Chapter 2
The city lights poured through the tall front windows in gold streaks while low R&B played from my phone sitting near the front desk. The mirrors reflected everything back at me in warm glows and shadows.
Peaceful.
I walked toward the back office with my heels dangling from two fingers and my keys in the other hand, socks sliding against the polished floors.
“Serenity Blake…” I muttered under my breath. “Why would you leave your ballet shoes all the way back here, baby?”
I pushed my office door open and immediately spotted the tiny pink bag sitting beside my desk chair.
I smiled a little.
Inside the bag were her ballet shoes, a half-open pack of fruit snacks, and one of her little bracelets with plastic stars on it.
My chest softened instantly.
Serenity left traces of herself everywhere she went.
I grabbed the bag and checked my phone.
11:51 PM.
Troy had texted twenty minutes ago.
She sleep. Don’t bang on my door like police.
I rolled my eyes so hard they almost detached from my skull.
I typed back:
Shut up.
Three dots appeared immediately.
You still mad?
Yes.
Always.
Forever probably.
Troy wasn’t a bad father. That almost made the situation more irritating.
He showed up for Serenity. Paid for everything without complaint. Took her whenever I needed him to even if he purposefully showed up late.
But as a man to ME? Pure TRASH. Manipulative. Petty. Emotionally immature. Fine as hell unfortunately and he knew exactly how to get under my skin.
The biggest issue though? The secrets.
I found out about his other daughter when Serenity was damn near two years old.
Apparently the little girl was only a month older than Serenity.
I still remembered staring at him in disbelief while he sat on my couch talking about some “I was gone tell you eventually.”
Eventually?
Nigga when?
At graduation?
Now Serenity knew her sister. Talked to her on FaceTime. Spent time with her when she went to Troy’s house.
Meanwhile I had never met the little girl’s mother. Didn’t know what she looked like and I preferred it that way.
Some doors stayed closed for a reason.
I cut off the studio lights one by one before heading outside into the parking garage.
My heels echoed softly while I walked toward my truck. The second I climbed inside, my phone lit up through bluetooth.
Troy.
I answered immediately. “What.”
“You always answer the phone like somebody died.”
“You called at midnight.”
“You bringing the shoes or not?”
I pulled out the parking spot. “I’m on the way.”
“Aight.”
Silence sat there for a second.
Then—“You eat today?”
I frowned slightly. “…Yes.”
“You lying.”
“I literally had wings.”
“At what time?”
I rolled my eyes. “Goodnight Troy.”
“Sev—”
I hung up.
Because absolutely not.
That was another thing he did.
Checking on me randomly. Sending food to the studio. Fixing things in my apartment without asking. Then turning around and irritating the hell outta me in the same breath.
Confusing ass man.
About twenty minutes later, I pulled into his neighborhood and grabbed Serenity’s bag from the passenger seat.
Troy opened the door before I even knocked. He had a white muscle shirt on with basketball shorts like he knew he would be getting some tonight.
His eyes dropped to the bag in my hand. “She was crying over them shoes for an hour.”
“That sounds personal.”
“She inherited that shit from you.”
I sucked my teeth and stepped inside just enough to hand him the bag.
The house smelled like cocoa butter and laundry detergent while some cartoon played softly from deeper inside the house.
“You could’ve left them till tomorrow,” Troy said.
“And hear my child cry on FaceTime again? No thanks.”
A grin tugged at his mouth. “You soft.”
“For Serenity? Duh.”
His eyes stayed on me a second too long after that.
“You look tired,” he said quietly.
“I am tired.”
“You losing weight again.”
“Nigga goodbye.”
He laughed softly under his breath. Then little footsteps suddenly came barreling down the hallway.
“Mommy!”
A tiny blur launched straight into my legs before I could react.
“There go my baby,” I laughed, bending down immediately while Serenity wrapped herself around me. “I thought you were sleep.”
“I woke up ‘cause daddy said my shoes was gone forever.”
I looked up at Troy.
This nigga had the audacity to shrug. “Motivation.”
“You’re irritating,” I told him flatly.
“And yet you gave me kid.”
I ignored him and focused back on Serenity, fixing the little puff balls in her hair while she talked a mile a minute.
“Daddy made tacos but he put tomatoes on mine and you KNOW I don’t like tomatoes.”
I gasped dramatically. “Not tomatoes.”
“Yes! And Kasey ate the cookies without me.”
My brows lifted slightly at the mention of her sister.
“Kasey did, huh?”
“She said I was taking too long.”
“That sound about right,” Troy muttered behind us.
I stood back up slowly while Serenity clung to my waist.
“You supposed to be sleep, mama.”
“I wanted my shoes.” She looked up at me with those big brown eyes. “You coming tomorrow?”
My chest squeezed a little. Co-parenting still felt weird sometimes.
“Not tomorrow, baby. You with daddy till Sunday remember?”
“Oh yeah.” Her face brightened instantly. “We going to the aquarium!”
Troy leaned against the doorway with his arms folded. “If somebody stop spending all my money.”
“You literally volunteered.”
“You volunteered me.”
“That’s called fatherhood.”
He rolled his eyes while Serenity giggled between us.
For a second things almost felt normal.
Then Troy looked at me again. “You okay?”
There it was.
That softer voice he used sometimes. The one that used to pull me in before I learned better.
“I’m fine.”
“You got that wrinkle between your eyebrows.”
I immediately smoothed my face. “Boy shut up.”
“You stressed.”
“I own a business.”
“So?”
“So I’m allowed to be stressed.”
His gaze dropped briefly down my body before coming back to my face. “You still ain’t sleeping enough either.”
I stared at him.
This man had some nerve noticing things. Especially after all the shit he put me through.
“You done profiling me?” I asked.
A small grin pulled at his mouth. “You cute when you mad.”
“Troy.”
“Aight aight.” He lifted his hands slightly. “Damn.”
Serenity yawned against me then.
I kissed the top of her head immediately. “Okay sleepy girl. Give me hugs.”
She wrapped herself around my neck tight. “I love you mommy.”
“I love you more.”
“No you don’t.”
“Yes I do.”
“Nope. Impossible.”
I smiled into her cheek before setting her down gently.
Troy took the ballet bag from my hand while Serenity rubbed her eyes beside him.
“You good to drive home?” he asked.
I narrowed my eyes instantly. “Why everybody asking me that lately?”
“Because you look tired, Sev.”
“I am tired.”
“Then let me drive behind you.”
Absolutely not.
“I’m good,” I said firmly.
His jaw ticked slightly, but he nodded anyway.
“Aight.”
Serenity waved sleepily from behind him. “Bye mommyyy.”
“Bye stink.”
I headed back toward my truck, heels clicking softly against the pavement while the cool night air brushed against my skin but right before I opened the door, something made me glance back toward the house.
Troy was still standing in the doorway watching me leave. And for some reason… That made me think about another pair of eyes.
Quiet, brown and observant behind glasses.
Kasen Reed.
I frowned immediately at myself and climbed into the truck.
Now why the hell was I thinking about the cyber security man at midnight?