to the image of my daughter on the phone screen.
“Felicia and I are together right now because we are together romantically,” I say simply.
Olivia’s mouth falls open in shock. “I’m sorry, what?”
“It’s a long story,” Felicia explains. Her voice is steady, but I can tell she’s nervous because of. “But fate just kind of … pushed us together.”
The background of Olivia’s side of the call swivels as she suddenly falls back onto a couch I recognize as mine. At least she’s still in the penthouse. Being somewhere familiar might make this easier for her to stomach.
“You’re together. Romantically.”
“Yes,” I confirm.
“Like hell you are. Is this some kind of a joke?” she says weakly, her eyes vacant as she tries to process the revelation.
“No,” I assure her. “We didn’t mean for this to happen. But it happened. I’m in love with Felicia. Have been for a few months. She means the world to me.”
It’s not easy to convince her that there’s nothing strange or untoward between me and Felicia. As much as it hurts, she’s concerned that I coerced her friend. I can tell it dismays Felicia to be asked if she seduced me. Olivia is thorough as she grills us, and by the time she’s done, hours have passed. The sun is already peaking over the tops of the mountains, and I can hear Felicia’s stomach rumbling weakly by the end.
But, by the end, my stubborn, beautiful daughter proves to be just as loyal as I thought she’d be. She tells us that it’ll take a bit for her to truly warm up to the fact that her best friend and her father are together.
“Tech tycoons have dated further from their age,” she quips at one point, using her sardonic sense of humor to cope. It’s a big adjustment for everyone, I’ll admit. But I’m so fucking proud of her for being open to this new relationship of mine.
After we end the video call, Felicia and I head back inside, and I start to make us breakfast. The power came back overnight, so I’m able to plug in the coffee maker and get it started brewing as I wait for the skillet to heat.
When I glance at Felicia, she’s frowning at her phone.
“Olivia is resilient,” I say. “I trust her when she says she’ll work on warming up to us.”
“Yeah,” she says, clearly distracted.
I raise an eyebrow. “Everything okay?”
She purses her lips before putting her phone down and crossing her arms. “I’m fine. Just … trying to decide if I should talk to my dad about us is all.”
“Do you not want to tell him about us?”
“It’s not that,” she suddenly rushes out. “I’m not ashamed of you.”
“Good. I’m not ashamed of us either.”
However, when she finally tells me about the situation as we eat, I feel shame regardless. How did I go so long without realizing how bad her home life was?Is?? Her father had them so far into debt that she had to resort to the auction. All this time, I knew there was something up, but I never knew what. Now that I know, I wonder if I’m really the man for her. How could I care so much about her and miss something like this?
It’s no wonder she deferred her scholarship. It’s no wonder she’s worked so much for someone her age. And the scholarship to the private school … Everything.
Finally, I tell her, “You don’t have to call your father if you don’t want to. We’ve already told Olivia. We can be done for the day.”
She sighs and nods at me, unshed tears clinging to her lashes as I pull her into my arms.
“I need you to know, however, that I do want to talk to him at some point.”
Felicia pulls her head back, looking at me with wide eyes. “Why?”
“Come with me,” I say, leading her to back through the house to the bedroom.
I sit her on the bed and go to the dresser, rummaging in the top drawer until I finally find the little velvet box. I hold it in my hands carefully as I kneel in front of her. When she sees it, the unshed tears start to trickly down her cheeks.
I don’t let myself waver. I need to do this. I need to show her I’m serious about us, that I want to prove that I’m worthy of her, even when I’ve failed her.
