The next morning, Daniel wakes me with a passionate suck on my nipple, much to my pleasure. We skip breakfast as Daniel wants to breakfast on me instead. So far, not an overall bad start into the day.
We spend the morning with Natalia and Valentina, and I can’t help but feel elated at seeing that Valentina is absolutely mad about me. When the time comes to say our goodbyes, she presses a piece of paper into my palm.
A drawing. For me.
The gesture puts me up short. I have no experience with children, have never spoken a word to them until setting foot in Australia. The possibility of having kids myself is as likely as me becoming the next Miss Universe. So, why do I feel melancholic all of a sudden?
After boarding the jet, I inspect the drawing in more detail. Valentina’s version of me as a mermaid is hilarious—the fin is as big as my entire body, my arms grow from my stomach, and one eye is twice as big as the other. But what lets me crumble inside is the misshaped, red heart in the left corner circling around the D+L inside the heart.
Daniel and Leonara.
I stare at the letters until they blur. Unbelievable. The doodling of a ten-year-old stirs more feelings inside me than the million-dollar painting from my grandfather.
“You’re quiet,” Daniel remarks as the jet sails over Honolulu.
“You talk enough for both of us,” I gruff out in annoyance, referring to the fifty or so calls he already had.
His eyes soften. “I’m sorry. Today is quite busy—” His phone vibrating interrupts him, and his look is one of guilt.
“Whatever,” I huff, heading for the bedroom for some alone time.
At first, Daniel’s presence scared me. Then, his presence soothed me. Now, his presence frustrates me.
Granted, my anger doesn’t stem from him dealing with his business. In fact, it’s all about this journey coming to an end. We are coming to an end, and I can’t handle it. I should be thrilled about going home and reuniting with Kendra and the girls, ecstatic about the fact that I can call myself a millionaire, but instead, my spirits crash down with every mile the plane covers.
At this speed, I’ll have a fat breakdown by the time we arrive.
~~~
Victoria’s perfume tickles my nose, and I can’t stand it. I can’t stand her at all—not her looks, not her dress, and least of all her existence. Daniel granted me the wish to visit my mother’s grave, and it left a grievous aftertaste. Now, I stand in the hallway to say my final goodbye to Daniel while Victoria looks as if she can’t wait to get rid of me.
“Is everything settled?” Daniel asks Javier as they join us.
“Yes, boss.”
I try to catch his gaze as he hands me my phone, but it seems he decided to avoid it. I can practically smell the guilt oozing from his pores, but I’m not sure why that is.
“Give us a minute,” Daniel addresses Javier who disappears through the front door. A dark look signals to Victoria that the command also includes her, and she breezes out with an exasperated sigh.
“Leonara, I…” Daniel starts, his voice laced with unspoken apologies I don’t want to hear.
“Save it,” I break him off. “We both knew it would end this way.” He exhales slowly, nodding reluctantly. I nod, too, trying to accept that our thing was only temporary.
Swinging the backpack with the painting inside over my shoulder, I turn to leave. Daniel reaches around me to open the door but stops to whisper in my ear, “I’ll come for you, trust me.”
I whirl around trying to decipher his words, but he averts his gaze and opens the door, leaving me in the hands of a moody bodyguard and a wannabe queen.
Victoria’s bleached-teeth smile vanishes the second we leave Daniel’s property, replacing it with an ugly frown. She hates my guts, although I can’t exactly figure out why. I mean, it’s not as if I were competition. Our places on the food chain are as close as a goldfish to a white shark. I never posed a threat, yet she looks at me as if she’d rather see me six feet under.
Why the hell is she here, anyway, and not Emilio? Maybe Daniel thought two bodyguards would be a waste, considering I’m going willingly this time. Or maybe he figured I wasn’t worth the trouble now that I’m of no use to him anymore.
For the first time in days, I pull out my phone, bracing myself for a shit-ton of missed calls. I’m not disappointed. Seventy calls (fifty from Kendra) and one hundred twenty messages (ninety from Kendra), the rest from Ruby, Sam, and Skyla, and even a few from Carla and Ada.
To my surprise, Daniel didn’t text back in my name. Mostly he wrote She’s in safe hands, or I won’t let anything happen to her to which Kendra answered with profanities that would make a sailor blush.
The closer we get to Cancún, the more restless Victoria becomes, fidgeting with the hem of her dress and fake nails clicking on her clutch.
“Turn left here,” she snaps at Javier at a crossing.
Javier frowns at her in the rearview mirror. “No shortcuts. Boss’s orders.”
“This is Daniel’s order. He wants me to pick up a package first.”
“I don’t know about any handovers,” Javier replies gruffly.
Victoria leans forward. “Do you really want to test him, Javier? You know how he gets when things don’t run smoothly, so be the good dog you are and take the fucking left turn.”
I straighten in my seat, thankfully smart enough to keep my hand in my lap and not slap it across her flawless cheek. Something’s wrong, I can feel it.
To give Javier credit, he stays unfazed by the spiteful remark. “I’ll check with him.” He reaches for his phone, but Victoria’s faster.
Fast enough to pull a pistol from her clutch and point it at his head.
“Turn. Left.” Javier doesn’t even flinch but complies.
“Why am I not surprised…” I mutter, gaining a death glare in response.
“It would be wise to shut that smart mouth of yours, chica,” she sneers before instructing Javier, “Follow the trail down there.”
“Let me guess. You’re going to shoot me in the middle of nowhere and be off with the painting. And no one will ever know because who cares who goes missing in this fucking country, right?”
She grins, and I know I’m in for no good. “I don’t get my hands dirty, darling. That’s his job.” Victoria nods to something behind me when the car rolls to a stop, and I turn around to see…
Piero Alvarez. Very much alive.
My heart explodes like a firecracker, sucking the air out of my lungs. My father is alive. My father, who turned a blind eye to my abuse and who’s responsible for my mother’s death, is alive.
And now he gets what he wanted—the painting.
“Get out,” Victoria snaps, and I slide out tentatively while Victoria shackles Javier to the steering wheel and fetches his gun.
“Well done, darling,” Piero praises Victoria. They are an item? Figures…
He stands with confidence about thirty feet away from me, legs parted, hands linked behind his back. His hair is still as black as I remember, his stubble graying and hiding the first wrinkles.
He takes a moment to inspect me while I wipe any expression from my face. “It’s good to see you, Leo.”
“I can’t say the same, actually.”
Piero heaves a sigh, voice thick with nostalgia. “You look so much like her…”
“And you’re the reason she’s gone forever.”
“It was an accident,” he hisses as if offended.
“One you caused!” I shout, pointing a finger at him.
“Oh, I love family reunions,” Victoria gushes, enjoying seeing me all riled up.
My fury shoots sky-high, and I swipe my foot under her heels. Her head cracks on the car’s side mirror, and she lands hard on her ass, her pristine dress not so pristine anymore.
“You… whore!” she screeches hysterically as she scrambles up.
“Enough! She’s still my daughter!” Piero booms, but I don’t need him defending me.
“Yeah? As far as I’m concerned, you were never my father!” I counter.
“I gave you everything! I was always there—”
“Not when your fucked-up friend came into my fucking room!”
His nostrils flare in anger. “Marcus would have never touched you! This was just an act to get my attention!”
I huff a dry laugh. Why the hell do I even bother? “Let’s get this over with, huh? The bullshit coming from your mouth makes my ears bleed.”
He looks as if ready to argue but thinks better of it. “Victoria, hand over the painting.”
“Actually…” she drawls, “I think it would fit better in my living room, darling.”
I nearly laugh at the comical situation. Of course, she doesn’t want to share.
Piero’s lips curl at the corner. “Is this how you wanna play it, Vic?”
“I already won, honey.” Victoria lifts her gun.
“Oh, the game just began…”
We all whip around to the source of the voice. A man in a beige suit steps out of the shadows, followed by two minions. Shaded pilots hide his eyes, gray hair sleeked back. Smoke rises from the cigar clamped between his fingers, his poise confident as he approaches. It’s obvious that he’s one of the fat fish in the pond.
Before Victoria can make a move, a click resounds, and I’m shocked to see Emilio behind her, gun pressed against her temple. Out of nowhere, Daniel comes into view, and I’ve never been so happy to see him. He stops next to the foreign man, one hand casually in his pocket.
“Ramos,” Piero hisses. The name triggers something. I remember Victoria mentioning that his cartel killed my father after a deal going south. Apparently, a lie. Ramos flashes a cocky grin while sucking on his cigar, the motion making the gold chains around his neck clink. “So, what now? Don’t waste your precious time, Ramos. Shoot me already.”
Ramos glances at Daniel as if offering him the decision about what happens to Piero, but Daniel looks at me in return. “Let her decide what happens to him.”
All eyes turn to me. This feels like a test. I’m all for justice, but I’m not cruel. I wouldn’t shed a tear if Piero dropped dead right now, but I don’t want to be the executioner.
“What did he do?” I ask, figuring that Piero did something that made this Ramos guy pretty angry.
“He stole my shipment and killed four of my men,” he answers in a heavy accent, voice rough from years of smoking.
I ponder over this. “Hmm. Need a cleaning lady, maybe? He looks made for scraping the shit from your toilets, don’t you think?”
My answer widens Ramos’ grin, and he turns to Daniel. “Marry that girl, Daniel. Before I do,” he adds with a husky laugh, clapping Daniel’s shoulder, who shoots me an over-the-top hot smile. “What about her?” Ramos points his cigar at Victoria.
“You can have her,” Daniel says in a bored tone.
“Daniel!” Victoria cries in disbelief, but everyone ignores her.
“Nah, got plenty of them already,” Ramos muses, his tone nonchalant as if trading sacks of chili.
“Send her to Australia and let her seduce some sponsors for the foundation or whatever,” I suggest. Daniel takes my advice and jerks his head in Emilio’s direction, who thrusts her into the car.
“It was a pleasure doing business with you,” Ramos addresses me while his men grab Piero. I avert my gaze as they pass, not wanting to look into his eyes ever again.
~~~
As soon as we return to Daniel’s mansion, I know things will never be the same again. Everything I’ve adapted to over these past weeks with Daniel, everything I’ve grown familiar and comfortable with, changes too fast. Daniel avoids my gaze when we settle back in and escapes into his office the moment Emilio arrives with our suitcases. Well, what did I expect? That he would swipe me off my feet and declare his love for me?
Maybe it’s better this way. I’m not relationship material, and neither is Daniel. The charity case with the tattoos and a big mouth, together with the sophisticated billionaire who bends the law to his will? Fits as well as Kendra in a Heavy Metal outfit paired with worn-down Converse.
Two days pass, and Daniel stays clear from me the entire time. No visits, no walks in the garden, no dinners together. He’s cutting me off. Cutting me out of his life. Cutting me out of his heart. I try to convince myself it’s for the best, even if utter devastation threatens to consume me when I think about having to live without him from now on. I try to convince myself I don’t care about him, even if he’s the only one who can replace the horrific memories of my past. I try to convince myself I hate his life and his flaws, even when I remember how perfect things were with him, and how whole he made me feel.
I’m going crazy. I can’t stay here a minute longer. This has to end.
Not bothering to knock, I storm Daniel’s office. He jumps in his seat when I bang the door closed so hard the shelving rattles. His eyes darken the second they land on me. “I’m busy.”
I glance at his desk. There are no sheets of paper scattered around, his laptop is switched off, and the red light on his phone tells me it’s muted. “I want to leave.” No, you don’t, the devil in my right ear whispers. But you have to, the angel in my left ear throws in.
“I have to make some final arrangements,” he deadpans.
“What kind of arrangements?”
“Let that be my concern.” Cold. Detached. Business-mode. Fuck you.
Stepping closer, I slap my hands on his desk. “Am I a prisoner?”
“You know you’re not—”
“Then let me go. Right now.” Snatching a paper knife from his desk, I lift it in a silent warning, showing him I’m willing to fight if I must.
If my brazen actions shocked him, he doesn’t show it. There’s no fear in his eyes, but something else… Sadness? Regret? Guilt?
With a deep sigh, he rises from his chair and walks over to the window, unconcerned of me stabbing him in the back. “I’m sorry I led you on. I understand that… certain feelings must have—”
Furious, I plunge the knife down into his expensive teak desk, and Daniel whirls around. “Spare me the bullshit, Daniel. I’m your total eclipse, remember? Or was this also just one of your schemes to get to my father?”
“You know that’s not true.”
“I know you made me believe you cared when, clearly, you don’t. This is not a question, Daniel. It’s an order. Let. Me. Go.”
His nostrils flare, and I brace myself for a hard blow. Cutting the distance between us in three long strides, he clamps a hand around my throat and backs me up against the wall. He wants to scare me, wake my demons, but my rage overpowers any fear.
His fist slams into the wall next to my head, but I don’t flinch. “Fuck, Leonara, you don’t fit into my life,” he seethes.
“Just as you don’t fit into mine,” I fire back.
His eyes flicker between mine so fast it makes my head spin. Any second now, he’ll shove me out the door. Tell me to run and never come back.
Instead, his lips come crushing down on mine, bruising them as he starts to kiss me so furiously, he’s close to biting my lip off. Despite my iron will, I crumble piece by piece, my hands clawing at his hair in desperation.
“You think I don’t care?” he rasps, voice thick with emotion. He rests his forehead against mine, panting hard. “I’ve locked myself in this office for two days, trying to get you out of my fucking head. Trying to convince myself that sending you home is best for both of us. Trying to pretend that my miserable life is better without you.”
Tears prickle my eyes as I watch him battling the conflicting emotions in his head. “Say the words, Daniel. I need to hear them.”
He presses his eyes shut, and it takes him a small forever to open them again. “I love you. So fucking much. I need you by my side. I need you in my life. I just… need you.”
“I need you, too,” I whisper, the words so heavy on my tongue I nearly choke on them. “But I don’t know how to do this,” I add, waving a finger between us.
His hand finally leaves my throat, and he cups my cheek. “Me neither.”
As if he can’t stand to go a second longer without kissing me, his mouth connects with mine again. The next thing I know, Daniel picks me up, wipes everything off his desk with no care about ruining his expensive stuff, and places me right where I want to be—underneath him.