Chapter 30 Daniel
DANIEL
Sitting on the balcony of our suite, a glass of scotch in hand, I gazed at the beautiful view.
The nearby town gleamed like fire as its warm lights reflected on the dark water of the Mediterranean.
Mesmerized, I continued admiring the flickering lights, carrying out like fireflies through the night, while taking another sip from my drink.
The expensive liquor went smoothly down my throat, and I brushed a hand over my lips.
As I did, the thickness of my stubble reminded me that tomorrow I’d finally have to shave, as tonight was our last one in this paradise.
It was a pity since I enjoyed my scruff quite a bit.
And not just me, but Elliot, too, who for the last three days made sure to mention it at every opportunity.
Unfortunately, my job and position required me to maintain a neat appearance, which didn’t include a five-o’clock shadow.
The thought of leaving this heaven and going back to NYC gnawed at my stomach and clouded my mood.
Upset, I placed down my glass with a heavy sigh.
The reason for my struggle was parting ways with Elliot, who would go on a monthlong modeling stint around the world from here.
But another reason, almost as troubling, was going back into hiding.
From standing proud under the sun, I’d be forced to move back into the shadow of the Big Apple, and not just metaphorically.
If the monster in my life was my family, then New York was the monster’s lair.
With all their friends, connections, and assets, I’d be forced once again to play the role they assigned to me.
Now, in need of another glass, I got up from the chair and walked back inside the room.
Going straight to the bar cart, I placed my empty glass down and reached for the scotch when Elliot walked out of the room’s closet, dressed in a black tux that matched my own.
But unlike me, he was breathtakingly beautiful.
He truly was a supermodel, and not just because of the sharpness of his jaw, impeccable face, and remarkably blue eyes.
It was the elegance with which he carried himself that truly turned him into a living masterpiece.
With my drink all but forgotten, I strode toward him, my heart beating eagerly in my chest until I had him in my arms.
“You’re stunning,” I said quietly, unable to grasp that he was mine to admire.
Elliot’s sapphire eyes lit up before his lips stretched into a smile so beautiful that Aphrodite herself would be jealous.
“Am I a sight for sour eyes?” he teased in English, unaware of his mistake until I chuckled. “Why are you laughing?” he pouted when I brushed my finger under his eye.
“It’s sore eyes, not sour.”
His frown deepened. “That is what I said, sour.”
“Sore.”
Upset, he huffed and whooshed his hand in the air. “You American and your stupid language. Why make word that all sound the same?” he muttered in the so-called stupid language.
My amusement only grew, which seemed to deepen his frustration, and when he tried to look away, I cupped the back of his nape and pulled him into a kiss. He accepted me with a willing mouth, his hands sliding to my shoulders as he moaned around my tongue.
“Sore or sour, you are the only sight I ever want to see,” I admitted over his lips, worshiping the blush that reached his cheeks soon after.
“You are so greasy,” he chuckled.
“You mean cheesy?”
He rolled his eyes again. “You’re intolerable.” He switched back to French before grabbing my wrist and bringing it up to look at the time on my watch. “We’ll miss our restaurant reservation.”
Despite wanting to have another taste of him, Elliot had a point, so I dropped my hand from around him. But as he walked toward the door, I remembered something important.
“Hold on,” I said, going to fetch something from my suitcase.
“What did you forget?”
“Nothing.” I went back to him, stopping only a few inches away, and handed him the files I carried.
Elliot seemed bewildered, his eyes narrowing as he looked down at the legal papers. “What’s this?” He flipped through the pages, his brows creasing with confusion. “You’ll need to read it for me,” he said, handing them back to me.
But instead of taking the papers from him, I placed my hand on top of his. “These are my divorce papers.”
His breath caught at the same time his eyes widened.
“You mean—”
“I’m going to file them once I’m back home.” Surprisingly, the thought that once scared me to the point of chasing Elliot away now filled my body with an unbelievable amount of courage. “I’ve sorted everything out; the only thing left is telling Claudia. It won’t be easy, but I’m prepared for it.”
I thought, or at least hoped, Elliot would be just as excited, but instead, he moved away from me and walked back into the room, stopping once he reached the bed and sitting down, his eyes focused on the floor.
Was I in the wrong to think he’d be happy?
“Elliot—”
“Are you sure about it?” he asked, still not lifting his eyes from the floor. “Are you sure you want to toss everything away for a mistress?”
I frowned at his choice of word before quickly hurrying to his side. Not waiting for permission, I sat next to him.
“I’m not doing this for a mistress.” My heart stung that that was what he chose to call himself. “But for the man I love.”
He looked up, scared blue eyes meeting mine.
“Love?” His brows furrowed, almost like what I’d just said was completely out of the blue, even though I thought I’d made it rather obvious.
I shifted closer to him. “What else could it be if not love?”
Elliot once again looked away, his shoulders slumping. “H-how do you know? How do you know it’s love?”
Taking both his hands in mine, I brought them to my lips and kissed them.
“When I go to sleep at night, you’re the one I dream of, and when I wake up, you’re the first person I want to call.
” I held his hands a bit tighter. “If I could, I would spend every waking minute with you, but I can’t, so instead, I just think of you…
because the truth is, my love for you has no end, Elliot. And I highly doubt it ever will.”
Keeping his hands close to my chest, I watched the light reflecting in his precious eyes—the mere essence of my existence.
“So if this isn’t love—” I brushed my hand against his cheek, loving how he closed one eye as I did. “—I don’t know what is.”
He held his breath for a moment, his face serious, until he tilted his head and kissed my palm.
“I love you, too.” Another kiss. “I love you so much.”
My heart had never felt fuller.
The second Elliot’s eyes met mine, I knew no one would leave this room tonight and that our dinner reservation was as good as gone.
In seconds, he was on me, working to release my tie while I tried doing the same to his.
Heat and excitement rushed through me, making every move so much harder to control.
But then again, control was overrated, especially when it came to my French prince.
“Aren’t you scared?” Elliot asked, his back facing me, his head resting on my arm as I hugged him from behind.
After two rounds of hot sex that pushed my libido to its limit, we now cuddled on the bed, with him being the smaller spoon.
“Of what?”
“Of everything… The divorce, for one.”
Breathing in his lavender scent, I kissed his nape. “Not at all.”
“And what about Maya?”
“I’ll be leaving her mother, not her. She’ll still be my daughter and I her father. Nothing needs to change.”
Snuggling closer, he heaved a sigh. “I think everything will change.”
I was glad he’d brought up this subject because I needed to hear myself promising I’d do everything to ensure my relationship with Maya stayed the same.
“You’re right. But I’ll work hard to keep Maya’s life as normal as it can be. And while it will be hard at first, she’s a bright little girl, and I’m sure she’ll adjust in time.”
Moving my hand along his body, I slid it down to his hips. I’d noticed it before, but he truly was as thin as a feather. He’d lost weight since last year, enough for his hip bones to stand out—
“I was heartbroken after my dad left us.”
His sudden confession startled me back into focus, only for Elliot to go silent again.
“You mentioned before he had an affair, right?” I asked, trying to make him share more.
Shifting his head ever so slightly, he nodded.
“I never understood why he left us, but now I do.” Hugging my arm, he took in a deep breath. “Do you know what coup de foudre mean?” he asked in English, voice so faint you could hardly hear it even in this silence.
Translating it in my head, I asked, “Lightning… strike?”
He hummed a yes.
“Americans call it love at first sight, but I think that isn’t enough.” He now spoke French again. “Because when I first met you, it truly felt like the strike of lightning. So overwhelming that nothing could ever compare.”
What a beautiful way of putting it. One I absolutely agreed with because to this day, I still recalled how my heart paused in my chest as if I were electrified the first time I saw him.
He let out a short laugh, one that lacked humor. “I’m such a hypocrite for judging my dad all those years, aren’t I? I mean, now I’m the reason you’ll leave your daughter—”
“I’m not leaving Maya.”
“But you already did.”
I could feel his body tensing.
“I mean, you’re here with me while she’s there… aren’t you?”
My stomach tightened with guilt, not that I needed Elliot to remind me of it.
I carried this shame anywhere I went, but the fact that I had a daughter wasn’t about to deter me from chasing love.
Yes, right now, I was being unfaithful, but that was what those divorce papers were for—to put an end to the lying and sneaking around.
Because loving my daughter and loving him shouldn’t be at the expense of the other.