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“Penelope, we live across the hall from each other. I’m pretty sure he figured that was a possibility.”

She covered her face again.

“Oh my God.”

I laughed and kissed her forehead.

“Go put some clothes on, baby. I’ll come out there with you.”

She lowered her hands.

“You will?”

“Yeah. Why wouldn’t I?”

“I don’t know. I just thought you might want to hide.”

I stared at her.

“Hide from your daddy? For what?”

She smiled a little.

“Okay.”

I kissed her once more before letting her go.

“Go ahead. Before that man start knocking on my door next.”

She hurried toward my bedroom, and I shook my head as I watched her disappear down the hallway. I wasn’t worried about meeting her father. But something told me breakfast was about to be a whole lot more interesting than either one of us had planned. When she finished getting dressed, I had taken out something decent for me to wear. By the time Penelope and I made it downstairs, a black Cadillac Escalade was waiting outside the building. A man dressed in a black suit stood beside the driver’s door while another man stood near the rear passenger side. I figured the second man was security, considering everything Penelope had told me about how her father moved.

Standing beside the truck was a tall, well-dressed man with a bald head and a neatly trimmed gray beard. He was looking down at his phone when we approached, but the second he heard Penelope’s voice, he looked up.

“Daddy!”

“There she is.” He smiled while slipping his phone into his pocket. “My pumpkin.”

Penelope walked straight into his arms, and he hugged her before kissing the top of her head.

“Good morning, Daddy.”

“Good morning, sweetheart. I was beginning to think that you had forgotten all about your old man.”

“I said I was sorry.”

“I know you did.” He glanced over her shoulder at me. “And I see you brought company.”

Penelope stepped aside while reaching for my hand. I stepped forward and extended my other hand.

“Nice to finally meet you, sir.”

He shook my hand firmly.

“Likewise. Although I believe my daughter has been keeping you to herself.”

“I wouldn’t say all that,” I said, smiling.

“Oh, I would,” he replied while looking at Penelope. “I’ve been hearing about this young man for quite some time, but today is the first time I’ve gotten to put a face to the name.”