Chapter 20
DAREK
The last couple of days had been weird. Liza and I maintained a careful distance. We made absolutely sure we were never alone together. If we happened to be alone in the house while Daisie was at school, she stayed in her room or I stayed in my office.
We still ate dinner together. The three of us sat at the table every night. We were keeping up appearances even though the only person we were fooling was Daisie. Unfortunately, all that easy rapport was replaced by painful politeness.
It was torture.
We agreed it was best to let things cool off. For our sakes and for Daisie’s. After what happened on the boat, we needed space to get our heads straight and remember why we couldn’t let this become something more than the contract specified.
The problem was, every time I saw her, all I could think about was how good she had felt in my arms. She had said my name, and it made me absolutely crazy. It felt so right to have her in my arms. Under me. Me inside her.
If I didn’t stay busy, I was going to find myself in her bedroom, begging her to let me have her again.
So I threw myself into preparing for the home evaluation instead.
It was happening in two days, and I needed everything to be perfect.
The house was already clean. I paid people good money to keep it that way.
But I wanted it to look lived-in and loved.
Warm. The kind of place where a child would thrive.
It wasn’t like the place was a pigpen and there was plenty of evidence that Daisie was very comfortable in the house.
I hired additional cleaners to do a deep clean of every room.
I had the landscapers come in to manicure the lawn, trim the hedges, and make sure everything looked pristine but not sterile.
They were also installing new flowers along the driveway, colorful annuals that would make the place look cheerful and welcoming.
No one had to know they’d been put in the day before the evaluation.
I stood outside watching the landscapers work, mentally running through my checklist. The house was ready.
Daisie’s room was organized but not too organized.
I had made sure to leave some toys out, some drawings on her desk, signs that a real kid lived there.
The fridge was stocked with healthy food and also some kid-friendly options.
I had even hired a service to put fresh flowers around the house.
That was probably overkill but it did make it feel brighter.
Everything was ready. It had to be.
I surveyed the backyard. I had added a second gate around the pool. It was definitely overkill, but I didn’t want them suggesting she was in danger of falling into the pool.
Never mind the fact Daisie was a better swimmer than most adults. My eyes drifted to the edge of the property. That might be a problem. Did I have time to get a fence installed? Daisie was seven, not two. I knew she was in no danger of falling on the rocks and down the cliff to the shoreline.
But would the people hired to evaluate me think otherwise?
“Daddy?”
I turned to find Daisie standing beside me. I knew my child and the expression on her face made my stomach turn. She looked sad, uncertain in a way that reminded me of those first few months after Sasha left.
“What’s wrong, kiddo?”
She kicked at the grass, not meeting my eyes. “Are you still friends with Liza?”
The question caught me off guard. “Of course, I am. Why would you ask that?”
“Because you don’t talk anymore. At dinner, you both just sit there being quiet and weird.” She struggled to find the words. “It feels like when you and Mommy stopped being friends. Before she left.”
Fuck. Of course, she had noticed. Kids always noticed, even when you thought you were hiding things well.
I knelt down to her level. “Liza and I are definitely still friends. We’ve just been a little busy lately, that’s all. But nothing’s wrong.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
She still looked uncertain. I made a spur of the moment decision. One I probably should have thought through more carefully, but Daisie was looking at me with those big, worried eyes and I couldn’t stand it.
“Actually,” I said, “Liza isn’t just my friend. She’s my girlfriend. Is that okay with you?”
Daisie’s face transformed, lighting up like I’d just told her Christmas was coming early. “Really? She’s your girlfriend? Like, for real?”
“Yeah. For real.” The words felt true even though they’d started as a lie. Somewhere along the way, without me fully realizing it, this had become real.
“That’s so cool!” She threw her arms around my neck. “Does that mean she’s going to stay forever?”
And there it was. The complication I had been trying to avoid.
“Let’s just see how things go, okay? But yes, she’s my girlfriend, and we both care about you very much. I won’t promise she’s going to stay forever, but we’re going to see, okay?”
Daisie hugged me tighter. Guilt settled heavily in my stomach. I was letting her believe in something that wouldn’t last. If Liza and I couldn’t figure this out and she left in a few weeks like the contract specified, Daisie would be devastated.
But maybe there was a way to make this work. To turn the fake arrangement into something real and lasting. It had started as a contract, but what had developed over the last week was genuine. The connection between us wasn’t something you could fabricate.
There had to be a way to have my cake and eat it too.
After Daisie ran off to play, significantly happier than she’d been five minutes ago, I asked the housekeeper to keep an eye on her while I went looking for Liza. I found her sitting out on the dock, her feet dangling over the edge, staring at the water.
She looked beautiful and sad. I had a feeling that was because of me.
I walked out onto the dock. She glanced back at me, then returned her gaze to the water.
“Can I sit?” I asked.
“It’s your dock.”
I sat beside her, close but not touching. For a moment, we just watched the water together. I could feel the tension.
“This is weird,” I said finally.
“What is?”
“This. Us. The way we’ve been avoiding each other for the past few days.” I turned to look at her. “I don’t like it, Liza. I like you more than I should, and I know we agreed to keep things professional, but things have gotten so weird between us, and I hate it.”
She didn’t respond immediately, just kept staring at the water.
“The home evaluation is tomorrow,” I continued. “And I need that to go perfectly. I need to focus on that. My only goal is making sure Daisie stays with me.”
“I know,” she said. “I want that for you as well. For Daisie. Tell me what you need me to do. I will walk through fire to make sure you keep your daughter, Darek. Nothing has changed in that department. I know you are who she should be with.”
“Thank you,” I said. “That means a lot.”
She smiled but wouldn’t look at me.
I took a breath. “Once it’s done, I want to take you out on a date. A real one. Not for the cameras or the custody case, but because I want to spend time with you. Because what happened on the boat wasn’t just physical for me, and I don’t think it was just physical for you either.”
She turned to look at me, her eyes wide and uncertain.
“Don’t answer now,” I said quickly. “Just think about it. If I’m totally wrong and there is no real connection between us and I’m just seeing what I want to see, I won’t hold it against you.
We’ll finish out the contract as agreed and go our separate ways.
But I needed to say this because you’ve been driving me crazy, and I can’t keep pretending I don’t feel something when I do. ”
“Darek—”
“You don’t have to say anything. Just think about it. Please.”
“Okay.”
“I know I completely blindsided you,” I said with a small laugh. “I do that.”
“Keeps life interesting.”
“That it does.”
“The evaluation is tomorrow.”
“I know,” I said with a nod. “I was just going through everything.”
“We need to focus on that. Make sure it goes well.”
“Agreed.”
“After, we can talk. Really talk. About what this is and what we want it to be.”
It wasn’t a yes, but it wasn’t a no either. It was hope, and right now, I would take it.
“The house looks really good,” she said. “I love the flowers.”
“You think it’s too much?”
She laughed. “Yes, but I’ve learned billionaires are too much. It’s in your nature.”
“Is that a bad thing?”
“Not necessarily. But fresh flowers seem right in line with the billionaire thing.”
I grimaced. “You’re right.”
We sat there for a while longer, not talking, just being together. It felt better than the strained dinners. Not quite back to normal but closer.
“I’ll leave you be,” I said. “I need to make some calls about fencing.”
“I should go in, too,” she said. “I need to finish organizing my notes.”
I stood up and offered her my hand to help her up. She took it. We stood there looking at each other for a few seconds. Acknowledging what was between us even if we weren’t ready to fully commit to it yet.
“Thank you, Liza. For doing this and genuinely supporting me. It means a lot.”
“You’re welcome.”
We walked back up to the house together.
Daisie was in the living room, playing with a couple of her Barbies. She looked up when I entered, still beaming from our earlier conversation.
I watched my daughter play, so innocent and hopeful, and made myself a promise. Whatever happened between Liza and me, I wouldn’t let Daisie get hurt. If we couldn’t make this work, I would find a way to help her understand and move forward.
But deep down, I really hoped we could make it work.
I wanted her. I wanted the family we had accidentally become.
Now I just had to convince her to want it too.
“Are you happy?” Daisie asked.
“I am.”
“You look sad.”
I smiled. “I’m not sad. I have a lot on my mind. Why don’t we have spaghetti for dinner?”
The cook had already made a casserole for dinner, but I wanted to make dinner with her.
Tomorrow might change everything. I didn’t believe I would lose custody, but I knew family courts liked the whole joint custody thing.
I did, too. Before. Now, to think of only having Daisie a few nights a week killed me.
I just had to trust the process. Believe what Liza kept saying. I was a good dad. The courts would see that.
They had to.