Page 24 of Dreaux: The Corporate Assassin

“Is he mean to you when you’re over there?” I glanced back at her when we approached a red light. I reached back and shook her little feet, hoping she gave me a small smile. “You can tell me anything…”

Looking down at her little fingers, she fondled them before she brought her eyes to mine. The light changed colors, but I made sure to watch her through the rearview mirror to gauge her expression.

“No… he’s not mean. He just doesn’t play with me the way you, Nana June, and Papa Joe do.” I exhaled the breath I didn’t know I was holding because had she said he was mistreating her, I was going to jail behind my child. “No one talks to me, butthey’renot mean.”

“How about this?” I pulled into the lot of Kiddie Kingdom. Every day, I vowed to do something with her, and today, she wanted to go to an indoor playground. “I will tell him the only way I’ll let you come over a little more is if he promises to have more fun.” I turned and reached back to lift her chin. “More games. More pizza. More?—”

“…candy and ice cream?” She beamed as she unfastened her booster seat. “I love candy and ice cream, Mommy!”

“I know you do, baby.” I chuckled as I got out of the car before going into the backseat and pulling her out. “Your dad is actually going to join us here today. Is that okay?”

Nodding her head rapidly, she held my hand as she spoke a mile a minute about all the games she wanted to play. Stepping inside, I groaned at all of the kids running and playing. The local school district was out of school today for some bullshit holiday, so it was more crowded than when we usually came. After paying for our admission, I helped my baby put on her grip socks for the trampoline. Before she could run off, a shadow formed over us, and once he came fully into view, it took everything in me not to frown and groan.

“Hey, my pretty baby.” Bryce smiled as he pulled Briley into his arms and kissed her cheek. “You look so pretty today.”

“Hi, Daddy!” She giggled and hugged him back. Regardless of how much time she does or doesn’t spend with him, she loves the fucker. “I’m going to go jump. Watch how high I can go!”

“Stay where I can see you!” I yelled at her back as she took off running. Thankfully, the trampoline she wanted to play on was directly in front of an empty bench. Taking a seat, I watched my baby jump around and squeal as if she was having the time of her life.

“Well, hello to you too, Denim,” Bryce said as he took a seat a little too close for my liking. “You look nice today.”

“Thank you,” I responded dryly. “Your daughter loves Bluely, so she wanted us to dress alike.”

There was a time when I would light up and get so excited at the thought of spending time with Bryce and our daughter. Finding out he didn’t initially want her because he was married turned me off from him, and I never saw him the same way again.

“You could be a little happy about me being here,” he stated lowly as he adjusted the collar of his shirt. No matter where he went, he would always dress as if he was going to or coming from an important meeting. “You should be a little more thankful?—”

I cut him off and turned to him with a raised brow. “Thankful that you’re here spending time with your child? If you came here to argue, you can go on about your day, Bryce. I shouldn’t have even invited you since you think I’m going to let you petition to take my child from me.” The thought of it alone was pissing me off. “From what she tells me… you don’t even acknowledge her when she is with y’all.”

When it comes to Bryce spending time with Briley, we agreed on every other weekend, every other holiday, and every day after her birthday. That didn’t last long because the wife felt the arrangement was cutting into their daily life. Moving her schedule around so that her husband could see his child obviously wasn’t important. That was another reason I didn’t care for my child going over to their house. His wife didn’t want her there.

“We have fun.” He frowned in confusion as he turned and watched her as she jumped. “We have dinner together, and she also has toys… and a game room.”

I chuckled and angled my head. “Doyouplay with her? Do you ask her about her day?” Pausing, I waited for a response. When I was met with silence, I turned and looked at him. “Bryce… what’s her favorite color? Food? Cartoon? What did she name her newest stuffed animal? Do you know anything about your daughter?”

He said nothing as he peered at her. I could see his jaw tick as he mulled over the questions because he knew just as well as I did that he didn’t know the answers. “I had no idea that stuff mattered… she’s just a little girl. I didn’t think I needed to know…” He stopped himself before clearing the somber tone with a cough and dropping his head. “She must hate me.”

“No, that’s just me.” I smirked, causing him to chuckle. “Just do better. She wants to give you a chance. As much as I want to keep her away from you, I can’t… and I won’t. You’re her father as much as I’m her mother. She needs both of us.”

We sat in a brief silence and watched our baby go from station to station, playing her little heart out. She met another little girl and started dragging her around the play area, still within our view. Seeing her happy was the only thing that mattered to me.

“I’m sorry for how things have been between us these past few years.” I glanced over at him and found him staring at me intently. “I know I’ve done and said a lot of hurtful things over the seven years, but I do love my child. I love you for having my child, Denim.”

“If I knew you were married, we wouldn’t have had her,” I stated honestly. “I love my child with my whole heart, but I never would have consented to help you commit adultery, Bryce. That’s not me, and quite frankly, I understand why Rebecca doesn’t want Briley around?—”

“Who the hell said that?” He frowned as his posture stiffened. “She loves Briley.”

“Does she?” I stood and followed Bri and her new friend when I saw them skip farther down the row of trampolines. “When was the last time she asked you about having her over? Hell, asked you about her in general. Does she even bother to talk and play with her when she’s there? It’s understandable that you wouldn’t know how to play with her, but your wife is a woman who was once a girl—she knows what little girls like to do.”

Silence.

“That’s what I thought. Excuse me for not jumping every single time you want to have my kid at your house. I’m not entirely comfortable with it because of the animosity. This is chaos you created, and I need you to find a resolution. However, the answer isn’t to remove my daughter from my care. I know I work a lot, and I’m working on fixing that. Just don’t try to take her.” I looked at him with pleading eyes and prayed he understood. I wasn’t one to beg anyone for shit, but I didn’t mind when it came to Briley. “I will work on a better co-parenting relationship, but we can’t uproot her and cause unnecessary turmoil because of our situation.”

“Will you allow me to spend more time with her if I got a place in the city and figured out the answers to those questions before transitioning her to my house more often?”

Bryce is a smooth talker, and right now, he could very well be blowing smoke up my ass. If spending one-on-one time with our daughter would help him form a better father-daughter relationship, then I wouldn’t stand in the way.

“If you’re really willing to try, I won’t stand in the way of that.”

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