Page 120 of The Thug And His Doll

“Even if by some miracle I manage to persuade Lia to work things out with me, I can’t lie to her again, Daisy.”

“I’m not asking you to lie to Lia. I will tell her why I’m doing it, and even if she still chooses to leave, I will go through with this because you’re my brother and I don’t want you to have to hurt people to pay off a debt for something you did out of love for me.”

“You’re going to do this no matter what I say, aren’t you?” I concede, knowing that she will, that once she’s made her mind up there is nothing I can do or say to stop her.

“Yes,” she replies, giving me a small smile. “I’m okay with it. Truly.”

“I’m fucking not,” Dalton says, looking between us both, panic-striken, furious.

“This is happening,” Carl intercedes. “As long as I can get a grandchild out of it, I really don’t give a shit whether you’re okay with it or not. But you’re going to have to make this convincing for everyone else. We have a reputation to uphold. I can’t have anyone suspecting your relationship is a farce. That won’t do at all. ”

“What reputation?” Dalton argues. “The one where you’ve had three wives, all of whom married you for money, and not love? Even Mum couldn’t wait to leave. She practically skipped out of our home with her divorce settlement, and hasn’t looked back since.”

“Which is precisely why you’re going to give the performance of a lifetime. At least until I have what I want,” Carl says, offering a smile to Daisy. “Once the child is a year old, you’ll be free to divorce Dalton, although there will be a stipulation in the contract that there will be no personal settlement for you, given the fact this is already costing me eight and a half million pounds.”

“I don’t want your money, I just want full responsibility for the care of our child. You and Dalton will be able to see him or her as often as you like.”

Dalton shakes his head in disbelief. “So what you’re basically saying is that you’ll happily pretend to be in love with me, enter into a fake marriage, use me for my sperm, then divorce me a year after the baby is born?”

“I think that’s about the gist of it,” Daisy says, tipping her chin up, challenging him with her gaze.

“What am I, just some vessel for you to use then dump as soon as you’ve got what you want from me?” Dalton grinds out.

“I guess you’ll know what it feels like to be on the receiving end for once, won’t you?” Daisy shrugs, and Dalton flinches as though she’s slapped him.

“I don’t care much for babies, anyway,” Carl adds with a wave of his hand. “So long as we have an heir, that’s all that matters to me. I’m more than happy to provide for the child so it grows up accustomed to the lifestyle afforded to an heir of the Gunn family fortune.”

“If I knew you just wanted an heir, I wouldn’t have used a condom with the women I’ve been fucking. By now you’d have dozens of grandchildren running around,” Dalton sneers.

“You misunderstand, son. I don’t want bastard heirs. This marriage has to happen to make it official. Besides, I like the fact that Daisy is a Hammer. It works out rather nicely, don’t you think?”

“Daisy,” I grind out. “Please reconsider.”

“Well that’s settled then,” she replies with a firm nod of her head. “Get the contract to me. I will review and sign it.”

“And what if I don’t agree. What if I refuse?” Dalton asks, folding his arms across his chest.

“Then you’ll have to live with yourself knowing that you had a real chance to help your best friend out, and refused because you’re too damn selfish to think about anyone other than yourself!” Daisy shouts, glaring at him.

For a moment Dalton doesn’t respond, a muscle in his jaw flexing as he grits his teeth. They glare at each other, and I fucking pray Dalton denies her.

“Fine, we’ll get married,” he eventually says. “But if you think, for one second, that I won’t be a part of our child’s life every minute of every day after we’ve divorced, you’ve got another thing coming. You may think I’m a selfish bastard, Daisy, but I will not be a selfish father.”

“I’m glad to hear it,” Daisy replies.

“Excellent,” Carl grins, getting to his feet and slapping his hand on Dalton’s back. “I shall get the contract drawn up as soon as possible.”

THIRTY-TWO

LIA

“Lia, can I speak with you?” Daisy asks, rapping her knuckles on the bedroom door as I pack up mine and Toby’s clothes. It’s been almost a week since my heart shattered into a million pieces. For all that time, I’ve tried, and failed, to come to terms with what Drix had told me.

I’ve been a mess, missing him, hating him, wanting him, still loving him, needing to run.

He hasn’t come back to Brownstone Estate, deciding instead to stay at his flat above the gym. The morning after the wedding he’d told me that he was moving out, that there was no need for us to rush off, that he was willing to offer us his home to stay in whilst I figured out what to do.

Another kindness, and yet the secrets he kept from me taint it now.

---