Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 92368 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 462(@200wpm)___ 369(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92368 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 462(@200wpm)___ 369(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
“And then you’re done?”
He looks at me and slowly shakes his head. “I don’t know.”
“So, you want to come into my daughter’s life and just be there when you can be?”
“Cam—”
“Don’t Cam me. I know what it’s like when you’re training for a fight. It can take you away for months at a time.”
“You’re not being fair.”
“No, you’re not being fair. I won’t have you hurting my daughter, Zeus.”
“She’s my daughter, too! And I’ve missed four years of her life because you didn’t try hard enough to contact me!” he bellows so loud that, at first, it takes me aback, winds me. But then it incites me to levels of anger I didn’t know existed within me until now.
I get to my feet. “Fuck. You. Zeus. You cheated on me. You slept with another woman. You left me. You broke up with me over the phone. You didn’t even have the courtesy of saying it to my face. Then, you cut me off cold. Even blocked my e-mails, for fuck’s sake! How was I supposed to contact you? I couldn’t get near you to talk to you. I did the best I could. I spoke to the one person who did have access to you. It’s not my fault he’s a deceptive son of a bitch. What I did might not have been as good as what the almighty Zeus would have done, but I did what I could. And I have successfully raised my daughter for the past four years without you. I don’t need you. And Gigi sure as hell doesn’t.”
I know what I’m saying is shitty and wrong. But I want to hurt him in this moment, just like he hurt me.
“Cam. Fuck. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it…” He gets to his feet, eyes bright with panic, and reaches for me.
I step away from his reach and protectively fold my arms around my chest. “Yes, you did. And, now, it’s time for you to leave.”
“No, please. Cam.” He scrubs his hand over his head, fingers gripping the strands of hair. “I shouldn’t have said that. I don’t mean it, and you know I don’t. My head is just all over the place. I just found out I’ve got a daughter, for Christ’s sake. And I might not be thinking a hundred percent straight. But Gigi is my daughter, and I want to be a part of her life. I need to be a part of her life. And I swear to you and her that nothing will ever come in the way of my relationship with Gigi. I will never hurt her.”
I stare at Zeus, wavering between anger, anguish, and the knowledge that I can’t keep his daughter from him. It’s not who I am. It’s not in me to hurt someone that way. And keeping Gigi from him would only hurt her, and I will never hurt her.
I relax my hold on myself and exhale a breath. “If you let her down, Zeus…I’ll kill you myself.”
“I won’t let her down. I swear to God.” He steps closer to me. So close that I can smell his aftershave. That same unfamiliar yet familiar scent.
“You changed your aftershave,” I say. I know it’s a stupid thing to say the instant the words are out of my mouth, but knowing that he wanted to erase me from his life, even down to this, bothers me. Hurts me.
“The old one reminded me of you,” he says low.
Well, hell, if that doesn’t sting.
I’m staring at his chest. I don’t want him to see the emotion in my eyes right now.
“Well, I’m sorry I was a bother. I guess it must have been awkward, fucking other women with the scent of the last one all over you.”
“Jesus, Cam. That’s not what I meant, and you know it.”
“Do I?” I make the error of looking up into his eyes. I know it’s a mistake the second I do.
It’s like dynamite being tossed onto an already raging fire between us.
Attraction explodes between us.
Zeus’s eyes are burning for me in that way they used to, and it makes my soul ache. I feel a million things in this moment. Not one of them sensible or smart.
It reminds me of days long gone. Wanting each other was never a problem for us. Even in the early days of our relationship when we were taking things slow. I always knew Zeus wanted me.
Until he wanted other people.
And that is like a bucket of cold water over my head.
I step back and wrap my arms around myself. My heart is hammering in my chest. “Gigi will be home soon,” I say, needing him to leave now. “It’d probably be better if you weren’t here when she came home.”
“Okay,” he agrees. “But can I see her tomorrow?”
“Yes. I’ll talk to her when she gets home. Let her know we’ll be spending some time with a new friend tomorrow.”