Chapter 14

Perfect silence reigned inside the car except for Gia's soft little snores. She'd fallen asleep as soon as the car started rolling. I felt Aiden glance at her every now and then. This made me replay the whole day's incidents in my mind.

We had been to our usual ice cream spot. Gia got her favorite flavor and made Aiden try it. He complied without a second word. I, on the other hand, made an excuse about having a sore throat.

I knew Gia really liked Aiden. That was good, such a relief. If she had refused to let him into her life, I would have felt guilty, because Aiden seemed genuinely invested in his relationship with her.

I was so immersed in my thoughts that I didn't notice we were in our neighborhood.

"You can pull over," I said. "It's a two-minute walk from here."

Aiden spared me a brief look. "I'm perfectly capable of driving a few more meters."

"It's not that. I just don't want Noah to see us."

I wasn't going to stand in the way of Aiden knowing his daughter, not anymore. But his presence was bound to complicate things. He was my daughter's father and my boyfriend's boss. What a perfectly normal scenario!

"Ah, your boyfriend." I saw his jaw muscles clench slightly as he pulled over.

"Yes, my boyfriend who is very much unaware that his boss is his girlfriend's former one-night stand."

The second his eyes landed on me, I felt nervousness creep in. He somehow had the power to unsettle me simply by staring. I only hoped it would get better with time. Otherwise, co-parenting with him could be a nightmare. I wasn't in high school for this man to make me act all fidgety. "I want him to know from me, not like this."

Christ, why was he still staring! He was intimidating. And beautiful. That was beside the point, but

Finally, he looked ahead. His hand held the steering wheel in a tight grip. "Fine. But make sure you let him know today, because I'll be coming to your house to see Gia."

I believed he would. Aiden looked like someone who followed through on his threats.

"Okay," I muttered weakly before gently nudging Gia, who was very comfortably sitting on my lap. "Gia, get up, sweetie!"

She squirmed before readjusting herself and dozing off. "I want to sleep."

"We're home. Come on." Finally, with great effort, she peeled one eye open and yawned. God, she was adorable! I knew from his smile that Aiden had similar thoughts. He got out and walked to our side to open the door.

"Come here." He carried Gia out of the car and helped her to her feet. He crouched down in front of her. "I'll see you very soon, okay?" She nodded sleepily before walking into his arms.

I wasn't expecting her to hug him. Judging by Aiden's stillness, I knew he wasn't expecting it either. It took him a second to recover and wrap his arms around her tiny body. That looked…comforting. I guess…

My mind briefly traveled back to my childhood. I remembered feeling safe in my dad's arms. Those were distant memories.

"Bye!" She waved at him before walking to me. I held her hand and looked up at Aiden. He curtly nodded before getting into the car and driving off.

"Now I have to tell Noah, and today," I said, putting a tray down on the coffee table. Rey jumped off the kitchen counter and followed me to the living room. I sat down on the couch and picked a cookie from the plate. "And I don't see the problem with that."

Chapter 14 (continued)

It was going to be awkward telling him, "Try on for size: this is my baby-daddy." How was I going to say it? It sounded so much worse in my head than when I actually said it. How would it sound when I told Noah? I could only imagine. Disappointed, I slumped down on the couch beside Rey and weaved my hands through my hair. My head felt heavy from all the stress.

"DC's quite the predicament you're in. Your life sounds like a page out of a romance novel." Her tone was full of excitement. Romance novel? Definitely not the kind I preferred.

"Except it's not hot, and the problems are very fucking real."

"Well, I see a very easy solution to all your problems." That made me look up so fast I almost snapped my neck.

"And that is…?"

"Dump your boyfriend," she said as if it were the most obvious choice, and I was stupid for not understanding it.

I humorlessly chuckled. "Seriously!?"

She shrugged casually. "Duh! That puts all your problems to rest, not to mention you'll be absolutely free to shag Aiden."

Jesus, Rey.

"What?" She sprang up from her seat. She did that whenever she wanted to make a point, or perhaps whenever she was excited.

"He is fine as fuck." I'd heard that one before. Rey had been raving about Aiden's looks since she first saw his photo. She turned and looked at me. "Besides, when was the last time Noah did something nice for you, except for treating you like his personal chef?"

My forehead creased in visible distress. It was true that Noah had been busy lately, but workload did that to people. "There's nothing wrong with expecting your partner to cook you a warm meal sometimes."

"No, but there's absolutely everything wrong with not appreciating that person or their efforts. Denial won't help you."

I pressed my lips together. She was right. I knew it. In the beginning, Noah made sweet gestures, took time for me, took me on dates. Everything had changed now. The most time we spent together was when we had sex.

I knew all of this, but Rey pointing it out wasn't helping. I sighed and leaned back. All of this was overwhelming. My emotions were going into overdrive.

Even I felt like my relationship with Noah had lost its spark. It felt like dragging it along. But for some absurd reason, I couldn't entertain the thought of breaking up with him. I did care for him, and thinking about ending it made me feel guilty, as if I was kicking him out of my life now that Ava's father was back in the picture.

"Get up," Rey said, tugging at my hand.

"Why?" I asked as she pulled me to my feet.

"Because we're going to put on something nice. We're going clubbing. I have a nice place in mind."

"What? No—" She cut me off by sticking a finger in my face.

"Yes, and we're going to think about this later."

I shut up, knowing I couldn't stop her. Her mind was made up. On second thought, maybe I needed this small respite.

Chapter 15

I watched as the typing bubbles ceased. A short pause. And she was typing again.

Treya: Should I even care to ask where you got my number?

Aiden: No. Just answer my question.

I hit send and waited for her reply while Perez droned on about problems with permits for the latest construction project, a residential one. Two whole minutes and no text. I gritted my teeth in annoyance. She'd left me on "seen"—Then came her reply.

Treya: No, I didn't tell Noah. Yet I will. Just give me some time.

I resisted the urge to scoff. As if five years wasn't enough. Freya needed more time. She just had to drop the news on him. What was so difficult about it?

When I first learned I had a daughter I knew nothing about, I was furious. But now that the initial shock had worn off, the knowledge that I had a child with Freya filled me with an odd sense of satisfaction. I felt an immense sense of possessiveness. So the fact that she cared so much about hurting that beefy pig's feelings annoyed the hell out of me.

Aiden: You have two days.

"And! What do you think, brother?" Cillian pulled my attention away from my phone. With his hands in his pockets, his eyes gleamed with amusement while the others stared expectantly. That little shit. He knew I wasn't paying attention and did it on purpose. "We can have this meeting another time." Everyone was on their feet the next second, and I was alone with my brother.

Cillian chuckled, shaking his head. "I'm starting to believe this woman possesses superpowers. For you to drift away from business talk is a miracle in itself!"

"Don't give me shit," I glared.

"Yeah, I'm guessing you already have some to deal with." He lazily walked to my desk and sat in front of me. "What is it?"

"I don't need to share everything with you."

He hummed thoughtfully. "I want to meet my niece."

"No." I deadpanned. Gia didn't know who I was, so introducing her to my family was out of the question.

Cillian's eyes narrowed. "Why not?"

"She doesn't even know I'm her father." Even though I tried to say it nonchalantly, it stung. I added in a murmur, "And neither does Freya's boyfriend."

A look of realization lit up his face. "Ah. So that's what had you glaring at your phone like you wanted to throw it at the nearest wall. Freya's keeping you a secret from her boyfriend. A dirty little secret."

"Don't try me. I'm going to knock your teeth out." I gritted my teeth at the wide grin on his face. He was having too much fun with this.

"Fine. I apologize." He chased the teasing smile away. "I bet a drink or two would make your situation a little more bearable. Let's hit the…"

I didn't get to respond, interrupted by another presence.

"Did I hear 'club'?" Erica sauntered in. Only she and Cillian had permission to walk in without knocking. Though sometimes she pretended to be professional enough to knock, most of the time she barged in unannounced.

Cillian looked at her with a mask of cool indifference, which was very different from the actual scenario. She directed her pleading gaze at me. As if that had ever swayed me.

I sighed and nodded. That's all the confirmation she needed. She placed a file on my desk.

This cleaned-up version addresses grammar, spelling, punctuation, and inconsistencies in the original text. I've also made some stylistic choices to improve the flow and readability. There are still a few instances where the original text's intent isn't entirely clear, and some interpretations were necessary.