6. Gia Rose
GIA ROSE
Ichecked my phone again and immediately felt stupid for doing it. There were no missed calls. No new text messages. No voicemail. Just the same message I’d been staring at for almost a week.
Tell my daughter I love her.
That was it.
No explanation. No follow-up. No “I’ll call later.” No “Tell her I’ll see her soon.”
Just one sentence—one sentence that had somehow become the only thing standing between my daughter and the conclusion she was trying not to reach.
With a frustrated sigh, I tossed my phone onto the couch and leaned my head back against the cushion.
At first, I’d tried to give Maddox space.
Finding out the truth about Luciana couldn’t have been easy.
Hell, I wasn’t the one married to her and the shit still had me sick to my stomach.
Every time I thought about those years, I found myself getting angry all over again.
Then I’d get angry at myself, because maybe I should’ve told him sooner.
Maybe I should’ve ignored the paperwork and the threats.
Maybe I should’ve stopped worrying about protecting everybody else’s peace and focused on my child.
The thoughts never stopped coming. Every day it was something different.
Every day I found another reason to blame myself for how things had turned out.
The crazy part was I wasn’t even worried about me.
I wasn’t worried about where Maddox and I stood. I wasn’t worried about his marriage. I wasn’t worried about any of that shit.
I was worried about Nylah, because every day that passed, she asked about him a little less.
The first day he’d left without a goodbye, she’d asked three times. The second day maybe twice.
Yesterday she’d only asked once.
Today… not at all.
That should’ve made me feel better. Instead, it felt like my daughter was slowly preparing herself for disappointment, and that hurt more than I wanted to admit.
The sound of the front door opening pulled me from my thoughts. A second later it closed again, and I already knew who it was before I heard his footsteps.
Pryce walked into the living room carrying grocery bags in both hands. The second his eyes landed on me, his expression changed.
“You been sitting there all day?”
I rolled my eyes and said, “No.”
“That’s a lie.”
Despite everything weighing on me, a small laugh escaped my mouth. Somehow, Pryce always knew when I was spiraling. He sat the bags on the counter before walking over and pressing a kiss against the top of my head.
“You hear from him?”
The question wasn’t loaded with jealousy or attitude. It wasn’t even bitter. It was simple concern.
My eyes drifted toward the phone beside me as I shook my head. “No.”
Pryce nodded slowly before taking a seat nearby.
“I called twice,” I admitted. “I texted too.”
“I know…”
…and he did know.
He’d been right here watching this whole thing unfold. Watching me blame myself. Watching Nylah wait. Watching our entire household carry the weight of decisions none of us had made.
For a few seconds, neither of us said anything. Then I finally asked the question that had been eating me alive for days.
“What if I made a mistake?”
Pryce immediately frowned.
“By telling him?”
I nodded.
The words felt heavier coming out than they had in my head.
“What if I should’ve left it alone? What if I should’ve never said anything?” I swallowed hard. “At least then Nylah wouldn’t be sitting around wondering why he disappeared.”
Pryce stared at me for a long moment before shaking his head.
“No, Gia.” My eyes lifted to his. “You told him the truth.”
I looked away and mumbled, “And look what happened.”
Pryce leaned forward, resting his forearms on his knees.
“No.” His voice softened. “Look what was already there.”
The words hit harder than I expected because deep down, I knew he was right.
Everything happening now existed long before I opened my mouth. The lies, secrets and damage… I didn’t create any of it.
I was just the person who finally stopped carrying it by myself.
That should’ve made me feel better, but it didn’t.
It just made me feel worse, because regardless of whose fault it was, my daughter was still the one hurting.
Maddox was hurting. Hell, even Pryce was hurting, whether he admitted it or not.
Everybody was paying for decisions that should’ve never been made in the first place.
Before I could say anything else, the sound of footsteps coming down the hallway pulled both of our attention toward the living room entrance.
It was Nylah.
My heart immediately squeezed even though she wasn’t crying, pouting, throwing a fit or any of that.
Shit, to be honest, that would’ve been easier.
Instead, she looked… quiet.
She walked into the room holding a picture frame against her chest before climbing onto the couch beside me.
Neither one of us spoke right away, and neither one of us had to.
The second I looked down and saw the picture, I knew exactly what this was about.
It was the photo she’d insisted on printing after our trip to Atlanta.
The one with her and Maddox standing side by side smiling at the camera. At the time, I thought it was adorable. Now it felt like a knife to the chest.
Nylah traced her finger across the edge of the frame before finally looking up.
“Mom?”
“Yeah, baby?”
She hesitated. Then asked, “You think he busy?”
The question damn near broke me because of how hopeful she sounded asking it. Like she was giving him an excuse. Like she was trying to make sense of something that didn’t make sense.
I swallowed hard before forcing a smile.
“Yeah. I think your dad got a lot going on right now.”
Her eyes dropped back to the picture.
“Oh…” she said in a low voice.
I noticed how Pryce looked away, watching her hurt was killing him too, because he loved her too.
“Do you think he miss me?” Nylah’s question hit so hard I felt it in my chest.
I opened and closed my mouth, but no words came out. Then, eventually, I told her, “Baby, I know he misses you.”
In my heart, I felt that part was true. Maddox might’ve disappeared. He might’ve stopped answering calls. He might’ve been drowning in his own problems, but one thing I never doubted was how much that man cared about my daughter.
Nylah looked up at me, smiling through pressed lips, “You do?”
I nodded.
“Absolutely.”
She stared at me for a second before looking back down at the picture. Then quietly asked the question I’d been dreading all week. “When am I gonna see him again?”
This time, I didn’t have an answer because I honestly didn’t know. The only thing I could do was pull her closer and kiss the top of her head while silently praying Maddox got his shit together before a little girl who adored him started believing he wasn’t coming back.
My arms tightened around her as she leaned against my side, still holding the picture frame in her lap. For a few seconds, none of us said anything.
Then Pryce stood from the couch. Without saying a word, he walked over and sat on the coffee table directly in front of Nylah.
Immediately, her eyes lifted to him.
“Can I tell you something?” he asked her. She nodded. Pryce rested his forearms on his knees and looked at her for a second before speaking. “You know I love you, right?”
A smiled again and said, “I know.”
“No.” He shook his head. “I’m serious. You know I’d do anything for you, right?”
This time she smiled a little bigger.
“Yes.”
“Good…” His expression softened. “Then trust me when I tell you this… Your dad loves you too.”
I felt my throat tighten. Not because of what he said, but because of who it was coming from. A lot of men would’ve let their pride get in the way. A lot of men would’ve been happy seeing Maddox stumble and used this opportunity to secure their spot.
Not Pryce… because no matter what insecurities he’d been carrying around since Maddox showed up, he loved Nylah more than he loved his own ego.
Nylah looked down at the picture again.
“You think so?”
“I know so.” The answer came without hesitation. Without doubt. Without jealousy… Just certainty. “He was excited to meet you.”
She didn’t say anything. My baby didn’t smile, look convinced or none of that—which told me exactly how much she was struggling.
Pryce noticed it too.
“You know what I think?” Nylah looked up. “I think grown folks be making shit harder than it gotta be.”
A laugh escaped me before I could stop it.
Even Nylah cracked a small smile.
Pryce pointed toward her.
“See. That’s the smile I’ve been trying to get all week.”
For a moment, things felt normal again.
Then Nylah’s smile slowly faded as she looked at me. “Can I call him?”
The question caught all of us off guard.
I looked at Pryce. Pryce looked at me, because neither one of us had expected that.
Nylah lowered her eyes and went on to say, “I just wanna say hi.”
Fuck.
My heart shattered all over again, because there was nothing unreasonable about that request. Nothing dramatic or selfish. Just a little girl wanted to talk to her father.
That was it.
I swallowed hard and reached for her hand, telling her, “Not tonight, baby.”
The disappointment on her face was immediate.
“Why?”
I searched for an answer that wouldn’t make her hate Maddox. Wouldn’t make her question him. Wouldn’t make her think this was her fault, but the problem was, I didn’t have one.
So, before I could speak, Pryce saved me. “He got a lot on his plate right now.”
Nylah looked between us. Then back down at the picture. “Oh.”
There it was again, that little word. That little bit of disappointment she kept trying to hide, and in that moment, I realized something that scared the hell out of me.
Every day Maddox stayed away, it was getting harder to convince her he was coming back.
Hours later, the house had finally settled down.
The television was off. The dishes had been washed. Nylah was asleep in her room with that damn picture sitting on her nightstand, and despite how exhausted I was, sleep felt like the furthest thing from my mind.
I sat on the back patio with my knees pulled against my chest while the night air wrapped around me. The neighborhood was quiet except for the occasional car passing in the distance.
Usually, I loved nights like this.
Tonight, all I could think about was how badly everything had gone.
The sliding glass door opened behind me.
A few seconds later, Pryce stepped outside carrying two bottles of water. He handed me one before taking the seat beside me. Neither one of us spoke right away, and we didn’t have to.
After everything we’d been through together, silence had never made either of us uncomfortable.
“She cried after you tucked her in.”
I looked down at the bottle in my hands and asked as if I didn’t already know, “Did she?”
Pryce nodded and said, “She tried not to.”
That somehow made it worse, because Nylah had always been the type of child who worried about everybody else’s feelings before her own. Even when she was hurting, she’d smile and pretend she wasn’t. Just like she had tonight.
I let out an exhausting breath.
“I fucked up.”
Pryce immediately shook his head.
“There you go again.”
“I’m serious, Pryce.”
“So am I… You didn’t create this situation, Gia.”
“Maybe not, but I helped blow it up.”
Pryce sighed and leaned back in his chair. “The truth was always gonna come out, babe.”
I looked over at him.
“You don’t know that. It hadn’t for all these years.”
“But it was going to come.” His answer came fast enough to make me pause. For nine years, people lied and made decisions they had no business making. Sooner or later, somebody was gonna trip over all that bullshit.”
The crazy thing was, I knew he was right. The problem was knowing he was right didn’t make me feel any better.
My eyes drifted toward the dark backyard.
“You think he’s coming back?” The question slipped out before I could stop it. It was crazy because if I didn’t have an answer for that, then how in the hell did I expect him to.
For a second, Pryce didn’t answer. Then finally, he looked over at me.
“I think ol’ dude got his whole world turned upside down.”
I swallowed hard.
“And?”
“And I think he’s trying to figure out what the fuck to do with it.”
Neither one of us spoke after that.
We just sat here listening to the night around us while a thousand different thoughts ran through my head. In the house, my daughter was sleeping with a picture of her father on the nightstand.
Somewhere else, Maddox was dealing with the fallout of a secret neither one of us had created.
And for the first time since he’d walked out of my house, I realized something that made my stomach turn.
As angry as I was at him for disappearing, I wasn’t the only one waiting for him to come back. He was probably trying to find his way back to himself too.