3. Chapter 3
Chapter 3
Beau
I held Mira as she wept.
She was a kid, just twenty-two, and she'd been carrying way too many burdens. I didn't understand her and Asha's relationship with their parents, but I knew from Asha, the brief time we'd dated, that she stayed away from the Indian community. She'd been working as a marketing manager at a software company, and we met at a tech conference in Atlanta. We'd hung out a few times and hooked up whenever I was in Atlanta. Asha was cool. Laid back. Not looking for a relationship. I could understand why she thought I wouldn't want or care for a child—after all, I'd been pretty explicit about how I conducted my affairs. I believed in sex and in having fun. I wasn't going to get married and settle down. Thankfully, my brother had married the love of his life, and my mother could nag them about having children and steer clear of me.
In any case, I couldn't take it up with a dead woman as to why she'd hidden my child from me. Mira, obviously, was under the misconception that I'd signed my parental rights away. She didn't know me, hell, nor had Asha, so it made sense that she believed her sister.
Still, a part of me was enraged that I hadn't known about Pari's existence for nearly three years. I watched her out in the garden with Roxy, and a pang went through me. I didn't know my child, and I had to tamp down the desire to blame the woman in my arms.
Regardless of my latent annoyance, Mira curled into me felt right. She was nearly twelve years younger than me, and every protective instinct of mine was wide awake, and so was, unfortunately, my dick. Apparently, my libido had zero discretion. Of all the women I could and had fucked, Mira Sen was the one that was forbidden . There was something unseemly about sleeping with sisters.
I nuzzled Mira's hair and took a deep breath. She smelled of sandalwood. After spending any time at all in that car of hers and wearing what looked like clean but old clothes, she didn't look like someone I would be attracted to, but I was.
After a while, Mira raised her head, her eyes red and blotchy, her thin face looking even more haggard. She was carrying the load of the world on her slim shoulders.
"You okay, darlin'?"
"I'm so sorry, Beau. I'm such a mess."
I wiped the remaining tears. Her skin was smooth like silk.
She's twenty-two, you pervert; of course, she has supple skin.
"Don't worry about it, yeah? It's all good. Now, I have some questions. Your car is a piece of junk, darlin'; why are you drivin' it?"
She gave me a watery chuckle. "It's all I could afford to buy. I was driving Asha's car, but…my parents took it away."
"And that's my other question. What's the story with your parents?"
She stiffened. "They want custody of Pari." Her voice was small.
"Why is that a bad thing?" I asked patiently, as it seemed that was what had spurred Mira to contact me.
Her eyes went wide. "You don't want her? That's okay. I…I'll raise her. Just don't—"
"I do want my daughter. Don't doubt that, ever. But it's obvious you're struggling, Mira. Why not let your parents help?"
Her jaw tightened. "They don't want to help, Beau; they want to take Pari away from me."
I couldn't imagine any parents wanting to do that unless it was warranted, and I could understand someone thinking a twenty-year-old—hell, she had been nineteen when she became Pari's guardian—should not be raising a child.
"Well, they're going to be welcome to be part of Pari's life, but—"
"No." Mira's distress was tangible, almost radiating off of her. I couldn't understand it, but she was too fragile right now for me to press her, so I let it go.
"But," I continued, "I will be in her life." I laughed softly. "I am her parent."
"I…I'm so surprised. I thought I'd have to beg you to help me." She looked relieved.
I smiled. "Asha didn't know me well."
She nodded. "I gathered that."
"Asha made you Pari's guardian?"
Mira looked sad. "We only have… had each other. Now, I have Pari."
" And you have me and my family," I assured her. She was my daughter's aunt, which made her a Bodine for all practical purposes.
"What happens now?" she asked, looking out at the garden where Pari was laughing out loud, chasing Roxy around a magnolia tree.
"First things first." I stood up. "When was the last time you got a proper night's sleep?"
She looked confused and then shrugged, shaking her head as if she didn't have a proper response to that question.
"That long?" I grimaced and held out a hand to her. "I'm going to make sure you and Pari are settled and comfortable in my house. Then I'm going to talk to my lawyer, and we'll start to look into the legalities of things."
She put her hand in mine and let me pull her up to stand. I tipped her chin up with a finger. "What are you worried about, darlin'?"
"Once you have Pari…will you let me be with her?"
Her eyes filled with tears as she spoke the words that, I was beginning to realize, revealed her deepest fear: being separated from my daughter—the child she had come to think of as her own. After all, she had cared for her since birth, even before.
"I'd never do that to Pari or you." I kept my voice level so she'd know not to doubt my words. I didn't want her to worry about being separated from Pari. "You're the only mother she's known, Mira. I don't know what the future looks like, but we'll find a way to co-parent. How about that?"
Her face lit up, and despite the dark circles beneath her eyes, they gleamed with bright, undeniable joy. "That sounds perfect."
"And with me helping with Pari, you can go back to culinary school," I offered.
She shook her head vigorously. "I can't leave her and go to New York."
I was charmed by her dedication to my daughter, pleased and glad that Asha had trusted her.
"Why don't we figure out dinner and sleeping arrangements for tonight? Then we can look at the future."
She clasped my hand in both of hers. "I'm so grateful, Beau."
"Mira, I'm the thankful one. You brought my daughter to me."
But when I talked to my family about Pari, I realized that only Nova and I truly appreciated what Mira had done for my daughter. Everyone else was furious, outraged that she had dared to keep Pari away from her family.
"And what kind of a name is Pari ? Does she have a middle name? Something else we can call her?" Mama wondered over the phone.
I had insisted we talk on FaceTime because I didn't want anyone to come over to my house right now, in case it caused more chaos in Pari and Mira's already muddled lives.
"Mama, her name is Pari," I maintained. "You can learn to say Pari. Her mother, who is dead, named her that. Let's show her some respect, yeah?"
Mama was having a tough time.
She had recently found out Nova was our half-sister, her husband's illegitimate child, but it hadn't been easy. She'd always liked Nova, so finding out her blood connection to us had been a little easier (and sometimes harder) to digest. It took Mama an agonizing six months to get to a place of peace with Nova's existence, which had been a relief to all of us because if we'd had to go through Trev and Katya's wedding with Mama taking potshots at Nova, her man, Anson, would've lost his shit, as would I. The relationship was not contentious, but Nova wasn't trying to be best friends with my mother—she was all about keeping it copacetic.
"Why do you think she doesn't want her parents around?" Katya mused. "It's very odd."
"We don't know what their family is like," Nova interjected. "And it seems that this was what Asha wanted for her daughter. Her sister might be simply honoring that."
"Regardless, she's my kid, which means she stays with me. Her grandparents can be part of her life, but she'll be raised as a Bodine," I said firmly.
"Of course, she will be," Mama huffed. "When can I see her? I want to—"
"I'm going to get her to talk to a therapist first and—"
"What?" Mama screeched. "Why?"
"Because she lost her mother, and I don't know what trauma she's going through." I loved my mother, but the amount I liked her shifted on a daily basis. She could be a complete pain in my ass.
"You gonna talk to Fallon?" Katya asked.
"Didn't you date her?" Trevor, my brother asked.
"He's dated everyone in Savannah," Nova pointed out.
"I don't date," I quipped.
"Yeah, you just fu…." Remembering our mother was on the line, Trevor shut the hell up.
Dr. Fallon Ashford was a children's psychologist. She and I had, as Trevor indicated, fucked a few times—but we never dated. She had gotten married, and since I didn't fuck wives of other men, we'd gone our separate ways. A year ago, Fallon got divorced, and since then, we'd been spending time together as friends. I wasn't sexually attracted to her any longer, and I was certain she felt the same.
"You need to have this Mira woman investigated," Katya stated. "You know nothing about her."
"I agree," Mama added her two cents.
"He's probably already asked someone to look into her," Trevor remarked.
He was right to think that way because it would've been typical of me. But he was wrong because, for some reason, the thought hadn't even crossed my mind—which was strange, considering who I was. I didn't know Mira well. Hell, I barely knew Asha, aside from the fact that we'd slept together and, somehow, I'd managed to get her pregnant.
"What does your gut say?" Nova spoke softly.
In the months since I discovered Nova was my half-sister, we'd grown even closer than when we were just good friends. I liked her fiancé, Anson, despite the fact that he'd been a jackass to her in the past. He treated her well now, and I had no complaints.
"My gut tells me Mira's been through a lot. She's a young woman who's had to care for a dying sister and then raise a newborn on her own. She sacrificed her place at the CIA and—"
"She's a spy?" Mama interrupted.
"Culinary Institute of America, Mama," I explained. "She's a chef, or rather, she was working toward it. When I knew her in Atlanta, she worked in a diner, I think."
I heard a noise outside my office and went to the door to see who might be lurking. Roxy had already gone to her cottage and rarely returned after she left, so it had to be one of my two houseguests. One of them had gone to bed an hour ago, exhausted but content after a meal of Pari's favorite meatballs and spaghetti, which Roxy had cooked.
As I suspected, it was Mira. She wore a ratty T-shirt and nothing else. At around five-five, the shirt fell to mid-thigh, leaving miles of smooth brown skin and a pair of excellent legs exposed. Her hair tumbled loosely around her shoulders, and she held something in her hand.
She squeaked when she saw me and almost dropped whatever she held. There was something off with Mira. She startled too easily, and I wondered why. Maybe she needed therapy, just like Pari.
"I have to go," I murmured into my phone and hung up before Mama could start a new line of interrogation. "All okay, Mira?"
"Yes." She placed a hand over her heart. "Pari wakes up sometimes at night asking for water." She held up a red sippy cup in her hand as proof. "I forgot about it earlier and then remembered. I'm sorry if I disturbed you."
"You didn't disturb me," I assured her, and then added, "Uh, you both comfortable?"
I had asked if she wanted separate rooms, which wasn't a problem since I had plenty, but Mira insisted that she and Pari sleep together. I'd already decided to convert the bedroom next to mine into Pari's room.
My life had changed in one day.
This morning, when I'd woken up, I wasn't thinking of pink fucking wallpaper, but that was then, and this was now. I was suddenly a father , and the part of me that wanted to panic was buried deep under a sense of responsibility and absolute and terrifying love.
In all honesty, I didn't have the bandwidth to freak the fuck out. I had a two-and-a-half-year-old daughter, a twenty-two-year-old single mother (which Mira was for all practical purposes), and no idea what the fuck I could expect from the coming day. But as someone who managed the Bodine family fortune and ran a tech company—agility was ingrained in me. Eventually, I knew it would hit me hard. However, for now, I was trying to make sure we got through, one moment at a time.
"Yes, thank you. The room is very nice," she answered softly, taking me from my thoughts.
"Pari okay?"
"I put pillows around her so she won't fall." Mira sounded panicked as she spoke, like I was blaming her for being a lousy caregiver to my daughter because she'd left her alone in bed. "I never leave her on her own…it's just when we're home, and it's safe."
I felt like she was constantly waiting for someone to accuse her of screwing up with her niece. It gave me a bad feeling.
Yeah, I wanted Fallon to spend some time with Pari, make sure the kid was all right, and ensure Mira got help and got on with her life.
She said she wanted to raise Pari with me, but Mira was so young. She'd move on and would continue to be an aunt, of course, but I didn't think she'd have the patience or desire to co-parent a child with me. Also, having her around full-time would only bring disaster because, even now, while she looked scared shitless, I wanted to see what kind of panties she wore under the T-shirt.
You're a fucking pervert, the guy with a halo muttered in my head.
You're a man, and she's fuckin' hot , the guy with the horns scoffed.
"Mira, I know Pari is safe." I offered her a reassuring smile.
"Okay. Right. I'm just…I better get some sleep. She wakes up early."
I'd asked Mira to give me Pari's schedule, and apparently, my kid sounded like me, a total Type-A personality who woke up at the crack of dawn.
I spent forty-five minutes in the gym every morning before I started my day—because it set me up to have a good one. I'd now have to figure out how to take care of a kid and exercise. How would that work?
"I'll be there to help you."
She gave me that deer caught in headlights look again. "I don't need help. Not with Pari. I just—"
"I want to get to know my daughter, Mira," I cut in softly.
She closed her eyes and released a deep breath. "I'm sorry, Beau. I…I'm so used to it just being us that it's taking me a minute to get used to the idea that there are other people in Pari's life now."
"We'll take this slow and steady." I put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed. Lord, but she was slender. Frail. There was something ethereal about Mira, something delicate, making me want to— Stop!
Fucking hell!
She nodded uncertainly. "Goodnight, Beau."
"Goodnight, darlin'." I watched her walk down the hallway to the guestroom she and Pari occupied.
She had a fine, fine ass.
I decided to check in on them before I went to bed. I'd done that just a half hour ago before I called my family to break the news about the newest member of the Bodine family.
Pari was snuggled into Mira. They looked at ease like this is how they always slept.
They were obviously close. It had become apparent during dinner that they had their own language—and not just Bengali—but an intimate, unique connection. I couldn't wait to build the same with Pari.
I went back to my office and texted Fallon, asking if she'd be free for a drink tomorrow. I wanted to talk to her about how to handle Pari and Mira. I also wanted Fallon to assess Pari's emotional state. She looked healthy and happy, but what the hell did I know about children? Fucking nothing .
I sat down at my computer and, before I could overthink it, sent an email to the security firm we had on contract at Secure Systems, the company that I'd founded, asking them to put a report together about Mira and Asha Sen. I wanted all the details I could get about the sisters.
I followed that with an email to the Bodine family physician, Dr. Colby Mayfield, asking him to bring his ass over to the house during lunch the following day so we could get started on the DNA testing.
Last but not least, I told my EA to book a meeting with our family lawyer, Helen Goodwin, whose firm was on retainer for the Bodine family as well as my company. Not too long ago, Helen's daughter, Lemon, had helped Nova out with a situation she'd found herself in with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and Savannah PD.
I ran a hand through my hair as I cataloged everything that needed to be done. Step one was to figure out the legalities regarding Pari's custody and then find out what the hell was going on with Mira and Asha's parents.