Page 105 of Bitter Rival

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.”

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