Page 118 of Bitter Rival

“It was yours too,” I say finally. “You were just a kid, Daisy. Nothing that happened was your fault.” It’s true, and although I’ve known it for a while, it's the first time I’ve admitted it aloud.

She lets out a shaky breath and nods, giving me a grateful smile before averting her gaze and staring into the distance.

“Your dad was good to me. But not always,” she admits. “He was moody. Temperamental. One day he’d treat you like you were the best thing since sliced bread. The next day he’d just ice you out. He ran hot and cold, you know?”

Like me.

“But when he gave me his full attention, it made me feel really special. And I think that spending time with him, philosophizing about life and discussing movies and books and art… really shaped me as a young girl growing up. He always encouraged my art, and if not for him, I might not have found my passion. He figured out that I was dyslexic and got me the help I needed so I could have a lifelong love affair with books. He was wonderful in so many ways, but he wasn’t a saint, and he wasn’t a monster either. He was flawed and so very, very human.”

I look over. “Why are you telling me all this?”

“I’m just sharing my experience.” She bites her lip and squints into the distance. “I’ve been giving it a lot of thought…and I’ve come up with so many theories as to why he brought us together. But the more I think about it, the more it makes sense. This vineyard was his apology. His love letter. He hurt you. But he also loved you.”

She pauses, deliberating over her words. “Love is so complex, and he was a complex man and he just…sabotaged the good things in his life, I guess. And I think he regretted that but didn’t know how to fix it. In the same way Michael regrets that their feud went on for so long. Maybe your father doesn’t want us to make the same mistakes he did.”

“You’re giving him far too much credit. My father wasn’t that deep.”

“I guess I’m always looking for a reason for everything and sometimes there isn’t one and that’s so frustrating. I hate that two brothers spent a lifetime hating each other and trying to sabotage each other.”

Her eyes fill with tears. “God. What is wrong with people?” She looks so distraught that you would think she’d never seen the bad side of humanity. The greed. The vengeance. The horrible things people do to get what they want.

Humans are, by nature, selfish. At least, I am. My father too. And Astrid…she was the most selfish one of all.

Daisy was raised by that woman and was left to fend for herself. She’s lived in LA and Manhattan, and I’m sure she’s seen it all.

But she still can’t believe that people are capable of behaving badly. It’s not because she’s naïve or because she turns a blind eye. It’s because Daisy is inherently good. And when the people around her don’t behave accordingly, she gets disappointed.

“You’re better than this, Beckett. I know you are.”

She expects better of everyone. She expects better of me. I’m not sure why she would though when I’ve never given her any reason to.

“You know, princess…I had a plan for my life that didn’t include this vineyard or you. But then you showed up. Like a fucking wrecking ball. You didn’t respect my privacy. You didn’t respect my boundaries. You knocked down walls and erected your little dreams and schemes and turned everything on its head. You act like you care and even worse, you made me care about you. You couldn’t leave well enough alone, could you?”

“What fun would that have been?” Her smile is playful, but it falls from her lips and she sobers. “I’m trying to save you from yourself.”

And then who’s going to save you? “Save your energy for better things.”

“Like what?” she asks with a flirtatious smile.

“I still need to fuck you out of my system.” I lift her into my lap, and she adjusts her position so she’s straddling me.

She wraps her arms around my neck and peers at my face. “Do you really think that’s how it works?”

I look into her mood ring eyes and inwardly groan.

I already know that it’s not going to work, but I’m still hanging on to a thread of hope that it will. “It’s worth a try.”

“In that case, I’m game if you are.” She pulls up the skirt of her dress while I undo my buckle.

“Don’t let me fall,” she whispers, taking my face in her hands and kissing my lips.

I don’t know if she’s talking about falling down the hill or something else but I wrap my arm around her like a steel vise to keep her from falling and kiss the side of her neck. “I’ve got you,” I say, unbuttoning my jeans with my other hand and freeing my cock.

“I wish I didn’t want you,” she murmurs, rocking against me, her hands gripping my shoulders and her lips pressed against mine.

“Same, princess. Same.”

I push her panties aside and in one powerful thrust, I’m buried to the hilt inside her sweet, tight pussy.

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