Page 145 of The Rogue and His Flower

“Want to get shit off your chest?” Ben asks, swiping a hand through his tousled brown curls, eyeing me. “How’s Daisy doing?”

Blowing out a breath, I feel the pain and confusion of these past few weeks settle over me. “She’s trying to be strong, but she’s struggling.”

“It’s a lot for anyone to handle,” Ben replies, reaching for me and giving my shoulder a squeeze. “Have you talked with her about it?”

I glance at Drix, feeling fucking helpless. “Believe me, I’ve tried.”

“She’s just trying to process. Give her time. Just keep doing what you’re doing, Dalton. Be there for her. Let her know with your actions that you’re not going to give up on her,” Drix says. “I know Daisy. She’ll get there eventually.”

“You keep telling me that, but as more time passes, the further away she seems,” I retort, loosening the top button of my shirt, feeling as though my fucking throat is constricted. “Besides, if Daisy’s inability to open up to me was my only problem, I could work with that, but it isn’t. I think my father is beginning to suspect something is up. He refused my request to manage his new hotel in Paris.”

“Paris?” Drix questions.

“I thought if I could convince my father to allow me to take over the managerial position at a new hotel he’s bought there, it would enable Daisy to start IVF treatment without him finding out. But, of course, he denied me.”

“Fuck,” Drix retorts, exhaling sharply.

“My thoughts exactly,” I reply in frustration. “I feel like a fucking failure. I’ve spent my whole life living off my father’s wealth. I’m ashamed of myself, Drix. Now I can’t even look after my wife. What kind of man am I?”

“You’ve made mistakes, Dalton,” Drix says. “But haven’t we all? What matters most is how you act from this moment on, yeah?”

I nod, gritting my teeth. “Yes.”

“So let me get this straight, in order to pay off the debt, Daisy needs to have your baby, right?” Sterling asks, his eyes catching mine.

“Yes. Marry me, have our child. Only then the debt is written off. If we can’t do that the contract is null and void, and Drix will need to go back to being the families’ enforcer, jeopardising his happiness and relationship with Lia.”

“How much is the debt?” Sterling asks, his eyes catching mine.

“Eight point five million.”

“Damn,” Ben whistles.

Sterling nods. “And if you can pay off the debt, will that solve your problem?”

“Not entirely, no. Whilst it will get Drix off the hook, I know my father, he wants an heir more than anything. If he finds out Daisy’s predicament I know he’ll want me to divorce her, and replace her with someone else. He doesn’t give a shit about my happiness or anyone else’s for that matter,” I admit, wincing at how fucking awful that sounds.

“Fucking cunt,” Drix mutters.

“Okay so I guess it all boils down to this, would you be willing to forgo your inheritance to be with Daisy?” Sterling continues.

“There’s still the not so tiny matter of the eight point five million debt,” I point out.

“Would you be willing to forgo your inheritance to be with Daisy,” Sterling repeats, eyeing me pointedly.

Could I? A few months ago I would’ve answered no. I would’ve been a selfish cunt and thought only of myself. But things have changed. I’m so fucking in love with Daisy that thethought of losing her is too painful to comprehend. We could try IVF and hope that it works, but there’s no guarantee. Ultimately she means far more to me than my inheritance, and she’s worth every fucking penny I’d lose walking away from my father to be with her.

“Yes,” I agree, knowing it to be true. I’d find a way to start over, for her, for us both. “I fucking love her, Sterling. I don’t give a shit about my inheritance.”

Ben whistles, and Drix leans over, gripping my shoulder. “Good man,” he rumbles.

“Then I think I might have a solution,” Sterling says.

“How? Your father will never loan me the money,” I say. “Roger is as callous as my father.”

“I wasn’t suggesting that at all.”

“What then?”

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