by Blue Saffire
“Oh, it was good, alright. The look on your face tells it all. You look different, and I don’t mean that just lost my virginity different. Something else has changed.”
I shrug again. “Not sure what that could be.”
“Um,” Cam pulls a face.
She goes to open her mouth again, but Czar walks in. I smile at my brother and get up to hug him. I wrinkle my brows at the boxes he has to put down before he opens his arms to receive my hug.
“You staying out of trouble?” Cee murmurs into my hair.
“Maybe,” I giggle.
“That means no,” Czar laughs. “Where are the kids?”
“In the playroom. What’s up?”
“I came to pick up Sammy and drop this stuff off,” Czar says.
Again, I look at the boxes he just brought in. They are large white boxes, each box with a bow in a different shade of pink. There are four boxes in all.
“What are they?” I ask.
“There’s one for each of the girls. I was told to drop them off and ask you to help the girls,” Czar says and lifts his shoulder.
I reach for the card on top the first box and it has Milanie’s name on it. Curious, I call out for the girls. The three come running followed by Shauna, Logan’s little girl. She came over with Cam today.
“It looks like you girls just received some gifts,” I say handing Milanie the first box.
She squeals and goes to sit and open it. The next box is for Jessica. I hand her hers and she beams up at me. My curiosity heightens as I read the next card. It’s for Shauna.
“Well, look at that Shauna, Baby, there’s one for you too,” she smiles shyly and take the box.
“Phanx, ma’am,” she says. I just love her little Irish accent. She’s the cutest little thing.
I hand Megan the last box and turn to see what the other girls have pulled from their boxes as they ‘ooh’ and ‘ah’. I think my heart almost bursts from my chest. My eyes fill with tears and I have to stumble to my seat. If I didn’t love LaSalle before, I just fell in love with him a million times over.
The looks on their faces says a million words. I look to see Czar recording with his phone. I look back at the girls and their little faces.
“Wow,” I breathe. “He is such a good father.”
“Can you help me read this,” Shauna says to Cam holding out the letter that was in her box.
Camille makes a dramatic show of taking the letter and reading it, as if she’s announcing the royals or something. All of the girls start to giggle.
“Dear Princess Shauna. Please proceed to get ready for the Royal Daddy and Princess Ball. Your chariot awaits you. Love your Da, Logan O’Brien.”
“Oh, my God, that is so sweet,” I gush.
“What does mine say,” Milanie asks anxiously rushing over to me.
I laugh when she hands me her letter. That fucking Misha. It is written in Russian. Czar and I are probably the only ones able to read it to her.
“My little treasure, Milanie. This gown could never be as beautiful as you. Hurry and dress for our Papa, Daughter date. There is magic waiting. Love you, little princess.” I read for her.
Jessica has read her letter and her sister’s. They are already trying to wiggle into the little dresses that were clearly tailor made for them. LaSalle didn’t buy the dresses from the site, the ones he thought were too cheap for his little girls.
The little gowns are so intricately designed and made. I can tell he modeled them after the ones I showed him, but these are so much better. They’re simply gorgeous. They have to be made of real silk as fine as they look. I’m in awe. They even have little satin slippers.
“Did you know about this?” I ask Cam, as she wipes the corners of her eyes.
“Not a clue,” she shakes her head. “The man is wearing me down. I think my ovaries are weeping.”
I throw my head back and laugh so hard my belly aches. I know what she means, though. With a smile on my face, I help the girls gather their boxes and everything in them. I shake my head when I see the matching silk bags inside the boxes.
We go to the girls’ room and get all four of them changed into their little outfits. There are tiny little tiaras for each of them. Nothing was forgotten. We work on their hair and fix their little crowns.
Camille and I are both choked up by the girls lit up eyes and contagious excitement. When everyone’s dressed up, we head out expecting to find Czar ready to take them to their fathers.
What we find instead, has my mouth on the floor. LaSalle, Logan, and Misha are standing in the foyer looking like three mouthwatering kings, awaiting their little princesses. Each in black tuxedos, tailored to perfection. Each handsome in his own right. The girls squeal and run into their fathers’ arms.
My tears finally slip as I watch how tightly each man holds his little precious girl or girls in LaSalle’s case. The look of love on their faces as they hold onto their little girls, like they could just keep them this way forever. It is an amazing sight, especially knowing who these men are to the rest of the world.
LaSalle opens his eyes and looks up at me. He winks at me and I can’t help but swoon. His smile grows wider and he stands to his full height. He opens his arms for me to come to him.
I move closer, not wanting to take away from the girls’ moment. They look up at me beaming. LaSalle reaches for me tugging me closer.
He pecks my lips and plants his lips to my forehead. “Thank you for your help,” he says against my skin.
“I didn’t do anything,” I say.
“You did more than you know,” he says, looking down into my eyes.
I cup his cheek. “I love you,” I whisper.
He takes my hand and kisses my fingertips. He wraps an arm around my waist and leans into my ear. “I love you too. I’ll see you tonight.”
I shiver and step out of his hold. The promise in the rasp in his voice is enough for my panties to turn into liquid. I turn to see Misha watching us with a smirk on his face.
The guys scoop the girls up into their arms and they’re off. Those four lucky little girls. I know they’re about to be spoiled out of their minds.
Cam leans onto my shoulder. “I need sex. I need it bad and that man is going to be the one that gives it to me if I don’t get him out of my house. God, I know he gives it rough. I like rough. He looks like he gives it rough, right,” Cam says as she undresses Logan with her eyes, while he walks away.
I cover my mouth and try not to laugh. She bumps me with her hip. I can’t hold my laughter any longer.
“What are you waiting for? I see the way he watches you,” I tease.
Cam shakes her head. “I want to fuck. He wants something else. I’m not ready for something else. I just got out of a shit marriage,” she sighs.
“Cam, seriously. I heard about your ex and your marriage. I know that fine ass man that just walked out of here is nothing like the asshole I heard you were married to.”
“Mom,” we hear whined from down the hall.
Camille looks at me pointedly. “Yup, staying in my corner.”
I shake my head at her as she walks away. I know her days are numbered. I see the way Logan looks at her.
~B~
Sam
“Daddy, this is so much fun,” Megan giggles with chocolate frosting smeared on her little face.
Jessica licks her own face and nods her head. “I love my dress. Can I wear it to school?”
I laugh and smile at my little girl. “I don’t know about that one. We’ll see,” I reply, not wanting to erase the beautiful smiles from their faces.
“Time for our dance, Wee Loves,” Logan says and winks at Shauna.
Logan, Misha, Nate, Bobby, Marcus, Uri, Wyatt, Toby, and I stand, lifting our little girls in our arms to carry them out to the dance floor. My father rented an old Long Island Mansion for us to use tonight. When Logan, Misha, and I shared that we wanted to throw the girls a ball, the rest of the guys decided they wanted to join in
.
I wasn’t surprised when Wyatt said he was flying in. He adores his little Nora. Lulu has Toby wrapped around her tiny finger as well.
All of our daughters range in different ages, Jessica being the oldest, but they’re all smiling tonight. My girls needed this. I will never be able to replace their mother, but I’m trying my best with them.
Sam may be gone, but their papa will always be here. My children mean the world to me. My chest tightens as I think of their heartache. Tonight, seeing them happy is the most important thing to me.
So far, so good. The girls have been on a rented tea cup ride, pony rides, seen a puppet show, taken pictures with hired princesses, you name it. We pulled out all the stops.
As we reach the dance floor, Michael Bolton’s, Fathers and Daughters, starts to play through the sound system. Every father starts to dance with his little girl or girls around the floor. There are more Alphas than I can count in this room, but if you looked in their faces at this moment, you wouldn’t know that every single one is ready and able to kill for those little girls.
“You know Daddy loves you,” I say as I spin my two around, one cradled in each arm.
“We love you too, Daddy,” Jessica says and rests her head on my shoulder.
Megan nods. “We have the best Daddy in the world,” Megan sings as her eyes light up at me.
I kiss the tops of my girls’ heads. Looking around at my friends dressed in tuxedos, holding their hearts in their arms does something to me. I didn’t think I could go on, a few months ago. Now, I know I have to, I know I can.
“I have the best girls in the world,” I smile back.
“The best is yet to come,” Jessica whispers.
It’s the way she says it. I turn to focus on her. She’s looking up at me, but not. She has that look Ellen used to get. I blink back tears when I realize what’s happening.
I squeeze Jessica closer to my chest and press my lips to her forehead. I wish Ellen were here for this, but I will do whatever I can to help my daughter understand that part of herself. Even talk to a family I planned to write off.
~B~
Tasha
“We shouldn’t be here,” I whisper from our hiding place.
“Oh, my God, there is no way I’m missing this,” Val says with emotion in her voice. “I love my husband even more.”
“Nate is so getting some pussy tonight,” Pam sniffles.
“You snatched the words out of my mouth,” Paige giggles.
“I can’t believe they did this. If I’m pregnant in a month, it wasn’t my fault,” Kamara breathes.
“You, don’t blame me if you hear too much on the flight back home. Wyatt is so getting the best sex of his life. Look at the smile on Nora’s face,” Nellie cries.
I look out at the one Nellie pointed out as Wyatt. I remember seeing Nellie and Wyatt at the repass for Ellen’s funeral, but this is my first time meeting Nellie and Kamara. Wyatt is holding his little girl in his arms. Her face is lit up with her tiny teeth showing. Wyatt presses his forehead to hers and she cups her father’s face.
“This song is perfect too,” I smile. “I hope they remember this when they get older.”
“I need to go,” Camille rushes out and runs back the way we snuck in.
I look out to see Logan holding Shauna tightly to his chest. His big shoulders are shaking as his daughter’s arms are wrapped around his neck. His face is buried into her tiny neck.
Knowing what I know of Logan’s story, I feel a lump form in my throat. I feel like we are trespassing. I start to back away, but stop as something catches my eyes.
LaSalle has placed both girls on their feet. He kneels before them and reaches inside his tux jacket. He pulls out a box and reveals it to Jessica.
I watch as her little hand goes to her mouth. LaSalle says something to her we can’t hear, and she nods. LaSalle then places a necklace around her neck. He reaches in his jacket again and reveals a second box to Megan.
Again, he says something and Megan replies, as she nods her dark head. LaSalle fastens a necklace around her little neck and pulls both girls into a hug. Yup, we shouldn’t be here. This is too intimate.
I turn to leave, as the other ladies spy on their men. I take my hat off to each man out there, they have shown just how much they love the little women in their lives. Those girls are as precious as gold to them.
It’s time I talk to my father.
chapter twenty-Eight
Let’s talk Sacrifice
Tasha
I had planned to do this differently, but Czar and LaSalle weren’t having it my way. I was going to fly to Arizona to have a talk with the good old Senator. I have some things I want to get off my chest.
However, LaSalle called my father and told him to get his ass here in twenty-four hours. LaSalle’s words, not mine. I was floored as I listened to LaSalle give the command, before abruptly hanging up.
Needless to say, my father got his ass on a plane and flew in. Kurtrina happened to call me, asking about Milanie and I mentioned our father by a simple slip of the tongue. It only took her a minute to bitterly request to meet him.
In a moment of pity, I said, “Why not?”
So, here we sit, in the middle of a room full of tension. LaSalle reserved a private room in his restaurant for this meeting. It’s not too big, maybe big enough for four round tables comfortably. For now, it is set with only one.
The room is dimly lit from the overhead chandelier. The table is covered with fresh white linens and a single candle is lit in the center of the table. It would be perfect for a dinner party for two, but instead we have this.
The moment my father walked in to see me and Kurtrina sitting side by side, he nearly tripped over himself. I watched as the blood drained from his face. He tried to play it off, but the tick in his neck gives him away every time. It’s how Cee and I always knew we were about to get in trouble.
“I don’t see how this involves you, LaSalle,” my father says bitterly.
“As this involves my soon-to-be wife, it involves me,” LaSalle shrugs. His hand hasn’t stopped stroking my arm.
My father folds his arms over his chest. “Explain to me how this has come about. Last, I was here, you and my son told me it was safer for me to return home. You said that you would make sure Monique was safe. How has my daughter, you were supposed to be keeping safe, become your whore?”
Wrong move, Daddy.
LaSalle flies out of his seat and has my father in the air by his collar. He is breathing in my father’s face, with the darkest look I’ve ever seen on his. I barely realize Kurtrina’s tight grip on my hand, as I hold my breath.
“You ever disrespect my woman again, you will take your last fucking breath. I don’t care if you’re her father or not. I think you have forgotten who the fuck I am,” LaSalle says, in a low hiss.
“I’ve been covering for your lack of attention to your family for years. This shit with the Russian and your daughters comes from you not paying attention to your family. Now you want to question me?!
“Did you even shed a tear after finding out you lost a child? You make me fucking sick. You’re going to sit your bitch ass back in that chair and answer all of their questions.
“If my fiancée decides she likes your answers, you will have your ass on a plane when I call you to walk her down the aisle. You will bring your wife, not your latest whore, and I swear you bring one more woman that’s not your wife around me, I will make sure the world knows everything I know,” LaSalle growls into my father’s face, then flings him towards the chair he snatched him out of.
My father stumbles back and almost trips on the knocked over chair. Czar snorts in the corner with a look of disgust on his face. He’s been looking at my father that way since he arrived.
Daddy straightens himself and then his suit. He dares a glare at LaSalle, but drops it when LaSalle lifts a brow at him. I’ve never seen my father back down from anyone.
LaSalle takes his seat
next to me once again, smoothing his tie down. His arm wraps around my waist and his hand splays my belly. He kisses my temple, before placing his lips to my ear.
“Say what you need to say,” he says for me to hear.
I swallow and nod. “Do you even have respect for any of us?” I start. “You just walked into a room with three of your children and you didn’t greet not one of us like a father.”
My father looks stunned at my words. He looks as if he never expected such words from me. I lift a brow at him and give him a pointed look.
“I walked into a room with two,” he pauses and clears his throat. “With three of my children glaring at me like I did something to them. I’m being ambushed and you feel some way?”
“Un-fucking-believable,” Czar and Kurtrina say in unison.
“You have got to be kidding me,” Czar moves from the corner he’s been standing in.
I know he’s been using the wall as a place to anchor him and his anger. He got up from the table right as my father arrived. I can see the anger rolling off of Czar.
“You’re some piece of work you know that,” Czar growls. “How do you not acknowledge you have two other children?”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” my father growls.
“Please, do explain,” Czar narrows his eyes, clinching his fist and rocking from foot to foot.
“Their mother assured me it wasn’t my problem. She said she was involved with someone else. I thought it better to cut ties at that point. I found out about the girls after she tried to put them up for adoption. Her sister forced her to come to me for money.
“When I didn’t cough up the cash, she went through with the adoption and I thought it was best to just sign the papers and let the situation be resolved that way,” he explains with a sour expression.
“The situation be resolved?” Czar bellows. He pulls a hand down his face. “Like we’re not talking about human beings.”
“You have no idea the sacrifices I’ve made for all of you,” my father tosses back.
Kurtrina scoffs beside me. Her grip on my hand is painfully tight. I turn to see her looking like she’s rolling something distasteful in her mouth.