FOR THE LOVE OF DAHLIA

🌹Chapter 37🌹

IAN'S POV

"You really didn't need to come." Was the first thing Tori said when she opened the door. Her lovely fragrance filled the air.

"But I told you I will. Besides, it's still 6 and Dahlia is most likely awake." I told her. I was so tired and I just wanted to spend sometime with my daughter and her breathtakingly beautiful mom to ease my stress. I had succeeded in taking down all the articles and tracking down the guy who posted it. He was in a cell as a matter of fact and won't be able to post bail for a while. Alyssa has been trying to call me so I turned off my phone. I felt bad for her because she didn't deserve this but I couldn't just leave Tori and Dahlia. "Can I come in?" I asked.

She hesitated. Was there something? Then I heard it. It was like a punch in my face. I heard Zach's voice and Dahlia's giggles fill the air. I looked back at Tori who had this guilty look on her face. "I'm sorry, he just showed up after he heard the news."

A more mature version of myself would have turned around and gone back home to Ally, but I wasn't just going to leave my daughter and woman to my brother who just wanted to get into her pants like he did to all females. Zach was really getting on my nerves. He needs to back off. In as much as I love and respect him as my older cousin, he had to know Tori and Dahlia were mine. Exclusively mine. "I told you I was going to come spend time with you and Dahlia so if Zach's in there, that's his problem, not yours, not Dahlia's and definitely not mine."

"But..." She started but I placed my finger on her lips and brushed past her, getting into the house. I walked into the parlor and silence filled the room. Zach was feeding Dahlia some cookies which he stopped upon seeing me. Tina was not in sight, leaving just us four. I turned around to look at Tori who just gulped. "Dahlia honey, say hi to your dad."

I internally smirked but maintained a cool face. I hope Zach heard her well. I'm the kid's father, not him. I faced Dahlia and smiled. "Hey munchkin."

"Good evening Mr. Ian." She replied. Of course it still hurt a lot to hear her call me like that, but we're taking baby steps.

"How are you?" I asked with the same sweet smile.

She tucked a strand of her curly hair behind her ear. "I'm alrighty." My goodness, she's so adorable. Just looking at her made all my exhaustion vanish.

Tori and Zach were quiet the entire time.

"That's nice to hear. So you know I was here earlier but you fell asleep and I told your mommy I was going to come spend the evening with you." I said and glared at Zach then turned to Tori. "And your mommy of course."

Zach cleared his throat at that. "Hey man."

I turned to him. "Zach." Was all I said, still glaring at him.

Tori cleared her throat. "Have a seat, Ian." She said politely and I smiled at her before sitting on the chair closest to Dahlia.

"Mommy can I watch Baby TV?" Dahlia asked out of the blue and Tori nodded.

She turned on the TV and it was already on the channel Dahlia requested. There were only two two-seater couches in the small parlor and Dahlia and Zach already occupied one, that being said, Tori was stuck with me. We had to share the couch. I smirked at Zach who frowned at me.

I could feel how uneasy Tori was. The tension in the room could be cut by a knife. Dahlia was the only one who was unbothered by the happenings around her as she sang with the stuffed animals singing in the cartoon. She soon went and sat on the rug in front of the TV to concentrate more on the show. It was really adorable.

After a few minutes of silence, I turned to Tori. "How was your day, sunshine?" I asked, emphasizing on the sunshine.

"As bad as it could be. Did you take down those pictures?" She asked in return with an unreadable facial expression.

Before I could answer, Zach spoke up. "You should eat those cookies I bought sweetheart. Dahlia loves them and I bet you will too." He said, emphasizing on the sweetheart, then smirked at me.

Tori nodded. I will.

I glared at Zach and turned back to Tori. "As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted by my brother who seems to have...let's forget about it anyway." I paused before I continued. "I did take down the pictures. I'm very sorry for what happened. I hope you believe me when I say I didn't mean for that to happen."

She flashed me a small smile. "It's fine Ian. I understand. It wasn't your fault, it just comes with your insane popularity."

I was going to speak up again but Zach did. I gritted my teeth to keep my anger in check. This isn't how I planned the evening. I just wanted to spend time with my girls. My family. "So sweetheart, I found a job for you."

Tori sighed. "I told you not to bother Zach. I could look for a job myself. I hate it when people think I'm not capable of doing things myself." She said with a hint of annoyance in her voice.

Zach nodded. "I'm sorry, I just really wanted to help. Please don't be mad at me."

Tori sighed again. "It's fine. I'm not mad at you."

Before Zach had the chance to talk, I beat him to it. "What about Dahlia? She's starting school in three days, right?"

That made Tori smile. "Yeah."

"I'll come pick her up." Zach said and I glared at him.

I faced him. "No you wouldn't. I'll come pick up my daughter for school." I deadpanned.

"As if Dahlia will like that." He retorted and scoffed.

I was this close to loosing my temper and punching him. He better thank his stars my daughter was in the room and I didn't want to scare her.

"Just quit trying. The kid prefers me, Ian. I'll come pick her up. That will make her happy." Zach added and smirked.

Tori stood up in anger. "Enough Zach! You can't just say things like that while Dahlia is in the room. With what you're saying, how do you expect Dahlia to ever warm up to Ian. I was actually going to turn down both offers to take Dahlia to school but on a second note, I'll let Ian do it. He's Dahlia's father and it's the right thing to do cause he's really trying to be a good father!" Tori said in annoyance but kept her voice down so as not to get Dahlia's attention . I don't know how she does it cause other women would have raised their voices. Motherhood really was her thing. But that's not what caught my attention. What made my heart flutter was the fact that she stood up for me. She defended me.

Zach was taken aback. He stood up too. "I'm very sorry Tori. I didn't mean it like that. You know I really care about you and Dahlia. I've never been this serious before."

Tori ran her fingers through her luscious brown hair. "I know you care about us and I'm really grateful. But there can never be more to us. I only see you as a friend." She muttered the last part and I was sure Zach didn't hear but I did and it made me so happy. It was a confirmation that Zach was no competition. "You know what? You guys should just leave. Dahlia still needs to rest."

Zach nodded in shame and kissed Dahlia's forehead before leaving.

Tori looked up at me. "You should go too."

I shook my head. "I'm sorry all this happened. But I don't want to leave just yet. You two are the only ones who gives me peace of mind. Please, just let me stay here, even if it's just for ten minutes." I told her. I really didn't want to leave them. The reason why I came here was to spend time with them not to cause trouble. Zach just didn't know his boundaries.

I turned to Dahlia. "Please baby, can I spend a few minutes with you?"

She hesitated then nodded.

I smiled. Baby steps.