“He pressured me into meeting her. That should have been the first sign of many that he wasn’t a good match, but I felt so damn lonely and was scared of losing the one person who made me feel a fraction of what we had.” Her voice cracks, and my arms tighten around her.
I release a heavy sigh.
It’s only right you listen to every word since you’re the one who drove her into this situation in the first place.
I’m an expert at self-inflicted torture, so I can handle one uncomfortable conversation.
“In the beginning, things were good. Cami was happy with him. Even asked me a few times if we were going to get married, although she stopped asking after the first time he babysat her.” Her voice wavers.
I press her tighter against my chest. “You didn’t know.”
She peeks up at me with glassy eyes. “Shouldn’t I have, though? She’s my kid. I’m supposed to know every little thing about her, yet I couldn’t even notice that.”
“He was an asshole.”
“I know that now, but I missed the signs. It wasn’t until she timidly asked me if he would become her daddy that I finally started putting things together.”
My lungs stall, and a hot spike of pain shoots through my chest. I don’t speak in fear of my voice giving me away.
I wished you can be my new daddy.
Did she wish the same about Victor?
Lana continues, unaware of the shift in my mood. “When I questioned her about it, she told me she would rather not have a daddy at all. It was the first warning sign that I actually listened to. Because my girl is a romantic through and through, ever since she watched her first Dreamland princess movie. She even wrote letters to Santa asking for a daddy, only to be disappointed when her search under the tree came up empty.”
A laugh explodes out of me, followed by relief.
She didn’t want Victor to be her dad.
She wantedyou.
It’s terrifying yet empowering all at the same time.
A small smile teases Lana’s lips. “One year I had to write a fake letter from Santa to let her know that he can only deliver toys, not people.”
My chest shakes with silent laughter. “A shame.”
“A shame indeed, until she took it up with the next best person.”
“Who?”
“The Easter Bunny.”
My head shakes. “She is the cutest kid ever.”
She sinks into me, her body melting against mine. “I think so, but it’s nice to hear it from someone unbiased.”
I chuckle. “Oh, I was biased the day she hustled me out of six hundred bucks.”
“You didn’t stand a chance, did you?”
“Looks like Castillo women are my one weakness.”
“Only the one?” She grins.
I kiss the stupid smile off her face. She reciprocates, matching my fire with one of her own. I’m not sure how I survived six years without this. Withouther.The way I feel around Lana makes the whole world pale in comparison. Like I’ve been stuck living my life in black-and-white, only to have it switched to color.
I’m not sure I can go back to a life without her.