Chapter Twenty-Six
THEY STAYED LOCKED IN ANNA’S house for two full days, never once stepping outside. Barry and his team ring-fenced the place, securing it like Buckingham Palace. Before Jameson made the announcement, Daisy called her small circle and dropped the bombshell she’d been guarding all these years.
Jessica was her first call; she unsurprisingly freaked out for five straight minutes.
Then Daisy called a few college friends she still kept up with, apologizing in advance for the press Barry said would come knocking.
Lastly, she called Sean, who knew about Jameson’s return by way of their mother, but other than a couple of texts, hadn’t talked to him much about it.
“Hey, sis!” He answered on the first ring.
“Hey.”
“I was hoping you’d call. I was gonna reach out but didn’t want to pile on.”
“I appreciate it. I’ve definitely been in a bit of a bubble the last few weeks.”
She walked him through everything, Jameson’s reentering their lives, the awkward but inevitable reconnection with Ky and Lenny, and the looming statement that could hit the media any minute.
By the time she finished, Daisy felt like she’d lived the last month twice over in the retelling, every memory sharper and heavier spoken out loud.
“Damn.” He paused. “How’s Amelia holding up? That’s a lot for a kid.”
“You know your niece—she loves the attention. And she’s… kind of smitten with Jameson.”
“Sounds familiar,” he teased.
“Ha. I was a bit obsessed once, until reality slapped me in the face.”
“How are you holding up? Being around him again can’t be easy. Not after… everything.”
“It wasn’t. At first.” She exhaled. “But you know Jameson.” And he did. Once upon a time, they’d been inseparable, almost brothers, until Sean left for college and the distance grew. Then came the breaking point: when Jameson hurt Daisy, Sean cut ties and never looked back.
“Well,” he said, steadier now, “if you need anything, I’m here. I’ve always got your back. Even if I don’t love your choices…” The old bite softened, “You’re my sister.”
“I know.” And she did.
When Daisy ended the call, she tucked Amelia into bed and waited with Anna for Jameson’s statement to go live.
Seconds after his text—It’s finished—Anna’s phone dinged.
Headline:
Sexy Rockstar Turned Sexy Dad? Jameson Kingston Reveals His Daughter to the World
Daisy exhaled. Not bad, intriguing, even. The piece was general. There were no names, no specifics, just that he’d had a child with his high-school sweetheart and hadn’t been a part of her life until recently. He ended it by asking for privacy.
Anna set the phone down. “That was… good?”
“Yeah. Short and sweet.”
Daisy spoke too soon.
A flood of alerts hit. Anna’s eyes went wide.
“What?”
She flipped her screen down.
“Nothing.”
“Anna. Show me.”
“It’s just tabloids saying anything to get clicks.”
Daisy snatched the phone anyway.
The Kingston Love Child: Get the Full Story Here
Jameson’s Dirty Little Secret
Kingston Trapped by Baby Mama
Kingston Offspring or Gold Digger?
Love Triangle: How Jameson Stole Lenny’s First Love
“Ugh.” Daisy wheezed and tossed the phone onto the couch. “How do people make this up?”
“Because it’s their job. They literally make up stuff for a living.”
“Well, their stuff is messing with me. What am I supposed to tell my daughter?”
“The truth,” Anna said. “That’s all you have. Live by it. God knows I should’ve.”
Daisy winced. In her own mess, she hadn’t asked about Anna’s.
“Did you settle?”
Anna shrugged and took a long exhale. “If you can call it settling. He got more than I wanted to give, but it’s almost over. Once our divorce is finalized, we’re going out to celebrate next weekend.”
Daisy hugged her. “Definitely.”
By day three, the walls were closing in. The house was beautiful and big but never big enough for their combined personalities, especially with the leftover frost Anna still held for Jameson.
“You should be good to return to your apartment tomorrow night,” Jameson said, stepping into the guest room Daisy was crashing in.
“Finally.”
“You don’t like staying with Anna?”
“One night is fine, even two, but three? Our temperaments expire at seventy-two hours.”
He chuckled, sitting on the edge of the bed.
“And the fact that she still doesn’t like you only makes it worse.”
Naturally, Anna walked in. “I heard my name?”
Daisy eyed her. Eavesdropper.
A baffled Jameson asked, “You still don’t like me?”
“Not particularly.”
“Why?”
Anna lifted her chin. “Because you knocked up my best friend, insisted she get an abortion, and then slept with another woman.”
“Anna!” Daisy warned her blunt friend.
Jameson blinked, then nodded, leaning back. “I guess that’s fair.”
“Jameson, don’t. She’s wrong for that and she knows it.”
“There you go,” Anna said. “Even he agrees.”
“It’s forgiven, Anna. In the past.”
“You may have forgiven him, which still blows my mind, but I haven’t. Not sure I ever will. I tolerate him for the sake of my goddaughter.”
Jameson grinned and stood. “Is that a challenge? To make you like me?”
“Sure,” she said sweetly. “I love proving self-entitled pretty boys wrong.”
They shook. Daisy rolled her eyes as they sat—Anna on one side, Jameson on the other—sandwiching her in awkwardly. Such was her life.
“Are you free next weekend?” he asked. “I have an event in LA. I was hoping you and Amelia could come.”
“Is that smart? Seems soon.”
“The sooner we show up together, show them our family, the sooner the press gets bored.”
Our family.
Her heart pinched. Anna faked a gag.
She ignored her. “If you think that’s best. What event—”
“She can’t go,” Anna cut in, leaning over Daisy.
“Didn’t know you were speaking for her now,” Jameson snapped.
“We have plans already.”
He waited.
“We’re celebrating my divorce.”
“Sounds like an oxymoron.”
“You’re a moron.”
“That’s not… never mind. Sorry about your divorce.”
“Why? I’m not.”
His face displayed curiosity. So she explained. She told him the high highs and the low lows; she didn’t spare a detail on her marriage. He listened, confusion softening into empathy.
“I get it. You definitely need a release.”
“Thank you,” Anna said primly.
“Come to LA instead,” he proposed.
“And third wheel? I’ll pass.”
“Lenny, Ky, and my mum are coming, too. And it’s one of the biggest charity events of the year. Everyone goes. You’re a businesswoman—think about the networking.”
Anna pretended to contemplate his invitation, but Daisy knew. “I’ll think about it.”
The following weekend, they were airborne.
A private jet.
Company plane, split among the guys, now their main shuttle city to city.
“Pretty cool, right?” Jameson asked Amelia as they taxied.
“This is awesome!”
“Beats the smelly tour bus,” Daisy said.
“It’s all right,” Anna added, turning from the seat in front. “I’ve seen better.”
Lenny, Margot, Kyler, and his girlfriend, Riley, all stared. Anna turned back to her book like she hadn’t just heckled a jet.
“Sorry,” Daisy mouthed. Jameson shrugged.
All week it’d been like this: Anna jabbed; Jameson brushed it off; Anna got madder. Daisy realized Anna didn’t actually hate him. She wanted him alert, aware of his past and protective of Daisy’s future.
After they landed in LA, they all went their separate ways—Kyler and Riley to Calabasas and Lenny to Santa Monica. Lenny offered Anna a room, which she declined with unnecessary flair.
“Anna, he was just being nice,” Daisy whispered as they drove toward Jameson’s place in Malibu.
“I am nice. I’m just not sleeping at some guy’s house I barely know, even if he’s famous and sort of hot.”
“The invite wasn’t nefarious. He didn’t want you to feel crowded at Jameson’s place.”
“Oh please, his house is huge. We will be fine.”
“And how do you know that?”
“Because People Magazine did a spread four years ago that detailed his five-bed, three-bath house on the hill.”
Daisy’s mouth slumped a little.
“What? Just because you didn’t snoop doesn’t mean I never did.”
Anna was right. The place was immaculate—on a steep hill overlooking the Pacific. A sweeping wrought-iron staircase rose from the foyer; four bedrooms upstairs, one down. Margot took the downstairs room, and Anna took the one farthest from Jameson’s.
He showed Daisy and Amelia around until they reached Amelia’s room. When he opened the door, her jaw fell. The room was decked out. Jameson must have had it remodeled recently because it was perfectly fit for her daughter.
“Please say this is my room,” Amelia breathed.
“Just for you,” he said. “The designer came by last week.”
“Yeee!” She belly-flopped onto a princess bed. “I love it! Can we do the same thing in the other house?”
“Anything you want.”
She ran to him, hugging his waist. “Thanks, Daddy!”
That word stilled him.
Moisture gathered in his eyes. Daisy stepped back, giving them the moment. This was a first for him. He had missed so many of them and she wanted to give him this.
Daisy knew how emotional it could be, hearing your child call you mom or dad for the first time.
They’d agreed to let the Dad happen naturally. No scripts. Amelia would say it when she trusted him. When she was ready.
He kissed her head. “Happy you like it, baby girl.”
While Amelia explored, he showed Daisy her room: beautiful linens, elegant art, a balcony spilling light across the floor.
“Remodeled this, too?” she asked.
“Of course. I want you to be comfortable here and in Hillsborough. I want you to feel at home.”
“Jameson, we’ve gone over this. I already have a home.”
“And now you have another.”