Page 30 of Bound By Sin
“Some scouts are here.” She could barely catch her breath from the excitement, and I could barely catch mine from nervousness. “Coach wanted me to ask if it was all right if they spoke to me after the ceremony, and then everyone’s meeting up at Rosie’s. Can I go?”
“We can meet with the scouts, and we’ll talk about Rosie’s after,” Tara said.
Nia’s face fell, and I hated to see it. I vowed, in that moment, to always keep a smile on her beautiful face.
“Remember I said I wanted you to meet someone?”
Nia nodded. “Yeah, but do we have to do it now?”
That was when Nia’s eyes shifted to Luca and then to Aurelio, both of who had risen to their feet when we stood. Shyness replaced her disappointment, then her eyes locked onto me before they widened.
“You’re my dad,” she said, more as a statement than a question before her mother could say a word.
My mouth lifted at the corners, thankful she knew who I was.
“Nia, this is Valentino Cavallaro,” Tara said.
“Hello, Nia,” I said with all the confidence I could muster. If my men knew a seventeen-year-old had me shaking with fear, they’d laugh at me. “Yes. I’m your dad. I’m so glad I finally get to meet you. You did good out there.”
“You came to watch my game?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
I couldn’t help the smile that crossed my face. “Of course I did.
“I’d like to sit down and talk. If that’s all right with you?” she asked, and nothing else mattered. All I wanted to do was get to know my daughter.
“I’d love that.”
Chapter nine
TARA
The next day…
Valentino and I both met with the scouts, along with our daughter, after the awards ceremony. Even though Valentino hadn’t been part of Nia’s life, he stepped into the protective father role. She couldn’t keep her eyes off him the entire time he stared down the men trying to convince Nia to join their collegiate programs, and I couldn’t blame her. However, I couldn’t tell if she feared him or was just fascinated by him.
While he let me handle the conversation with the scouts, he stood there with his intimidating stare, his piercing blue eyes glaring at the men. His two men stood a few feet behind him, Valentino in his bespoke suit with his hands stuffed inside his dress slacks like he didn’t have a care in the world.
Without saying one word to anyone, he intimidated everyone around him. The three scouts who were there, two from colleges and one from a professional team in Los Angeles, tried to keep their eyes focused on me while they explained how they’d love for our daughter to become apart of their programs, but couldn’t ignore Valentino lingering there, stoic.
Valentino always had that presence of danger surrounding him, but when it came to Nia’s future, that threatening aura became deadly. I think everyone around, including Nia, knew the power her father wielded without him having to speak one word.
I hadn’t told her Valentino wanted us to move to Philadelphia to be with him. I wasn’t sure how to approach that conversation. Valentino assured me that we’d take it day by day, but I also understood what I was getting into and why the decision had to be made sooner rather than later.
After the meeting with the scouts, Nia stayed at Rosie’s so we could discuss this possible move to Philadelphia and get things straight between us. Our night at Club Desire was beyond amazing. We were always explosive together, but our problems went way deeper than sex, and sex wouldn’t fix them. While I hadn’t completely gotten over him disappearing on me, I couldn’t deny that my place was beside him. It always had been. We needed to work on the trust between us, or lack thereof.
We both wanted a new start. A new start together. Now, it was time to discuss things with our daughter, and she was not going to make it easy, not that I expected her to. She was the miniature female version of her father.
“I need someone to explain to me why my biological father shows up out of the blue after seventeen damn years?”
I didn’t miss Valentino’s flinch, but this wasn’t all on him. It was on me too.
“Excuse me?” I asked with my brow arched. “Who the hell do you think you’re talking to, Nia Valentina Weatherly?”
Her eyes widened like she just realized what the hell she’d said and who she’d said it to. I loved my daughter, and we had a close relationship, but one thing I did not do was tolerate the disrespect of anyone, especially toward me and her father.
She had the right to be angry. She had the right to whatever emotions she was feeling, but she’d have to drop the attitude if this conversation would continue.
“I’m sorry, Ma, but I need someone to tell me what’s going on.”
