“Are you mad at me?” I asked.
She shook her head. “No. But I wanna meet him.”
“You will.”
***
I strolled back into DeLuca Enterprises with Liberty in tow. I didn’t know how this was going to go, but I’m here now and it had to be done. I stopped at the front desk to let the lady know I was here to see Kilo. After eying me and Liberty. She called himand he directed her to send me up. My breathing shallowed, and I closed my eyes to get a grip. I felt Liberty squeeze my hand causing me to open my eyes and look at her. I gave her a small, assuring smile right before the elevator stopped.
I knocked once, then walked into Kilo’s office. He was behind the desk again, looking over paperwork. When he saw me, his expression shifted. His eyes darted to Liberty, then back at me, but he still didn’t speak.
“I know you bet not be walking in here to tell me what the fuck I think you’re about to tell me,” he snapped. Liberty moved closer to me, and I rubbed her back to make sure she was fine.
“This is my daughter,” I started. “Her name is Liberty. She’s nine. And she’s yours.”
He didn’t move. Didn’t blink. Just stared at us like we would disappear.
“You had a baby?”
“Yes.”
“You hadmybaby?”
Again I answered, “Yes.”
“You serious right now?” he said, voice low.
“I didn’t know how to tell you.”
“I was locked up, not buried. My people still lived in the same place. You could’ve told somebody.”
“My parents found out before I could say anything, Franklin. They hated you. They hated the thought of me having your baby. They said I’d ruin everything if I told you. That you’d use her, or your family would take her from me.”
“So you kept her from me for nine years.”
“. I didn’t take her from you.”
“You tookeverythingfrom me.”
He stood up, towering, voice rising with every word. “I did time eight fuckin’ years and the whole time I ain’t know I hada fuckin’ daughter out here! Do you know what that does to a man? Huh?”
Liberty flinched at his voice. That’s when he realized she was still in the room.
“I’m sorry.”
“No, you ain’t. You sorry it caught up to you.” He walked closer to Liberty and squatted in front of her. “She looks just like me, Shay.”
“She acts like you, too.”
He looked at her for a second before he cleared his throat and spoke. “Hey, baby girl. Uhm, I’m your da—I’m Franklin.”
“You’re my dad, right?” she asked innocently causing Kilo to look at me with fire in his eyes.
“That’s what I heard. How you feel about that?”
Liberty looked up at me and smiled before she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. The action caught him by surprise, but he quickly recovered and reciprocated. Finally, he let her go and stood to his feet.
“What now?” he asked
