Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 98524 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 493(@200wpm)___ 394(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98524 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 493(@200wpm)___ 394(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
It was him. Rafael Acosta.
The man whose mere existence had caused me to lose sleep for almost a year.
The man I’d wanted to kill with my bare hands.
The man Eloise had cheated on me with only a few months before she died.
Thirty-Two
Javier
“What the fuck are you doing here?” I growled, stepping onto the porch.
Rafael backed away, throwing one hand up to try to calm me. “Just relax, all right. I just need to talk to you.”
“Showing up at my doorstep like this is not the way to reach me.”
“Well, you didn’t have to open the gates.” He shrugged and smirked.
“You have five seconds to tell me why you are here, or I am going to punch that stupid smirk off of your fucking face.” I took another step closer, clenching my fists. He took one backward, the back of his foot nearing the edge of the stoop.
The door creaked behind me, and Octavia and Catalina rushed out, eyes wide and worried.
“Listen, I just dropped by to tell you that I know about Aleesa. Okay?”
“What are you talking about?” I snapped.
“I think that she might be my daughter. Not yours.”
My heart sank like a rock to my stomach. Catalina gasped behind me. I clenched my fists tighter, feeling my nails pierce my palms as my throat became raw and thick.
No. That could not be true.
“What the hell are you talking about?” Catalina demanded, walking around me to get in Rafael’s face.
He took a step down. Three more and he’d be off the stoop.
“What? Did he not tell you about me and Eloise?” Rafael flashed an arrogant smile at Catalina before putting his focus on me again. “I guess it makes sense. Don’t want to taint her reputation.”
I shoved past my sister and gripped the lapels of his suit, then stormed down the steps until I was on flat ground. I threw him down and dropped to my knees, ready to beat the shit out of him . . . until I heard the one voice that always centered me.
“Daddy!”
I froze, fist midair, then twisted my upper body to see my mother standing on the porch, with Aleesa in her arms. Aleesa’s eyes were wide and panicked as she studied me. My mother stared at Rafael, her face warped with confusion.
I hurried to a stand, breathing raggedly.
“Jesus, now I see why Eloise wasn’t happy with you.” Rafael got up and dusted himself off. “All that anger can’t be healthy.”
“Fuck you,” I spat. My whole body was vibrating with rage.
“Look, I hate to bring it to you this way, but I felt it would be best to hear it from me personally and not some random person showing up at your doorstep. I already went to court to file a petition, and soon you’ll be served. I’ve also requested a paternity test so that it can prove I am her father. If I am, I would like to discuss custody.”
“Why the hell are you doing this?” I said, trying hard not to let defeat drown my words. “Why now?”
“Trust me, I hold nothing against you. But if I am her father, I deserve to be in her life just as much as you do.”
“You are not her fucking father,” I snapped, pointing a finger at his face. “Eloise would have told me if she suspected that you were! You were not there during her pregnancy. You were not there when Aleesa was born. You were not there when Eloise died after giving birth to my daughter. I was! I’ve been here every single day. She is mine, and I’ll be damned if you take her from me.”
“I had no idea she was pregnant until I heard she’d died during labor. That’s when I thought about the timing of it all and added it up. I had a feeling the child she had could be mine, but I wasn’t too sure, and my conscience has been weighing on me a lot more lately. What kind of man would I be if I just keep living my life as if I don’t have a child? Come on, Javier. Look at her.”
He gestured to Aleesa with a mock smile.
I didn’t look. I glared at him instead, refusing to back down.
“As soon as I saw her on the sidelines at your games, I could see it. I mean, of course, it could go either way, but the older she gets, the more I see myself in her. That most certainly isn’t your nose, and that dimple in her chin . . . seriously.” He pointed at the dent in his chin, one eerily similar to the very small dimple in Aleesa’s.
“Trust me, I know you’ve been through a lot, and a part of me wanted to leave this alone, but . . . it doesn’t sit right with me that I may have a child in this world and I don’t even get to know her. I thought long and hard about it, and I knew you’d fight me on this, so that’s why I filed the petition first.”