“Well. That seems mean. We’re only trying to help, right, Aleki?”
Aleki stared at her for a long moment then he smiled. “Why don’t you call me Papa, baby girl?”
She took in a sharp breath then smiled. She knew her smile was enormous as she nodded. “Okay, Papa.”
“Good girl.”
Caleb was watching them warmly. Then his phone rang and he drew it from his pocket with a frown. “Excuse me, I’ve got to take this.”
As soon as they were alone, uncertainty filled her. But Aleki smiled and patted his lap. “Come sit with me.”
She threw herself at him and he let out a breath of air. “Whoa, baby. Easy. We don’t want to damage anything important.” He winked as she blushed.
“Sorry.”
He arranged her so she was facing him with her knees bent, her legs on either side of his. “Actually, that’s my line.”
“What?”
He took her hands in his. “I’m sorry if I’ve been acting a bit distant sometimes. Having you here, it feels so fucking right. But sometimes I feel like t
his is a dream and you’re going to disappear on me. When I look at you, I remember how you’ve lived for the past eight years. If only I’d forced you to tell me what was going on back then . . .”
“Aleki, no—”
“I didn’t want to come find you. I wouldn’t have if Caleb hadn’t decided to go looking for you. You would have died, Vivi.”
Oh. Oh no. How had she not realized he was thinking all of this?
“I failed you.”
“No,” she said firmly. She leaned in and kissed him. Aleki seemed the most open of the guys, he’d tell you when he was happy, hungry, horny. But when it came to anything really serious then he bottled it up.
When she drew back, she cupped his face between her hands.
“Vivi—”
“No,” she said fiercely. “Hush. You’ve had your say. It’s my turn.”
She was silent for a long moment until he raised an eyebrow, looking amused. “Well?”
“You . . . I . . . you big nincompoop.”
She closed her eyes in embarrassment. She did not just say that. He shook, making her open her eyes to find him smiling widely. “Nincompoop? Really? I confess my innermost, deepest thoughts and you call me a nincompoop? What even is that?”
“Urgh! I don’t know. It’s you. You . . . I . . . God, Aleki.” Damn it. She was so bad at this. “You have never failed me. Not once. None of this is on you. It’s on them. My father. William. This mystery man. Not you. I didn’t tell you.” She ran her hands through his short black hair. “That’s on me. Not you.”
“You could have fucking died in that alleyway and I was sleeping in a damn hotel bed.”
She cupped her face with his hands. “You didn’t know. How could you have known? We were made for each other. Eight years can’t come between us. My father can’t come between us. I want you. As my man. My Daddy. If that’s what you want too. I’m just learning about all of this and I’m going to make mistakes. We both are. But as long as we’re together, nothing else matters. Are you going to tell me that we’re not meant to be together?”
“Fuck no.”
“Then kiss me, you idiot.”
“Stop calling your Papa names. And stop swearing. God, you’re a brat.”
“You can spank me later. Kiss me now.”