Chapter 53 Mafia Don Accept His Daughter
Elena
“You want to. We both know I’m prettier than my parents. Besides, Ki says she’ll look more like me as she gets older.”
“We’ll see,” Roman says with a smile.
“Do you want to hold her?” I ask gently. He suddenly looks worried.
“What if I drop her?”
“You won’t,” I assure him.
He exhales, nodding, and I carefully transfer Cassie from my arms to his. He struggles to get her into the right position, but soon he’s holding her, his hand behind her head to steady her.
Once she’s in the perfect position, she blinks up at her father, and my heart skips a beat when she smiles. Roman’s expression softens.
“Damn it,” he says.
I cough. “No cursing in front of the baby, Rom.”
“Right,” he mutters. “Sorry, princess.”
My eyes almost fill with tears from the caress, but I brush them away. We both stand still for a few moments. He just watches her, and I watch him watch her. When Cassie starts to squirm, I put my hand on her head, gently soothing her.
She doesn’t stop squirming, and when she opens her mouth to cry, Roman’s expression quickly becomes exhausted.
“It’s okay,” I tell him. “She probably just needs a pacifier.”
I grab it and put it in her mouth. After that, she calms down, and I watch as Roman sighs softly.
“Maybe we should put her back to sleep.”
He nods and hands me the baby. I rock her for a few seconds and am happy when her eyes begin to close. I very quietly put her in the crib and, making sure the baby monitor is on, I leave the room, noticing that Roman has already left without me even noticing.
I find him leaning against the wall in the living room.
“So...” I drawl. “You still think she's not yours?”
He rolls his eyes. “I had every right to ask that question, and you know it.”
“Of course,” I mutter.
He looks away, and I want him to tell me what he’s thinking. He’s just met his daughter for the first time. I want to know how he feels, but he won’t give me anything. There’s something sharp in Roman’s voice when he speaks.
“I just want to make something clear,” he begins, and I gesture for him to speak. “First of all, I don’t forgive you for keeping her from me.”
Something cracks in my chest, but I nod anyway.
“I understand.”
He has every right to be angry. Roman wasn’t built in a day. And Roman obviously feels the same way when it comes to forgiveness.
“But we’re in this together. It’s not you and me anymore, it’s just us trying to take care of our…” He hesitates, swallowing roughly. “Our daughter.”
The two words leave his lips in a whisper, but he forces them out. I don’t say a word, and he continues.
“I’m going to go home now. And we’re both going to do everything we can to keep this from our family.”
When I open my mouth to protest, he cuts me off.
“They’ll find out eventually, but I need to figure out the best course of action. They’ll be furious, and rightfully so. I need time. And a way to make it easier for them to access this information.”
I sit down on the couch and sigh.
“We’re screwed no matter what you do, Roman.”
He grimaces. Roman likes the feeling of being in control of any situation. That’s something he can’t control.
“I’ll handle it. Just make sure no one finds out about Cassie.”
I nod once. “I’ll do it.”
He looks back at my bedroom, and I can tell he wants to see it again. But he shakes his head, considering the thought.
“I’ll assign one or two men to guard the building,” he tells me.
My eyes widen. Almost immediately, I remember I'm dealing with a paranoid and overprotective mafia boss. "That won't be necessary. Plus, what if they see Cassie when we take her for a walk?"
"They'll keep their mouths shut if they want to keep their lives," he says, a muscle twitching in his jaw.
I blink.
"See, now we're going to have to talk about this behavior toward Cassie. Tone down the Don's psychopathic behavior."
"She's my protection." He said.
"Ours," I correct, my voice sharp.
He rolls his eyes.
"The guards will be here today later. I'll make sure they understand discretion. Neither you nor the child is allowed to live in this building without security.
I clench my fists. "That's too much. Relax."
He looks at me. "It's nothing special for her. I'm leaving now," he announces.
"When will you come back? To see her?"
He hesitates.
"Maybe it would be a good idea for me not to come here too often. In case our family gets suspicious. I'll come see her this weekend. Maybe Sunday?"
"Okay," I nod. "Bye."
He leaves without another word. My head falls back onto the couch, and I sigh softly. I'm not happy with the safety situation. But Roman and I are stuck together. And right now, he's doing his best to figure out a terrible situation. The least I can do is not fight him every step of the way.
Kiara and I take Cassie to the hospital for her monthly checkup, and I'm happy when the doctor tells us she's perfectly healthy. She's eating and sleeping well for her age.
We're leaving the hospital when Kiara offers to take Cassie home while I go visit my dad.
“Didn’t you have a meeting with those fashion executives today?” I ask her as we head to the car.
She shakes her head.
“They cancelled on me. I guess they’re not that interested in meeting a fledgling jeweler. My brand is still in its infancy; I can’t expect such a huge company to take me seriously.”
My eyes narrow.
“Nonsense, your brand is amazing. And they’re stupid for not taking you seriously.”
She smiles.
“What’s even more annoying is that Dad is close friends with the CEO of the company.” One phone call and they'll be at my meeting right away.
"But you're not going to ask him."
"No," she says, shifting the baby in her arms. Cassie has been watching the people milling about in the hospital lobby with great curiosity, her blue eyes wide and wide as she tries to look around.
"But you..."
"I'm not calling him, Elena. End of story," Kiara says firmly.
She and her father had a huge fight a few months ago, but she says it was a long time ago. I'm not sure of the details because Kiara can be annoyingly secretive about her home life.
Mr. Coleman can be extremely controlling, but I haven’t spent enough time with him to assess his relationship with his daughter. He’s always struck me as a stern man, a little overbearing.
I thought I had a problem with the way my father and brother tried to control me, but then I met Kiara’s father. He’s always tried to micromanage her life, down to the clothes she was allowed to wear in public.