Page 189 of My Big, Fat, Secret Billionaire Baby

“I need to see her,” I say, my own voice raw, stripped of the usual arrogance. “Please.”

She hesitates for a moment, then nods, stepping aside to let me in.

The apartment is… just as I remember it, that first time I stepped back into Sabrina’s life. It’s cozy. Lived-in. Toys are scattered across the floor. The air smells faintly of baby powder and something sweet, like vanilla.

It’s a world away from my penthouse. It feels… alive.

And more like ahome.

Then I see her. Mia. My daughter. She’s in a playpen in the corner of the living room, babbling happily as she tries to stuff a plush giraffe into her mouth.

She looks up as I enter, her startlingly green eyes,myeyes, widening in recognition. A gummy grin spreads across her face.

And something inside me, something I didn’t even know was still capable of feeling, just… breaks.

The carefully constructed walls, the layers of cynicism and bravado I’ve spent a lifetime building… they crumble.

I cross the room in four quick strides, ignoring the protest from my leg, and scoop her up, holding her close.

Her tiny body is warm, solid, real. She smells beautiful.

I bury my face in her soft curls, trying my hardest not to fucking cry in front of her grandmother.

“Hey, Killer,” I whisper, my voice choked. “Hey, baby girl.”

Mia giggles, patting my cheek with a sticky hand. And in that moment, surrounded by thecomforting chaos of Sabrina’s life, holding my daughter in my arms, I know, with an absolute, bone-deep certainty, that I made the right choice.

I set Mia gently back in her playpen, my hands trembling slightly.

Diane is watching me, a small, almost imperceptible smile playing on her lips.

“Sabrina’s in her office,” she says quietly, gesturing towards a closed door at the end of the hallway. “Her bedroom, actually. It’s… been a long day.”

I turn, heading toward that door.

But then her mother speaks again.

“It must have been hard,” Diane says gently. “What you did today, I mean. At the press conference.”

I glance over my shoulder at her and manage a wry smile. “Harder than jumping off a mountain, maybe. But also… easier. Because honestly, it was the easiest goddamn decision I’ve ever made, Ms. Taylor. Once I finally pulled my head out of my ass.”

She nods slowly, a flicker of amusement in her eyes. “Go talk to her. She needs to hear that.”

I walk down the short hallway, my heart hammering against my ribs.

Shit shit shit.

I can do this.

This feels more terrifying than facing down a hostile boardroom or threading the needle through Viper’s Tooth with a crosswind trying to tear my suit apart.

I knock twice. Gently.

Sabrina’s tired voice answers. “Come in.”

I find her hunched over her laptop, surrounded by stacks of files and empty coffee mugs. Her makeshift home office. She looks exhausted but beautiful, herdark curls pulled back in a messy ponytail. She doesn’t look up when I enter.

“Sabrina,” I say, my voice softer than I intend.

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