Tiana (Starkis Family #3) (7 page)

“So?”

Andra sighed. “Damon, we’re not here to judge your lifestyle, but you have to know you can’t bring that kind of woman into a little girl’s life.”

“That kind of woman?” I asked, fisting one hand in the other. “What the hell do you know about Eleni?” I wanted to tell them that she was more than the façade they saw in some glossy catalogue. She was kind and compassionate, a survivor who’d made it on her own. She was loyal to her friends and honest, which was a hell of a lot more than I could say for myself or Andra.

“All you have to do is google her,” Nic said, looking disgusted. “Pages and pages of pictures of her with different men, getting loaded, staggering out of nightclubs in clothes that make her look like a streetwalker.”

“If I were you, I’d shut my goddamn mouth,” I said, pointing at him. “Or I’ll shut it for you.”

Nic smirked. “I told you, Andra. She could be our daughter’s stepmother if we’re not careful. Is that what you want?”

“What I want is for all of us to calm down,” she said, raising her hands. “This is getting out of hand. Your friend may be a nice person, Damon, but those pictures speak for themselves. I can’t have someone like that in my daughter’s life. Dalia’s too young to learn about drinking or hangovers, and I don’t want her to get attached to this woman you clearly care about when she could lose her if you two break up.”

It wasn’t fair of them to judge Eleni because she liked to have a good time. I did too. That wasn’t a crime. “I’m sure if you googled me, you’d see I’m no better.” I pointed it out because I knew they already had. “But the pictures you see online don’t tell the whole story. They represent a single moment in time. People change. I’ve changed.”

“I’m sure you’ve tried,” Andra said, offering a half-smile. “But with your lifestyle…”

She didn’t have to state the obvious. I could never give Dalia the kind of secure, normal life they could, not with the paparazzi hounding me for their next money shot.

“You won’t even give me a chance, will you?” I said.

“If Dalia found out I wasn’t her real father, it would crush her,” Nic said. “Is that what you want?”

Of course I didn’t want to hurt her, but I didn’t think it was fair to keep the truth from her. I didn’t want her to grow up to find out the truth on her own, show up on my doorstep, and demand to know why I’d never fought to have a relationship with her. I closed my eyes, hanging my head. “I don’t want to hurt her. I just want to get to know my little girl. Is that too much to ask?”

“Yes,” Nic said. “It is. You had the chance a long time ago, and you blew it. You don’t get another chance.”

I looked at Andra, waiting for her to interject, but she said nothing.

“I’ve done everything in my power to become the kind of man Dalia would be proud to call her father. I may not be perfect. I’ve made my fair share of mistakes, but haven’t we all?” I looked to Andra for support, knowing she could understand how hard it was to live a lie. “I want the people closest to me to know about Dalia. I want my family to be able to have a relationship with her.”

“Never,” Nic said, jumping up. “I don’t want her to have anything to do with those people.”

“Those people?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at him. “Just who the hell are you talking about?”

“Your brother’s almost as bad as you are, and I think your old man’s even worse.”

“You don’t know them the way I do. They would love Dalia, and she would love them.” I could stand them attacking my character, but I drew the line at them coming after my family. Demi and Deacon weren’t saints, but they’d made the world a better place, contributed millions of dollars every year to philanthropic causes, including children’s charities. In spite of his many faults, Demi loved children and couldn’t wait to be a grandfather.

“Well, she’ll never get the chance to love them ‘cause she’ll learn about them over my dead body.”

Right about now, that was sounding like my best option. “Do you really think you can win?” I demanded, deciding it was time to take the gloves off. “You think you can beat me? I have judges on speed dial, a roster of lawyers that would put Alan Dershowitz to shame. You want to go up against me, be my guest. But I can promise you won’t get your happy ending. I will.”

Though if the press caught wind of this, none of us would be happy—least of all Dalia, who was my biggest concern. I was used to the unwanted attention, but my innocent daughter didn’t deserve to be the object of a media storm.

“But Dalia won’t,” Andra said, reaching for my hand. “Can’t you see she’ll be the loser if we go to war over her?”

“You think I wanted this?” I asked, withdrawing my hand. “You did this. Not me.” I stopped just short of letting her secret slip. “I just want to support my daughter, to spend some time getting to know her better, but you won’t let me do that. What am I supposed to do, just carry on with my life and forget she exists?”

“Why now?” Nic demanded, bracing a hand on the doorframe as he stared me down. “Why didn’t you want her in your life before?”

Andra shot me a pleading look, forcing me to think fast. “I saw her. Those big brown eyes of hers still haunt me.” That much was true. I hadn’t been able to get that angelic little face out of my head.

“I never expected to see Damon again,” Andra said to her husband. “No one was more surprised than I was when he walked into the café that day.”

“He should have kept walking,” Nic said, scowling. “Saved us all a lot of grief.”

A sound outside the window made Andra jump. “Oh my God, it’s the school bus. What’s she doing home now?” Looking at her watch, she said, “She shouldn’t be home for two more hours.”

Looking as panicked as his wife, Nic raced to the door. I heard him greet Dalia. My stomach clenching at their easy rapport as he tickled her, making her giggle.

“What are you doing home so early?” Andra asked, standing to greet Dalia. She hugged her daughter, closing her eyes when Dalia squeezed her neck.

“The power went out, so they had to close the school.” Dalia’s eyes finally landed on me, making my heart skip a beat.

“Hi,” I said, smiling. “Guess you’re feeling pretty good about getting the rest of the day off, huh?”

She frowned, looking from her mother to me and back again. “Do I know you?”

She seemed mature for her age, a perfectly poised little lady. “We’ve seen each other once before, at the café in Saronida.”

“But what are you doing here?”

Nic set my daughter down while he and his wife shared a pained look, obviously scrambling to find answers Dalia would accept.

“Your mother and I grew up in the village,” I explained, filling the void. “We’re old friends.” That may have been a stretch, but it was the best I could come up with. “I was in town on business and thought I’d stop by and say hi.” I gestured to Nic, forcing a smile. “I’d never had the pleasure of meeting your…” I cleared my throat and forced the word past my dry lips. “Daddy, or you, for that matter.”

“Why’d you want to meet me?”

There were a million reasons, but none I could give her. “Your mother told me so much about you that I guess I wondered if you could really be as great as she said you were.”

She grinned, revealing a missing tooth that made me smile in return. “I am.”

We all laughed for the first time since I’d walked in the door. The sound was so unexpected that we all looked at each other in wonder, amazed that this little girl had managed to break the thick tension in the room with just a few words.

I stood, wishing I could find a reason to prolong my visit so I could spend more time with Dalia. We hadn’t really resolved anything, but now that our daughter was home, the opportunity was lost. “Well, I guess I should be on my way.”

Andra kissed me on both cheeks, obviously trying to back up my claim that we were old friends. “I’ll walk you to the door.”

I offered Nic my hand, knowing he had no choice but to shake it. “Nice meeting you.”

“Likewise.”

Dalia grabbed his hand. “Daddy, can we go outside? I wanna practice my cartwheels.”

I’d never get used to hearing this little angel call another man daddy. All I wanted was to drop to my knees and tell her
I
was her daddy. “It was really nice to meet you, Dalia. I hope to see you again soon.”
The sooner, the better.

“Nice to meet you too.” She offered her tiny hand, making my heart melt.

“How ‘bout a hug instead?” I asked, winking.

She looked to her mother for approval before opening her arms. I knelt and closed my arms around her as I inhaled the sweet scent clinging to her dark curls. I never wanted to let go, but I had to if I didn’t want her to ask questions I couldn’t answer.

“Bye, Dalia,” I said, standing as I ruffled her hair. “Good luck with those cartwheels. Don’t hurt yourself.” I hadn’t known I had such strong protective instincts, but I couldn’t stand the thought of harm coming to this tiny person who’d captured my heart like no one else I’d ever known.

“Thanks,” she said, tugging on Nic’s hand and leading him out of the room.

“I’ll be in touch,” I said to Andra when she opened the screen door for me.

She waited until she’d heard the back door close before she said, “Thanks for not getting into our history with my husband.”

“Why didn’t you tell him the truth?”

She shrugged. “I guess I was afraid he’d think less of me for not wanting to tell you I was pregnant. It just seemed easier if he thought you didn’t want Dalia.”

“I hate this,” I said, gripping the door handle. “I want to be a part of her life, and I hate that you and Nic are so determined to keep me out. I would never hurt her. I swear to you I’d die before I let that happen. Why can’t you believe me?” I was desperate to make Andra believe I was a man of my word.

“I can’t take that risk.” She bit her bottom lip before her eyes landed on mine. “I’m so sorry.”

“We’re all going to have plenty of reasons to be sorry before this is over, Andra.”

Eleni

It had been six long days since I’d seen Damon. I was sharing a romantic dinner with Miles, trying to forget the selfish jerk who kept invading my thoughts.

“So if all goes well, I think we should be ready to break ground on the new club early next year. Some heavy hitters stepped up to the plate out of nowhere offering to invest. Can you believe that?”

“I’m not surprised.” I smiled indulgently, trying to give him my full attention. “Exodus is one of the hottest clubs in the city. If you can thrive in this demanding market, you should do well almost anywhere.”

“That’s what I love about you,” he said, reaching across the table to grasp my hand. “You know exactly what to say to put my mind at ease.”

There was the L-word again. He’d been throwing it around so often lately I was starting to believe it was intentional. I hoped not. I liked Miles, and I didn’t want to stop seeing him because the lines were getting blurred. I didn’t do relationships. I dated. I did casual sex and friends with benefits, but exclusivity wasn’t even on my radar, which I’d told Miles numerous times—when he’d asked me to spend the night, meet his parents, and attend a family event as his date.

“I’m just telling you what you already know,” I said, smiling at the waiter refilling my water glass. “Thank you.”

“So I guess the big rehearsal dinner is tomorrow night, huh?”

I knew Miles was angling for an invitation, but knowing Damon would be there put me in an awkward position. I didn’t owe Damon anything though. He’d left my apartment so fast I’d have thought the building was on fire… while I’d been practically salivating over the prospect of getting him naked. It would serve him right if I showed up with a date just to prove to him that I hadn’t been waiting around for him to call. Though I sort of had been. Not that my pride would have ever allowed me to admit it. “It is.”

“So do you, uh, have a date?”

I could tell from his pinched expression that Miles wasn’t used to begging, so I decided to put him out of his misery. For all I knew, Damon would show up with some hot blonde just to drive home his point that he wasn’t interested in me. “No. If you’re not busy—”

“I’d love to.” His face lit up with enthusiasm. “This’ll be fun.”

Said like a man who wasn’t meeting the illustrious Demetrius Starkis for the first time. Not many people intimidated me, but the idea of breaking bread with Damon’s overbearing father had me on edge. I had no idea what to expect. According to Mia, the reports of him being a tyrant were grossly exaggerated, but I was certain that was because he’d come to love and accept her. I had no idea what he’d think of me. I didn’t usually care what anyone thought, but t a part of me wanted to impress the notorious billionaire.

“I’m sure it will be.” I discreetly slipped my cell phone out of my purse when it buzzed, indicating I had a text message.

It was from Damon.
Back in town. You free?

My heart was hammering as I excused myself and typed in a reply.
Meet me at my place in 20.

I’m there.

I didn’t know if that meant he was already there and waiting for me or was on his way, either way, I didn’t have time to spare. “I’m sorry, Miles. I’m going to have skip coffee tonight. A friend has been out of town and needs to see me.” I was careful not to reveal the gender of the friend and hoped he wouldn’t ask.

“Oh,” he said, looking disappointed. “I was kind of hoping we could head back to my place. It’s been a while.”

I hadn’t been intimate with Miles for more than a month, ever since I’d realized no one else could scratch the itch Damon caused. “I know. I’m sorry. Rain check, okay?” Except I knew that day may never come. I liked Miles, but our arrangement was nearing its end. These things had a life cycle, and we were closing in on our expiration date.

“At least let me drive you home,” he said, reaching for my hand when I stood and leaned over to kiss his cheek.

“That’s okay. You probably want to check on things at the club before you head home, and it’s only a few blocks from here to my place. I can grab a cab.”