I’m a third-rate lobbyist at best, with a daughter I only just found out about, and I need to be here. I know you said no to the marrying thing, but I want to be part of Peyton’s life in any way you’ll let me.”
“You will be. I just need to figure it out. Now’s just obviously not the best time.”
She seemed to be sincere, but Victor couldn’t help reflect that if he hadn’t sent the letter, he might never have known he had a daughter. “Am I on her birth certificate?”
Silence.
“Sabine?”
Sabine lifted her glasses and rubbed her eyes. “Yes, you are. I didn’t tell you about her because I wanted to see if rehab had stuck. And then, honestly, there was always an excuse to delay it. We’ve built a life that works. Selfishly, I wanted to keep it like that.”
Victor watched Peyton as she played in the sand. She’d been joined by a little boy who was using his hands to help fill her bucket.
“Do you love her?”
“Peyton?”
“Lacey.”
At her name, Victor’s throat tightened. “Yeah. But Peyton’s my priority. And whatever I need to do to prove that to you, I will do it.”
Sabine pushed her sunglasses onto her hair, shielding her eyes as she watched her daughter. “I’m not going to withhold Peyton from you if you’re with someone. You’re not who you were. The fact that you were willing to show up today and propose because you had some well-meaning, but bonkers, idea that it was the right thing to do proves you’re not the same person. But it’s not the right thing to do. I deserve to be with someone who will love me with their whole heart. And so do you.” Sabine turned and looked at him properly for the first time. “Go fight for Lacey, Victor. I promise Peyton and I aren’t going anywhere.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
“Hi.” Lacey leaned against his door frame like it was something she did all the time. Over her shoulder, Victor caught a glimpse of Sean’s gaping mouth.
His eyes drank her in, the sight of her better than a bottle of Gatorade at the end of a long run. Her hair fell curly and loose, more structured than it had been in the wilderness, but so much more free than the glossy pulled-back do.
He’d known she’d let the curls stay. They’d been prominent in the large photo the Financial Post had printed as part of the profile they published the week before after it had been announced she was taking over as CEO.
Beside him, his printer whirred and clicked as it spat out the document he’d just finalized.
“Hey.” He managed to croak the word out.
“Do you have a minute?” She stepped in and closed the door behind her. Not that it would shield them from much, given the recently installed window that ran the length of his office—one of Lacey’s first moves when her appointment was announced. No one in the company would ever again be able to hide bad behavior behind a closed office door.
“Of course.”
Lacey glanced toward the window, a small smile on her lips as at least three people ducked their heads and pretended to focus on their screens. No doubt, the company’s instant messenger network was running even hotter than it had the day the restructure was announced.
Pressing his hands on his desktop, Victor forced himself to his feet, half-surprised when his knees held. “We can leave the fishbowl if you’d like. Go somewhere else.”
Apart from his desk, the only other furniture was a bookshelf, a cheap industrial-looking sofa, and two uncomfortable chairs.
Lacey took a couple of steps into the space as he came around his desk. “This is fine. I won’t be long. I have a meeting.”
“Oh, okay.” Why was she here? Surely it couldn’t be to check that he wasn’t going to say anything about the two of them. She could have done that by text. Not by making them the talking point of the entire building. And surely she knew he would never betray her. He’d never do a single thing that would risk undermining her.
He leaned against the front of his desk, his hand knocking over one of the framed photographs. It clattered on the surface, and he reached down to prop it back up.
“Is that her?”
Victor looked down and realized he’d knocked over the photo of Peyton.
“Yes. Her name is Peyton.”
Lacey reached out and looked at the photo for a second before standing it back up. “She’s lovely.”