Page 48 of Raw Deal

His eyes widened. “Oh, really? You accused me of trying to manipulate you by making a nice kitchen for you here.”

“That’s different. You are trying to make us happy when you manipulate. Your mother is only trying to make herself happy.”

“You are saying I’m manipulative.”

“Okay, Nik. Fine. Yes! I think you can be just as manipulative as your mother! You try to arrange everything, including people, to your liking. That isn’t how marriage works.”

“Stop yelling at my daddy!”

Mia stood in the doorway, unseen until now. He wondered how much of their private conversation she had overheard. Chloe glared at him as if it was his fault she’d been caught shouting at him.

Lips compressed, he turned his face away. His shoulders shook. He tried to hold back the laughter. He couldn’t help it. Having his little girl defending him for a change against her own mother gave him a warm, fuzzy feeling. The tide was changing, and she was becoming just as much his daughter as Chloe’s.

“That’s it,” Chloe said. “We’re leaving.”

She charged down the hallway, and Nik raced after her. He caught the scared and confused look on Mia’s face as he ran past her. She didn’t know what was happening. Unfortunately, he didn’t have time to explain things to her or to comfort her. First, he had to stop Chloe from leaving in a rage that would erect a permanent wall between them.

She went to the master bedroom and grabbed her overnight bag. In a flash, she had it packed. If he didn’t do something soon, she would walk out of his life. He had a feeling it wouldn’t be a temporary thing.

“You can’t take Mia and leave in the middle of the night. She’ll think she did something wrong.”

“Fine. I’ll leave her here with you, but I’m going.”

“You can’t leave,” he said. “This is ridiculous. She’s a child, and you told me it didn’t mean anything when she yelled at me for yelling at you.”

Chloe started for the door, but he blocked it. “Move,” she said with clenched teeth. “I want to go home.”

“Why? You yelled at me, and Mia didn’t like it. That’s no reason to throw in the towel.”

“You don’t see it, do you?”

“See what?”

Tears filled her eyes, and he finally understood. She wanted to get away from him before she started to cry. Chloe hated crying in front of people. Instead of waiting for her answer, he wrapped her in his arms. She fought it at first. The embrace brought out the tears she was trying to hold back.

She sobbed. “It’s already started. Your mother is a bad influence on Mia, and you don’t think it’s a big deal. Mia yelled at me to leave you alone. You may think it’s cute, but I don’t. She is already on her way to preferring you.”

He compressed his lips to keep from saying something that would anger her further and drive a bigger wedge between them. He thought she was being ridiculous, but she was entitled to her feelings. She felt like she was losing her daughter.

He kissed the top of her head. “Tell you what. Let’s go talk to her together and explain things. We’re going to argue sometimes. She doesn’t have to be scared, because we aren’t going to split up. Parents fight, and then they make up. We need to tell her it’s okay, but we also need to tell her it’s none of her business.”

Chloe looked up at him, eyes wide. “How do you know we aren’t going to split up? I think we should prepare her for that.”

“Are you trying to prepare her or yourself?” He kissed her forehead. “You are stuck with me, my love. For life. Get used to it. I am not going anywhere, and nothing will tear us apart again.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I do know that, because I won’t let it happen. You have become more important to me than my football team.”

She laughed, but she was obviously pleased by his statement. “Wow,” she said. “That is saying a lot.”

“You are more important to me than living in Vegas, more important than breathing air, more important than anything. I love you, and I love Mia. Neither one of you will ever know what it’s like to not have me in your lives, because I will always be there. No matter what.”

The surprise on her face mimicked the surprise he felt in his heart. Mostly he was surprised by how much he meant those words. No one, not even his mother, could take his family away from him.

“So you don’t just want Mia?” she asked. “I was afraid you only wanted me in your life so that you could have her.”

No wonder she got so mad at him. She thought he didn’t love her and was just using her.

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