Page 18 of Only for Me

That shit annoyed me.

“I’m not a fucking criminal.”

“You would be without him. Didn’t he just get you out of a DUI?”

I couldn’t say a damn thing, because yeah, that was true, and she smiled arrogantly.

“You’re a stranger to Avi. She needs time to adjust. Throwing her with two strangers is just cruel and will disrupt everything. I also need time to adjust and the confidence that you can handle her alone, me or nothing.”

She couldn’t make that call but I was gonna let her have it. I had zero experience with babies, so I could deal with Makari being around while I spent time with my daughter. I also didn’thate the idea of being around her pretty ass. Maybe I could fuck her a few more times, but damn sure sober enough to make sure I strapped up to prevent a repeat of why we were here.

“Aight, I’ll agree to that.”

Raaj scribbled something down but looked annoyed as hell when he lifted his eyes again. “Okay, now for financial support…”

“I don’t want his money. This is his idea, not mine.”

She was offended, which was funny as hell. The way she dodged my ass over the past year and ran up outta that pharmacy; she wasn’t on a paper chase. Raaj wasn’t convinced though based on the look he gave her.

“The sentiment is appreciated but his money will be in the form of child support, which is the right of Avi. Not yours. Once paternity is confirmed, Mr. Hayes will be financially obligated to provide for his daughter.”

“I can provide for Avi.” She was standing ten toes down on that shit and it pissed me off.

“You’ve been handling things for her without me; so clearly you’re capable. This is not about what you can or can’t do. This is about what’s fair, and since she’s mine, I’m going to make sure she’s good.”

Money I could do without question. It was the other shit I wasn’t sure I was ready to sign on for.

“The money goes into a trust for Avi. It can be for her education and future.”

“You’re stubborn as shit,” I mumbled and she grilled the fuck out of me again.

“The money will go into a trust which you’llbothhave access to. You can use it for anything relating to Avi, whenever needed. The account will be monitored by me,” Raaj stated and scribbled something down.

“Let’s negotiate a number.”

“Before we do that, add that I can buy her whatever I want whenever I want,” I chimed in.

“You don’t need permission to buy her things,” Makari said.

I laughed at that. “The way you been blocking every fucking thing I ask for, I’m not trying to risk it. Write that shit in the custody agreement, Raaj.”

“You’re childish.”

“And I’m in good company. Can we move on?”

Raaj took over and we moved through holiday schedules, discussions about how to deal with Avi’s medical decisions, and plans for how we would handle her education. We argued over that too. She wanted public school and I wanted private. This was my kid, and like it or not, she would be a target. Private school cut down on the possibility of incidents.

Raaj handled everything in his usual no nonsense manner. He made sure nothing was left to chance, which meant leaving me open. Avi slept through the entire thing which was only God looking out for me because that meant I didn’t have to engage with her. Then I would have been all in. She was beautiful as hell and I was trying hard not to want this or want her in my life.

A part of me felt like she could fix this darkness I had been stumbling through since I’d lost O’Rion but I also felt like I didn’t deserve to be in the light. All of it had me struggling.

“We need to discuss media.” Raaj’s voice pulled me from my head and Makari jerking her head back had me looking at her.

“There will be no media for Avi. At all. No pictures, interviews, or social media posts.”

“It will be damn near impossible to agree to that. Honestly, it’s not realistic. Mr. Hayes is a public figure. There will always be media attention surrounding his life.”

“No media,” I said and looked right at Makari then our daughter. “But all I can guarantee is no photos of her face and no details about her life will be shared unless Makari and I discussit first. But it goes both ways. She can’t share anything about our daughter without my prior approval.”