Chapter 27 I could hear Maya laughing from the bathroom. I toweled off my hair, pulling on a pair of black sweatpants, the steam from the bathroom curling into the cooler air of the bedroom. I stilled, listening in the hallway. Who was she talking to? She wasn't using the casual, teasing tone she used with Carla or her sister. This was different. Respectful. Almost... deferential. "No, sir, I don't mind talking to you. You're funny," she was saying, curled on the sofa, her back to me. "Of course." A pause, then another warm laugh. "You're too kind. Really... Okay. I will. I'll call you as soon as it gets here. Yes, sir." She ended the call and set the phone down. I stepped into the room. "Who was that?" She turned, a faint, unreadable smile on her lips. "Your father." The towel in my hand stilled. "My father?" "Yeah. Mr. Raffaele. He's... surprisingly easy to talk to." She stretched, cat-like, completely unaware of the seismic shift her words had caused. "When did that start? Is this the first time he called you?" I asked, my voice carefully neutral, though my mind was racing. My father didn't make social calls. Especially not to women I was... involved with. She shrugged. "A few days after we came back from New York, I guess... He gave me his number, told me to call if I ever needed anything. I just... called to check on him after he called. Him and Serena." She said it like it was the most normal thing in the world. Before I could form a question, the doorbell rang. Maya hopped up. "That's probably it now." "Probably what?" I asked, but she was already padding to the door. I followed her, a dark suspicion forming. She pulled the door open to reveal a man in a crisp polo shirt with a Jaguar logo embroidered on the chest. He held a clipboard. "Maya?" he asked. "That's me," she said, a note of confusion in her voice. He smiled, professional and polite. "Perfect. Just need a signature right here for delivery." She scribbled her name. He then handed her a set of keys, with the Jaguar emblem on the fob. "All yours. Congratulations. Mr. Mercier said you'd know the details." Mr. Mercier. Maya took the keys, her mouth slightly agape as she looked past the man to the curb. Parked there, gleaming like a slick black panther under the afternoon sun, was a brand-new Jaguar F-Pace SVR. "Holy shit," she breathed, turning to look at me, her eyes wide with a mixture of shock and dawning delight. "Raziel, did you...?" "No," I said, the word clipped and hard. "So your daddy bought me a car?" I didn't answer her. I turned on my heel, stormed back into the bedroom, and snatched my phone off the counter. My father answered on the second ring. "Raziel." His voice was calm, as if he'd been expecting my call. "What the fuck is this?" I snarled, dispensing with any greeting. "A car? You bought her a car?" On the other end of the line, I could almost hear his shrug. "I like her. She has spirit. And she's good for you. Seems you've finally found something real." He said it so simply, as if he'd just bought her a bouquet of flowers, not a six-figure vehicle. "I have money. Why shouldn't I spend it on the woman who makes my son act like a human being for once?" I was speechless. Flabbergasted. This wasn't a power play. It was... paternal. Approving. Something he had never, not once, extended to Alessia in all the years we'd been engaged. He'd never sent her so much as a birthday card. I stared at the ceiling. "She doesn't need a car from you." "She needed a gesture. And I had time. Now, did you eat yet? I made sea bass. I want a steak. I'm coming to Florida to take you out for steaks." He was talking about food? He had just bought my girl-whatever she was-a car. "I'm gonna hang up, old man." He laughed. "Suit yourself. Ask Maya if she likes the carbon fiber trim. And don't stop her from calling me." He hung up. I stood there and watched Maya through the open door. She was circling the car, running a hand over the glossy paint, a look of pure, unadulterated joy on her face. Fuck him. I felt like my father had stolen something from me. I could have bought her a fucking car. I sighed. Suddenly, the decision I'd needed to make was made. Alessia was a tie to a promise, a duty. But this... my father buying Maya a car, calling her, accepting her... it was a permission I never knew I needed. It was a door swinging open, and all I had to do was walk through it. Finality settled into my bones. I was breaking my engagement. Five-year-old Annie, who can understand animals, saved Landon Hawthorne, a wealthy businessman, from suicide. Now she's his whole world and he's her legal cheat-code against every villain fate throws ...