Page 80 of Unwrapping Romance

“We’re staying at The Pierre,” my father said.

“For a month?” I asked.

“Well, for the time being. There’s something else I wanted to tell you.”

The sickness already in my stomach intensified. I knew what he was going to say.

“Gabriela and I have decided to move back to New York.”

“Excuse me?” I cocked my head, and Sierra glanced at me.

“As much as we love Spain, we’re ready to return to New York City. We have appointments tomorrow to look at Penthouses for sale.”

I couldn’t react in front of my daughter, so I kept my mouth shut for now.

“Excuse me. I’m going to get another drink.”

“Refill mine, son.” My father held up his glass.

I walked into the living room and pulled out my phone.

“Gretchen, I need you to come over now.”

“On my way, Mr. Atlas.”

After refilling our glasses, I sat down at the table.

“Gretchen is on her way over,” I said to Sierra.

“Who’s Gretchen?” my father asked.

“The girl a few doors down. She’s going to take Ellie upstairs so we can talk privately,” I said.

“Good idea, son. There are a few things I need to say to you and questions I want answered.”

The knock on the door broke the silence. Getting up, I opened the door and let Gretchen in.

“There’s plenty of food if you’re hungry,” I told her.

“Wow. It looks so good. I’ll make a plate and take it upstairs with Ellie.”

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Jack

“I’ll clean up while you three go into the living room and talk,” Sierra said, grabbing her plate and standing up.

“Leave it. We can clean up later.” I placed my hand on her arm.

“Okay.”

We all got up and went into the living room. I was a ticking time bomb and ready to explode.

“I want to know why the fuck you didn’t tell me about Ellie?” my father spewed. “Four years, Jack. Four fucking years and you never told me you had a daughter. What the hell is wrong with you? Who does that? And who the hell is her mother, and where is she?”

“Her mother is a woman I briefly saw. She got pregnant and moved away. She dropped Ellie off with me a couple of weeks ago and took off to travel with some guy from Seattle.”

“She abandoned her?” His brows furrowed.

---