Chapter 38
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
Beckett
“What were you trying to do? Break your wrist again?”
“It wasn’t broken,” she grits out.
I sigh and help her to her feet, my hands wrapped around her arms to hold her upright, but she still looks dazed, and I’m afraid she’ll go down again.
Fuck it. I scoop her up into my arms and start walking.
“What are you doing?” She sighs loudly. “Put me down.”
If I put her down, she might pass out again, and since she’s not even trying to fight me, I keep right on walking.
“I can’t trust you to walk on your own. You’re like Bambi on ice.” I follow the stone path through the trees, gritting my teeth when I step on a sharp rock.
Why the fuck did I put the hot tub so far away from the house?
“I guess the wine hit me when I stood up. I felt a little dizzy,” she admits.
No kidding. I saw her swaying on her feet but didn’t reach her in time. “And yet, instead of waiting for the dizzy spell to pass like a sane person would, you attempted to leap out of the hot tub?—”
“I didn’t leap .”
“Catapult?”
“I’m not a gymnast.”
“Clearly. You didn’t stick the landing.”
“I bet you’d be that mean, unsmiling judge who gives me a two out of ten,” she mutters.
“You’re being far too generous.” I stride across the terrace and shoulder my way through the French doors.
All the lights are on because as soon as I got home, I searched the house for Daisy, who once again could not be reached by phone when I tried calling her.
There was an accident on the highway that didn’t bode well for the occupants of the car flattened by a fourteen-wheeler. A grim reminder of how quickly everything could change, and for some insane reason, all I wanted was to hear Daisy’s voice.
But apparently, she’s figured out my connection to Michael Castellano, and she’s pissed. Can’t say I enjoyed her teasing me about seducing him, though. Didn’t fucking like that at all.
“You don’t have to carry me. I can walk, you know.”
“I skipped my weight session today.”
“So what…I’m like a human barbell? Are you going to lift me over your head?”
“I’d be more likely to drop you on the floor when I’m done with you. Like a dead weight.”
“Sounds about right,” she mumbles.
I laugh. And then I laugh again at the look she shoots me.
“Put me down, you Neanderthal. You can’t just carry people around like some kind of caveman.”
“Oh, can’t I?” I ask as I climb the stairs two at a time.
She lets out a weary sigh. I can smell the rosé on her breath. She drank more than half the bottle before I turned up and combined with the heat of the water, it’s no wonder she landed on her ass.
Daisy is a lightweight. She gets tipsy on one glass of wine.
“Just put me down,” she says firmly.
This time I listen and lower her to her feet in the hallway. She presses her back against the wall and crosses her arms over her chest.
My gaze dips to the two tiny triangles of Lycra that barely contain her breasts, and I have the sudden urge to untie the string with my teeth and suck one nipple?—
“My eyes are up here.” She snaps her fingers in front of my face and my eyes meet hers. “Why didn’t you tell me the truth? I thought we were finally on the same side.”
She sounds more hurt than angry now and I suppose she deserves an explanation, but I’m not in the mood for this conversation right now.
But judging by the look on her face, she’s not going to let it slide.
With a sigh, I push my hand through my hair. “Just let me get changed and I’ll meet you downstairs.”
“Fine,” she bites out, stabbing her finger at me. “But be prepared to talk about this.”
“Can’t wait.” What a perfect end to a shitty day.
“So…Michael Castellano is Robert’s brother,” Daisy says as soon as I drop onto the sofa on the terrace, bottle of whiskey in hand. “Were you ever going to tell me?”
I pour three fingers into my glass and lean back in my seat, propping my feet on the coffee table. Daisy is curled up in the chair across from me. A kitten with claws.
“I can’t really see how it’s relevant. The most time I’ve ever spent with him was that lunch. I have never once thought of him as my uncle.”
“It just seems like the kind of thing you should have mentioned. Why did you invite me to go with you if you wanted to keep me in the dark?”
Good question. I’m still not entirely sure why I took her with me. Better to have her on my side than against me, I suppose.
“Chances are you would have found out eventually, so I figured it would be easier to include you.” I drain the whiskey in my glass and refill it. “Who told you?”
“Harold stopped by today. He said he heard a rumor that you were planning to sell to your uncle.”
Fucking Harold. I should have known he’d try to stir shit up. “He was bluffing. He didn’t hear any rumors. He was just trying to get you to feed him information.”
“I’m not stupid. I know that,” she snaps. “But I didn’t know you had an uncle, so I called Pete to verify the story.”
Might as well just alert the whole town. “Why didn’t you just ask me?”
“Why didn’t you just tell me?” she counters. “I wanted to gather the information and then decide how to handle it. It’s vital to stay one step ahead with someone like you.”
This doesn’t seem like a good time to point out that she was one step behind.
“I don’t think we should sell it to him,” she says, gnawing on her lip. “What if he wants to destroy this vineyard?”
“He’s not going to destroy a vineyard that he owns.”
“But you don’t know that. You don’t know what his motives are. He is, after all, a Heyward and you’re all so vengeful. What if he hated your father so much that he’d rather set fire to this whole place and watch it burn?”
As far as I’m concerned, once Michael Castellano owns this place, he can do whatever the hell he wants with it. If he wants to burn it to the ground, let him. But I keep that little tidbit to myself and say nothing.
“I should have questioned it more from the start,” she says. “Anyone who is callous enough to cut grapevines to the root is unworthy of owning a vineyard.”
“And yet, my father owned a vineyard,” I point out.
“All the more reason why you should want to rise above and do better. Be better.”
“Did you see that on social media? I bet you stopped scrolling because of the cat doing chin-ups, didn’t you?”
She rolls her eyes. “I don’t go on social media. But you’re missing the point.”
“I’m really not. You’re not that subtle, Daisy. You made your point and skewered me with it. You’re upset I didn’t tell you who Michael Castellano is, and you don’t think we should sell this place to him.”
“You’re so determined to get revenge that you’re willing to do anything it takes. But it won’t give you the satisfaction you think it will.”
I take a sip of single malt and relish the burn as it slides down my throat. “That’s a risk I’m willing to take.”
She shakes her head in disappointment. “I need you to promise me something.” I wait to hear what it is before agreeing. “Promise you won’t keep me in the dark. Stop minimizing my feelings. Gaslighting won’t win you any points in my book.” She stabs her finger at me. “And don’t lie to me again.”
“That’s a tall order.”
“It’s the bare minimum,” she says hotly. “All I’m asking is that you treat me with some respect. If that’s too much for you, then our deal is off.” She crosses her arms over her chest. “I’m not going to be your plaything in the bedroom only to be treated like shit outside of it.”
I smile.
Her eyes narrow. “This isn’t funny. I’m serious.”
I nod. “I know.”
But that’s not why I was smiling. I like that she stands up for herself. I enjoy it when she fights me. I don’t even mind her calling me out on my shit.
In a battle of wills, it’s far more entertaining to have a worthy sparring opponent. “I didn’t lie.”
“A lie of omission is still a lie. In fact, I would go so far as to call it the most egregious lie of them all.”
“What if it’s done to protect someone?” I counter.
“In this case, it wasn’t. You withheld the information on purpose to alter my perception and to manipulate me into going along with your plans.”
So clever. That’s exactly what I did. “No more lies of omission for the rest of our stay in Sutton Ridge, princess.”I give her the Boy Scout’s salute to seal the deal.
Nothing like a juicy rationalization to get you through the day. The caveat was necessary. What came before or whatever comes after is fair game.
Daisy nods, taking me at my word, and I feel a brief twinge of guilt over the deception, but it quickly passes.
Even though I’m on a mission to ruin Astrid, I have no intention of getting Daisy involved.
Besides, Daisy will be long gone by then. What she doesn’t know won’t hurt her.
She slinks lower in her chair and rests her feet on the coffee table, her eyes on the wood-beamed ceiling whirring with fans. “Last night, I had a dream that you were the Beast and you danced me all around the ballroom. Then you morphed into the prince and set fire to the castle. So it’s obviously symbolic.”
“And I’m guessing you preferred the Beast but ended up with the prince?”
Her lips turn down at the corners. “So much for a fairy tale with a happy ending.”
“I can give you a happy ending, Daisy.” I give her a wicked grin and some jazz hands. “I gave you three just the other night.”
“About that…” She chews on her lip and lowers her eyes. “I know we didn’t set any ground rules and I know we’re just hooking up. But from now on, if you’re sleeping with me, you’re not sleeping with anyone else.”
“I assumed that was a given.”
“So you weren’t with someone tonight?”she asks, her gaze flitting over my face.
That’s why she thought I was late.
I haven’t been with another woman since this whole thing began. “If you’re asking if I was with another woman, no. There was a bad accident, and I sat in traffic for hours.”
“Was anyone hurt?”
“I can’t say for certain, but I’m assuming the answer is yes. If anyone survived that crash, it would be a miracle.”
“Oh God.” She looks visibly shaken. “Are you okay?”
Daisy sounds so sincere. Like she actually cares. It amazes me that she can be angry one minute and then turn around and be concerned for me in the next. “I’m fine.”
She frowns. “That bad, huh?”
“It was that kind of day.”
“Did the closing go okay?”
I shrug. “It’s done. No point in dwelling on it.” I have mixed feelings about the whole thing but it’s over. And now Grayson wants to get out of technology altogether and “diversify his portfolio.” The turncoat.
Looks like I’ll be on my own for the next startup, but I don’t want to think about any of that right now.
Not when Daisy is sitting across from me, her hair hanging in loose waves around her shoulders, in an oversized T-shirt. Her black bra strap is visible where her T-shirt slid off one shoulder.
I lean forward and set my glass on the coffee table. “But I know how you can make it better.”
“What a coincidence. So do I.” She rises from her chair and skirts the coffee table then grabs my hands and pulls me to my feet. “You look like you could use a hug.”
“I had something a little different in mind. You. Down on your knees with my?—"
“You’re getting a hug, not a blowjob,” she says, wrapping her arms around me and hugging me tight.
I’ve gotta hand it to her. Daisy is a world class hugger.
If I were a fan of hugging, I’d award her the gold medal. But hugging is right up there with post-coital cuddling.
What’s the point? None that I can see.
“I wish I could hate you,” she says, squeezing me tight.
We’re still hugging. “I doubt it will take much effort on my part to make you hate me.” I keep my arms around her but only to make it easier to walk us backward.
When the back of my legs hit the sofa, I sit on the cushion and pull her into my lap so she’s straddling me. “Nothing a little hate sex can’t fix though.”My hands slide down her back and I squeeze her ass cheeks, drawing her closer.
“You think you have a magic dick or something?” she sasses.
“Didn’t Zelda tell you? It’s a magic wand.”
She presses her face against the side of my neck and laughs. “Stop making me laugh. And how did I end up straddling you?” She pulls back to peer at me. “I’m still mad at you.”
“Yeah, I can see that.” She’s so mad that she’s grinding her body against my erection, the little tease. I grip her hips, jerking her against me.
“I bet you get extra wet when you’re angry, don’t you?” I lick my lips like I’m already savoring the taste of her. “I’m willing to go out on a limb and make you another promise.”
“Oh yeah?” She quirks a brow. “This had better be good.”
“I promise to give you as many happy endings as you can handle.”
“Well, that’s a given. You’d better get to work.”
I laugh as I slide her T-shirt up her body and toss it aside.
She’s delectable. A work of art. I drag the lacy bra down with my teeth and circle her nipple with my tongue.
Her back arches and she grabs the back of my head, moaning as my teeth graze the hardened peak.
“One more thing,” she says, shoving down the waistband of my shorts and wrapping her hand around my hard cock.
“I want you down on your knees begging for my forgiveness,” she says, punctuating her words with a loud moan when I bite the fleshy underside of her breast.
“More,” she breathes, her fingers digging into my scalp as she pushes up on her knees and glides my tip over her clit through her lace panties.
She’s already soaked for me.
“You’re a terrible negotiator, princess. We’ll have to work on that.” I grab her waist and lift her up. Her thighs land on either side of my head. “But tonight, the only one who will be begging is you .”