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"Family isn't biological," Keegan offered. "Family is in the heart."
"Right?" Sofia's tension eased ever so slightly. Keegan got her, and she got Keegan. She met his gaze. "Family is in the heart."
He nodded. "There's a reason why we chose Hart as our family name."
She blinked. "Really? I never thought of that before."
"Absolutely. We had nothing, but we had each other. Eventually, I understood that meant we had everything." His gaze swung to Gabby, who was listening. "Or, I thought I had everything until I found out the spirited rebel who stole my heart years ago was still alive, and that we had a daughter. Then I realized that I hadn't had everything yet. But there was a chance for it."
Sofia and Gabby stared at him, both of them silent. Gabby's eyes were wide with vulnerability, her mouth slightly open, as if she had no idea what to say or how to respond. Not sure whether to throw herself into his arms or to run away and protect herself.
Sofia realized in that minute that just as she was afraid to fully trust Keegan with her heart or Gabby's, her daughter felt the same way. Too much to hope for? Too good to be true? They'd both had to be so closed off for so long. How could they throw their hearts at him like that?
Suddenly, she knew they both needed space from Keegan. They needed room to find their footing again, and approach him from a position of strength. None of them had walked into this situation with any kind of preparation, and the emotions were hot and tangled.
"You know what?" Sofia said softly. "I think that it's getting late. We should head back to the store and skip the party."
Gabby's gaze shot to hers, and Sofia saw the conflict in her daughter's eyes. She wanted desperately to stay, but at the same time, she was scared, too. Afraid that if she fell hard, Keegan could break her heart.
Keegan frowned. "I'm not trying to pressure you," he said. "I'm just letting you know that I'm here for both of you. Always."
Gabby looked at Sofia, desperation in her eyes.
"Keegan," Sofia said. "Don't make promises you can't keep. Not to Gabby."
Keegan's eyes flicked to Gabby, and then he swore. "Hang on." He pulled out his phone and dialed.
A woman answered on the first call. "Keegan. Great to hear from you. What's going on?"
Sofia frowned. The voice seemed so familiar.
"Eliana? I have a woman here that you know. Her name is Sofia Navarro."
Eliana. Sofia's stomach did a somersault. Eliana was the attorney who had helped her disappear.
Eliana was quiet for a moment, then said, "No, sorry. I don't know anyone by that name. How's Dylan doing? I haven't heard from him in a while."
Sofia realized that Eliana was protecting her by immediately changing the subject. Eliana would never give up Sofia. Not even to a Hart. She'd always trusted Eliana, but hearing her protect her in person made her feel safer.
Keegan raised his brows. "Well, that's fine that you don't know her. I recently found out that I'm the biological father of her daughter, Gabriella. I want to create a trust fund for Gabriella. An irrevocable trust that gives her complete independence. How soon can you get that done?"
Gabby and Sofia looked at each other in shock.
Eliana was silent for a moment before she finally said, "Keegan, what are you talking about?"
"I need to get the money off the table. They need to not need me for anything. They won't trust me until they're free."
"Free of what?"
"Just free. Put the paperwork together. Create the trust. I don't need any information about them. Just send me the signature page and that's it."
Again, silence from Eliana. Damn. She was good. Sofia hadn't told even Eliana that truth. Eliana must be reeling in surprise, but she gave away nothing. Finally, Eliana said, "I'm sorry, Keegan, but I really don't know what you're talking about. I have no idea who this person is, and I don't do trusts anyway."
Women supporting women, even in the face of male, billionaire power. Eliana was tough, and that was the reason Sofia's ex had never been able to track Sofia through her. Damn. She wanted to be that tough.
At that moment, Sofia's cell phone dinged. She looked down and saw a text from a person she had listed in her phone as Beyoncé…which was how she had Eliana's number stored. All Eliana had sent was a question mark.
That was their code. If Sofia ever needed help, all she needed to do was text a single character to Eliana, and Eliana would track her, find her, and do whatever it took to help her. An X. A question mark. The number 8. Any single character, and Eliana would unleash her hellhounds onto Sofia's tail.
