Daisy's Choice (A Tale of Three Hearts) (16 page)

Aiden smiled at her. “I wouldn't consider this a waste of my time, Daisy. Not after all I've done to find you. ”

Hollow Creek, Kentucky

“
Wait, so you’re going where?” Bud asked.

“
To California to see Daisy,” Pete said, slamming the lid on the trunk. He turned and slammed up against the solid form of his big brother. To his right his other brother, Teddy, leaned on the car. Both of them were the epitome of the Kentucky mountain men stereotype: over six feet four with big strapping arms and chest made of bricks. Most were humbled in their presence. He wished he had inherited that trait. They said he had too much of his mama in him. From the many tears he shed for Daisy over the years, he’d have to agree.

“
See, I told you, Bud. He done packed it all up and left Nina,” Teddy spat.

“
And what does Nina say about this?” Bud asked, spitting a stream of tobacco.

“
Nina understands.” Pete shrugged, avoiding his brother’s eyes. Bud dropped a hand on his shoulder and pulled him back. Pete shrugged him off, anticipating the noise. He didn’t want to hear it. If he didn’t get this over with, he’d never be able to have the life he needed.

“
You not going anywhere, little brother, until you explain to me why after all this time you still chasing that cunt.”

Pete locked eyes with Bud, his nostrils flared. Teddy stepped up but shook his head at Pete. “He can’t get her out of his system, Bud. Done broke Nina heart, he did.”

“
I don’t owe either of you shit. This is my life.”

“
You just got money from First National. Think I didn’t know it? Where that loan money? You using it to chase after Daisy? To try again to be some big shot you think she wants you to be.”

Pete cut his eyes. “No. And I want you two to stay out of my business. That loan is for my company, not for… not for Daisy.”

Teddy and Bud exchanged looks. Pete never told them that Daisy had more money than they’d ever see, so he knew what they thought. Before she and he ran away, he killed himself working extra hours to scrounge up enough money for her ring.

How could he possibly tell them that he walked away from a million dollars? They’d never let him live it down, especially since he lived off them both for three years while he chased his tail trying to find her.

Daisy Johnson was Danielle Locke, with some fancy spa salon, a new life, and possibly a new man. He wanted to warn her about Aiden and talk to her about… things. He wasn’t going after her for reconciliation. He was going for closure.

“
I’m leaving.”

Bud put his hand to his chest and blocked him. “You have a shot at getting your life right, Pete. Nina's a good girl. The garage you want to start is your second chance. Don’t go fucking it up for that… for Daisy. Not again.”

“
You done?” Pete asked.

Bud stepped back. Pete walked around him to his car and got in, his face red with humiliation. He backed the car into reverse so fast that the tires spun out a dust cloud. Throwing it in drive, he sped away. Angry tears blinded him for several brief minutes. He gripped the steering wheel and thought of Nina. What could he find in Mango Grove that would change anything? Nothing. This was closure, plain and simple. And when he came back, he’d never look to the past again.

****

She stared at him, her eyes hard and unforgiving with a deep brown swirl of anger and distrust. If looks could kill, they’d be calling the vice squad right now. She didn’t jump, scream, run from the room, or even turn away. She just stood there staring and waiting. “Surprised?” he said softly, trying to gauge an opening.

“
You set this up?” she responded coolly.

How could he explain to her that one tender touch from her had transformed him? How could he describe the sight of sunset in her hair or the scent she wore followed him into his dreams? How could he possibly make her laugh for him once more, as the laughter from years ago that ran through his system like clean hard rain? She made him feel like he had a soul. Plain and simple.

“
I did,” was his stony reply.

Daisy clapped.

“
Well bravo, Aiden. You found me. Good for you.” She dropped her hands to her shapely hips and readied for the standoff. He read well on her financial worth. He had everything that she now cared so little about… money, cars, villas. You name it. Still he was destitute when it came to returning to her all that he knew she felt he’d robbed her of. Aiden gave her a half smile, taking a step toward her. She reached for her purse, ignoring him and his advance. When she looked up, he had closed the distance between them.

“
Danielle Locke? Creative. All this time I looked for Daisy and you—”

“
You shouldn’t have looked period. This meeting is over.” She stepped around him.

“
Still blame me I see?” He looked back and saw her standing at the door, her back to him. “All of it was my fault?”

“
No. I had my part in it.” She turned and faced him. “But what you did.”

“
I did because I wanted you. I still do. That’s the truth and you know it.”

“
So you hire a hooker to help you get laid?”

Aiden chuckled. “In a way, yes.”

“
You think it’s funny!”

“
Come now, Daisy. You were one foot in my bedroom before you ever saw that video.”

“
And I still can’t look myself in the eye over what we did. What I did to Pete. But look at you. Still the player and still looking for something or someone to hustle. You wasted your time coming for me.”

“
I don’t think so. I think you understand me more than you let on. I think you stayed away for more reasons than your pride or Petie-boy’s feelings.”

“
Don’t mention him to me! Don’t ever!”

Aiden’s head tilted to the side. He held her angry stare. “Fine. But you and I need to talk. I’ve wanted you for a long time.”

“
Are you crazy? Want me? What does ‘want’ mean?”

“
You know what it means.”

“
Is that what this is about?” She laughed looking around. “You lure me here for a business meeting because you want to pick up where we left off?”

“
That day, what you walked in.” His voice failed. He’d never explain himself to a woman. This was bullshit. “You didn't give me a chance to explain.”

“
Aiden, Aiden stop. I don’t want you. I never did. I did it for the money. I got my payment and it’s done! You hear me! We’re done!”

He narrowed his eyes on her. She said one thing, but he saw differently in her eyes. He noticed how her hands trembled as she clenched them into fists. Yes, she picked up on his weakness, but in doing so he sensed her fear. She was hiding something from him. It made her desperate.

“
Is that why you ran from me? Why you wouldn’t show at your own father’s funeral?”

His words delivered the necessary blow. The last of her confidence drained away along with the color in her face. Her eyes grew round as quarters as she took a step back. “Wha-what did you say to me?”

Aiden stepped toward her. “I know you sneaked into Hollow Creek in the middle of the night and ran away before sunrise. Why? What would keep you from your own father’s funeral? Your hatred for me? For what happened between you and me? What are you really hiding, Daisy?”

“
There’s nothing between us. It never was. I’m leaving,” she stammered, backing away.

“
I suggest you stay,” Aiden said.

“
It’s over. Okay? Let it go. Stay away.” She stormed out. Aiden moistened his lips, considering her flight. He was right. He didn’t have all the facts. He reached for the phone at the center of the conference table and picked it up. “Mr. Sterling? Is he still here?”

“
Yes, sir.”

“
Send him up.”

****

Daisy hurried down the hall. She saw Jeffrey approaching. Clara wasn’t with him. She didn’t care. She was getting the hell out of there and fast. Aiden didn’t know about Amy, but if she kept pushing him he would. She had to get back to Mango Grove and do some damage control. Do something.

“
We’re leaving, Jeffrey.”

“
Danielle, we can’t.”

She looked up at him. “What do you mean we can’t?”

Donovan approached on his cane from behind. Daisy found him familiar, but the movement on his cane made it all clear again. How stupid she was. How could she fall for this?

She looked between both men. “What’s going on?”

“
Your name isn’t Danielle Locke,” Jeffery asked softly. “Is it Daisy Johnson?”

“
I can explain it later… let’s just go.”

“
I suggest we have this discussion back in the conference room,” Donovan said. Daisy cut him a fuck-off look and then tried to step around.

“
Danielle!" Jeffery shouted. "Clara signed over her shares of Jahi to them. They own 40 percent of your company. You try to fight it and they will expose you. Danielle… why didn’t you tell me any of this?” he asked.

She stopped just as her heart did. She turned on her heel in disbelief. “Clara did this?”

Jeffery shook his head in disgust. “We have to meet with them to clear this up. Mr. Keane just wants to talk to you. I suggest you do it.”

Daisy rubbed her brow and a bubble of hysteria formed in her throat, escaping in short spurts of laughter. “Aiden. Of course. Aiden always bets on a sure thing. Asshole!” She stormed past the men through the hall into the conference room and slammed the door behind her. Shutting them out. Aiden was now seated at the head of the table staring at her.

“
You stole my business? So you could what? Control me! You can’t force me to be with you, Aiden.”

He said nothing. Eyes vacant of his true intent yet hard and clear, they held her hostage.

Daisy was on the verge of a full-blown panic attack. She had been so careful, and he just breezed right in and tore through her life again. And he didn’t even know the truth. The whole truth. How could she keep it from him? She tried being mean and hateful. She knew tears and hysterics wouldn’t work. What? What could she do? “Aiden, don’t do this. Just don’t push me. Okay?”

“
You need to deal with your past, Daisy. Deal with me,” he said sitting forward. “Now that I have your attention, we can talk. No more fucking running.”

“
Talk? About what?”

“
Whatever it is you’re hiding from me, Daisy, because you and I both know I will find out the truth.”

Chapter Eight

Daisy refused to believe it. All these years of being careful and bam, it was for nothing. He was back, controlling and manipulative as always. The lengths he went to confounded her. She didn’t understand why he held on still. She had given him her soul, and still it wasn’t enough. She refused to be moved by his handsomeness or the way he looked at her. The man thought he could own people, just as he owned all the others he collected like trophies in his life. It was time he learned a lesson, but not at the expense of her daughter.

“
There is no truth to tell. You were there, Aiden. Hell, it was your game.” She glared. “Remember the rules? The contract… where did it say that you could chase me all through my life? I thought it was pretty clear that the business between us was done.”

He lowered his gaze, and Daisy seized that moment. “If I had done this. If I had gone after you, claimed to
not-be-able-to-live-without-you
from one night, you’d have me arrested! Or dropped off in the desert somewhere.”

“
You act like I’m some kind of monster!”

Daisy’s expression reflected her response. “What kind of person does the things you do? Steal my company? Turn my friends against me? Expose me to the authorities for identity theft? Who does that?”

Aiden shifted forward in his chair, clasping his hands before him on the wood surface of the conference table. “I just wanted an opportunity to talk to you. Why is that so fucking inconceivable?” He seethed, his green eyes sparked with rage. They soon cooled.
Like Amy’s
. Daisy blinked, stunned silent for a moment. Their similarities rocked her to the core. He looked away again, and she exhaled a breath of relief.