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“Tell me about her,” Kilian says to me as we both lay spent on my bed after three rounds of the most intense sex we’ve ever had. His hand plays with my hair as I trace circles along his abs.

“I’ve already told you about her.”

“Tell me more.”

I smile as I look up at him. “You’ll just have to find out everything from her at breakfast in the morning.”

His teeth snap at my lips. “Breakfast? You’re letting me stay?”

“I want you to meet her. You’re her father.”

His eyes turn sullen. “What if she doesn’t like me? What if she wants nothing to do with me?”

“That won’t happen. She will probably hate me for keeping you a secret. Keeping you to myself for the last months.”

His finger runs along my jawline. “We don’t have to tell her that.”

“I think she will love you, Kilian. She’s a part of both of us. And I know her. I know you. God, I wish I had told you sooner.”

He cups my jaw. “There are a lot of things we should have told each other. But we can’t change what happened to us. We can only change our future.”

I smile at him then lean forward to brush my lips against his. “Her middle name is Niamh.”

“You named her after my grandmother?”

I shrug. “I wanted to feel close to you somehow. I needed that. For me. For her. And I knew my family would never question it. I went to school for languages. They knew I loved Ireland.”

“I love you,” he says to me, his lips caressing mine in the gentlest of kisses. His hand reaching around to cup my ass, pulling me into him.

“It’s just a name, Kilian.”

I can feel his length hardening against my stomach. “You know it means more than that.”

I swallow as I press a kiss to his chest. “I know.”

He pulls me on top of him and I waste no time sliding down on his length, making love to him. Because I know that this is easy, us right here, right now. But by morning things will change. And I need as much of him as I can get right now.

22

KILIAN

Iflip sausage and bacon over in a pan. Bella is showering upstairs. I joined her for part of it, her on her knees, my dick deep in her throat. But she pushed me out after and said she needed to actually shower.

I grew impatient waiting in her room. So I came down to make breakfast. It’s early, just before eight, so I am hoping Aria doesn’t wake up before Bella comes downstairs.

My stomach does a flip thinking about Aria, my daughter. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous to meet her.

Fuck. I’m a father.

I laugh, thinking about the irony of it all. My own father choosing me as his protégé because he knew I would never settle down. I wouldn’t hold back The Partners by being burdened with family life. Yet here I am making breakfast for my kid before I even meet her.

“Who are you and why are you laughing?” a high-pitched voice says.

It makes me jump and I drop the tongs into the hot oil, causing it to splash on my hand. “Fuck!” I shout. “I mean, shi—shoot.”

“It’s okay, Mom swears all the time. She just thinks I don’t hear it.”